Our family has been growing and fishing oysters for 100 years in the Eastern Scheldt region in the Netherlands, and as a child, I happily spent my summers working on our family’s oyster fishing ship. It’s really special to be out on the water and I look back with great memories.
Growing up, I took an interest in designing and making products. I became an engineer and combined my passion for knife making with my family heritage. In 2014 I developed my first oyster knife.
On a fine Sunday afternoon, my dad broke his cheap oyster shucker. He was lucky that he didn’t hurt himself, and stories about people unsuccessfully shucking oysters led me to create a durable handmade oyster knife. I was already designing and making knives at the time and decided right that moment to develop a safer, more durable handmade opener for oysters.
Now my company Emergo Designs proudly makes and sells exclusive oyster opening tools that ship all over the world.
Now my company Emergo Designs proudly makes and sells exclusive oyster opening tools that ship all over the world.
My story
The first knife design came forth out a design process with 6 months of development, followed by multiple designs that are engineered using CAD (computer-aided modeling).
The next step was to make 3 different shaped knife models and test them. I visited local fishermen, restaurateurs and even an old Dutch champion in the Oyster Opening. This is a competition to see who can open oysters the fasted and most precise. With their feedback, I simply chose a model to optimize the knife’s design which became the ”original” oyster shucker. Moving forward, the design and processes for my handmade knives have continuously improved and even surpassed the first version.
There have been changes in methods too, and new machinery has greatly enabled me to improve the fit and finish in piece. Part of the changes was the option to put the Emergo Designs logo and a serial number on the knife.
Our Products
Oyster knives made to last a lifetime
The Story of My Handmade Oyster Knives
Here begins the story of oysters: we all know that these sea creatures are special: They live under the sea and endure years of storms, currents, and waves to become a delicacy. These years have made the oysters quite tough, and you will need a good tool to open them.
Why not have a personalized knife that is as special as the oyster? With an Emergo Designs handmade oyster knife, every oyster you open feels like it has a pearl inside.
This page is all about my oyster knives: the history, the design and how I make them. Emergo Designs makes all the oyster shuckers in the Netherlands, in a workshop that’s located 150 meters from the water.
