Cologne is the quintessential men’s Christmas gift, perfect for your husband, father, son, in-law or any other men in your life. It’s a gift that’s personal enough to show you care and best of all, it’s a gift that can be enjoyed by both the giver and the receiver. When it comes to buying cologne as a gift, however, your job is somewhat difficult, as there are dozens upon dozens of colognes to choose from. If you’ve ever gone to the mall in an effort to smell your way to the perfect gift, you’ve no doubt realized that by the fifth cologne you can no longer differentiate between good and bad and your time has been wasted.
To help save your sense of smell, allow us to recommend a cologne that suits men of all types – Ralph Lauren Polo Red. After testing it around the office for the past week, Polo Red was by far the favorite cologne we tested and the bottle that most of the guys tried to take home. Filled with scents like red saffron, red grapefruit and red cedar, Ralph Lauren’s Polo Red is the perfect blend of warm spiciness and crisp top note lightness that lasts around 4-6 hours. It’s both manly and sexy without being overpowering, making it an ideal cologne for almost any occasion, whether it’s a day at work or night out.
Now that you know which cologne to buy, the only question left is whether you want to give a Polo Red Gift Set or opt for a larger bottle. The cologne, both in the gift set and the single Polo Red bottle, comes in a fiery red, high-gloss bottle that personifies the cologne perfectly. The gift set includes a 2oz eau de toilette and a 1oz travel spray ($61 – $96 value) while the single bottle is filled with 4.2oz of eau de toilette ($76). If neither of these options fit the bill, you can also create your own gift set and include the spray ($76), deodorant ($18) and shave gel ($40).
Polo Red can be found at Macy’s, both online or in-store or directly from Ralph Lauren.
Christmas is a mere 10 days away, and if you’re like the majority of men out there, you’re still struggling to find the perfect gift for that significant someone in your life. But for all of you facing this dilemma considering yet another bottle of perfume, a piece of unwanted jewelery or a sweater that will end up collecting dust, may I make a recommendation she’s almost certainly going to love: Young Living Essential Oils. It’s a scent collection of pure essential oils that bring incredibly great smells into the comfort of your own home.
Young Living offers dozens of essential oils and blends like lavender, cinnamon, neroli, thieves and frankincense, each of which notes a distinct benefit to your everyday health. Some are used for mental clarity, some for relaxation, some for rejuvenation, some for overall health, and the list goes on. But when you consider the benefits, You Living Essential Oils are a unique way to not only give a non-generic gift, but also to show your partner you care about them as well.
If you’re new to Young Living, I have to warn you: there’s a huge assortment of oils to choose from. If the idea of picking from the hundreds of oils available seems daunting, fret not. In order to better direct you in your Christmas buying endeavor, I’m going to tell you about a number of essential oil products that I personally love that will ensure that the special someone in your life receive a gift that’s equally as special as they are.
My first recommendation if you’re new to Young Living is the Essential Oil Collections, which offer groupings of the more popular oils. Two of the collections that I’ve personally given as gift and bought for myself are the Everyday Oils and the Feelings Collection. In the Everyday Oils collection there’s a variety of oils for your home, health and body, and it include some of my favorite and most used oils like lavender (amazing for relaxing), peppermint (great for headaches and when you need a mental boost), thieves (used to keep away common colds), and purification (great for giving your house that fresh clean smell).
The Feelings Kit is a little bit different, as it’s designed specifically for mental clarity and balance. As with all the oils I’ve tried, the smells are amazing. Applied directly to the body or diffused into the air, each blend has a specific purpose. My absolute favorite oil blend is the Present Time blend with Neroli, spruce and ylang ylang, as is it offers an incredible feeling of rejuvenation every time you use it. Picture the feeling you get as you indulge in your favorite spa treatment – that’s precisely what it’s like. It improves focus, it’s calming, and it works by simply placing a few drops on your wrist or adding it to a differser as you get ready for the day.
