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Prices and specs last checked by Look Into on 23 October 2026 · next check 18 December 2026 · how we picked
The short answer
Prices checked at Lakeland, Robert Welch and Argos on 23 October 2026.
- Best value for the long run: Robert Welch Professional Chef's Knife 20cm, £34.99 at Lakeland (was £39.99). Lakeland lists a "lifetime (25-year)" guarantee, so £1.40 per guaranteed year. It states a hardness of 57 on the Rockwell scale and is listed as dishwasher safe.
- Best under £25: Lakeland Precision Chef's Knife 20cm (Japanese steel), £23.99 (was £29.99). A 10-year guarantee makes it £2.40 per guaranteed year.
- Cheapest that does the job: Lakeland 19cm Stainless Steel Chef's Knife, £7.49 (was £9.99). No guarantee is stated on the listing.
- The premium choice: Robert Welch Signature Cook's Knife 20cm, £68 direct. Robert Welch states a lifetime guarantee and a hardness of Rockwell 56.
- Paying for looks: Lakeland Damascus Chef's Knife 20cm, £64.99. It states the same 52 to 54 HRC hardness as the £23.99 Lakeland Precision. The extra £41 buys 67 layers of patterned steel and 15 more years of guarantee, not a harder blade.
What the listings say, and what most leave out
We priced 11 single chef's or cook's knives with an 18 to 21cm blade at Lakeland, plus the Robert Welch Signature 20cm direct from the maker. Across the 11 Lakeland knives:
- 4 state a guarantee term (10 years, 25 years twice, and "lifetime").
- 3 state a Rockwell hardness (HRC 52 to 54 twice, 57 once).
- 7 state neither.
Two findings stood out.
The same hardness at almost three times the price. Lakeland's £64.99 Damascus and £23.99 Precision chef's knives both state HRC 52 to 54. Both are listed as hand wash only. The Robert Welch Professional at £34.99 states 57, which is harder on the scale.
"Lifetime" means different things. Lakeland describes the Robert Welch Professional's cover as "lifetime (25-year)" and lists the Robert Welch Signature range with a "25-year manufacturer's guarantee". Robert Welch's own product page for the Signature 20cm says "a lifetime guarantee". We use 25 years where a retailer puts a number on it, and show "lifetime" as stated where nobody does.
How we picked and ranked these
We read every chef's and cook's knife returned by Lakeland's own product search on 23 October 2026 and kept single knives with a blade of 18 to 21cm. We added the Robert Welch Signature 20cm from robertwelch.com, because Lakeland stocks the Signature range only in shorter cook's knives. At Argos, the only single chef's knives on the first results page were a Tower knife 15cm long overall and a Tefal knife with no stated blade length, so they are shown for reference but not ranked.
The ranking metric is price divided by years of guarantee as stated. A knife has no running cost, and the guarantee is the only written statement of how long the maker expects it to last. Knives with no stated guarantee are listed by price.
We did not handle, use or sharpen any of these knives.
