Shaped from premium ApexUltra tungsten-carbon steel and given a silky, sanded finish, this 194mm / 7.6″ gyuto by OliverMrtenstreats the kitchen to a vacation from the ordinary. With itshandsome harpoon clip profile, 57mm tall heel height, and spine that tapers distally from 4.5mm out of the handle to barely one millimeteran inch from the paper thin, needle-like tip, the blade delivers the tip-top balance, geometry, and resulting performance one expects of this Kassel, Germany bladesmith. Developed recently from the ground up specifically for use in high-performance edged tools, ApexUltra was created with the help of our maker and metallurgist Tobias Hangler of Austria, and OIiver employs it here with remarkable precision, giving the blade’s primary bevels superb, symmetrical convex geometry above a razor-sharp edge that has been heat-treated and hardened to 66 HRC on the Rockwell scale. The tip sits low and is extremely fine, perfect for detail work and slicing, while the edge profile still affords the chef enough blade belly to rock and chop on the board in any grip. As elegant as the blade is a handle in Oliver’s well-loved profile sculpted from canvas micarta and anodized aluminum, all secured to the blade’s tang using a retention bolt that is capped at the rear with an anodized titanium center screw.