My uncle and nephew still fish with the Ye39 fishing vessel.
The oyster knife company
Emergo Designs
My name is Alexander Bol and I’m the founder of Emergo Designs. In 2014 I started my company out of my love for design and my families oyster heritage. My family has been growing oysters for more than 100 years in the ”Eastern Scheldt” estuary. In Yerseke, the Netherlands, to be precise.
I studied engineering and this company is a way to combine oysters and design together. I make my shuckers both by hand and with CNC to create a unique culinary pieces. I’m a part-time knife maker, but hope to grow this into a full time occupation.
I have made and sold over 150 knives to more than twenty different countries. I am delighted to make a custom oyster shucker for you.
Top Quality
Custom made by me means that I make, check and approve every knife before it ships out.
Chic shuckers
All my knives are elegant and sleek. I really try to combine form with function. The end result is a shucker that looks as good as it shucks.
An oyster grown by our family company H. Bol & Zn. BV.
Photo below, the first Emergo Designs workshop.
Why Oysters?
Family heritage
My dad and his brothers had an oyster and mussel fishing company together: H.Bol en Zoon BV. 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.
Fishing in Yerseke
Yerseke is the Oyster capital of North West Europe. Here my father and his brothers used to have their two fishing vessels: Ye 123 Hugo Senior and Ye 86 Jacomina. Both these boats were named after my grandparents and I have named 2 of my knives after them. My dad retired in 2015, however my nephew is continuing the oyster farming business. And I keep connected to this heritage with Emergo designs. Our goal is to make oyster shuckers that enhance the compete oyster experience.
Current workshop
My first oyster knives were made in our oyster packaging facility in Yerseke. Nowadays Emergo Designs is located 20 minutes away in Vlissingen. But like everywhere in the province of Zeeland, the water is never far away.
Innovation in opening oysters
I don’t think that there is a company in the world that is more dedicated to making oyster knives. We stopped making all other types of knives to focus a 100% on shuckers. Why? Because our dedication to open these shellfish allows us to learn and innovate. Oyster opening tools for us are not a side product to complete the line up, they are the line-up!
Some Emergo Designs innovations:
Introduction of powder metallurgy steels and titanium as blade materials
Unique blade geometry that does not damage the oyster
Circular recyclable oyster knife (HUGO)
High end gift packaging for each shucker
Watch Emergo Designs at work
Our core business is oyster opening tools. But while we are further developing the market, sometimes we take on other jobs. For instance CNC job shop or 3Dprinting. We use the tools and machines we usually use for knife making, but produce customer parts instead. This is for local customers in the Netherlands. However it might explain why you’ve found another website. It’s the same company, same faces and same machines.
Want to see your oyster knife being made?
We use Instagram to share our processes and the beautiful knives we finish. However not just the pretty things, but also the ups and downs that come with the striving to perfection.
