Sound of hammering and filing reverberate around the workshop in Prey
Sala village that is home to a most unus-ual craft – the art of making
swords and high-quality knives.
Frenchman Christophe Hiriart de
Saint is the designer and manager at Citadel, the biggest knife workshop
in Cambodia, and the man who oversees the production process from the
first step in forging the blades to adding the final decorative touches
to handles.
“What we care about is quality, not quantity,” he
explains as he lifts up a long, solid knife and rapidly shaves the hair
from his arm to demonstrate just how razor-sharp the blade is.
“Before
finishing our products, we have to discuss with our customers what they
require or order, and we must spend a whole day inspecting the knife
and doing the finishing touches,” Hiriat de Saint says.
Surprisingly, knife shapes and styles go in and out of fashion, just like everything else.
“Design
is quite hard, as we have to think as far as a year in advance of the
most popular models and styles of our knives,” Hiriat de Saint says.
“Several years ago, for instance, Europeans tended to use big
knives, but now they prefer using smaller knives that they can carry
with them every day, such as our folding models.”
About 70
workers make the knives by hand from imported steel. More experienced
workers train the newcomers, who can earn as much as $160 a month for
the special craft skills needed.
“We can produce between 10 and
20 knives a day, but sometimes customers order special designs and these
can take a lot longer to make,” Hiriart de Saint says.
The range
includes knives for hunting, combat, kitchens and tab-les, while
handles can be elabor-ately carved from buffalo horn, leather or wood.
Something
as elaborate as a tradit-ional sabre could take 10 days to finish,
Hiriart de Saint says. And whereas a cooking knife will cost about
US$100, a custom-made sword could top US$2,000.
“Sometimes we
have a special order for three or four katana swords from abroad, from
collectors in countries like Japan, Russia, France, America, Italy,
Spain and Taiwan,” Hiriart de Saint says.
Former car paint sprayer Nov Pich, 35, has worked at Citadel for the past seven years.
“I had to study for about five months to be able to make knives, and
we need to know foreign languages too,” says Nov Pich, who is
originally from Kampong Cham province.
Blacksmith Man Math, 50,
says he learned his trade for 20 years before refining his skills at
Citadel and learning how to craft custom-made katana swords.
“Before,
I used to pound metal and make normal knives, but here I can actually
make high-quality, professional blades such as katana swords – skills
that earn me a bit more money based on the market demand,” Man Math
says.
For other workers, however, the job is just a means to another end.
“I
had to drop out of school after grade nine, and now I want to save
money so I can open a chicken farm in the future,” 22-year-old Khon
Srors says.
Citadel has a workshop near the Phnom Penh
International Airport and two showrooms in Cambodia: at 10, Street 110
at the corner of Sisowath Quay, Phnom Penh, tel 012 802 676; and at 157,
Street 7, corner Street 155 (Sivutha) in Siem Reap.
Article Source -
Phnom Penh Post
