As soon as I removed it from the package, I appreciated the heft and balance, and the finish is pretty attractive. The handle fit decently in my hand as well as my wife's, and felt balanced. I put it to work immediately chopping cabbage and potatoes for our dinner that day and was impressed how easily the knife sliced through the different vegetables. It seems to have the right weight to move through denser vegetables but not so heavy that it's unwieldy or tiresome to use for a long cutting and chopping session.