"Value" is a fluid conceptshaped by what the buyers ultimate objectives, vendor, maker's stature/brand, product quality and market comparables, etc.
IMO, handles are a secondary concern with regards to Japanese knives. The bladesteel/design/profile/brand, etc.is for some the most important thing, far above handle craft. I.e. no I know goes to Peter Luger's to order the salmon or chicken.
A lot of Japanese chefs I know have very basic, functional ho wood handles on their quality knives. They view handles as almost disposable, evetually getting banged around, soaked with fish guts and blood. Primary objective for them is a good blade, that gets the job done. Few will buy a Heiji, Watanabe or Masamoto because of the handles. Western buyers/makers (some not all) of Japanese knives will sometimes place a more significant value on handles than Japanese buyers. Bloodroot, Haburn, Marko, Dalman are cutlers making knives fitted with the nicest handles I've seen!
What I was trying to get across by "luxury," was that in the +$250 bracket, from a good dealeri.e. K&S, JKI, JNS, Bernal, etc.you're more than likely getting a good blade at a fair price, handle quality will be functional, meh to good depending on ones standards and expectationslove the burnt chesnut handles from JKI.
If you took an aggregator approach, you can possibly find a similar, maybe better crafted ebony handle than what you paid, if that's what you value. However, some would put a value on having a knife with a handle selected and installed in the knife maker's workshop.
Regarding your future purchases, if you want a "special handle," get a custom, downside is the possible waiting time, additional cost and shipping your knife to and fro. On purely functional grounds, for me I like ho and burnt chestnut octagon handles, nicely grippy when when. Ebony is a little slick/hard for me, but love the look of it, very elegant. I only have one custom, love itbut did miss my knife when it was gone. If you wanted to change a handle, some vendors like JKI re-handle with traditional J-handles. Off topic, but I wish there was a J-knife dealer in NYC that rehandlesI tried with Korin, but they told me that they ship customer's knives back to Japan for rehandling, deal breaker for me.
Below, some handles:
Here're three functional handles. Left to right: Watanabe with keyaki wood octagon, Kochi with burnt chestnut octagon, Mazaki with ho wood d-handle. The keyaki and chestnut are not perfect, but my fave handles if it came down to pure functionality.
Tanaka with ebony, love the look of this ebony handle with brass ferrule, it is slick, but not an issue since I'm a pinch gripper. I love the design of this handle, understated, minimalistic, elegant.
Custom handle, for me it elevates the knife far above the stock handle it came with. The ferrule taper better ergonomically for how I cut. Easily the most gorgeous handle I own.
Thanks for your thorough reply. Id argue that value exists in luxury knives, or any luxury products. Its just the more expensive the item the more biased and perceived its value becomes. One of my favorite semi-documentaries is "F for fake".
I agree, its a beautiful knife, and as I mentioned, Im keeping the handle. Since Im interested in certain esthetics (which are personal and biased), I was inquiring about craftsmen who could possibly re-handle future knives. I like the dark look of my handle, but feel free to suggest a filler for some gaps between the horn and the ebony. As this is my first Japanese knife, I didnt know if this level of f&f is the norm, hence the whole post about it. Its not about second guessing, or crowd sourced affirmation, but educating myself on hopefully future purchases.
Thank you for the extensive references of handle makers!
