Vergez Blanchard has a reputation for being the standard for leather working tools and the company has been around a long time. If you've ever acquired any of their tools, you might be surprised by what you've just bought. What do y'all think? Do they live up to their reputation?
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Personally I love Blanchard, but here's the thing, you buy them with your heart and not your head.
I love their history and provenance. They are one of the few heritage brands left from a time when England and France were producing incredible tools.
Sadly they lean heavy on a reputation of a bygone era. I don't believe they have long left.
Are they good? Not if you have no experience sharpening or making modifications to your tools. I love that as I can't leave anything standard when I buy it, but I'm in a minority.
If you want French with more precision, look out for Eprose tools.
https://www.eprose.fr/?lang=en_US
Good topic James
I think that if you purchase them with the expectation that they will absolutely need to be tuned up, they will be wonderful tools that will last a lifetime.
In general, things have come a long way since the heydays of Blanchard, Gomph, C.S. Osborn and the like. Compared to the likes of Palosanto, KS Blade, even Wuta...and not to mention the miriad of tools coming from China, their value just isn't there anymore.
So I have little to no experience with blanchard however this is something that I feel runs through a lot of well established companies in general. C.S Osbourne is another that generally has a very good reputation however I have found the finish can vary a lot between items. Maybe it comes from them being a very historic tool maker that in a time when there wasn't modern machining technology they produced the best and most consistent tools. From my understanding Blanchard still produces good tools and maybe the cost is associated with the "made by hand" aspect (I seem to remember reading that all the pricking irons are hand filed but dont hold me to that). Again I might be way off but I think they make good very traditional tools and if that's what the individual is after then 👌
Just my musings on the subject 😅