Great Cutlery Regions

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Today, Fremont, OH is known as “The Cutlery Capital of the World

So now we know the center of all knife creation.

 

From the top of my head :
- France : Thiers, Nontron and Nogent. Today, there are again Laguiole knives produced in and around the village of Laguiole (Forge de Laguiole, Honoré Durand, Laguiole en Aubrac).
- Italy : Maniago
- Spain : Toledo and Albacete
- Germany : Solingen
- UK : Sheffield
- Sweden : Östnor (Mora) and Eskilstuna [EKA and Holmberg, Engström & Segerström (barrel knives)]
- Russia : Zlatoust (A&R)

 

Benedita, perhaps? I think JERO and ICEL are made there.

Here's a cool old pic of the knife sellers at the railroad station in Albacete, Spain:

 

Some Japanese cities/regions: Takefu , Seki, Sakai, Tosa, Sanjo City

 

The interesting thing about Tosa, Japan is they set up a communal forging center.
Traditional blacksmithing is declining in Japan. Rather than having an apprentice learn from on master, in this center there are several master smiths. Ideas and expertise can be shared with the new generation.
There is another prefecture in Japan copying this idea, so it must be doing well.

 

The northeast definitely has a rich cutlery tradition as was already stated above. Also, I agree the Portland area is a no brainer for that list.

Golden may only have Spyderco, but look at the impact Spyderco has had on the whole industry. Talk about a giant.

What about El Salvador, Colombia or Brazil for machetes? Lots of good blades from those areas.

 

Mexico:
Sayula, Jalisco
Oaxaca

Spain:
Albacete
Toledo(I don't think any major manufacturers are producing here anymore).