We are usually not the ones pressing a potential customer from making a bad choice but this is the exception!Please do not purchase a pressed horn handle Laguiole pocket knife, especially if you are planning on keeping it for a long time. Regardless of where you buy your knife you must be absolutely certain that the handle material is made of HORN TIP,not PRESSED HORN.
Why? Only the last 4 or 5 inches of a horn is solid like a piece of wood or metal, the rest is hollow. In order to use the hollow part the horn it must be cut in half, steamed and compressed to make it flat. The issue with such process is that the horn has "shape memory" and, over time the horn will try to warp back to its original rounded shape. This will cause the knife's handle to loose its shape and show gaps. Pressed horn is cheap to buy, this is why bargain laguiole knives use such material. Retailers that offers such knife are uninformed or do not care about your long term satisfaction with your knife.
Why are handle made from horn tip better?
Horn tip comes from the massive noblest last 4 or 5 inches of the horn. Small bars are cut from the horn and then fixed and worked directly on the handle. Horn tip does not undergo heating constraint like pressed horn does (cheap Laguiole knives). Horn tip is the tougher, densest part of the horn. Only two knives can be made from one horn tip.
Horn tip comes from the massive noblest last 4 or 5 inches of the horn. Small bars are cut from the horn and then fixed and worked directly on the handle. Horn tip does not undergo heating constraint like pressed horn does (cheap Laguiole knives). Horn tip is the tougher, densest part of the horn. Only two knives can be made from one horn tip.
It is important to note that France's most renowned cutler such as Forge de Laguiole and Fontenille Pataud do not offer pressed horn handle. Why? Simple, they care more about their reputation for excellence than making additional sales offering poor knives.