Introducing the Aogami Chef Knives

  • A vertical studio shot of the Aogami Gyuto Knife by Best Made Co. against a plain white background. This gyuto knife showcases a polished, dark-textured blade—expertly forged from Blue Paper Steel No. 2—and features a two-toned wooden handle.

    Aogami Gyuto Knife

    NEW

    Aogami Gyuto Knife

    $248.00
    $248.00
  • The Best Made Co. Aogami Santoku Knife features a wide Blue Paper Steel blade and a wooden handle, shown against a plain light gray background.

    Aogami Santoku Knife

    NEW

    Aogami Santoku Knife

    $198.00
    $198.00
  • The Best Made Co. Aogami Nakiri Knife, crafted from Blue Paper Steel No. 2, features a flat-edged, dark-textured steel blade and a cylindrical wooden handle with a dark bolster, presented vertically against a plain light gray background.

    Aogami Nakiri Knife

    NEW

    Aogami Nakiri Knife

    $198.00
    $198.00
  • The Best Made Co. Aogami Petty is a small kitchen knife featuring a gleaming Aogami blue steel blade and a rectangular Shou Sugi Ban handle, shown against a simple light gray background—an elegant showcase of Japanese Chef Knives craftsmanship.

    Aogami Petty Knife

    NEW

    Aogami Petty Knife

    $168.00
    $168.00

OUR PHILOSOPHY

Best Made began with an axe — the oldest tool known to humankind, and still among the most useful and beautiful. Every blade we've made or sourced since carries the same conviction: that well-made, utility-driven objects are of universal value.

A blade asks something of you. It wants to be sharpened, honed, oiled — and it repays that care with a lifetime of use. In an age of the disposable, we think that's the most optimistic kind of ownership there is.

So we go looking for the world's great blades — from American forges, Japanese workshops, and the old cutlery towns of Europe — and bring them together in one place. Hold one, and you'll understand what we stand for.

  • GUARANTEED

    Against defects in materials and craftsmanship.

  • SHIPS SAME DAY

    Our team works hard to get orders out the door same-day.

  • THE FINEST MAKERS

    Fewer products, better. Made in Japan, Germany, and the USA.

  • REPAIR, NOT REPLACE

    Designed to be used, maintained, and repaired.

A person holds the Best Made Co. Aogami Santoku knife, featuring a Shou Sugi Ban handle, in one hand and a lemon in the other. Sliced limes, a bowl of salt, and a wooden spice container rest on a checkered cloth.

FEATURED

Aogami Santoku Knife

In Japanese, santoku means “three virtues”: meat, fish, and vegetables. This is a knife built on the premise that a home kitchen shouldn't need a drawer full of specialists. The santoku arrived in postwar Japan as households began cooking Western food, and it has been the standard knife on the Japanese counter ever since. Shorter than a gyuto, flatter along the edge, with a blunted sheepsfoot tip that keeps the whole blade on the board. This is the daily go-to.

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Blades & Knives Blog

  • Know Your Knife: The Japanese Core Four

    The American and European kitchen has spent the better part of a century asking one or two blades to do nearly everything. Japanese cooking took the opposite view: the task dictated the shape. We think four shapes cover just about most of what a good working kitchen asks for.

    Discover more 

  • Know Your Knife: A Steel Primer

    Every knife begins as a decision about steel: what it sahould be good at, and what it gives up in exchange. There is no perfect steel, only steel suited to a particular job, and for most of us the choice comes down to a single trade-off: how much upkeep we're willing to do in return for how easily the blade sharpens up.

    Discover more 

  • Upkeep: A Japanese Kitchen Knife

    The first thing worth noticing about a good Japanese kitchen knife is that you stop pushing. Tomatoes give up without a fight. Nothing about the motion of your hand has changed; what's changed is that the blade is parting the food rather than wedging its way through.

    That behavior begins in the steel. 

    Discover more 

Blade Questions, Answered

A good blade shouldn't require an instruction manual. But choosing one, and keeping it sharp for decades, raises fair questions.

The best everyday carry knife is the one you'll actually have with you. The Brass Higo, our take on the Japanese higonokami, is a friction folder carried for over a century. It's small enough to live in any pocket and handsome enough to hand around a dinner table. If you want a locking blade with a clip for daily work, a Solingen-made folder like the Mercator has earned its reputation over generations. There's no wrong first blade here. We've already done the ruthless part by only carrying the ones we'd own ourselves.

Neither is better; they're different temperaments. A carbon steel blade takes a wickedly keen edge, sharpens easily, and develops a patina: a gray, storied finish that's earned, not applied. It asks a little of you in return. Keep it dry, give it an occasional drop of oil. Stainless steel resists rust and holds its polish with less ceremony, making it the right call for boats, kitchens, and the maintenance-averse. We carry both on purpose. Choose carbon steel if you like the ritual; choose stainless if you'd rather not think about it.

Yes. We guarantee our products against defects resulting from the failure of materials and craftsmanship. The guarantee doesn't cover ordinary wear and tear, but we'll help facilitate the repair and refurbishment of our products, because a knife that's been used hard deserves a second act, not a landfill. Dull isn't broken. Sharpening is normal maintenance for any knife, and our care guides will walk you through it. For anything else, contact us directly and we'll sort it out.

Blades, built for a lifetime of use.

  • The Best Made Co. Aogami Santoku Knife features a wide Blue Paper Steel blade and a wooden handle, shown against a plain light gray background.

    Aogami Santoku Knife

    NEW

    Aogami Santoku Knife

    $198.00
    $198.00
  • A hand holds the Mid Brass Higo Knife by Best Made Co., its blade exposed on a sharpening stone. Beside it are a black Best Made Co. box and a yellow-capped sharpener, all arranged on a green cutting mat.

    Mid Brass Higo Knife

    Mid Brass Higo Knife

    $78.00
    $78.00
  • The Best Made Co. Kiridashi Knife, featuring a wooden handle and red leather strap, is shown with its sheath removed and placed beside the single-bevel blade on a plain white background.

    Kiridashi Knife

    NEW

    Kiridashi Knife

    $128.00
    $128.00
  • A Best Made Co. Otter-Messer Pocket Knife with a sapele handle and a partially open stainless steel blade, displayed on a plain light gray background.

    Otter-Messer Pocket Knife

    NEW

    Otter-Messer Pocket Knife

    $128.00
    $128.00

RULES OF THE ROAD

Give A Penny

Tradition has it that the relationship of the knife-giver and knife-recipient will be severed unless an item of some value (even a penny) is exchanged for the gift, rendering “payment.” A knife makes for a wonderful and lasting gift. So be it a Higo, a Hotta-san, or a Mercator, we just ask — for the love of your friends & family! — that you remember to collect! 

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