These are two IWCs I got from my stepdad after his passing. They were probably purchased in Switzerland sometime between late 1930 s to mid 1940 s. It’s pricey to repair/service them so I’d rather do one at a time and decide if it’s worth the investment. Any thoughts on which one to choose first? I also have an IWC pocket watch.
To start
Gesshin (JKI house brand) vs Konosuke? Are there others?
Different steels. Let’s ignore shirogami!
HD2 vs GS+ vs Swedish Steel. I’ve also seen FM mentioned.
Which Konosukes match up with JKI’s Gesshin in terms of steel composition?
It seems that all Ashis are great. I’m not necessarily concerned with edge retention but with a blade that is less prone to chipping. I also would prefer to not be that concerned about a knife left on the counter for more than 10-15 minutes. From what I can tell, Swedish steel suits me best, but the names have my head spinning.
Purchased this knife a few months ago:
https://www.epicedge.com/shopexd.asp?id=112384&bc=no
Essentially I wanted a less needy knife when i was not in the mood to tend to my Shindo bunka.
The Nakagawa is a very capable knife but so far not in the same class of slicing. I have not sharpened the Ginsan yet. Should I ever expect it to impress me to the level of the Shindo?
Top—->Down
Sabatier 250 mm first quality knife. purchased 50 yrs ago.
Hudson Torrens 52100 gyuto 215 mm
Shindo B2 bunka 165 mm
Satoshi Nakagawa Ginsan bunka 180 mm
Souma FKW AUS-8 150 mm
Bought my first knife (SABATIER) in college about 50 yrs ago……yes I’m 70+ y.o. !!
Can’t part with it.
In the interim I’ve accumulated some German Henkels, Zwilling & Messermeister.
I cook a lot so in February I got the Japanese knife bug and did a deep educational dive. Learned a lot along the way. I thought after my Shindo and Hudson Torrens purchase that I’d stand pat for a while and not make any more purchases. I absolutely love both of those knives but realized that sometimes I just don’t want to think about drying them off. I looked for stainless steels that would be easy to sharpen and hold an edge reasonably well. Came up with some North American AEB- L makers and Japanese Ginsans. Satoshi Nakagawa’s name kept coming up so I decided to purchase what may be considered one of his entry level Ginsans. So far I love it. Would love to hear input from more experienced sources. Be kind!