A historical image of the Rivierre nail factory.
Rivierre nails from France are a staple in our workshop. They hold better than any other manufactured nail we've used, and they look good, to boot. We order them almost every other month – Megan uses tons of them in her tool chest classes.
But lately the supply has been drying up.
Several readers have contacted us about the shortage. Is Lee Valley discontinuing them? Is the factory kaput? We sent messages to both the nail factory in France and Robin Lee, the head of Lee Valley Tools, to see if we could find out.
We haven't heard back from Rivierre, but Robin Lee responded immediately (as he always does).
"We WANT to buy (the nails)….but can't…. still trying!" Robin wrote in an email. "Probably best to not count on us for supply at this time!"
Robin explained that the Lee Valley buyers had been unable to get in touch with the Rivierre factory for some time and were then forced to discontinue them in early 2022. They finally heard back from the factory in October and were told that Rivierre had shut down for a while but was looking to reopen.
But since that message, Rivierre has gone silent again.
Robin says they will continue to try to reestablish the supply of nails between Rivierre and Lee Valley.
Until then, keep your fingers crossed and let's all hope that Rivierre (founded in 1888) gets to its second centennial.
— Christopher Schwarz
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