Shun · Knives & Cutlery
Shun Premier 8-Piece Professional Block Set
By Nick Miles · Updated 2026-07-25 · 2 independent sources
The most complete premium block set in this guide. Buy the Shun Premier 8-piece if you want every core knife plus real Japanese steel and you will use the free sharpening — buy the Wüsthof Gourmet below if price per knife is the deciding number.
This review synthesizes the expert consensus gathered for our buying guides — named test kitchens, lab-test outlets, and manufacturer documentation. We don’t run a testing lab.
Read the full comparison: Best Knife Block Sets (2026) →
Pros
- +Covers all four core cutting jobs — chef's, paring, utility, bread
- +VG-MAX steel, 68 Damascus layers, 16-degree edges per Shun's specification
- +Free lifetime sharpening and honing from the manufacturer
- +Handcrafted in Seki City, Japan, with Pakkawood handles
- +Warm hands-on verdict for the brand's block-set logic at Serious Eats
Cons
- −Most expensive set here at roughly $147 per knife
- −Serious Eats tested the Classic series, not this Premier set
- −Santoku and slicer are situational, not core, by our own count
- −No manufacturer list price published for this SKU on pages we accessed
- −A 16-degree Japanese edge needs more care than German steel
Key features
- Six knives: chef's, paring, utility, bread, santoku, slicing
- All four core cutting jobs covered, plus a santoku and a slicing knife
- VG-MAX steel, 68 Damascus cladding layers, 16-degree edges, per Shun
- Pakkawood handles and a hammered tsuchime finish to reduce drag
- Free sharpening and honing from Shun; handcrafted in Seki City, Japan
Score breakdown
- Expert consensus8.8
- Performance9.0
- Build quality9.6
- Durability9.0
- Value7.8