These Laguiole knives are entirely handmade in the village of Laguiole and feature a forged T12 steel blade. Handmade in the village of Laguiole, France Forge de Laguiole knives are indeed and by far of the highest quality offered in the market today. Additionally, each of these masterpieces is entirely handmade by the same craftsman to ensure pride in the completed piece.
What is a Forged Bee? You can recognize a forged bee when you look just below it, where it meets the decorated spring. If you do not see any gaps, it's a good sign that the bee and spring were forged from the same piece of metal. You can also recognize a soldered bee by noticing a straight gap/ridge where the bee meets the spring.
Many Laguiole pocket knives from most manufacturers, including Forge de Laguiole (7 cm knives), offer "soldered bees" models. Most Laguiole knives found on the market are solder bee models. Adding the bee to the spring by soldering saves time and money; this is why the cost of soldered bee knives can be substantially less. The original Laguiole knives had forged bees.