Description
Nimble in flight and responsive in the hand, this damascus-clad kiritsuke by bladesmith Milan Gravier is the rare bird to find on our perch this December. Thin and razor-sharp for long, delicate slices and precision chopping alike, Milan’s kiritsuke profile is purposefully versatile, anchored by a long, relatively straight edge and a low, angular tip.
Crafted one-of-a-kind at Milan’s studio in France, the blade begins with twisted damascus steel forged from wrought iron reclaimed from a local farm’s wagon wheel. That historic material jackets a hard, glass-thin cutting edge of 135Cr3 high-carbon steel—sourced just 30 kilometers from Milan’s workshop—delivering both exceptional performance and head-turning beauty. The visual layers of the twisted cladding course through the blade’s flats and into the tang, finished in dark, moody Marbre Noir textures. Descending into the low, meticulously shaped, stone-polished primary bevels, the intertwined alloys are brought to life with a finish completed on fine Japanese natural stones from the Nakayama mine.
Especially slim with a subtle touch of lateral flexibility in the forward inches, the blade stiffens beneath a robust, rounded spine toward the rear, allowing it to perform a wide range of cuts from heel to tip with confidence. Completing the build, a traditional octagonal wa-style handle is sculpted from locally sourced olive wood and fitted with a darkened, contoured stainless steel ferrule—an elegant, regional pairing to a knife rooted in material, place, and purpose.