At a glance
| Knife | Retailer, price 23 Oct 2026 | Blade | Guarantee as stated | Price per guaranteed year | Hardness stated | Care stated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Welch Professional Chef's Knife | Lakeland £34.99 (was £39.99) | 20cm | Lifetime (25-year) | £1.40 | HRC 57 | Dishwasher safe |
| Lakeland Precision Chef's Knife (Japanese steel) | Lakeland £23.99 (was £29.99) | 20cm | 10 years | £2.40 | HRC 52-54 | Hand wash only |
| Lakeland Damascus Chef's Knife | Lakeland £64.99 | 20cm | 25 years | £2.60 | HRC 52-54 | Hand wash only |
| Robert Welch Signature Cook's Knife | Robert Welch £68.00 | 20cm | Lifetime (Lakeland lists the range at 25 years) | £2.72 on 25 years | HRC 56 | Dishwasher safe |
| Taylor's Eye Witness Professional Cook's Knife | Lakeland £26.99 | 20cm | Lifetime | Not countable | Not stated | Not stated |
| Lakeland 19cm Stainless Steel Chef's Knife | Lakeland £7.49 (was £9.99) | 19cm | Not stated | n/a | Not stated | Not stated |
| Lakeland Fully Forged Cook's Knife | Lakeland £14.99 (was £21.99) | 20cm | Not stated | n/a | Not stated | Not stated |
| Lakeland Tri-Steel Chef's Knife | Lakeland £14.99 | 20.5cm | Not stated | n/a | Not stated | Not stated |
| Sabatier Edge Keeper Chef Knife (sharpening sheath) | Lakeland £21.99 | 20cm | Not stated | n/a | Not stated | Not stated |
| Lakeland Select-Grip Japanese Steel Chef's Knife | Lakeland £23.99 (was £29.99) | 20cm | Not stated | n/a | Not stated | Not stated |
| Lakeland Select-Grip Chef's Knife | Lakeland £26.99 | 20cm | Not stated | n/a | Not stated | Not stated |
| Lakeland Precision Chef's Knife 20cm (second listing) | Lakeland £31.99 | 20cm | Not stated | n/a | Not stated | Not stated |
| For reference: Tefal Eversharp with integrated sharpener | Argos £22.00 | Not stated | 2 years if registered | £11.00 | Not stated | Dishwasher safe |
| For reference: Tower Small Soft Grip Chef's Knife | Argos £10.99 | 15cm overall | 1 year | £10.99 | Not stated | Not stated |
Lakeland sells two different "Lakeland Precision Chef's Knife 20cm" listings at £23.99 and £31.99. Only the £23.99 listing states the Japanese steel, hardness and 10-year guarantee.
The five we would shortlist
1. Robert Welch Professional Chef's Knife 20cm: best value over time
£34.99 at Lakeland on 23 October 2026 (was £39.99). £1.40 per guaranteed year.
Fully forged German stainless steel, full tang, ice hardened to HRC 57 according to Lakeland, with a moulded handle. Lakeland lists it as dishwasher safe and gives a "lifetime (25-year)" manufacturer's guarantee. No knife in the pool costs less per year of stated cover.
The catch: £34.99 is a sale price; at £39.99 it is £1.60 a year, still the lowest. A dishwasher is allowed by the listing, but a guarantee covers manufacturing defects, not a dulled edge.
Best for: anyone buying one knife to keep.
2. Lakeland Precision Chef's Knife 20cm (Japanese steel): best under £25
£23.99 at Lakeland on 23 October 2026 (was £29.99). £2.40 per guaranteed year.
Full tang, a full bolster, a triple-riveted pakka wood handle, a stated edge angle of 30 to 35 degrees and a 10-year guarantee. It is the only knife under £25 in the pool with a stated guarantee.
The catch: hand wash only, and its stated hardness (HRC 52 to 54) is lower than the Robert Welch Professional's 57, despite the listing's description of Japanese steel as "famous for its quality and hardness".
Best for: a first good knife on a tighter budget.
3. Lakeland 19cm Stainless Steel Chef's Knife: cheapest
£7.49 at Lakeland on 23 October 2026 (was £9.99). No guarantee stated.
A plain stainless chef's knife at the bottom of the price range. It covers the everyday jobs a chef's knife is bought for.
The catch: the listing states no guarantee, steel grade or hardness, so you are relying on your statutory rights against Lakeland.
Best for: a spare, a student kitchen or a holiday let.
4. Taylor's Eye Witness Professional 20cm Cook's Knife: British brand, lifetime cover
£26.99 at Lakeland on 23 October 2026. Lifetime manufacturer's guarantee.
High-carbon stainless steel, individually heat-treated, ground and hand-honed according to the listing, from a Sheffield firm the listing dates to 1820.
The catch: "lifetime" is not defined on the listing and no hardness is stated, so we cannot put a per-year figure on it or compare hardness.
Best for: buyers who want a Sheffield brand with an open-ended guarantee for under £30.
5. Robert Welch Signature Cook's Knife 20cm: the premium pick
£68.00 at robertwelch.com on 23 October 2026. Lifetime guarantee per the maker; Lakeland lists the range at 25 years (£2.72 a year on that figure).
German DIN 1.4116 stainless steel, fully forged, full tang, a hand-applied 15 degree edge and Rockwell 56 hardness, all as stated by Robert Welch. Listed as dishwasher safe.
