Global's Story

A thousand years ago, Japanese sword-smiths developed the high art of sword making to provide strong, sharp blades for the Samurai, the feared warrior caste. GLOBAL knives have been hand crafted in Japan using the same tradition for over 30 years and are developed using the best raw materials available. Like the Samurai swords before them, each knife is carefully weighted to ensure perfect balance in the hand.

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About Global Knives

Global kitchen knives were first designed in 1985 by the creative visionary, Komin Yamada. When Yamada was commissioned for this task, his mandate was to develop a range of knives that was truly new and revolutionary, using the best materials available and the latest manufacturing techniques. He was to fashion a series of kitchen knives which would appeal to the professional and amateur chef alike, be comfortable and easy to handle, and meet their most demanding requirement.

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Crafted for Precision

Yoshikin uses its own proprietary stainless steel called CROMOVA 18 Stainless Steel, which has been designed exclusively for Global knives. This steel is hard enough for Global knives to hold that steep acute cutting edge for a long time, yet soft enough so that it is not too difficult to sharpen. The CRO in CROMOVA 18 stands for chromium and the 18 is the percentage of chromium in the steel. This high percentage of chromium contributes to Global’s excellent stain resistance. Care should be taken to keep your Global knives stain and rust free. To learn how to care for your Global knives, please click see our section on Product Care. The MO and VA in CROMOVA 18 stand for molybdenum and vanadium, the two metallic elements that give a knife good edge retention.

EXCEPTIONALLY SHARP

The two most innovative features of GLOBAL knives are their edge and the way they are balanced. The most important feature of any knife is its edge, and the GLOBAL edge is truly its signature. The majority of the GLOBAL knives are sharpened or ground on both sides of the blade, just like Western style knives. However, their edges are ground steeply to a point as illustrated in Fig. 1, and to an acute angle. This is in contrast to Western or European knives that use a beveled edge, Fig. 2. The straight edge results in a dramatically sharper knife which stays sharper longer. The edge on a GLOBAL knife is so large and prominent that it is easily seen with the naked eye and extends a quarter of an inch or more up from the tip of the knife. It is often asked why GLOBAL knives stay sharp so long without sharpening. The combination of the elements molybdenum and vanadium is one reason, but also refer back to the diagrams above of the straight edge vs. the beveled edge.

Watch how GLOBAL knives are made

From its modest inception, GLOBAL has developed into one of the most successful brands of professional kitchen knives in the world. Still crafted by hand in Yoshikin’s factory in Niigata, Japan, GLOBAL knives are manufactured to extremely high and exacting standards. GLOBAL has attracted much acclaim over the years and received numerous awards.