Worth the money! Learn what a knife is supposed to be like and then understand why these are the best. Be sure to take care of them properly, and they’ll stay razor sharp.

i had a german santoku knife and used it for many years prior to switching to shun recommended by my friend.

The knives are all well balanced and sharp. so far, I like them very much. however, the paring knife is a little bit stiff as compared to other brands.

These knives are so beautiful and sharp. Although a bit expensive, the quality is stunning. I purchased my set w/ a free cutting board($60 value) and and free shipping at Etronics.com for $299.99. I regret I did not purchase the 9 piece set for $399.99. This is one purchase you won’t regret!

These knives are the sharpest I’ve ever used and also quite comfotable to handle. Well worth every penny!

I own 3 different sets of knives, including Wusthof and Henckles. The Shun knives are very nice, and good to handle. I also like my Wusthof knives, and don’t want to take away from those. Not all that happy with the Henckles.

I bought this set for my significant other at Christmas. I looked around at Wusthof, Global, and a few others but liked the unique look and feel of these better. I also figured these would be more comfortable and easier to wield for a female. The end result is that she really enjoys them. Although she has fairly large hands for a woman, the handles fit her nicely.

The knives come very sharp and hold their edge for a long time. It will be interesting to see how well they take to a professional sharpening. Overall, I am happy that I purchased this set.

There is one caveat. I also do quite a bit of cooking and have large hands. After using the Shuns for a couple of months, I have come to the conclusion that the Wusthof Grand Prixs fit me better and feel sturdier. I cannot really justify having two sets of expensive knives around the house, so we will be keeping the Shuns. My advice: Go to Sur La Table or Williams-Sonoma and handle the knives yourself. Feel the weight, notice the handle shape, and decide what fits you best. There are so many quality manufacturers of cutlery now that it is hard to go wrong with any of the selections.

I got this set for my sibling as I myself have the Wustof and wanted to diversify our experience. Shun’s are extremely sharp, more like using razors to prepare food. However I suspect they don’t do well in hard water as they seem to get pitted and chipped at the thin edge. I’ve swapped an 8inch wustoff carver for an 8inch shun slicer. The wustoff can take a beating but does not remain as sharp, however the shun’s begin to chip at the edge. Go figure. I think shuns are are less forgiving in terms of leaving in the stainless steel sink for a time before washing in hard water. I know its bad by my wustoffs can handle being auto diswashed where as the shun’s will deteriorate. I would be more comfortable chopping with german wustoff as the japanese shun seems to want to chip.

I’ll be honest. I lusted for these knives. I just didn’t want to pay $350.00 for this set. However one day I found a timed Gold Box deal on the knives for $199.99 and I snapped them up without the normal spouse check before spending that much money. The spouse has since approved of the purchase.

These knives are incredibly sharp. They use a different steel, VG-10, and are sharpened to a 16-degree angle, much sharper than the normal 22-25 degree angle of most knives. If it matters to you these are also the knives that are used and endorsed by Alton Brown.

One final point. Shun provides lifetime free sharpening for these knives, including return postage. Just ship them to Shun and they will be sharpened. The knife set comes with a honing steel that has a 16 degree guide built into the honing steel. Be sure not to sharpen or hone the knives using normal sharpeners or honing systems. They are set to a different angle.

I loved my Shun Classic 6.5″ Santoku knife, so I purchased a 6-piece set (except my set came with a 9″ serrated bread knife instead of the utility knife). Shun is the best! For the most control and best grip, I was told to hold the knife close to the blade with my index finger on the metal ridge. It seemed a little awkward at first, but it’s very comfortable once you get used to it! I love the weight of the knives, the wooden handles, and the sharpness of the blades. They do, however, need to be sharpened occasionally (I judge this by how well they cut through a tomato). I was told that you should use the boning steel every time you use a knife, but I have never used it. Instead I’ve been using the MinoSharp Plus sharpener, which sharpens the knives extremely well. If I could only have one knife I’d get the 6.5″ Santoku (not in this set) because I use it far more often than any other knife. However, the large chef’s knife is much better for cutting large, hard foods like squashes and melons. I love the multi-functional scissors (they come apart so you can sharpen them and clean them well), and I like being able to protect my knives and keep them together in the wooden block.