Well... I used to buy everyone those Wusthof tomato knives from TJ's or Marshall's CLEARANCE bins for $12. But now, they're pretty much all gone. This is better in that the boron cobalt steel has a HRC of ~64. So, you don't have to find someone to sharpen all the serrations and such. Is it WORTH five times MORE? Well, that depends on how many people you need to serve each tomato with?

This is a serious knife that will last for a long time since it is great steel and serrated. If you do a little more research you can do as well with a different brand for a lot less money. I consider my knife a long term investment.

These Shun knives are sharp, they are very sharp.

Most of my cutlery set is made up of various Wusthof knives, I simple prefer the weight and heft of Wusthof with my most commonly 'used' knives. I decided to try something new and went with a 6 inch Shun Tomato Knife and was very please with my purchase. Though somewhat light in overall weight, the "D" shape handle design (I'm right handed) and blade sharpness have proven exceptional.

Update 9/10/07: Before purchasing this knife separately, check out the Shun Classic U2 (Ultimate Utility) Knife. You may like it better.

I believe if you're serious about cooking, you should own great cookware and excellent knives. I finally stepped up and got excellent knives. For those who haven't heard the hype, Shun is one of the most respected knife brands in the world. Check them out on the Web at kershawknives.com.

Great features of the entire line include these cool "D" shaped handles that fit your hand better. Every Shun Classic knife is made in a right- and left-handed version (chefsresource.com for lefties). The handles are made of wood and are specially treated so they are diswasher safe!! The steel used for the blades is harder than what you would find in most other knives. The knives are EXTREMELY sharp. One thing to note about Asian knives is that they must be sharpened at a different angle, 16-18 degrees vs. 20 degrees for German knives. The Shun steel takes the guesswork out of getting the angle correct because of the flat edge on one side of the metal disc below the handle.

Tomato knife -- I didn't eat tomatoes for a week while I was waiting on this knife to arrive. I'm glad I waited. I used to cut tomatoes with a steak knife and this is so much better!
I think this knife is the utility knife with scallops. I don't have enough knife smarts to know the difference between serrations and scallops, but I do know I love this knife. In Alton Brown's "Gear" book, he prefers scallops, but didn't say why.

This is an expensive, but lifetime investment. I encourage you to visit stores and feel the knives in your hand to make sure you are comfortable with them. For more info on Shun, check out Alton Brown's website. For ratings on various brands and types of knives, check out cooksillustrated.coms' equipment ratings.

This is probably the best kitchen purchase I've made and the one I'm most proud of.

I bought this knife in January 2005, after lusting for one of the beautiful Shun knives for a long time. I was a little concerned about the D-shaped profile of the handle, because I'm left-handed, but have not had any problem with it. The edges are rounded and the difference between the flat side and the rounded one is not an intrusive sensation. That said, I'm not convinced there's any significant advantage to this shape, either.

I selected the tomato knife because it seemed like it would fill an unoccupied niche in our rather large collection of kitchen knives. This is a versatile knife that shouldn't be limited by its name - not only does it handle the ripest tomatoes well, but it's handy for cutting other soft, juicy fruits and vegetables or any other use for which a serrated blade is needed, and the size of the blade makes it an excellent utility knife. My husband and I use it regularly, and we both love it.