• Bloomfield, Hazenberg & Bauer Chef Knife Black Mirror Apex SanMai Takedown
  • Bloomfield, Hazenberg & Bauer Chef Knife Black Mirror Apex SanMai Takedown – detail view
  • Bloomfield, Hazenberg & Bauer Chef Knife Black Mirror Apex SanMai Takedown – side profile
  • Bloomfield, Hazenberg & Bauer Chef Knife Black Mirror Apex SanMai Takedown – handle detail
  • Bloomfield, Hazenberg & Bauer Chef Knife Black Mirror Apex SanMai Takedown – blade close-up
  • Bloomfield, Hazenberg & Bauer Chef Knife Black Mirror Apex SanMai Takedown – view 6
  • Bloomfield, Hazenberg & Bauer Chef Knife Black Mirror Apex SanMai Takedown – view 7
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Bloomfield, Hazenberg & Bauer Chef Knife Black Mirror Apex SanMai Takedown

Bloomfield, Hazenberg & Bauer Chef Knife Black Mirror Apex SanMai Takedown

By Collaboration

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Jelle Hazenberg

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This one-of-a-kind handmade kitchen knife represents a collaborative work of craft and intention by artisanal makers Jelle Hazenberg and Korban Bloomfield. Built around a contemporary interpretation of the Japanese santoku, the blade carries a thick, lightly tapered spine that provides strength through the cut while maintaining a fluid, agile forward motion. Forged in Apex Ultra clad in 80CrV2, the blade features a five-layer go-mai construction with Brute de Forge texture, an acid-etched forced patina, and refined mirror-polished details—an aesthetic and functional expression of the makers’ deep understanding of steel and geometry.

The wide convex bevels define the knife’s performance identity, offering excellent food release and a confident, adaptable cutting feel. Neither a featherweight laser nor a heavy workhorse, it occupies a purposeful middle ground that excels across a wide range of produce—from dense root vegetables to more delicate ingredients. With 190 mm of cutting edge, a height of 65 mm, and a spine that transitions from 3.93 mm at the heel to 2.2 mm before transitioning to the fine tip, the knife balances robustness with nimbleness. At 214.9 g, it moves with precision and stability, delivering a cutting experience that feels intuitive and controlled.

The removable hidden-tang handle brings both utility and visual warmth, crafted from dyed and stabilised Quilted Maplewith an acrylic bolster and engineered for take-down maintenance. Complementing the knife is a handcrafted leather sheath by Magdy Richard Bauer, made from Alran Sully goatskin with a waxed interior, Meisi fine linen thread, and meticulously polished edges. Presented in its dedicated display box, this piece stands as a singular fusion of design, material mastery, and artisanal intent—equally at home in a working kitchen or as a centrepiece in a curated collection.

Product Specification
  • Blade Type:
  • Overall Length: 300mm
  • Edge Length: 190mm
  • Spine Heel: 3.93mm
  • Spine Mid: 3.85mm
  • Spine Tip (20mm before): 2.2mm
  • Blade Height: 65mm
  • Weight: 214.9g
  • Cutting Edge Steel:
  • Steel class: Carbon
  • HRC: 65
  • Blade Construction:
  • Blade Finish: Brute de Forge, Acid Etched (Forced Patina), Mirror Polish
  • Grind:
  • Handle Construction:
  • Handle Materials: Quilted Maple
  • Handedness: Ambidextrous
  • Saya / Storage Included: Yes

Blade type

Chef Knife

The Western chef's knife — the traditional European all-purpose blade, typically 200 to 250 mm, with a curved belly built to rock against the board. The pronounced curve from heel to tip suits a continuous rocking motion for mincing herbs and aromatics, and the blade is generally thicker, heavier, and softer than its Japanese counterpart, made to absorb hard and varied use.

That robustness is the trade-off. A Western chef's knife is forgiving, durable, and happy with bones, hard squash, and rough handling, but its softer steel and thicker grind mean it is rarely as keen as a comparable gyuto and needs more frequent honing to stay sharp. It is the dependable generalist of the kitchen — what it gives up in refinement it returns in resilience.

View full knife type guide →

Cutting edge steel

Apex Ultra

Low-alloy fine-grain carbon tool steel

Typical HRC
64–68
Corrosion class
Carbon
Production
Conventional
Origin
Austria (ApexUltra project — developed by Larrin Thomas, Marco Guldimann and Tobias Hangler; FFG-funded, associated with Messerschmiede Hangler)

Apex Ultra is one of the most carefully engineered non-stainless kitchen knife steels in modern circulation — a steel designed from the ground up specifically for handmade knives, rather than borrowed from another industry. It was developed by metallurgist Larrin Thomas together with smiths Marco Guldimann and Tobias Hangler. It is a low-alloy carbon steel — roughly 1.25 percent carbon, 2.6 percent tungsten, 1.5 percent chromium and a 0.4 percent vanadium addition, with manganese and silicon kept low. That composition is tuned for high purity and a fine, evenly distributed mix of chromium-enriched iron carbides, tungsten carbides and vanadium carbides — the structure that lets it hold a very hard edge without the coarse carbides or plate martensite that sap toughness in other high-hardness carbon steels.

