Opinel - Les Forgés 1890 Fully-Forged Chef's Knife – Flagship 20cm French Master Culinary Rocker Knife

Opinel - Les Forgés 1890 Fully-Forged Chef's Knife – Flagship 20cm French Master Culinary Rocker Knife

The Opinel Les Forgés 1890 Chef's Knife represents the absolute pinnacle of premium French culinary engineering, masterfully designed to serve as the heavy-duty, ultra-precise anchor of your kitchen workstation. Inspired by the strict professional standards of two-Michelin-starred Savoyard chef Jean Sulpice, this flagship 20 cm knife is fully hot-forged from a single piece of elite European steel at 1200°C. This intensive manufacturing process yields an unbroken grain structure, providing incredible density, perfect physical balance, and lifelong structural integrity. Equipped with a hand-polished 15-degree double-bevel edge and a stabilized, heat-treated beechwood handle, it glides through dense proteins, root vegetables, and delicate herbs with surgical accuracy. Combining timeless regional heritage with state-of-the-art ergonomics, this heirloom-grade tool delivers the unyielding reliability demanded by commercial kitchens alongside the refined handling beloved by home gourmet curators.

Best For Professional chefs, passionate home gourmet creators, and culinary purists seeking an investment-grade, fully hot-forged chef's knife that provides exceptional rock-chopping balance, elite edge retention, and an anti-fatigue grip for high-volume meal preparation.

Key Features

• 100% Hot-Forged French Craftsmanship: Forged continuously from a single glowing-hot rod of steel, creating an integrated blade, bolster, and full tang that delivers superior mechanical strength and perfect weight distribution.

• Premium X50CrMoV15 Stainless Alloy: Enriched with Carbon, Chromium, Molybdenum, and Vanadium, this high-purity European steel alloy sharpens effortlessly to a razor finish while offering high resistance to staining, pitting, and rust.

• Surgical 15° Double-Bevel Edge: Precision ground to an acute 15-degree angle on each side, allowing the massive 20 cm blade to slice cleanly through delicate ingredients without crushing cells or altering raw textures.

• Optimised Hardness Rating: Expertly tempered to achieve a structural hardness between **57 and 59 HRC**, striking the perfect culinary balance between long-lasting edge retention and straightforward home maintenance.

• Stabilised Thermo-Heated Beechwood Handle: Crafted from natural European beech wood subjected to a high-temperature baking process, establishing high water resistance, dimensional stability against shrinking, and a velvety smooth texture.

• Intuitive V-Grip & Ergo-Profile Bolster: Features an intelligently sculpted bolster zone that naturally guides your fingers into a professional pinch grip, while the curved underbelly prevents hand clenching and minimizes wrist fatigue.

Specifications

• Model Designation: Flagship N°1890 Chef's Knife (Les Forgés Collection)

• Blade Length: 20 cm (Standard Professional 8-Inch Scale)

• Handle Length: 13 cm

• Overall Length: 33 cm

• 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

• Edge Bevel Angle: 15° on each side (30° inclusive edge)

• Handle Material: Thermo-Stabilised Natural European Beech Wood

• Design Inspiration: Developed in partnership with 2-Michelin-Star Chef Jean Sulpice

• Manufacturing Origin: Masterfully Forged and Crafted in France

Ideal For (High-Volume Culinary Applications)

• Heavy-Duty Protein Processing: Slicing cleanly through thick beef tenderloins, halving whole raw chickens, trimming pork shoulders, and portioning dense fish fillets with single-pass cuts.

• Rapid Rock-Chopping & Dicing: Executing lightning-fast rock-chopping motions to process large volumes of onions, carrots, celery, and root vegetables into uniform columns.

• Mincing Fragile Herbs & Aromatics: Reducing large bundles of parsley, cilantro, or basil into fine ribbons without bruising the leaves, and smashing garlic or mincing ginger with absolute control.

• An Unforgettable Heirloom Gift: The striking combination of the bright, forged bolster against the deep caramel tones of the heated beech wood makes this a magnificent keepsake for professional culinary graduates, home renovations, or dedicated pitmasters.

Pro Tip & Les Forgés Maintenance: The Les Forgés 1890 Chef's Knife is an investment-grade artisan tool that requires traditional culinary care to preserve its breathtaking performance. It must never be placed inside a dishwasher or left soaking in a damp sink. Simply wash the blade under warm running water immediately after use with a soft, non-scratch sponge, and dry thoroughly with a towel before storage. Storing it on a magnetic wood knife strip or inside a dedicated slot block protects the razor-sharp 15-degree bevel from rolling or chipping against other loose kitchen utensils. An occasional single drop of food-safe mineral oil applied to the beautiful beech wood handle will enrich the timber grain, prevent ambient drying, and preserve its stunning satin finish for decades 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.