Meilleur Ouvrier de France

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Every three years, craftsmen across France have the opportunity to compete for the highly coveted “Un des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France” award. This award was created in 1924 and is given to the best craftsmen competing in each field, covering everything from chocolate making to specific building trades. Each competitor enters a masterpiece which demonstrates his craft, which is then evaluated against extremely stringent standards. Within each category anyone making the standard receives the award, so in any given year, there may be several people receiving the award for a given category or there may be none.

Merely to enter the competition requires significant commitment from the craftsman; the master piece being submitted will certainly require weeks and very likely months of work to create a showpiece that demonstrates technical excellence combined with artistic flair. However, the award carries such prestige that it is worth almost any effort. The winner will then proudly carry the title 'Un des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France' (literally translated 'Best Worker of France', but a more meaningful translation would be 'Best Craftsman of France') for the rest of his or her life.

Fields include: Chocolate making, Window making, Cabinetry