Apparently, Chicago is no different from many other products, in that they offer different levels of quality. Just the other day I saw a pair of what appears to be stamped Chicago Cutlery knives with wood handles in a blister pack in a store here on the island.
The 8" chef that I have is forged with a bolster, and the handle is not wood, but some sort of high quality black plastic. If not for the label, I couldn't tell it from my Wusthof Classics. If anything, the edge seems to hold up better than the Wusthof knives.
I know that this knife is no more than 10 years old because that is about when my sister bought it for my mom.