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So my parents got a knive set from St. Moritz, and wanted to give them to me. I'm an hobby cook, who just likes cooking simple stuff. I have barely any knowledge about knives or treating them, so here I am. I just had some questions about the knives, since I'm not sure if these are legit.

Here's a picture of the knife set:
picture of knife set

Whenever I google the knives, I only get shady sites and stories about people being scammed. Is this brand legit? The booklet that's included says the entire set is worth around 730 euros, but I can't find anything online.

And assuming the knives are legit, are there any tips on treating/using them? Can these be put in the dishwasher when cleaning, or should I refrain from that?

I have a magnetic bar on my wall to store knives, but is it bad to put 'good' knives on them?

They are kind of blunt at the moment, but I have barely any experience sharpening them, should I bring them to a special shop or something?

Thank you for your help! Just figuring out how to use these, if they're legit to begin with.

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    Like anything else, things are worth what people are will to pay for them. But the booklet claiming it's worth a given amount is ... suspicious. I know people who like Cutco knives ... I can't stand them. I've never seen a really sharp one -- I don't know if they just come dull, or they dull easily. (In one case, I was told they were brand new, and they were dull already)
    – Joe
    Sep 10, 2017 at 13:03
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    I don't think magnetic bars are bad/do harm to knives, but I never liked the idea of having very sharp weaponry suspended in air by magnetism alone.
    – Willem van Rumpt
    Sep 10, 2017 at 15:02
  • Welcome! It's usually best to ask separate questions separately, so people can focus on giving good answers to each. The magnetic rack one is probably already answered here: cooking.stackexchange.com/q/79264/1672
    – Cascabel ♦
    Sep 10, 2017 at 15:11
  • Reasons not to put knives in the dishwasher: cooking.stackexchange.com/q/1804/1672
    – Cascabel ♦
    Sep 10, 2017 at 15:13
  • @Jefromi sorry about that, just new to knives and this place in general :P
    – AnonymousPerson
    Sep 10, 2017 at 19:34

2 Answers 2

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"San Moritz" is the name of a line of culinary knives by the well recognized brand Messermeister. HOWEVER, the knives shown differ notably in design from that line and are likely a cheaply made product trying to capitalize on the name of that line.

Knives that are actually sold aboveboard (and perfectly worth the money) at ~$100 and higher apiece will usually be of a well recognized brand (eg Herder, Zwilling, K Sabatier, Chroma, Global...), or small-batch/handmade pieces bearing the name of the artisan or responsible workshop leader (eg Heimo Roselli, Jürgen Schanz, Sirou Kamou...).

Often (with a legit expensive knife), the steel type used will be clearly named (either by an industry standard name like VG10, 1.4116, 420B, AUS-8A .... or by a manufacturer-specific product name that describes a combination of steel and proprietary heat treatment method, eg Global "Cromova" ), and sometimes the hardness range will also be specified (eg 60-62HRC would be typical for VG10, 55-56HRC for 1.4116). A steel type and hardness do not signify the quality of the steel alone, since the way the steel is processed makes significant differences. A cheap knife is likely going to be of 420B at 55-56HRC, which CAN be a decent steel but often is not.

Out of the box sharpness is a highly brand dependent matter in all price ranges, for different reasons - a very cheap brand might not bother to sharpen well since it is costly (good abrasives are not that cheap), a high end maker assumes that the user is knowledgeable and will either know sharpening it or know a trusted local professional, and have their own idea of HOW they want it sharpened (there are tradeoffs to be made in sharpness vs durability, and different edges are best for different applications). BTW, for culinary knives, cutting behaviour is a combination of actual edge sharpness and blade geometry.

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  • I see.. I think I can assume they're fakes though, since I've been looking at the knives and haven't seen any specification of the type of steel or hardness. I'll still take them to a sharpener, since I have no experience of doing it myself. Thanks!
    – AnonymousPerson
    Sep 10, 2017 at 19:33
  • "Fakes" is a subjective term here ... but I seriously doubt these would be considered worth $800 a kit among serious users or collectors.
    – rackandboneman
    Sep 11, 2017 at 4:28
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    BTW, be aware that there are ACTUAL counterfeits (designed to be mistaken for the original) of some popular knife brands (eg Global) in the wild.
    – rackandboneman
    Sep 11, 2017 at 11:30
  • I've heard of San Moritz but St. Moritz sounds like a ripoff of a good brand.
    – GdD
    Sep 11, 2017 at 13:09
  • The knives shown do not imitate the San Moritz line, though - so i'd be reluctant to call them a hard fake/counterfeit. Neither would I call that brand honest or expect good quality. BTW, just for orientation: $800 spent on a single knife would get you something from the second-highest tier regarding culinary knives (highest grade sanmai, honyaki or true handmade damascus from blacksmiths that you could consider the top 100 but not top 10).
    – rackandboneman
    Sep 11, 2017 at 18:21
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Over priced. Hot drop forged from a single steel. A better not great knife. Check the fork first. Can it lift ham with out bending? Forks are needed for lifting meat. The blades. All should know how to use a stone to sharpen. Takes practice but not hard to do. Start with a dull flat file about 6 inch's. Then your medium stone flat. Then your fine stone. Next you Onix stone to polish the blade. When you can dry shave the hairs off your arm perfect for use.

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