Wish they came finished
The handles are well constructed and I like the heavy in hand feel. Maybe I'm asking too much for a $300 set of knives, but they could use a little more attention on the edges. I guess we disagree on what is considered "precision honed."
Henckels earns their amazing reputation.
J.A. Henckels have a reputation of being a leader in knives, and knife lines like this one are the reason they have been in business for hundreds of years. These knives have perfect weighting in each knife for a point of balance that allows for a virtually effortless cutting motion. For instance the balance point on the chef's knife is just to the handle side of the point where the handle meets the blade so that the knife easily rotates at that point to allow a rocking cut with unparalleled ease. In comparison, the balance point on the santoku is mid-handle for a chopping motion. I am sure I will buy more of these knives in the future to complete my set, but this 7 piece set is a great starting point that won't hurt your wallet too badly.
Holy... These are AWESOME!
I shopped for a long time and selected these for my wife for christmas. We love to cook and her old knives were getting a little boring - these knives are far from it. The handle feels great and having a full tang that extends through the comfortable curves handle looks AND feels great. We use all of the knives a great deal. The only things *missing* which you'll want to add on are a 6" chef's knife and a bread knife. We had the latter already, so that made this set a no-brainer. I will be picking up the other "missing" knife for $80 at a chain shop. I cannot say enough about the quality. If you're a foodie or just like to have nice, great-looking equipment in your kitchen, these knives beat the snot out of the 4- and 5-star lines.
