A collection of objects for the kitchen that represents the encounter between an extremely refined design and the excellence of craftsmanship – this is how Officine Gullo’s OG Chef’s Knife accessories can be defined, authentic “jewels of the kitchen” made with precious materials that are the result of a quest into the heart of objects that bring together art and craftsmanship.
Modernity and tradition
Officine Gullo kitchens are distinguished by an iconic style, able to cross the succession of fashions and trends unscathed, thanks to the company’s ability to reinvent itself while respecting age-old and honored craft traditions, while keeping an ever-vigilant eye on innovations and the latest technologies.
Officine Gullo’s OG Chef’s Knife
The first accessory of the “Jewels” collection is an artistic knife, produced in a limited and numbered edition: the OG Chef’s Knife, precious tools produced in an edition of only 100 pieces.
An enormously valuable design object, made by combining the Florentine artisan heritage of metalworking with the millennial Japanese tradition of cutlery.
The Art of East and West
An exquisite piece of cutlery that links the East and the West, the OG Chef’s Knife has a design that combines the typical European carving knife with the Japanese Gyuto. Its blade (about 21 cm) is strong beyond measure as it is forged from special hand-rolled steels, extremely precise and capable of maintaining excellent sharpness.
The blade of the new Officine Gullo knife was made in Florence according to the ancient Oriental “San- Mai” technique, or, literally translated “Three Layers” (“San”: three; “Mai”: piece). This workmanship, the same employed by master forgers to construct samurai katanas, consists of combining three layers of metals with different properties. To withstand blows delivered in war, Japanese swords were made with a softer metal casing that protected a very sharp central blade (once made of iron).
In the OG Chef’s Knife, the two outer layers, which act as a protective casing to the central blade, are made from 416 austenitic stainless steel – an intentionally soft steel that, due to the presence of only 0.4 percent carbon, is exceptionally resistant to stress and twisting.
In contrast, the middle layer of the blade, the one that serves as the cutting edge, is made of K720 steel, which is very rigid due to its high carbon content. This extremely strong type of steel offers excellent edge retention against wear, but it is equally brittle and delicate, requiring great technical and manual skill in its construction phase, when it is cooled after forging.
Once the layers are joined, they are welded and forged by hand, which is why each blade has an almost infinite surface pattern and aesthetic variations that make each piece unique.
Another distinctive element in the design of the OG Chef’s Knife, retrieved this time from the Florentine artisan tradition and an example of unique craftsmanship in working with noble metals, is the addition of a polished copper back that unites the entire length of the knife, from tip to “heel.”
A piece of solid copper is hollowed out entirely by hand, resulting in what will be the very fine back that traces the line of the knife, embellishing it with a unique design. Finally, the handle of the knife is made of black Onyx to recreate a clean, refined, precious line.