J A Henckels 10" Lobster Splitter / Chef de Chef Hand Forged Carbon Steel 1950s Early 60s

Hand forged (tapered tang, lots of taper in blade thickness) hand ground J A Henckels chef knife made in Solingen Germany post war. The solid wood with nickel compression rivets seems to be a late 50s to late 60s configuration. 

This style of knife is called a lobster splitter in the USA, chef de chef in France (German name?) and is a heavy thick knife for splitting lobsters or other jobs hitting hard stuff. This one is 1/4" thick at the thickest point of spine. 

Hand forged and ground carbon steel knives like this largely ended in the mid 1960's in Solingen Germany being supplanted first by the removal of hand forging after drop forging and later by stainless steel and less hand grinding. As the older skilled workers retired and the cost of labor rose hand grinding on carbon steel was no longer the norm in Solingen. Stainless steel became very popular and the bigger names in Solingen began to produce larger quantities of knives with less hand work in the 1970's onward. This knife represents a previous era where hand work was a pillar of Solingen production.  

This knife has some dings to the handle but the blade is super full and free from rust or issues. 

18.2 oz