And speaking of diffusers, if you want the perfect gift to pair with your gift of essential oils, I have two recommendations for you – both of which I have personally used myself. The first is the TheraPro Premium Diffuser, something that is without question the best way to diffuse essential oils. It works by atomizing the oil and dispersing it into the air, filling your home with whichever scent you choose. You can choose how much oil is diffused d and how often with the dials on the back, and it’s small enough and sturdy enough to sit on a counter, floor or table top. I keep one in my children’s room for diffusing lavender at night for a peaceful bedtime and one in our living area where I diffuse scents like cinnamon, purification and thieves. I can’t tell you how many compliments I’ve received from everyone that visits my house, as it completely enhances my home’s overall ambience. And if you buy online from Young Living (as I did), it also comes with a bottle of Thieves oil, which makes it a great all-in-one gift as well.
If you need a gift for the spa lover in your life, instead of sending them to the spa for a half day of treatments, spend the same amount on a gift that can be enjoyed every day with the Aria Ultrasonic Diffuser. I keep mine near my bath (it’s electric, so don’t set it anywhere it could potentially fall in), and after a long and stressful day, it’s like having my own personal spa in-home. Turn it on and enjoy the calming effects of the essential oils, multicolored LED lights and pre-recorded mood music, all from a single diffuser. You can also plug in and play your own music, but I’ve yet to move on from the calming sounds that come built-in. Another wonderful benefit of the Aria Ultrasonic Diffuser is the remote, which allows you to turn it on or off, change the lighting, set a timer or turn the music up/down, which is very convenient, especially in a bathroom setting like my own. The Aria Ultrasonic Diffuser currently comes with peppermint and Christmas Spirit, again making it an ideal all-in-one gift as well.
While smell is the sense most people overlook, believe me when I tell you the importance of scents in your everyday life. I’ve yet to find anything that relaxes me as much as Young Living Essential Oils, and thanks to the two diffusers I’ve mentioned, I’ve managed to incorporate them into my everyday life to further enhance my home’s atmosphere and my family’s overall well-being. If you’re not convinced that essential oils are the perfect gift, head over to Young Living and read the reviews and descriptions for yourself. And, after Christmas, when you’ve succeded in outdoing all others in the gift giving area, feel free to send me a thank you note.
Every year the Mercedes-Benz Accessories Department comes out with their yearly christmas products and this year, in addition the classic standby’s like wine preservers in the shape of the SL shift knob, pens and watches, the “Christmas Stars 2013” catalog is filled with a host of new products just waiting to land on wish lists or under the tree.
Check the photo gallery below for an overview of the new items and the classics.
The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL racing car, first produced in 1953 as a tiny model, is a mere twelve centimetres long (4.7 inches). Even at such a small size, for th artists, it is more than enough space to recreate a detailed copy of the legendary racer. The Dux brand toy car, manufactured by Markes and Co. in Lüdenscheid, marked the beginning of a great and fascinating tradition. The history of toy and model cars based on various incarnations of the Mercedes-Benz SL sports car is almost as long as that of the SL class itself.
This link between real-life cars and their model versions is a constant factor in the history of the automobile. From race cars and sports cars to saloons and even heavy trucks, the toys and models represent vehicles of every type and period. “The history of the motor car is always also the history of the model car”, according to the foreword in the catalogue for the exhibition ‘Models. Design, toy, cult. Mercedes-Benz’, which was held from 2000 until 2001 at the Kunsthalle art gallery in Tübingen.
Technological treasures in a miniature format
The desire to represent important elements of our lives in model form is as old as human culture itself, as demonstrated by the prehistoric animal figures and replicas of carts from antiquity. Since the invention of the automobile by Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler in 1886, the motor car has established itself as a firm favourite both in children’s nurseries and collectors’ display cabinets.
