Eleven Madison Park has 3 Michelin Stars, chef Daniel Humm previously was at Campton Place Restaurant, SF. http://www.chelseamillerknives.com/
There's always a market to sell so-called high-end stuff to rich people who constantly want to be unique and above the masses.
if you are a chef or a serious cook good knives are essential, no different than traders buying faster computers and larger monitors...
That's true...to a certain, Small extent. -- You Only need so much, before it easily becomes overkill or has no more immediate extra returns. I trade using a $300 Walmart laptop. (actually $200, I bought it used on eBay) And I'm pretty sure my returns beat more than 90%+ of the retail at-home (and professional) traders out there,
There are 2 schools of thought 1) buy the fastest/ latest technology computer with the largest, highest resolution monitors 2) buy inexpensive replace often as yesterday's technology becomes cheaper.
When I was living in London some 10 years ago, I was synthetically single and had a roomie who was a sou chef. So apparently, most restaurants provide their workers with knives (usually a brand like Forschner) that are maintained by the kitchen, and every now and then, are shipped out to a professional sharpener. However, some "career chefs" will have a set or, more often, a single knife. Nobody sane, however, would pay $800 for it
Live and learn, I was under the impression that all chefs, line cooks bring their own set of knives, tools of the trade. And that is not unusual in the trades eg technicians at franchised dealerships/ independent repair facilities bring their own tools & tool boxes. Good set of knives could be viewed as an investment /family heirloom and passed down like silverware.
I made a katana once. It was bigger than a real katana but much smaller than one you would buy in a store. A little longer than my forearm. I used a platinum alloy for the core to keep it from breaking. The outside was fully wrapped with steel folded with another alloy I made. It was about 5 mm thick and about 3x stronger than a traditionally made katana. I would not have traded it for any other sword. Someone stole it and crushed it in a hydraulic press.