Knives that are entirely too similar are confusing me

[Curmudgeon]

...and making it far more difficult to both learn about Japanese knives and to evaluate the brands.

Consider these three. Separated at birth?
https://cuttingedgeknives.co.uk/brands/sakai-takayuki/moonlit-waves/gyuto-210mm
http://www.japaneseknifecompany.com/products/knives/sakon-gyuto-available-in-2-sizes
http://korin.com/Togiharu-Hammered-Damascus-Gyutou?sc=27&category=8549827

...and I'm sure that I've seen more. Are they same maker? Is one brand made up entirely of "seconds." I'm being to understand that handmade Japanese knives are certainly made with hands, and that those hands may belong to many people, and that these people may be grizzled veterans or wide-eyed apprentices, but what am I to make of seeing these three?

 

[IndoorOutdoorCook]

Are you familiar with the term OEM?

Brands != Maker

Some brands are just brands, and some maker sell knives with their own name. There's no hard and fast rules about it. All the ones you listed are probably made by the same people.

add this one to your list
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D6DVTM6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

and this one

http://www.hocho-knife.com/sakai-ta...mascus-hammered-tsuchime-santoku-knife-180mm/

"It's all the same, only the names will change" -Bon Jovi

 

[Jovidah]

What he said. Basically in almost any industry you will find OEM's - Original Equipment Manufacturers. They basically produce stuff for other brands. I think the best comparison is with the electronics industry, where it happens a lot.

What it comes down to is that while there might be a huge variety of different 'brands' they are often made by just a few producers. So you might have an OEM factory somewhere in Asia that produces almost, or sometimes completely similiar products for different brands, and they just slap on the different brand marks at the end of the line. The reason is that often companies want to sell a product - because there's money in it, they have the market access and the marketing capacity - but do not want to invest in the manufacturing capacity. At the same time the OEM wants to focus on the production instead of the sales.

You see the same a lot with the different 'house brands' of almost any product in almost any household store. They simply go to one of the many OEM manufacturers in China (often easily found on alibaba) and tell them they want X amount of Y product with Z1, Z2 and Z3 specifications.

One thing to keep in mind though is that there can sometimes be minor differences between products. So for example the Gesshin Ginga sold by Japanese Knife Imports is produced by Ashi - who sell the original as the Ashi Ginga. However there are differences in specifications (in this case for example hardness, fit & finish). This might also be the case with these knives, then again it might not be.

I wholeheartedly agree that it's a pain in the ass to deal with, because it artificially inflates the amount of available options. It can take quite a while to see what's what and determine the 'original product'. To make matters worse: it doesn't stop there. Because when it comes to knives you can also have smaller workshops / artisans providing the function of an OEM. The knives from Japanese Knife Imports and the Itinomonn line from Japanese Natural Stones are good examples of this. The fact that there's no 'original' brand name on them doesn't take anything away from their excellent quality.

One thing to keep in mind though is that a knife being an OEM product doesn't have always to be a bad thing. Often it can result in a great deal / attractive pricing. You just have to watch out that you don't buy the 'expensive edition' of similar knives. In regards to quality (or when in doubt about specific knives) I'd say just pop the question on this forum...

 

[CoqaVin]

yea re-branding happens in a lot of industries