Victorinox Forged 8-Piece Knife Set with Block

I've lived in Europe most of my life and I know a good knife. These are excellent quality knifes! However I was quite disappointed by the quality of the block and the cheap looking emblem on the front. Doesn't even look like the picture on Amazon... and of course it wasn't made in Europe.

To start with; Unlike some other reviewers, I like the wooden knife block. It is weighty, well balanced, not easily knocked over and has wide slots for the knives. To my eyes it looks balanced and fits well into a kitchen counter corner. The set also includes other practical kitchen items, such as the high quality steel, a santoku knife, a boning knife and good quality kitchen scissors/shears. These are expensive and quite useful items, often missing in other maker's sets.

The handles themselves are weighted, well rounded,and called an ergonomic design. They are a little longer than most and raised towards the rear. This allows the heel of the palm, to assist more in cutting and in theory, reduce fatigue in extended use. They fit all hands well but those with chubby or large hands have found their knife. I found them roundish and comfortable but didn't notice a huge difference between these and the classic style.

The bolster (metal between the handle and blade) doesn't extend to the bottom of the blade. This is an advantage for some slicing operations and doesn't give the knife that worn out look after repeated sharpening.

The 20cm (8") Chef's knife has the largest handle of the set and weighs in at 293 grams; with balance on the handle side of the bolster. This is close to perfect for a heavier professional knife, where the weight can assist in cutting. Interestingly enough at the halfway length of the blade, 10mm in from the edge, the blade thickness measured 1.1 mm. Just about a perfect balance between a thin (for ease of cutting) but weighty blade. I am impressed with this particular knife. The carver weighs 206 grams and the Santoku 214 grams and both feel good in the hand.

After several weeks of favourable use, I sharpened the knives to a standard 20 degree grind. This sharpening is where I often find quality or lack of it in a knife, which you can't see on purchase. They sharpened without much burr, indicating between a medium to hard, fine grained, well tempered steel. The surprise came on the sharpness test. Rarely have I had knives come out this sharp from a standard sharpening routine. In daily use the edges held well, didn't chip (unlike many of the harder Japanese knives) and a good edge came back with a few strokes from a carbide (Accusharp type) sharpener. The only minor change I would make to the set, is to the Santoku knife. There I would add a bit more taper from the bolster to the blade, to allow for a little more pinching between the thumb and index finger for some slicing operations. Plus I would prefer the grooves on the blade to be higher up, as they may become too close to the edge after several years of sharpening. A preference only and not really a fault.

I am a retire e who sharpens a couple hundred knives a year(for pocket money)and owns or has owned many expensive, moderate and cheap knives. The Victorinox Forged Knife Set has in practical use, been just about perfect for me. I highly recommend their purchase and they are worth the premium price. UPDATE: After several months of use. The Santoku is a real performer and ideal for the expensive minimalist who wants to own just one knife. It is the knife I now INSTINCTIVELY use for most cutting. It is hard to quantify but it has a feel/weight/edge/comfort/balance that merge together for a superb knife. Secondly I am surprised by how good and how often I pull the kitchen scissors from the block.

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I ordered these knives and they arrived promptly. The knives themselves are very nice, but a little heavy. The block however is a total piece of crap! It has a thin layer of lacquer that had the edges worn away where the knives are slotted, likely from shipping. The small knives fall over because the block gives no support to them. The slot is too big. I returned them and will likely get Wusthof because, after looking at them in the store, their block is solid oak. I have always liked Victorinox but please step up your game and spring for a real block when your customers drop $300+ on knives.

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Knives are well made and they cut nicely. It's good range of knife types that you will actually use. The blade's finish will mar easily even if you use something like a Scott scouring sponge. This is probably true for most other knives so not really an issue. The block is indeed terrible. The knife slots and overall block quality just isn't there, but then again I don't buy a knife set for the block. I'll probably get a magnet knife strip instead at some point.

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mom loved it for her birthday, however beware the first 2 sets I got were short 2 knives, the block is cheap though.... whatever... made in Germany, can cut a carrot twice as efficient I guess

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