What's the most rare "unicorn" knife out there?

[Yaseikaze]

I've seen Takamura Hana Chinese Cleavers, Takada Honyakis, is there anything else that is considered more rare than both?

 

[Repjapsteel]

Maybe a Kiyoshi Kato Damascus

 

[ethompson]

Lots of stuff I can think of, for starters:

• Kato tamahagane
• Kato western gyuto
• Ikeda tamahagane
• Heiji wrought iron clad stuff
• Tsukasa Hinoura Tamahagane
• Kuzan Oda's work

If you're ready to go niche, there are all sorts of one off or tiny run tool / sword smith knives that are very desirable and exceptionally uncommon. When you start getting into that genre of stuff you better have DEEEEP pockets and be well connected in the community that goes after these knives

 

[jedy617]

Togo reigo stuff depending on how you define rare, there are probably a few dozen out there from Tanaka.

Takada san does about 10 honyaki a year

 

[aporigine]

Lots of stuff I can think of, for starters:

• Kato tamahagane
• Kato western gyuto
• Ikeda tamahagane
• Heiji wrought iron clad stuff
• Tsukasa Hinoura Tamahagane
• Kuzan Oda's work

If you're ready to go niche, there are all sorts of one off or tiny run tool / sword smith knives that are very desirable and exceptionally uncommon.

Yasha Yukawa comes to mind. I almost commissioned a gyuto from him thirteen years ago, before his prices made like a homesick angel.

 

[aporigine]

I’d also nominate the Fuji HM for the stable of one-horned beasts.

 

[ethompson]

For me a big part of what makes a unicorn a unicorn, beyond rarity / general hype, is the ability to get one. Even if you had $3k+ laying around for a knife and made that known, good luck getting one of those to come out of the woodwork. Real unicorns require a lot more legwork and community involvement than writing a fat check.

 

[NickMinton]

Konosuke Kaiju - anyone that has one won’t sell them

Kato Tamahagane - already mentioned above but worth reiterating

Myojin & Hashimoto Gyuto’s - only 2 or 3 made, extremely expensive. Beautiful pieces shown here

https://foodgear.dk/collections/shoichi-hashimoto

 

[M1k3]

Jiro with stable, unpainted, Kuruouchi.

 

[nickrut]

Yanick Honyaki... Only have seen a couple.

 

[refcast]

Obscure stuff not talked about here, stuff on some obscure Japanese websites, stuff only stocked or purchasable in person in Japan, stuff on second hand sites with little to no formal documentation

Lol, like @ethompson / I have had some obscure stuff. Wrought iron kitchen knives by ishido, mosaku, Tokyo nagahiro, and suishinko masahide, Sakai ume saku honyaki, a Tokyo kanna smith hideo yuzawa who made stuff for iron chef michiba, shigenobu Aizu and the swordsmith shigenobu, mukansa swordsmith razor by founder of yasuki hagane moriya munemitsu . . . These are unicorns because even if you want one. . . You can't find one, well you can find like one over the course a couple years

List goes on

Again though, I'm someone who thinks Seki mass made molybdenum steel and carbon steel knives are perfectly adequate for normal use.

 

[spaceconvoy]

the most rare unicorn knife is probably something you've never heard of before. like i have a friend who smelts his own iron and hand forges knives out of it. but you'd have to find him at a craft show in western PA

 

[ethompson]

mukansa swordsmith razor by founder of yasuki hagane moriya munemitsu . . .

Maybe still the most glorious steel to sharpen

 

[ethompson]

The gringohagane special steel honyaki @Illyria keep procrastinating on making for me

 

[Uncle Danny]

The next question could be, who are these rareties made for? I’m guessing they weren’t meant to be sold of to other than the original owner, or?

 

[sumis]

last massdrop …

.

 

[SWF]

Kiyoshi Kato double bevel Tamahagane comes in mind.

 

[Mariner]

It's important to distinguish between "rare" meaning uncommon and "unicorn" being a hyped status knife.

• Rare is easy - any one-off knife is by definition rarer than most unicorn knives. I've got a one-off piece from Matsumura, but it's hardly a unicorn
• Unicorn is largely a marketing term. Uncommon enough to drive FOMO, but up for sale often enough to keep interest. It doesn't necessarily matter if they perform well or even fall below a total production number.

 

[Corradobrit1]

BNIB Konosuke Ashi honyaki from a short run around 2012/3. Currently one for sale on IG for an eye watering ask.

 

[cooktocut]

My Nguyen cleaver (he’s only ever made the one)

A yanick cleaver (might not even exist?)

My tamahagane Damascus clad xerxes… I’ve never seen a Damascus made out of different billets of tamahagane before, though I imagine there must be someone else who’s done it besides Jannis

 

[nickrut]

My Nguyen cleaver (he’s only ever made the one)

A yanick cleaver (might not even exist?)

My tamahagane Damascus clad xerxes… I’ve never seen a Damascus made out of different billets of tamahagane before, though I imagine there must be someone else who’s done it besides Jannis

Pics of your two? Don't even know what that Xerxes might look like?

 

[cooktocut]

 

[Logan A.]

The realest unicorns are the friends we make along the way

 

[kdizzog6]

I saw king Arthurs sword on ebay once. You wouldn't believe the asking price.

 

[jedy617]

Y. Tanaka honyaki

 

[OkayMode]

Real unicorns require a lot more legwork and community involvement than writing a fat check.

These are the best kinds of feel-good unicorns, but let’s be realistic and acknowledge that blasting the cash around opens a lot of doors (for the stuff widely referred as ‘unicorns’ here at least).

 

[tgfencer]

From a Japanese point of view and a bit left field, I'd say the old Yoshikane Tamamoku damascus blades are pretty rare these days. Think I've only ever seen like 2 for sale on the forums in the last ten years.

 

[ethompson]

let’s be realistic and acknowledge that blasting the cash around opens a lot of doors (for the stuff widely referred as ‘unicorns’ here at least).

Yes for some "basic" unicorns like kitaeji shigs, ashi honyaki, Tsukasa, Kaiju, etc - less so for a Kato tamahgane or Heiji watetsu I think

 

[OkayMode]

Yes for some "basic" unicorns like kitaeji shigs, ashi honyaki, Tsukasa, Kaiju, etc - less so for a Kato tamahgane or Heiji watetsu I think

Heiji watetsu sounds like the bees knees.

 

[tgfencer]

There's always often the unspoken assertion too that something rare is better than something that's more common or available. I know most of us know at heart that this isn't the case, the gut instinct is still there. Hype and rarity are close cousins.

In my previous life as an archaeologist and through connections with museums and archivists, I've met and heard stories of countless rich people who pride themselves on their collections, which while sometimes very cool and valuable, doesn't mean that the collectors themselves were also cool and valuable people as a result of having had the money and time to spend on that collection. There's a weird blurred line between buying something because of your personal appreciation for its rarity and value and buying something so that you can tell other people that you own this valuable thing.