Santoku

This is my first fixed blade. It's a santoku that I made for my wife for Christmas. The blade has a VG-10 core wrapped in 16 layer damascus. It's a japanese made blade that I got from Jantz supply. They carry a whole line of these blades and it would be fun to do a whole set sometime. The handle is made from stabilized maple burl and I custom fit it to my wife's hand through a series of prototypes. I set a blue topaz gem in each side of the bolsters. This was my first time to try setting stones and I found out that it's a lot harder than I thought it would be. Stainless probably isn't the easiest material to try setting stones in for the first time though. My friend Thomas McGuane (the knife maker) etched my wife's name in the blade for me for a final touch.