About the founders

Behind Charles Canon, there are Pascal Charles and Aurélien Canon, two enthusiasts of cutlery and the heritage of Hauts-de-France. In 2018, they took over the Dutilleul company, specializing in the manufacturing of power sockets, in which they worked as employees.

Dutilleul's clients are large international electrical equipment groups; the company also manufactures wooden knife boxes for Laguiole cutlery.

Drawing on their expertise in precision wood machining, Pascal and Aurélien decided to create a regional knife, which reflects the history and know-how of Hauts-de-France. This is how the Charles Canon brand was born.

Birth of Charles Canon

For Pascal and Aurélien, working with coal was obvious: it is the emblematic material of the North of France, which has sustained and heated its inhabitants for generations. Both men have a family connection to coal: one's father and grandfather were miners and the other comes from a family of coal traders from Lallaing.

The location of their workshop also inspires them: it is located on an old slag heap, an artificial hill built by the accumulation of mining residues, by-products of mining.

Creating a charcoal knife handle is a challenge: working
this material is complicated, because it is crumbly and stains the hands. After numerous tests and experiments, Pascal and Aurélien perfected their manufacturing method.

They still had the blade

As they did not have the necessary knowledge to launch into cutlery, the two partners trained with their client Laguiole, in Aubrac, and imagined a blade inspired by the shape of the flat slag heaps of Hauts-de-France. Thanks to this new expertise, they are launching the Charles Canon knife range, just a few days before the first confinement of 2020.

Faced with the success of its knives, the brand quickly expanded its range to other materials with a regional identity.

Today, the Charles Canon team has 16 employees, including 3 cutlers and a person responsible for quality control and packaging. Its products are very successful. The brand aims to expand its network of distributors, and to continue its development in France and internationally.