Our first offering from Hawaii bladesmith Peter Swarz-Burt consists of not one but two stunning chef knives forged by hand from Peter's own homemade wootz steel. Crafting knives for three decades, Peter began making wootz in a small furnace from base elements in 1999 and has not looked back. This 172mm / 6.77" chef knife stands 53mm tall at the heel with a sharp, strong edge and convex bevels, making it a compact daily workhorse to tackle the biggest cuts. Tapering steadily to a fine tip, the chef knife is balanced and very comfortable, dressed in stunning koa wood, as is the matching paring knife, with the chef also featuring a black micarta bolster with beautiful grain. The 118mm / 4.65" parer will make an excellent kitchen utility knife, stiff and durable along the spine with convex bevels that culminate at a sharp, hard, and all-business edge that retains enough material, including at the tip, for the toughest cuts, including trimming and preparing proteins for example. The wootz steel in both blades, polished and etched in its finished state, reveals a beautiful pattern of bands not dissimilar from modern damascus. This, however, is truly the original.