Musée de la Coutellerie de Nontron
Nontron holds the oldest pocket-knife brand in France, and this compact museum inside the hilltop workshop tells the whole story — from medieval iron-mongers to the distinctive burnt-boxwood handle still carved here today. You can watch craftspeople finish blades by hand, then buy a genuine Nontron knife engraved with your initials in the boutique next door.
A living craft, not a dusty display
The museum occupies the upper floors of the working Coutellerie de Nontron factory, so the smell of hot metal and linseed oil is very much part of the visit. Display cases trace seven centuries of blade-making in the Périgord Vert, with original tools, antique folding knives and archive photographs showing generations of the same families at the same benches.
Guided tours run in French and English and end on the workshop floor where you can see artisans fitting the signature rounded handle — always made from locally sourced boxwood scorched to a warm honey-brown — onto a high-carbon steel blade. It is a genuinely rare chance to see a centuries-old métier d'art still commercially alive.
The boutique and personalisation service
The on-site shop stocks every size of Nontron knife, from a slim 7 cm penknife to a robust 12 cm hunter's blade, priced roughly from €35 to €120. Engraving is done on the spot on a traditional pantograph machine — allow about 20 minutes.
Knives purchased here are the real article, stamped with the crowned N mark and hallmarked in Thiers. They make an exceptionally personal souvenir and are far more meaningful than anything you will find in an airport gift shop.
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