I want one of these:

It's a Hattori 9.5" chef's knife. The bolster is nickel and the handle is black linen micarta, with a blade of Cowry X stainless steel surrounded by Damascus steel forged from stainless steels and pure nickel. I adore this finish and think it would be a lovely addition to my knife set. For a mere $1250. Chump change.



I could make do with one of these:

It's a Tokifusa Iizuka 8.25" chef's knife. The finish is swell, though I don't like that the bolster doesn't meet seemlessly with the blade; I'm always afraid food will get in there somehow. But it is made in the traditional Japanese style, the handle is magnolia wood and the bolster is water buffalo horn and it only costs $418.00.



And I more realistically could buy myself this one:

It's a Ryusen Damascus 6" slicing knife with a handle of Paaka wood. The wood grain finish on the blade is still very pretty and I could pretend it was the Hattori if I squint and don't wear my contact lenses. My pocketbook wouldn't be so light with the $115 price tag.