What this means for a cook is unusual permission. Apex Ultra carries very high toughness in the 66+ HRC range — the highest of any knife steel its developers have tested at that hardness — so you can ask a maker to grind it thin and run the heat treatment hard, and the edge will hold far longer than the carbon steels smiths usually forge, without microchipping. It forges and forge-welds much like 52100 or 1.2562, sharpens cleanly on natural and synthetic stones without needing diamond plates, and its modest chromium slows patina a little — though it is not stainless and should be cared for as a carbon steel.

Apex Ultra has become a signature steel of the European maker community, and the Modern Cooking catalogue carries an unusually deep bench of smiths working in it. Tobias Hangler himself heads that group, alongside Marco Guldimann, Benjamin Kamon, Martin Huber, Jonas Johnsson, Karol Karyś, Birch & Bevel, and MCx. It is genuinely a step forward — one of the relatively few cases where the marketing claims and the underlying metallurgical data are saying the same thing.

View full steel guide →

Blade construction

Laminated Steel

A category covering knives built from multiple layers of different steels forge-welded together. The hard cutting steel is sandwiched between softer outer layers (cladding) that protect the core, add toughness, and often contribute visual contrast.

The most common laminated constructions in the Modern Cooking catalogue are:

SanMai (三枚) — three layers: hard cutting steel in the centre, softer cladding on both sides. The traditional and most common form.

GoMai (五枚) — five layers: a hard core, two intermediate layers, and two outer layers. Adds visual depth and structural complexity.

KuMai (九枚) — nine layers: similar logic, with more cladding layers for additional pattern and structural variation.

GoMai and KuMai are often chosen not only for the additional layers and visual depth, but also because the intermediate layers can act as a nickel diffusion barrier — limiting carbon migration out of the core into the cladding during forge welding, and protecting the core's intended carbon content through the heat of the forging process.

In all cases the cutting performance is determined by the core steel; the outer layers are cosmetic and structural. The lamination contributes corrosion protection (when a stainless jacket clads a carbon core), reduced reactivity, and the visible boundary between core and cladding that gives the knife its character.

View full construction guide →

Grind

Convex

A grind whose bevel bulges outward in a gentle curve from spine to edge, rather than running flat. That extra steel directly behind the edge makes a convex grind notably strong and resistant to chipping, while the curved geometry helps food release and lets the blade glide through dense ingredients with less wedging than a flat grind.

The strength comes at the cost of ultimate thinness and ease of maintenance. A convex edge has more metal behind it, so it is not quite as effortlessly keen as a thinly flat-ground edge, and it is harder to sharpen freehand — holding the curve takes a stropping technique or a deliberate hand rather than a single fixed angle. The reward is an exceptionally tough, smooth-cutting edge.

View full grind guide →

Handle construction

Takedown

A takedown is a hidden-tang construction built to come apart. The tang passes through the handle and is drawn up by a threaded fitting — a nut at the butt, or a pommel that screws down — so the handle can be dismantled and re-fitted rather than being permanently bonded in place. Everything else follows the hidden-tang pattern: a concealed tang inside a one-piece handle, with no steel showing along the grip.

The point of the design is serviceability. Because the handle is mechanical rather than glued, it can be taken off for thorough cleaning and drying, swapped for a different material or profile, or replaced entirely if it is ever damaged — all without destroying the original fittings. It is the construction to choose for a knife meant to be maintained and kept for the long term, and for owners who like the option of changing a handle later.

View full construction guide →

Shipping & Returns

Shipping

We process orders 5 days a week (Monday - Friday) and ship from our shop in Sydney, Australia. We ship with FedEx, UPS and DHL.

We are happy to offer free international shipping on a variety of orders depending on location and order value.

Free Shipping Regions and Minimum Order Values

For Australia and New Zealand the minimum is $500AUD. For the rest of the world it is approximately €1000EUR. The discount is applied automatically when you reach the minimum cart value at checkout.

Returns

If you're not entirely happy with your purchase, you can return it within 14 days of delivery for a refund. The item must be in its original condition with all original packaging.

  • Returns are accepted for 14 days
  • The customer is responsible for return shipping costs
  • A 15% restocking fee may be applied to change-of-mind returns
  • We do not accept returns on second-hand items for change of mind

Faulty or Damaged Items

You must notify us within 5 business days of receiving your order. Photographic evidence of damage is required. Once approved, Modern Cooking will cover return shipping costs.

Product Care

Cleaning: Clean by hand with warm water. Avoid wetting the handle when possible.

Sharpening: We advise using whetstones to sharpen your knives and a honing rod or steel to maintain the burr between sharpening sessions.

Reactive Steels: Reactive steels like Aogami Super, Apex Ultra or premium reactive German and Swedish steels are susceptible to rust if not properly cared for. Keep the knife dry between uses and when storing for longer periods, wiping the blade with Tsubaki oil or another food-safe oil is a wise choice. A patina can be a beautiful personal feature on your knife and helps to stop rust forming.

Handle Care: For non-stabilised wooden handles, apply Tsubaki oil or another food-safe oil from time to time. Food-safe wax can be applied to both stabilised and non-stabilised wooden handles. Never apply hot wax or oil as you risk warping or damaging the handle.

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