Sports cars evoke particularly strong emotions in their original versions, so it’s no surprise that their scaled-down counterparts also present an exciting chapter in the story of model cars. Among the types most often represented in miniature format is the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupé (W 198 I, 1954 to 1957) and the 190 SL (W 121, 1955 to 1963). Both remain popular models for new miniatures. These classic sports cars showcase the wide range of sizes, materials, and attention to detail that characterises the culture of model cars.
The collections show how innovative processes entered the toy industry, as deep-drawn tin bodies gave way to injection-moulded plastic and metal versions. Wind-up engines were replaced by electric drives – both for cable and radio-controlled cars and for electric race track models.
Reflecting the SL tradition
All of the other Mercedes-Benz SL sports cars also enjoy great popularity in the world of toy and model cars, right from the moment they are first launched. Six decades of SL tradition have seen the creation of a whole universe of miniatures of these Mercedes-Benz sports cars, from the W 194 racing car and model series W 198 (300 SL) and W 121 (190 SL) to the ‘Pagoda’ W 113 from 1963 and model series R 107 (1971), R 129 (1989), R 230 (2001) and R 231 (2012).
Over the same period, there was an increasingly noticeable differentiation in the purpose and the target groups for these miniatures. On the one side were the sturdy replicas of Mercedes-Benz originals made for active play, while on the other was an increasing number of more and more detailed models whose intricate designs appealed mostly to collectors who wanted to display these little works of art in showcases.
Sports cars – a new beginning for Mercedes-Benz and the toy industry
When the miniature of the 300 SL racing car (W 194) was released under the Dux (lat. ‘leader’) brand in 1953, the legendary Mercedes-Benz 300 SL gullwing coupé of model series W 198 was still a secret development project of the engineers and designers. Just a few years after the end of the Second World War, this achievement of the toy manufacturing industry must be rated as highly as the innovative power and performance of Mercedes-Benz, where the groundbreaking sports car was being developed at the same time. Matthias Braun reminds readers of this fact in his book ‘Mercedes. Sportscar scale models’ published in 1998.
The design of the 1953 Dux model was, of course, based on the profile of the racing car. But the W 194 already gave a taste of the line and the aesthetics of the 300 SL production vehicle that was launched at the International Motor Sports Show in New York in 1954. The toy industry was happy to take this bright new beginning for Mercedes-Benz in the sports car sector as an incentive to create a whole new world of models.
In technical terms, the 1953 Dux miniature was designed and built according to the traditional principles used in most toy cars of the period: the body was deep-drawn from tin and then joined to the frame. This technique was used as long ago as the mid-1930s, in the legendary replica of the Mercedes-Benz W 25 racing car produced by Schuco. This little Silver Arrow is still being made today.
For its 300 SL, Dux decided not to use the normal process of sticking tin flaps through slots and then bending them over, but instead went for screw fastenings. This method enabled the proud owner of the model to open the 300 SL (screwdrivers and spanners were supplied) and even to remove the wind-up engine. A few years later, the metal construction kit ‘Auto-Dux’ even contained a dismantled version of the 190 SL (W 121), which had to be assembled before you could play with it.
SL sports cars were later also offered as plastic model kits by a variety of manufacturers. The change from tin to plastic represents a paradigm shift that affected the entire model car sector. Not only were new materials introduced, but different manufacturing techniques and other forms of propulsion became established, especially from the 1960s.
But the fascination of the original remains when you hold a wind-up tin car in your hands: these toys are technical reminders of the period characterised by the 300 SL as the first series sports car in its family. In the 1990s, Märklin used this very technology to produce an impressive large-scale model of the W 198 I, including a limited edition for the 40th anniversary of the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg (silver) and a museum model (red).
300 SL models emulate export success
Soon after the launch of the W 198 I, a large number of tin miniatures of the gullwing coupé hit the international toy market. Many of them were rather crudely made, like the many versions manufactured in Japan. These tin models of the 300 SL didn’t sell very well in Germany, and the vast majority of them sold in foreign markets. This is another parallel between the original Mercedes-Benz car and the model versions: both were successful exports right from the start.
