WÜSTHOF is one of the few brands permitted to use the label “Made in Solingen” on our knives rather than the less restricted “Made in Germany.” Solingen, Germany is the steel manufacturing capital of the world and, as such, needed to take precautionary measures against fraudulent products bearing the prestigious name, “Solingen.” In 1938, Solingen became the only city in the world whose name is a registered trademark. To bear the name Solingen, all key manufacturing stages must have been processed and finished within Solingen, and the product must meet strict quality standards. This means that even cutlery manufactured entirely within Solingen’s town boundary may not be entitled to bear the name Solingen if it does not meet these required quality standards.

Some of our competitors use the label “Made in Germany,” which does not carry the same significance. We have the honor of labeling our products “Made in Solingen.”

WÜSTHOF’s proprietary state-of-the-art technology incorporates a computer-controlled method for putting the edge on forged knives. Using laser-guided precision, our knives are 20% sharper with twice the edge retention. All forged knives are manufactured using PEtec.

The number etched on your blade indicates the year it was made — just add “20” in front of it.

In some cases, you might see a second number, which shows the blade length in centimeters.

There is no item number printed on the blade.

Examples:

• “25” means the blade was made in 2025.

• “22 / 20” means the blade was made in 2022 and is 20 cm long.

Forged knives go through over 40 steps in our factory to create the top quality blades WÜSTHOF has to offer. Forged knives include a bolster, which helps to balance the knife. Laser-cut stamped blades go through 14 steps in our factory, and are more economically priced. They are lighter in weight, and do not have a bolster.

The most important knife in any kitchen is the chef’s knife, and after that, it depends on your own personal preferences when cooking.

WÜSTHOF knives can be honed and sharpened using a hand-held sharpener, an electric sharpener, a sharpening or honing steel, or a whetstone. We recommend using the same brand sharpener as your knife collection, to ensure that the material used is the correct hardness for the steel on your knives. Our sharpening angle for standard blades is 14˚ per side, and for Asian-style blades (Santokus, Nakiris) is 10˚ per side. We offer a variety of sharpening products with pre-set angles.

Read our full sharpening guide here.