8 STADIUMS - 8 KNIVES
World Cup Qatar 2022

Unique collection in the world, a box of 8 knives engraved with the image of the stadiums, taking up the design and architecture of each of them, highlighting the cultural origins of the Qatari people. These 8 knives will be presented in a box, a unique creation, inspired by the Lusail Iconic Stadium.

“We are all architects of our dreams!”

Indeed I have dreams but achieving them all seems difficult to me.
I'll tell you the story of it.
My wife and I have been participating in the Katara International Hunting & Falcons Exhibition in Doha, Qatar for two years. The first with beginner's luck, the Emire father does us an immense honor by purchasing several pieces from our collection. The following year, wanting to go further, take more risks, ''He who tries nothing, gets nothing'', I created a box of three fixed knives, in mammoth ivory with bolsters engraved by my friend Louis Leforestier, a falcon, a horse, an oryx!

We had just surpassed ourselves, the visit of Sheikh Hamad ben Khalifa Al Thani was covered with laurels, since he had recognized me and wanted to see my work. We were filled with my sweetheart like a fairy tale, a dream had just come true before us.
A visit to Doha with our Qatari friend was essential to be able to understand and absorb this culture and their history. At the bend of a road we find ourselves facing a monumental sculpture, my friend explains to me with a laugh that it is a stadium, the Al-Thumama Stadium. His story appeals to me 8 stadiums for the World Cup, an architectural madness, I remain speechless...
The days pass and I feel within myself a desire to create and build, like these architects. I meet the Ambassador who congratulates me on having surprised the Emir Father and kindly asks me if I have other plans for the future year and there... without any hesitation, the theme is given.

8 knives - 8 stages

My thoughts follow one another, I am going to create 8 unique knives in the world bearing the image of the stadiums, taking up the design and architecture of each of them, highlighting the cultural origins of the Qatari people.

I in turn become the architect, the project manager, I contact my friend Louis for the engravings, everything merges, we are missing a magician, yes, a man capable of creating a box in the shape of a stadium, like Lusail Iconic Stadium. My knowledge made me meet this person David Valence, where ideas smoke in his head, just like me, we use the same words, the desire to do what others don't do, the beautiful work, to surpass ourselves.
I realize that these 20 years after the creation of my 1515 were beneficial, it is thanks to my experience that I can achieve the goal, it is not an order, just a desire to cherish a dream.

David Valence, art cabinetmaker, works in his marquetry workshop, where the key words are creation, precious wood and handwork. It pays homage to this natural resource that is wood, a noble and living material, which under his passionate fingers reveals all its beauty through its colors, its texture and its reflections.

This box set is a unique tailor-made creation inspired by the Lusail Iconic Stadium. Its volumes as well as the exterior decorations are inspired by the structure of the stadium. The box will be inlaid on the lid and side walls. The box holds the eight fully engraved knives.

Louis Leforestier, artisan engraver, engraver. He creates engravings on metal, worked by hand with passion. Much more than an ornament, an engraving is an artistic creation that brings a unique character to each object. Here is the creation of the first two 1515 knives in this unique box. For the ornament we have taken the shape of a football field, as well as the inscription Qatar in Arabic on each of the sleeves, you can discover the resumption of the structures of the Al-Bayt and Lusail Iconic stadiums.