RARE New/Vintage PINO Italian Carbon Steel Chef Knife Heavy-Duty Cuisine Massive w/Cherrywood Handle A+ Cond. Start Price USD 199.99 Current Price USD 251.00 Time Left - Bid Count 3 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Friday, November 28, 2008 End Time Monday, December 08, 2008 Location Beautiful Southern California See more about 'RARE New/Vintage PINO Italian Carbon Steel Chef Knife' Description Though over 50 years old, this incredibly beautiful and incredibly well-made carbon steel chef knife is absolutely brand new and has never been used. It has picked up some spots of discoloration from decades of storage but still has its protective coating of beeswax from the factory and is 100% in every way. It was produced in Maniago--Italy's cutlery-making capital--by Pino, a company that never imported their wares into this country but which enjoys a SUPERB reputation in Italy itself. It is much more beautiful and finely wrought than any knife you can buy today without buying custom, and is even better in performance. This design, made with the heft almost of a cleaver but with the form of a chef knife is one that's purely Italian, and some Italian makers (like Alexander or Sanelli) still produce it, though with plastic handles and stainless steel blades. It comes to us as part of a much larger collection of VERY fine Italian chef's cutlery pieces that we'll begin to offer today. Check back with us as we continue to post them periodically in the coming weeks and months. Some are rustic pieces, made by their original owners, and some, like this one, are new/vintage pieces that would become the showpieces of most collections. Like their collector counterparts, any professional chef would be DELIGHTED to own and use such a fine, professional grade piece of cutlery. It was made with a beautifully grained genuine cherry-wood handle--large, pleasingly curved, and as solid as a tank--fixed onto the tang of its entirely hand-forged blade's tapered tang using hand-forged brass and steel birdseye rivets. Though its blade is shiny like stainless, its blade is carbon (non-stainless) steel, and it WILL rust if not properly maintained. This minor inconvenience is more than offset by the superior performance of carbon steel, as any chef over the age of 50 can tell you. Most desirable about this piece, in our opinion, is its double-convex, radius-ground edge, which can attain the sharpest possible cutting geometry when finished. Surprising to many younger buyers will be the fact that the edge is not perfectly sharp; in the old days many professional chefs preferred to receive their knives like this in order to apply their own edge, and they did not consider a knife fit for use until they had a chance to do so. As it is now, it will serve well as a cleaver or for rougher chopping duties but once given a finished edge, it will WHIZ through chopping duties like few other knives you've ever used (if you don't feel you're up to the task, we recommend sending it off to The Perfect Edge Cutlery in San Mateo, CA, and they will give it any kind of edge you request--please tell them we sent you and you will get extra-fast service). Like all of the finest knives in the world, it's full of the details which announce that the knife was made with only one objective--to be the finest possible. It's as fine a knife to hold and feel as it is to use, the Italian equivalent of a fine vintage Sabatier cuisine massive. Measures 14.5" long with 8.75" blade that's 2.5" wide and 5/32" thick at the top of handle, tapering toward the edge and toward the point. For usage, there's NONE finer, or simply makes a VERY fine addition to any collection. Be sure to check out the other varieties of Italian knives also up for bid right now on ebay from this same limited supply, including some more by the same maker. IMPORTANT!!! Terms of SaleBy bidding or buying, you certify that you are above 18 years of age and that you agree to all terms of sale as detailed below. If you have any questions, please email prior to bidding or buying.Please be SURE to visit my Store for an even greater selection of excellent vintage cutlery and related items for the professional chef or serious amateur. Remember, store items WON'T always appear in ebay searches, so the only way to see them is to just click on the "Store" price-tag logo or on our store name to see some of the finest knives and other related goodies on ebay!Please email any questions and PLEASE read our terms prior to bidding. By bidding you certify that you are at least 18 years of age--we do NOT sell to minors. All images and descriptions are copyrighted, and we aggressively pursue legal remedy as well as ebay's rules against plagiarizing them--it's stealing, it's wrong, and you WILL be caught. All items come from a smoke-free home with no pets unless otherwise indicated. SHIPPING: Buyer pays $9.95 flat rate insured shipping anywhere in USA. We will do whatever we can to minimize your shipping costs on multiple purchases, and in most cases, combining multiple wins will save BIG, often shipping two or more items for the cost of one. In order to streamline the process, we will provide a flat, upfront shipping rate in our auctions whenever possible for all U.S. buyers. Keep in mind that our prices for shipping in USA always INCLUDE insurance unless otherwise stated (sorry, no exceptions to this.) We ship on Wednesdays and Saturdays; if you have special needs, please email prior to bidding. Items lost or damaged in transit require buyer to file U.S. Post Office or UPS insurance claim. I will gladly ship you the insurance receipt and the shipping receipt necessary to file. INTERNATIONAL: Int'l buyer add $5.00 handling (sorry, even Canada, due to tedious Customs forms and Post Office procedures) to cost of actual shipping, with acceptable payment on international transactions in the form of paypal only, in accord with ebay's new rules taking effect October 1, 2008. International packages will be calculated on the basis of a MINIMUM ONE POUND weight. International packages cannot be insured and we cannot be held responsible for packages lost or damaged in transit (we pack very well, but shipping overseas is strictly at buyer's risk). IMPORTANT: If you wish your international shipment to be trackable, you MUST opt for the U.S. Post Office's Global Express Mail, and you MUST tell us this in advance of making payment. If you do not opt for Global Express Mail, we have no way at all of tracking the progress of your parcel. 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