Thirty-three years after its founding, Sabre Paris has established itself as one of the very few French cutlery brands to have built a story that is both singular, coherent and deeply desirable. Not a tale of frozen tradition or restrained luxury, but that of a joyful, colourful, deliberately impertinent art de vivre—carried from the outset by a duo as atypical as they are perfectly aligned: Francis and Pascale Gelb. As the house opens a new chapter, supported by investment funds and Bpifrance (France’s Public Investment Bank), and embarks on unprecedented international acceleration, Francis Gelb retraces the thread of the journey: that of an intuition long deemed improbable, followed by an adventure built day after day, where ideas, encounters and industrial projects have shaped one of the most distinctive trajectories in the French landscape.
When Francis Gelb imagined Sabre in the early 1990s, the cutlery market was locked into a binary offer. On one side, traditional silver-plated metal—highly codified and very classical. On the other, mass retail: functionality without soul. In between, nothing.
“I knew exactly what I wanted to do: quality cutlery with colour, pleasure, a fun spirit, but well made,” he explains. But no one believed in it. At 28, he presented his idea to the ten largest clients of the family business. The unanimous verdict was “no”. “They told me it wasn’t viable, that the market didn’t exist. What they didn’t see was what was coming: a generation earning money earlier, looking for something other than formality or low-end products.” Yet the era—the early 1990s—was already in the midst of transformation. Design was opening up, fashion shifting towards a “porno chic” spirit, brands seeking transgression. Driven and visionary, he immediately identified the moment and placed orders for contemporary, colourful, daring models. Success was immediate. Sabre had found its place—a place no one had anticipated.
Sabre, the ‘charming house’ of cutlery
To describe Sabre, Francis Gelb likes to evoke the world of boutique hospitality, “the kind of place where you want to spend your holidays,” an image that perfectly sums up the brand’s welcoming and warm spirit. Far from a discourse centred on ancestral know-how, Sabre chose another path: telling a simple, warm, embodied story. “Pascale is solar, intuitive, a colourist. I am hardworking and organised. Sabre is the sum of our two personalities.” A rare authenticity, reinforced by one distinctive trait: Pascale never looks at what others are doing. Her inspirations come from elsewhere—travel, Parisian walks, atmospheres, encounters. She doesn’t know the other brands; it doesn’t interest her. “That may be our greatest strength.” The result is a universe that is immediately recognisable and fully embraced. And a positioning clear enough that, in a study conducted across four countries (France, the United States, Korea and the United Kingdom), only one other brand shares the same international presence: Christofle.
Accelerating, structuring, growing: Sabre’s other story
In recent years, Sabre has experienced spectacular growth, driven by a momentum that has fundamentally changed the company’s scale. This rapid expansion is no accident; it is the result of extensive self-questioning, deep modernisation and a rare ability to structure operations in step with demand. By joining several Bpifrance acceleration programmes, Francis Gelb made a decisive shift. “I understood that consultants weren’t just for large companies—and above all that if you agree to listen to them, everything changes.” Multiple projects followed: reorganisation of flows, introduction of lean management, renewed governance, a regular executive committee, HR structuring. The company professionalised while developing an industrial tool capable of sustaining this new pace. “When you grow fast, everything becomes more complex, but it must never be done at the expense of quality.”
The fund’s entry: strategic continuity, reinforced ambition
The arrival in autumn 2025 of FrenchFood Capital and Bpifrance, now majority shareholders, marks the opening of a new chapter for Sabre Paris. No abrupt break, but a controlled transition: the investment fund, with a clear horizon and recognised expertise, is fully aligned with the continuity of the project.
Source: Home Fashion News Jan26
