I check the new arrivals every morning with coffee. While I have just about everything I want you never know what might pop up that causes "the urge" to strike and next thing you know the "place order" button is pushed. So, Im a sucker for a rustic hammered finish and when I saw the new line from Daovua in 52100 steel had to take one for a drive. Being a Nakiri person and already having a Daovua tall leaf spring nakiri, I ordered a new 52100 version to compare and it arrived in short order.
The handle is on par with other good quality handles I have purchased if not nicer. Since it appears to be a bit heavier than the handle on the leaf spring nakiri it balanced the knife a bit more rearward making it feel lighter even though it weighs 5g more. (leaf spring=186 52100=191g). This knife also has a thinner grind than the leaf spring version which also helps the balance. Bottom line is this knife isn't blade heavy like many nakiri's.
The finish is very rustic, with a few hammer marks in it very reminiscent of a Fujiwara Marborishi gyuto I used to own. To me this surface is more appealing than a kurouchi finish. After cutting an onion and a few other items, the steel was only mildly reactive which was nice!
And like many knives OOB, it needed a bit of stropping to get it up to my paper towel cutting standards. But how does it cut? Well it got sharper than the leaf spring version did and cuts very nicely. Too soon to tell if the edge retention will be longer but with this higher quality steel it should.
Worth getting? If you want to try a nakiri, get one of these! lots of scooping power, good looks, nice handle and the price makes it a bargain.
Im thinking of grabbing one of their cleavers next...
Checked to see what the full size cleaver is in any of their lines and it doesn't show, even in the sold out stock. Looks like they aren't making them any more. 
