New Old Stock Hiro 180mm Santoku Stainless Clad Aogami 2 Quince Western Handle

Made by Hiro in Seki Japan with stainless clad aogami 2 western handled blades with quince, mosaic pin and black and copper spacers. 

We were able to get decent information on these, it seems these were dead stock  somewhat recently handled with older stock blades. 

Blades are hand ground thin with a convex face, there is a smoothed spine and semi smoothed heel, handles have nice fit ups. Some blades need a little straightening but none are badly off. 

This is a stainless clad reactive carbon steel. It should be mentioned that extra care is required, as only the cladding of the blade is stainless and should be dried immediately after use. The core will develop a dark patina with usage, but any orange rust should be removed with a light abrasive.

210m cutting edge, 52mm high at heel, 225mm tip to handle 360mm overall 174 grams

HIRO-180SAN-AO2