They appear to be the same shape and design as the Shun Ken Onion knives, but with forged german steel instead of the VG-10 damascus in the Shun knives. Nothing in the documentation mentions the hardness of the blades or what kind of steel is used. I am a bit concerned that the storage tray they provide has the blades inserted vertically rather than horizontally, which over time can dull the blade. They are being distributed through iCook's Multi-Level-Marketing channels.