I think you hit the nail on the head. I wouldn't mind a good damascus blade on display in the kitchen (no arm candy).Going off of @Gamma's mention of CC...
Chicago cutlery are along with several other brands... what I always think of as rental knives. (Though I'm sure they have OTHER knives/home lines/nice looking and different types of steel... I always picture them as those basic colored impact plastic handled chefs knives that start like 4" deep so they hold up to decades of grinding, and that's what I'm talking about.)
Designed to be very easy to sharpen, hold an edge well enough to go 1-2 weeks of heavy use (with steeling) until they swap them out for sharpened ones.
They're some of the easiest knives to own, appropriately affordable (Used to sell in restaurant supplies in chinatowns around the country for under $5 each), and can do everything a home cook needs. These sort of knives are what 99.99% of professional cooks are using daily. Every day Tens of Thousands of these (and almost identical but other brands) knives are slapped for a few seconds on a grinding wheel then a charged felt wheel and put right back into service of all the folks cooking for you every time you go out. There's a whole industry built around renting and sharpening these knives. They go in dishwashers and no one cares. Dropped on a tile or stone floor? Who cares? Prolly dinged the tip a tiny bit if anything. There'll be a new rental here in a few days... grab one of the other 8 off the wall and get back to work.
The drawback? They don't impress anyone.
I could hand someone a low quality fake damascus knife with an ok edge and a maxxed out CC knife that's substantially sharper...
99% of people are gonna tell me the damascus is a light saber and might say the CC is sharper than they expected.
People want to be impressed.
If you're having trouble visualizing the knives I mean... this is an example under the "Choice" brand. But I've seen plenty of Chicago Cutleries and a dozen other names slapped on these. Dexter Russel was a big one. SOMETIMES they come in a nicer looking 3 rivet wood or black handle, but usually it's this dipped and glued plastic thing.
Choice 10" Chef Knife with White Handle
Provide your staff with a versatile, highly efficient knife like this Choice 10" chef knife! Thanks to a professional-grade, high carbon 420 stainless steel blade, this 10" chef knife serves as the perfect all-around kitchen utensil. Hand-honed edges are designed for maximum cutting performance...www.webstaurantstore.com
That's not to dissuade anyone from getting spendy on a REALLY nice knife, especially if it's handmade and supporting an artisan making something that you'll treasure. I own several high end knives.
But never think you NEED an expensive knife. These aren't a tool where there aren't good, functional, well-designed cheap options.
Victorinox does make full tang forged blades, and they're very nice. For my cutting style, I found them to be very sharp, but slower. More mass to move means more force, or slower speed.
I did run into Chicago Cutlery when I worked for a major meat packing plant. They took 8 hours a day of abuse. You got one chance to get the edge right. After that, you were down to trying to straighten it with a steel until the end of shift.
I do miss the 2 ft long Arkansas stones. It's easier to work when you have some room.