The catch: it states a slightly lower hardness (56) than the cheaper Robert Welch Professional (57, per Lakeland), and costs almost twice as much. The difference is the finer 15 degree edge and the design.
Best for: keen cooks who want the finer edge and will hone it.
Live Amazon prices
The table below pulls live prices from Amazon's own feed, which can differ from the Amazon buy box and from the retailer prices we ranked on above. Not in it: the two Lakeland knives (sold by Lakeland) and the Taylor's Eye Witness Professional, which we could not match to an Amazon listing for the same knife.
Prices in this table come from Amazon and are refreshed at least once a day, with the date of the last update under the table. The cost-per-use and running-cost figures on this page use prices Look Into read on 23 October 2026, so they can differ from today's price.
As an Amazon Associate, Look Into earns from qualifying purchases. Product prices and availability are accurate as of 23 October 2026 and are subject to change.
Not worth it unless you want the look
Lakeland Damascus Chef's Knife 20cm, £64.99. It has a 25-year guarantee (£2.60 a year), but states the same HRC 52 to 54 as the £23.99 Precision. You are paying for the layered pattern.
Keeping it sharp: what it costs
| Sharpener | Retailer, price 23 Oct 2026 |
|---|---|
| AnySharp Black Knife Sharpener | Argos £8.00 |
| Lakeland Standard European Knife Sharpener (two-stage) | Lakeland £9.99 |
| AnySharp Knife Sharpener | Lakeland £12.99 |
| Robert Welch Signature Knife Sharpener | Lakeland £27.99 |
Lakeland's instructions for its two-stage sharpener suggest the coarse stage "once or twice a month" for a regularly used knife. Its Precision knife listing says it works with any sharpener. Robert Welch recommends regular honing with its own hand-held sharpener.
Buying a kitchen knife in the UK: the age and delivery rules
This box summarises the law; it is not legal advice.
- Under 18s: selling a knife or other article with a blade or point to a person under 18 is an offence under section 141A of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (England and Wales; Scotland has its own version of the section). Argos and Robert Welch both mark their knives as age restricted to 18 and over.
- Delivery: section 38 of the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 restricts delivering bladed products bought remotely to residential premises and lockers. It came into force in England and Wales on 6 April 2022 and in Scotland on 28 June 2022. In practice, expect to show ID at the door and expect lockers to be refused.
- Tighter rules are coming: the Crime and Policing Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026 and includes knife crime measures. The bill as introduced proposed photo-ID checks before a remote sale and at delivery. We could not confirm when those provisions come into force; check legislation.gov.uk for the current position.
Questions people ask
What size chef's knife should I buy? 20cm is the most common size: 9 of the 11 Lakeland knives we ranked have a 20cm blade. Smaller hands may prefer 16cm, which Robert Welch and Lakeland both sell.
Is a harder knife better? A higher Rockwell number usually means the edge holds longer but can be harder to sharpen. Only 3 of 11 Lakeland listings state hardness, so you often cannot compare.
Can chef's knives go in the dishwasher? It depends on the maker. The Robert Welch knives are listed as dishwasher safe; Lakeland's Precision and Damascus are hand wash only.
What does a knife guarantee cover? Manufacturing defects. It does not cover a blunt edge or misuse. Your Consumer Rights Act rights against the retailer apply on top.
Sources
- Lakeland product listings for 11 chef's and cook's knives, 4 sharpeners and the Robert Welch Signature 16cm (range guarantee), read 23 October 2026 (URLs in the source register).
- Robert Welch: Signature Cook's Knife 20cm, read 23 October 2026.
- Argos listings for the Tefal Eversharp, Tower Small Soft Grip chef's knife and AnySharp sharpener, read 23 October 2026.
- Criminal Justice Act 1988, section 141A, read 23 October 2026.
- Offensive Weapons Act 2019, section 38, read 23 October 2026.
- Open University Centre for Policing Research: Crime and Policing Act receives Royal Assent, read 23 October 2026 (Royal Assent 29 April 2026).
- 2 Hare Court: The Crime and Policing Bill, a new age for remote knife sales, 11 June 2025 (what the bill proposed).