Ah, the knives I bought from them today are labelled Hammer Stahl Cutlery.
I’ll let you know how their edge retention goes…
Usually goes with the territory of lower carbon steel knives, easier to sharpen but as you say … One can of course go too far the other way and end up with 65+ Rockwell cutting edge that holds edge retention well but is a right PITA to sharpen and can be rather prone to being ‘Chippy’ if not used appropriately, the ZDP-189 power steel is a great comprise.
Happened to read some analysis on ZDP-189 today whilst doing my own knife research. The conclusion seemed to be “pointless”. Essentially, there are better options for edge retention and hardness, and it’s corrosion resistance is so poor it probably shouldn’t be called a stainless steel.
I’m not an engineer or metallurgist, so I’ll bow to those that know more (@pmac perhaps), but his investigation seemed pretty thorough and detailed.
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These are the two knives I am currently considering:
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Lovely.
I may not be in the market to buy any knives but I still like the porn 
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Proper shanker
still like the porn
I’ve only skimmed through that but it seems to be something other than a true stainless steel to me.
I’m struggling to understand why you would aspire to a 67 or 68 Rc hardness for a kitchen knife. It’s going to be a twat to sharpen and the edge has to be prone to chipping at that hardness.
If I was going to invest in a quality chef’s knife I’d be looking at Japanese high carbon steel. My Japanese wood chisels can fairly easily be sharpened to a razor blade like edge. Maybe they don’t hold their edge quite as long as you might like (although certainly as long as - or longer than - st/st) but my god they can be made sharp.
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Does it not also link back to edge retention? If you only need to hone it day to day and then get the whetstones out once every 6 months under professional workloads, I can see the appeal.
All that said, the one I am looking at is a far more pedestrian 63 Rc, I suspect that’s plenty for me.
If edge retention is your primary requirement then perhaps yes, but I’m fairly sure you will never get it as sharp as a Japanese (white) paper carbon steel.
Hmm, one of the other knives (near identical price point) that I was looking at was white carbon steel. I am slightly at a loss as to know how to ascertain whether it’s materially different to say SPG2, which that knife I posted is made from.
Which is why I prefer Shirogami White Paper steel #1 and # 2 , high purity Hitachi carbon steel Japanese knives.
And Aogami Blue steel #1 has the same amount of Carbon as White steel #1 but with added
Chromium and tungsten. It has a hardness of 61-64HRC as per the Rockwell
hardness scale.
The added Chromium and tungsten give it better edge retention, sharpness, and
corrosion resistance.
Blue steel #2 has the same chemical composition as Blue steel #1 but has lower
carbon content and as a result lower hardness. Because of its lower hardness is
tougher and contains added tungsten and Chromium, which increase its durability
and edge retention.
Of course both can be clad in stainless however your still have to make sure the carbon cutting edge is well dried before storage.
I’ve read a fair amount about that array of steels in the last few days. I think I’m rather more confused than before I started 
Aogami Blue (which I think is the same as Super, the terms seem to get mixed) does seem to be the best balance, but when I add in the fact that I want a 21cm kiritsuke, and to get it from within the EU, it all gets silly money.
SPG2 is a form of stainless steel. White carbon steel isn’t.
The grain structure of the latter will be much finer and that is the absolute key to achieving scalpel-like sharpness. The downside is that it is not resistant to rust so it will need more looking after.
Camellia oil is the go to IMO. That’s what I use on my chisels (in an extremely aggressive environment - high humidity etc)
Not quite : Super steel differs from Blue steel #1 and #2 because it has more Carbon and extra amounts of Chromium, vanadium, tungsten, and molybdenum.
These additional components increase its toughness, corrosion resistance, and wear resistance.
Amazing blade but a real pig to sharpen properly.
Somehow completely missed that, didn’t realise SPG2 was stainless. My brain is a fucking mess now
These people are based in France - apologies if you already know them
Ooh no, managed to miss them! Thank you!
Edit: Balls, they don’t actually have stock of any of the carbon steel kiritsuke, despite the Add to Cart buttons.
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This is my one.
I’ve had it about 25 years and I use it for everything. No idea what it’s made of. Cuts everything just fine, needs sharpening occasionally.
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On that basis you only need one watch!
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