However, now and again some very fine miniatures were produced in Germany, such as the model made by Tipp & Co./Tippco, “with an electric drive and a properly functioning steering column shift”, according to Matthias Braun. This toy car not only lived up to the technical standards of the original, it also matched the luxury sports car in price: the 300 SL from Tipp & Co./Tippco would set you back DM23, an awful lot of money for a toy in the mid-1950s.
While German toy manufacturers showed some reluctance towards the 300 SL at first, this all changed in 1955 with the 190 SL Roadster. Matthias Braun reports that over 80 per cent of all models of this open-top sports car were made by traditional German firms such as Gama, Huki (Kienberger), JNF, Kellermann, Schuco, and Seidel. In terms of design, these miniatures followed the models of the 300 SL, i.e. they had a tin body that was painted or lithographed.
Technical innovations in the toy sector
Not all technical details of a real sports car can be accurately reproduced in a model. But since the launch of the first 300 SL as a competition car, development in the toy sector has been characterised by a number of innovations. These range from the production of the body through injection moulding to using processes such as photo-etching for the decor. This development can be seen particularly well in the 300 SL from model series W 198 I and the 190 SL from model series W 121. Both of these Mercedes-Benz sports cars are still being offered in model form by a number of manufacturers – with huge variations in their attention to detail.
The process of evolution undergone by models can be demonstrated using the example of the 300 SL Coupé by Wiking, made from plastic on a scale of 1:87, which was first introduced with the 1956 price list. At that time, the gullwing sports car, on the same scale as an H0 gauge model railway, had a body without holes for the windows, and with the glass of the headlights represented by colour. In 1960, this was followed by a 300 SL with a transparent windscreen and windows – to go with the 190 SL with coupé roof introduced by Wiking in 1957. Wiking continued to produce more and more refined versions of the gullwing coupé, culminating in a version with an intricate radiator grille and bumpers.
In addition to the finer details, technical functionality is also in demand. Around 1960, there was not only a model of the ‘Pagoda’ by Gama with a removable hardtop, but even a 230 SL (W 113) by Schuco with a fully-functioning four-speed transmission.
Mercedes-Benz quality in model form
Many manufacturers continue to strive for ever-better models in a range of different scales. This inevitably leads to an increased demand for precise information about the originals. Mercedes-Benz has always been a much sought-after partner for the toy industry. Back in 1961, a manufacturer of ‘children’s cars’ contacted Daimler to ask for detailed drawings and photos to use as templates for their pedal cars, which were about 1.5 metres long.
Today, Mercedes-Benz promotes the development of high-quality collectors’ models for its own Classic Collection, in collaboration with well-known manufacturers. These models are sold exclusively through Mercedes-Benz sales and service outlets, Mercedes-Benz dealerships, the Mercedes-Benz Museum and the online shop. In these collaborations Mercedes-Benz puts a great emphasis on authenticity, for instance regarding original paint finishes, trims and decors – all the way to the correct starting numbers for special models commemorating important racing wins for Mercedes-Benz.
And so, when an ardent collector finds exactly the high-quality miniature of an 300 SL coupé or 190 SL Roadsters he has been looking for in the Mercedes-Benz Classic Collection, we come full circle. Because the enthusiasm for the “harmony of design reconciled with the finesse of technical construction”, which the ethnologist Hermann Bausinger has described as the source of our fascination with collectors’ items, is a modern-day echo of the enthusiasm felt by the audience in 1954 at the launch of the 300 SL Coupé and 190 SL in New York.
The Mercedes-Benz GL-Class, also known as the S‑Class amongst SUV’s, is now also available a few sizes smaller. In cooperation with Norev, Mercedes‑Benz is now offering the new GL‑Class as a true-to-original miniature. The miniatures designed using the original CAD data and assembled by hand are available in two scales and five original paint colours.
