I have a few and love Wusthof Classic knives. The handle fit in my hand the most comfortably. Almost everything is done with the chef and a paring knife. I know a stone is the best way to sharpen but I am inexperienced so I bought the Wusthof knife sharpener on Amazon. It does a good job even for a novice and reasonable price.

90% of my kitchen work is done with a Wusthof Classic Santuko and a 104-O Messermeister paring knife. The Santuko takes most of the work out of chopping/dicing/slicing, and the inexpensive Messermeister is my favorite for paring. I set the angle of my blades when I get them on a series of DMT diamond hones, and thereafter use only a diamond impregnated steel for realigning unless a knife's edge is damaged by carelessness. 2-3 strokes on each side of the Smith's interrupted surface diamond steel/hone returns the tools to shaving sharp after an hr of work. I have high end parers, but keep going back to the great little Messermeister. Nice & flexible blade that holds an edge very well. Too bad it's so cheap. ;-)

Al

I had several Wusthof Classic knives many years ago - until a boyfriend used the chef's knife as a screwdriver and broke the tip off and then he fried the handles of both the paring knife and another smaller slicer in the dishwasher. Before their demise, I liked them very much; they were my favorites out of several brands that I owned, including several duplicates in terms of size and function.

The other day, I went knife shopping at a local shop. While I was there, I examined several brands of santoku- and chef-style knives, including Wusthof's Classic and Ikon. Like you, wildaboutplants, looking at them, it seemed to me that the Ikon would be more comfortable in the hand than the Classic. However, when I compared the Ikon and Classic in my [smaller] hand, I found the Classic to be significantly more balanced and comfortable for me. As I held different knives, from many manufacturers, I discovered a strong preference for shorter handles and a weightier feel in my hand. In the end, my first pick was not either of the Wursthof brands, however, the Classic was a top finisher and I can easily see owning one and being quite happy with it. It was wonderfully balanced and comfortable in my hand, I just wanted a bit more weight in my palm. The Ikon was not even close, and no doubt, the Ikon feels "just right" for many other people. Just goes to show, you never know for sure until you get an actual grip on each one ...