Officine Gullo presents “The Kitchen Jewels”
A collection of design items, the epitome of artisanal excellence.
Modernity and tradition. Officine Gullo kitchens stand out for their iconic style, transcending fashion thanks to the company’s continuous reinvention. Officine Gullo’s business is founded on traditional craftsmanship with a constant eye on innovation and the very latest technologies. Reflecting this view, Officine Gullo is launching its own collection of kitchen accessories, a blend of stylish design and master craftsmanship. These authentic “kitchen jewels” are crafted with best-in-class materials – the result of extensive research into design and artisanal workmanship.
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OG Chef’s Knife - when cutting is an art form
The OG Chef’s Knife is the premier product in the “Jewels” collection, a limited-edition designer knife. Each of the 100 precision tools is individually numbered. A highly prestigious designer item made through the combination of Florentine artisan metalworking heritage with thousand-year-old Japanese knife-making traditions. Highlighting the connection between East and West, the OG Chef’s Knife’s design combines a typical European carving knife with a Japanese Gyuto. Its 21 cm blade is exceptionally strong due to its hand-hammered specialist steel, resulting in extreme precision and long-lasting sharpness.
The new Officine Gullo knife’s blade is produced in Florence, using the ancient Japanese “San-Mai” technique, which translates literally as “Three Layers” with “San” meaning three and “Mai” meaning piece. This method involves the combination of three layers of metal with different properties – the same approach used by master craftsmen to make Samurai katana swords. Japanese swords were made with a softer metal casing to protect the very sharp central blade – originally made of iron – to ultimately withstand the impact of blows dealt during battle.
The two outer layers that encase the OG Chef’s Knife’s central blade are made from 416 austenitic stainless steel. This type of steel is purposely made as a softer steel, offering excellent resistance to stress and twisting, as it has only 0.4% carbon.
The central layer of the blade, used in cutting, is made from K720 steel, superbly rigid due to its high carbon content. This type of steel is extremely durable and keeps a sharper edge for longer, while also being delicate and fragile. This means it needs a great deal of technical and manual skill during construction and as it cools after forging.
Once the layers have been put together, they are welded and forged by hand. This is why each blade has a surface design and almost infinite finish variations, making each one unique.
Another distinctive feature of the design for the OG Chef’s Knife is the addition of a polished copper back, running the full length of the blade from point to butt. This has been inspired by traditional Florentine craftsmanship, an example of our unique mastery of working with noble metals. A solid piece of copper is hollowed out by hand to create the ultra-fine continuous blade back, enhancing the knife with a unique design.
The knife handle is made in black onyx to create an elegant, exquisite and clean-cut design effect.
We are offering the OG Chef’s Knife on preview at Fuorisalone 2022, at the Officine Gullo showroom in via dell’Annunciata.