Norev assembles over 120 individual parts to build the GL to a scale of 1:18. The model measures around 28.5 centimetres and is made of die-cast zinc. Beneath the front bumper is a large underride guard in chrome-look and the tailpipes of the exhaust system are integrated into the rear bumper. The doors, bonnet and tailgate can be opened. The backrests of the seats in the second and third rows of seats can be folded forward. The interior and boot floor are flocked.
Even according to Mercedes standards, the accuracy of detail in the interior reaches a new dimension: 1:18 scale models usually have around 150 decorations – a term which model car enthusiasts understand to mean the application of details by means of stamping, pattern painting, hot-foil stamping, stickers and chrome-plating of parts. The miniature GL-Class sets new standards here with up to 253 decorations (depending on the equipment colour). The colour combinations also correspond exactly to the original, thus the paint colour diamond white can be combined with the interior colour black tobacco brown marron, whilst the trim elements used are in brown ash.
The equipment includes the panoramic roof, xenon headlamps with the Intelligent Light System (ILS) and LED daytime running lamps, a third-row rear bench seat and light-alloy wheels in a 10-twin-spoke design. The model car is available in diamond white, obsidian black and iridium silver for 69.90 Euros [1] . A glove is included to protect the glazing and painted body work against fingerprints. The screwdriver included in the pack can be used to easily remove the model from the designer packaging.
The second miniature of the off-roader is in a scale of 1:43 and measures almost twelve centimetres. This die-cast zinc model is also constructed by Norev and comprises more than 55 individual parts. Diamond white, cavansite blue and citrine brown are the choice of genuine paint colours available. These can be combined with authentic interior colours and the corresponding trim elements. The equipment details include the front bumper with large underride guard, rear bumper with visible yet fully integrated tailpipes, panoramic roof, xenon headlamps with the Intelligent Light System (ILS) and LED daytime running lamps, a third-row rear bench seat and light-alloy wheels in a 10-spoke design. The model is delivered in a presentation display case on a printed base plate and costs 29.90 Euros.
The model cars are available online at http://shop.mercedes-benz.de and from Mercedes‑Benz sales partners.
[1] All prices are recommended retail prices for Germany incl. 19% VAT
In every family there exists at least one that has a truly genuine love for all things chocolate. It may be your mother, brother, sister, father – but for whoever it is, there is no better way to show these chocolate lovers you care for them this Christmas than by giving them the holy grail of chocolates: the always fantastic Godiva. While wrapping up any Godiva chocolate and placing it under the tree will undoubtedly bring a smile to their face, for the true chocoholics, there is no greater gift than the Godiva Chocolate Connoisseur Signature Gift Basket. It is truly an homage to fine art of chocolate that has been beautifully perfected by Godiva.
Included in the Godiva Chocolate Connoisseur Signature Gift Basket is a 36 piece Truffle Gift Box, a 19 piece Nut & Caramel Gift Box, an 8 piece Gold Ballotin, a 36 piece Biscuit Gift Box, 18 pieces of Godiva Gems Milk Chocolate Solids, 12 pieces of Godiva Gems Milk Chocolate Truffles, Milk Chocolate Cashews, Solid White Chocolate Bar, and a Solid Dark Chocolate Bar. Topping it all off, the Godiva Chocolate Connoisseur Signature Gift Basket comes beautifully packaged in a Godiva weaved box tied with white ribbon, perfectly accenting all the delicious goodness contained inside.
So what does this mean for you? It means that not only will you instantly hold title as the greatest gift giver this Christmas, it also means you get the added luxury of avoiding last minute crowds at the mall, you avoid having to wait in never-ending lines, and you get to avoid those annoying paper cuts encountered during your annual Christmas present wrapping. All of this adds up to pure Christmas gift-giving success.
The Godiva Chocolate Connoisseur Signature Gift Basket is priced at $200, and can be ordered directly from Godiva.com.
If you’re looking for the ultimate gift for the foodie in your life, there is nothing greater than a glistening new set of cookware. And if that foodie is serious about cooking, you really only have two cookware options: stainless steel or copper. Both have their advantages, but today we’re going to be bringing you the best of the stainless steel variety.
