Zwilling ⚠️ With reservations

Solingen cutlery since 1731, the oldest registered trademark still in operation. The high end remains forged in Germany, but a growing share of production is offshored to China and Spain. A multinational group also owning Staub, Demeyere, and Tweezerman.

Zwilling is a monument in cutlery. Founded on June 13, 1731, in Solingen by Peter Henckels, it is one of the oldest registered trademarks in the world. The twin logo was registered with the Solingen Cutlers' Guild. Nearly 300 years of history in the city that is to German cutlery what Sakai is to Japanese.

But let us be honest about what Zwilling is today. It is no longer an artisanal workshop in Solingen - it is a multinational group. The Zwilling J.A. Henckels Group owns Staub (cast iron cookware), Demeyere (Belgian cookware), Tweezerman (beauty accessories), Miyabi (Japanese knives), and more. Factories in Germany, China, Japan, Italy.

The essential distinction: Zwilling's high-end knives (Pro range, Twin Cermax) are still forged in Solingen. The German forging is real. But entry and mid-range lines come out of China. A 50-euro Zwilling knife and a 250-euro one have nothing in common in terms of provenance and manufacturing. The Henckels International brand (one man logo instead of two) was specifically the offshored range, before the lines blurred.

The Solingen-forged product remains solid, reliable, well-balanced. Not the finesse of an artisanal Japanese knife, but a robustness and ease of maintenance that many professional chefs prefer. Value for money is fair on the high end.

The reservation comes from this and nowhere else: when a brand capitalizes on its Solingen heritage while mass-producing elsewhere, the consumer needs to know exactly what they are buying. Reading the small "Made in..." line has never been more important.