Japanese Beautiful Model

Japanese Chef's knives: Shun, or Global?

I've read up on a lot of Japanese knives (yes, I am familiar with Wüsthof and Henckels and own both, but I want Japanese knives now), and there are many great choices, like Mac and Kasumi, among others. I've narrowed my choices down to 2: Shun and Global. Everyone goes ga-ga over Shuns: They're exceptionally beautiful, are made with Damascus-style steel, they have a D-shaped handle girth, and owners of them love them dearly and phrases like "you'd have to pry it out of my cold, dead fingers" come up. They tend to need more sharpening and care than Globals, which are used a lot more professionally, have a straight edge, are made with a special CROMOVA 18 steel as one piece including the hollow handle (filled with sand) and can weather abuse very well. One's a stellar conversation piece, and the other's a more worker-friendly knife. Eric has agreed to buy me a knife set for Christmas, and these are the two Japanese knives I am most interested in. Unfortunately, I don't know where in Orlando I can waltz into a store and try both to compare them, so if you either have any experience with Japanese cutlery and any preference, or you know of a serious cutlery shop in town here in Orlando that would have floor models to try, please let me know. I am a Restaurant & Food Service Management major, so I may be using some of these in my food prep labs, too.

Public Comments

1. I don't think you can go wrong with either. I like sun better becasue of the grip.
2. Shun!! I own the Shun Ken Onion 8 inch chef's knife and the heft of it is amazing. Very manageable great rocking motion when chopping whereas the Global handle is very small and almost no heft to it.