The chef's knife worth buying once.

Wusthof has been making knives in Solingen since 1814, and the Classic is its core line. The blade is forged from German stainless steel hardened to 58 HRC and sharpened by machine to 14 degrees per side, which is keener than older German knives used to leave the factory.

It is a knife that tolerates a household. It can go through a chicken joint, survive a hurried hand wash and come back with a few passes on a honing steel. The full bolster adds weight and balance, and it protects your fingers.

The same bolster is the downside. It runs to the heel of the blade, so over years of sharpening it has to be ground back or the edge develops a gap near the handle. Wusthof does not sharpen by mail itself and lists a third party, Eversharp in Minneapolis, on its site for that work. Skip it if you prefer a thin, light blade.

Zwilling Pro is forged in Germany from a single piece of Zwilling's special formula stainless steel and ice-hardened by the company's Friodur process. Zwilling rates the blade at 55 to 58 HRC, in the same family as the Wusthof.

The difference is the bolster. On the Pro it is curved and sloped back, so it supports a pinch grip on the blade and stops short of the heel. That leaves the whole edge free to sharpen for the life of the knife. It weighs about 0.58 pounds.

Zwilling also sells its own mail-in sharpening through Knife Aid, sold on its site by the number of knives, with a prepaid insured envelope. Skip it if you want the hardest steel for the price, which is the Japanese knives' territory.

Shun is made by Kai in Seki City, Japan. The Classic has a VG-MAX steel core clad in 34 layers of Damascus on each side, with a 16 degree edge per side and a D-shaped Pakkawood handle. It weighs about 6.7 ounces, lighter than the German knives.

The reason to buy it is Kai's sharpening service. Original owners who bought from authorized dealers in the US, Canada or Mexico can send Shun knives to Kai's facility in Tualatin, Oregon to be sharpened free, paying a $15 return shipping and processing fee in the US. Kai estimates two weeks turnaround. That turns a hard, fussy blade into one that can stay sharp for decades without the owner learning to use a whetstone.

The steel is harder and more brittle than German steel. Owners report small chips from bones, frozen food and glass or stone boards. Skip it if the knife will be used by everyone in the house, including the person who puts it in the dishwasher.

Tojiro is a knife maker in Tsubame, Niigata, and its Fujitora line is its most widely distributed. This 210 millimeter gyuto has a core of cobalt alloy steel clad in 13 chrome stainless, which gives a hard, keen edge on the inside and easy care on the outside. The handle is 18-8 stainless steel, so there is no wood to crack or rot.

A gyuto is the Japanese version of the chef's knife: thinner and lighter than a German blade, with a flatter profile made for push cuts rather than rocking. At 210 millimeters, about 8.3 inches, it is the size most home cooks settle on.

Skip it if you want a knife you can neglect. Thin, hard Japanese edges chip if you twist them through squash or bone, and they want a whetstone or a sharpening service rather than a pull-through sharpener. Hand wash it, whatever the box says.

The Fibrox is stamped from sheet steel rather than forged, has a plastic non-slip handle, and is made in Switzerland. It is a common sight in restaurant kitchens, and it is dishwasher safe, which no other knife here claims without a caveat.

It is light at about 6.4 ounces, thin enough to cut well, and soft enough to sharpen easily on anything. Victorinox covers it with a lifetime warranty.

It will not impress anyone at the counter. Buy it if you are not sure you will keep a knife sharp, or as the knife you hand to guests while yours stays in the drawer.