MessermeisterOliva Elite 7” Kullenschliff Santoku Knife - Japanese Chef’s Knife - German Steel Alloy Blade & Mediterranean Wood Handle - Rust Resistant & Easy to Maintain

Have used the Olivia elite sets for work for a while now. Holds the edge amazingly, great weight, handle is the perfect size for my hands, and to top it off they are just beautiful knives. Balance is darn near perfect.

The Messermeister Oliva knives are beautiful with their Olive handles. I'd put their blade quality right on par with Wusthof and better than Henckels. The one area I think the Messermeister knives truly lack in is the comfort of the handle. While the handle is quite comfortable for short durations, I don't think the design lends well to being able to use a proper pinch grip and using the knife for long periods of time like cutting for hours. If I had to cut a lot of stuff, I think I'd prefer to use a LamsonSharp, Wusthof, RyuSen or Henckels knife because their handles are better designed for a pinch grip. The shape of Messermeister's Oliva handles is more to extenuate the beauty of the olive wood handle than to be for functionality.My only other worry is that the handle will become stained. I haven't had my Messermeister knives long enough to know whether this is a large concern or not. The handles do not appear to be coated or sealed so that they don't get stained. I'm wondering if while I'm cutting up strawberries or accidentally lay the knife near some liquid on the counter or cutting board that they'll get stained. I don't have to worry about that with Wusthof or Henckels since they are plastic handles that won't stain. The same is true of the LamsonSharp knives and their wood handles are sealed. The RyuSen knives are made of multiple layers of wood each soaked in wax or resin then the layers bonded together to give a wood handle that won't absorb water.Messermeister makes a great knife, they just need to work on the handles a little more.

Stay away this brand is trash. The handle of my knife cracked and fell apart. Big chicks began to fall off. I have owned the knife for less then two years. Customer service agent tried to blame me and said the knife looked well worn and that it was bummer but that they don’t fix handles. They refused to repair it. I offered to send it back as it was clearly defective and they said we can give u a 30% off coupon. So I paid $200 it didn’t even last 2 years. Falls apart and now u want me to pay another $140 for another garbage knife know that you aren’t a good ckmlany and won’t stand behind your products. Furthermore this ckmlany claims to be German but they are based out of california. Total scam. Stay away. For the money what you get it low low quality and they offer no warranty on defects