Opinel - Les Forgés 1890 Fully-Forged Bread Knife – Ultra-Premium 21cm Artisan Kitchen Saws

Opinel - Les Forgés 1890 Fully-Forged Bread Knife – Ultra-Premium 21cm Artisan Kitchen Saws

The Opinel Les Forgés 1890 Bread Knife represents the absolute pinnacle of traditional French cutlery craftsmanship, masterfully engineered to deliver flawless slicing symmetry, exceptional weight distribution, and lifelong mechanical durability. Belonging to Opinel's prestigious flagship collection, this heirloom-grade culinary instrument is completely hot-forged from a single piece of premium European steel. This process ensures optimal structural density, perfect physical balance, and a seamless transition from the blade tang to the handle bolster. Equipped with a heavy-duty, aggressively scalloped 21 cm serrated edge and an ergonomic, water-resistant beech wood handle, it saws effortlessly through thick, artisanal crusts, dense sourdoughs, and robust tropical fruits with smooth, sweeping control.

Best For Professional chefs, artisan bakers, luxury home entertainers, and culinary purists seeking an unyielding, fully-forged master bread knife that provides superior hand balance and slices soft crumbs or hard crusts cleanly without crushing the interior food structures.

Key Features

• 100% Hot-Forged Construction: Forged from a singular, glowing-hot rod of steel at 1200°C, delivering an unbreakable, continuous grain alignment that creates unmatched structural rigidity and a perfectly balanced weight in the palm.

• Premium X50CrMoV15 Stainless Steel: Forged from elite European alloy steel enriched with Chromium, Molybdenum, and Vanadium, ensuring maximum resistance to organic food acids, oxidation, and heavy mechanical wear.

• Optimized Hardness Rating: Precision tempered to achieve an impressive structural hardness rating between **57 and 59 HRC**, providing a durable cutting edge that stays sharp under intensive daily workload demands.

• Stabilized Thermo-Heated Beechwood Handle: Crafted from premium European beech wood that undergoes a natural, high-temperature baking process, making the timber exceptionally water-resistant, structurally stable against shrinkage, and comfortably secure to hold.

• Aggressive Scalloped Serrations: The wide, razor-sharpened wave teeth bite effortlessly into ultra-hard bakery crusts or slippery fruit skins, executing uniform slices with a gentle pull motion instead of forced pushing.

Specifications

• Blade Length: 21 cm

• Handle Length: 12 cm

• Overall Length: 33 cm

• Blade Profile: Deep Scalloped Bread / Curved Serrated Profile

• Blade Construction: Full-Tang, Fully Hot-Forged from a Single Piece of Steel

• Steel Composition: X50CrMoV15 Premium Grade Stainless Steel

• Rockwell Hardness: 57 - 59 HRC

• Handle Material: Natural Heat-Treated (Stabilized) European Beech Wood

• Manufacturing Origin: Masterfully Crafted by Opinel France

Ideal For (Uses)

• Artisan Loaves & Heavy Sourdoughs: Gliding seamlessly through thick, crunchy wood-fired bakery crusts, hard rye loaves, and country miches without snagging or compressing the delicate, airy crumb structure inside.

• Soft Buns & Delicate Breakfast Pastries: Slicing light croissants, buttery brioche buns, tender panettones, and flaky puff pastries cleanly across without tearing the delicate layers or leaving messy countertop crumbs.

• Robust Thick-Skinned Fruits: Safely sawing through dense, slippery tropical produce including whole pineapples, heavy cantaloupes, watermelons, and large squash varieties with complete tracking stability.

• Large Roast Carving & Sandwiches: Neatly cutting cleanly through tiered club sandwiches, crusty pork belly crackling, or baked hams, ensuring a crisp, presentation-ready line every time.

Pro Tip & Les Forgés Maintenance: As a fully forged, premium artisan tool featuring a natural wood element, this bread knife requires traditional culinary care to protect its structural integrity. It should never be placed inside a dishwasher or left sitting inside a damp kitchen sink. Simply rinse the blade under warm running water after use, use a soft non-scratch sponge to clear away crumbs or fruit starches, and dry immediately with a fresh tea towel. Storing it safely on a magnetic wall strip or inside a protective knife block prevents the sharp serrated teeth from clinking against other steel surfaces. An occasional light rub of food-safe mineral oil onto the beautiful beech handle will lock out moisture, nourish the wood fibers, and preserve its luxurious satin finish for generations to come!

Oversized Item Delivery Options

Oversized, heavy, and structural goods ship via specialist freight. Freight is calculated at checkout from estimated packaged volumetric or physical weight. Carrier depot audits may adjust the rate — if the increase exceeds 10%, we will contact you before processing.

Available options include:

✔ Delivery to your closest depot for pickup — default method
✔ Direct delivery — requires an operational forklift on site unless Tailgate Delivery has been specifically requested and quoted (contact us — this cannot be selected at checkout)
✔ Tailgate hydraulic lift delivery — must be specifically requested; contact us for a quote (not available as a checkout option; extra fees apply; required if you do not have a forklift)
✔ Forklift loading at our warehouse (no extra charge if you arrange your own freight)
✔ Direct truck delivery (available in Victoria)

Important Notes:

• Shipping costs vary by location and method
• Any carton or consignment over 25–30kg (or over 200cm) must be palletised
• Without a specifically requested and paid Tailgate Delivery quote, palletised freight requires a forklift on site — otherwise the carrier will redirect to the nearest depot
• Bulky and oversized items cannot be delivered to a PO Box — provide a physical street address
• Failed deliveries, locked gates, unattended sites, or incorrect business/forklift declarations may incur carrier redelivery, demurrage, and restocking fees as set out in our Terms & Conditions

Business Delivery:

• Selecting a business/commercial delivery rate warrants that the address has an operational forklift and certified operator during business hours
• If the carrier cannot unload, the consignment may be redirected to a depot and secondary fees may apply
• Additional fees may apply for failed delivery attempts due to lack of appropriate unloading equipment

See our Terms & Conditions (Article 8) for full freight and delivery rules.

Important Note on Availability & Shipping

Our warehouse is a logistics hub, not a retail showroom. Listing a product online does not mean it is stored at our Thomastown warehouse — many lines ship from supplier hubs (split fulfilment may apply).

How lead times work:

• Product page ETA: The Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) / lead-time badge shown on the product page at checkout is the agreed delivery timeframe for that order under Australian Consumer Law.
• Metro baselines: Advertised ETAs apply to standard metropolitan zones. Regional and remote addresses may take longer and may attract surcharges.
• Peak seasons: Orders in March–May, August–October, EOFY (June), Black Friday/Cyber Monday (November), and Christmas/New Year (December–January) may automatically add a 2–4 week buffer beyond the product page ETA.
• Supplier-dependent / backordered items: If stock is delayed, we will notify you with a revised ETA. You then have 7 days to accept the new timeframe or cancel for a full refund.
• Adloheat: Custom-made products from Adloheat (Pakenham, VIC) may take 4–12 weeks depending on the order.

Full fulfilment, cancellation, and freight rules are in our Terms & Conditions.

Biosecurity & Interstate Shipping Restrictions

Due to strict state biosecurity regulations, we are unable to ship some products to certain states and territories:

• Potting Mixes cannot be shipped to Western Australia (WA), the Northern Territory (NT), or Tasmania (TAS).
• Seeds cannot be shipped to Western Australia (WA).

Orders placed for these items to restricted states will be cancelled and refunded. It is the customer's responsibility to ensure that the items being ordered can lawfully be delivered to their state or territory.