My understanding is that Forschner was a North American-market distributor,,, not the "sole" global distributor of Victorinox knives. The very fact that the knives' etchings were in English ("made in, etc") tells you something. Knives manufactured in France for that market, would be labelled "Fabrique en France". Regarding Forschner-labelled knives from France,,, perhaps Forschner was also importing some other brands,, besides Victorinox? I've got a wood-handled paring knife that's at least 40-50 years old, and it's a brand called "Excellent", and labelled "made in France",,, obviously to be sold in an English speaking market. The knife also has the word "Stainless" etched on the blade, where in France it would be labelled "inoxydable."