I rarely leave comments, let alone recommendations, but the quality of the knives is very close to the ones I used growing up working in restaurants in the summer, from 12 to 20 yrs old... First off, the knives are carbon steel, not stainless, so edge sharpness & retention are superior to all stainless steel knives. The metal is at a proper gauge/thickness so it feels properly stiff & strong. The cutting edge is very sharp & has remained so without any sharpening.But what seals the deal for me is the overall look, feel & quality of how the knives are made, look & feel... I would expect to pay 3-4x for this. The handles, finish & handsome knife holding block are all top end. The wood handles are finished with a beautiful butt end metal. I will never go back to stainless steel again as the cutting edges wear quickly & need a lot of edge sharpening. The only caveat to carbon steel is to dry the knives thoroughly after use. Thx to this company for offering such quality for such a great price... kudos!