While I’ve used my fair share of stainless steel cookware, there’s none that’s been able to rival All-Clad’s Copper-Core. Featuring an exceptionally unique five-ply construction, All-Clad’s Copper-Core feature… you guessed it… a layer of copper in the center, followed by an inner and outer layer of aluminum, and finally, an inner and outer layer of stainless steel. Why the copper core you ask? Because copper offers quite simply the best heat conductivity and responsiveness of any material during cooking. In the real world, this means that hotspots in your cookware are eliminated, and furthermore, any adjustments you make to the cooking temperature translate to your food much, much quicker.
Thanks to All-Clad Copper-Core’s unique design, however, you gain many of the advantages of copper, without having to spend the extra amount for all copper construction. In addition, All-Clad’s stainless steel exterior has two key advantages over traditional copper cookware. First, the highly polished stainless steel exterior is signficantly easier to take care of than a copper exterior, and secondly, if you cook using induction technology, All-Clad’s new Copper-Core line is fully compatible with induction heating.
Having used All-Clad Copper Core for the past several months, I have to tell you, if you’re considering new stainless steel cookware, you won’t find any better. I personally own four pieces: the 6-quart saute pan, the 12-inch fry pan, the 7-quart stock pot and the 3-quart sauce pan, and all vastly outperform any stainless steel cookware I’ve used previously. The heating is incredibly uniform, with hotspots completely eliminated, and variations to cooking temperatures occur significantly quicker with the All-Clad than any other stainless I’ve used. In other words, the copper core lives up to its stated benefits, and it does so exceptionally well. As for the subject of food sticking, with proper knowledge of using stainless steel cookware (proper temperature, use of oil, etc.), sticking is nonexistent. I’ve made a wide assortment of foods with my All-Clad, including eggs and omelets, and the All-Clad perform as well as any non-stock products I’ve used. When deglazing, the All-Clad’s again excel, with fond being removed easily to the point the cookware virtually cleans itself. Another design element that I absolutely love are the rolled edges, which in addition to ensuring tight-fitting lids, also make pouring remarkably easy.
In terms of price, All-Clad Copper Core costs more than traditional stainless steel cookware but less than traditional copper cookware, with a seven-piece set currently selling on Amazon for about $750. It’s the perfect price point, really, as All-Clad’s Copper Core are the perfect mix between stainless steel and full copper cookware. If you’re looking for the best stainless steel cookware on the planet – cookware that will last a lifetime – this is it… it really is fantastic. To learn more about All-Clad Copper Core’s features and to see the full list of available pieces, you can learn more at the official All-Clad website or buy now from Amazon.com
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If you spend any amount of time in the kitchen, you know what a chore it can be when you need to grate something. Graters and zesters come in all shapes and sizes, but most perform poorly and end up being more trouble than they’re worth. Enter Microplane. Borrowing a design taken from their own woodworking tools, Microplane graters slice through virtually any food you put in front of them like a hot knife through butter.
At their core, Microplane graters are designed like a rasp, with an easy to hold handle and a long, surgical grade steel body. Best of all, they’re razor sharp. Thanks to a unique process called photo-etching where the holes in the blade are created from a chemical process rather than being stamped, Microplane blades are capable of creating incredibly fine slices rather than tearing or shredding. They’re by far the sharpest graters that I’ve ever used, and they make the process of grating or zesting an incredibly simple task.
In total, there’s four different Microplane Premium designs:
Despite their ingenious design and incredibly effective results, Microplane graters are cheap. At $15 a piece or $50 for all 4, Microplane graters are perfect stocking stuffers for yourself or for the food lovers in your life. To read more about Microplane graters or to order your own set, you can learn more at the Microplane website or buy now from Amazon.com
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With Christmas less than a month away and gift buying getting into full swing, we want to share with you some of the gifts that are sure to bring joy to that someone special in your life. Kicking things off, we’re going to bring you a number of gifts for the chefs among you, with each of the gifts holding rank as staples in our home kitchens. First up: the all-important kitchen cutlery.
