For generations, the Consigli family has been leveraging its passion and expertise to produce high-quality traditional Tuscan pocketknives and cutlery, using the same forging techniques that the master knifemakers of Scarperia have been refining since the 14th century.

The town of Scarperia was founded on September 8, 1306. Back in those days, the town was sited on what was then the most important road for anyone wishing to cross Italy. The production of cutting irons has also been crucial to the town?s development from the outset; this specialization was perhaps the result of local military requirements or possibly due to the needs of the local farmers.

For more than two centuries, blades from Scarperia were renowned as being of unrivaled quality. In the second half of the 19th century that Scarperia?s knives and cutlery started to experience increasing demand. With the unification of Italy came numerous orders from all over the country, and particularly from the south. Because of this southern influence, the origins of several types of knives made in Scarperia (the Calabrese, the Napoletano and the Casertano) can be traced back to the south of Italy. As a result, the reputation for the quality of the knives made here has been consolidated once again, and they are now rightly celebrated throughout the world.

The Old Family Tradition

Fifty years have now passed since the time of the Fondo Pasinetti - the site in Via Magenta, in the center of Scarperia, where the Consigli brothers opened their first premises. Luigi - at the time, just a little over 20 years of age - and Enrico, his slightly younger brother, had already spent several years producing knives on behalf of the same company for which their father had been forging metal and making pattada knives and grafting knives since the very early part of the century.

Currently, alongside its typically Italian models, which represent the perfect synthesis of tradition, technique, elegance, and refinement, the company also produces high-quality table and kitchen cutlery that is expertly finished using noble materials like cow horn, buffalo horn and olive wood. The Consigli family is totally committed to authentic steel-working techniques and to the preservation of the values of manual processing.

The Comet: A Symbol of History

When holding a Consigli knife, it is easy - for the expert and the layperson alike - to appreciate the clean lines, the painstaking finish and the warmth of the natural materials. Opening and closing the blade, one comes to realize the precision and fluidity of the mechanism, and, on closer inspection, one makes out the almost imperceptible imperfections that highlight the authentic, hand-crafted nature of the knife. One's eye is drawn to the signature, (the pride of every true artisan), to the guarantee of reliability and to the symbol with which the Consigli brothers like to adorn their creations.

Along with the sun, the comet is the astronomical symbol par excellence. It was used time and again in ancient graffiti and on coins, and was rediscovered centuries later by renaissance cutlers. Indeed, in accordance with the Statute of 1630, since that time all knifemakers in Scarperia have had to use their own version of the comet symbol. Consigli's comet has undergone a natural evolution over the decades. The latest redesign, dating from 2004, evokes luminosity and dynamism, appearing like an imaginary bridge between the drive to conserve traditional ideals and the drive towards the future.

How a Knife is Made