Ask any chef what his favorite knife is and you’ll likely get a different answer from every person you ask. It’s like asking someone what the best pair of shoes is. Chef’s knives are intensely personal tools that must fit the specific user. They must be comfortable to use for extended periods of time, they must offer the ability for precise cutting tasks, and they must be exceptionally sharp. There’s really no tool more vital in the kitchen than a good chef’s knife.
Walk into a Williams-Sonoma and browse their knife selection, and you’ll see a variety of German and Japanese cutlery. Brands like Wüsthof and Zwilling J.A. Henckels are favorite recommendations of the staff, and they praise the fact the knives are forged from a single piece of steel, not stamped like so-called “cheaper” knives. But here’s the truth: it’s just a marketing pitch. While there’s no question German forged knives are popular with many users, the best knives come from the Land of the Rising Sun. And while’s there certainly no shortage of Japanese cutlery makers, there is a brand that consistently stands out as a leader in the field: MAC knives. I’ll come right out and say it – for your money, you won’t find a better performing knife than those offered by MAC. They’re superb knives – ridiculously sharp, light, comfortable to hold – and unlike their German competitors, they’re stamped, not forged.
In truth, it’s because MAC knives are stamped that they’re so great at what they do. If you’ve ever used a forged knife, you know that intrinsic to a forged design is both a heavier weight and a thicker, stiffer blade. The problem is, neither are wanted attributes when undertaking extensive cutting tasks. A heavy weight leads to fatigue more quickly and makes the blade harder to control, whereas a thicker blade causes a wedging effect when cutting, making it significantly more difficult to perform thin, straight cuts. MAC’s design solves both problems, offering chefs a superbly light, blade that’s both incredibly sharp and thin. As a result, wedging during cuts is eliminated, fatigue is eliminated during longer cutting duties, and your level of control is drastically improved. In fact, MAC’s design is so popular its used by a variety of the nation’s best chefs, including Charlie Trotter (Charlie Trotter’s), Eric Ripert (Le Bernardin), Thomas Keller (The French Laundry) and Hubert Keller (Fleur de Lys).
As for which MAC knives to opt for, they offer a variety of lines to choose from, including “Professional”, “Ultimate” and “Japanese” series. I personally own and use three knives from the MAC Professional line (the MBK-95 9.5″ Chef’s knife, the MSK-65 6.5″ Santoku knife and the PKF-30 3″ Paring knife) and one knife from the MAC Superior line (the SB-105 10.5″ Serrated Bread/Roast Slicer). Every one performs absolutely flawlessly. When I say these knives are sharp, it’s difficult to describe exactly how sharp they are. Before my MAC chef’s knife I owned both a Wüsthof and Henckels, and I have to tell you, there’s no comparison. They’re so much sharper straight out of the box, they’re not even in the same league. They literally make their German counterparts feel like a $10 Chinese built Walmart special, so much so that I gave both my Wüsthof and Henckels away. As for the blade hardness, MAC knives have been hardened to 57-61 degrees Rockwell C, with the “Ultimate” offering the highest Rockwell hardness and the Professional being a small step below. Using my MAC Professional knives extensively for the past year, however, I can tell you that MAC Pro line holds their edge incredibly well, so whether you opt for the Professional or Ultimate MAC’s, you can’t go wrong with either.
Price wise, MAC knives as already noted offer what is unquestionably the best value in kitchen cutlery. The 9.5″ MAC Professional chef’s knife costs $200, the 6.5″ Santoku knife costs $135, The paring knives cost just over $60, and the 10.5″ Bread Knife costs $95. Buy this set, and virtually all of your cutting tasks will be met with such precision and ease you’ll wonder how you ever cut anything without them. They’re simply fantastic.
To learn more about the MAC lineup of knives or to order your own, you can find more info at the official U.S. MAC website or buy now from Amazon.com
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