Attached is a couple of pics that some of you might find interesting...
You can see where the bevel angle changes on the Mundial blade (in the background) it is about 1mm away from the cutting edge.
The Watanabe (in front) shows two transitions across the width of the blade. The first one (4mm in from the edge, where it goes from gloss to matte) delineates the point where the high carbon steel is exposed from underneath the softer stainless protective outer layers. The second one (at the tip of my thumb) shows how far up the blade the primary bevel angle extends up the blade... probably 15mm, as opposed to 1mm for the Mundial. That should give you a clue how fine an edge is put on a Watanabe blade and implicitly, the mastery of metallurgy required to achieve it.
It's a case of scalpel versus block splitter.
http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/o...5-08at1701.jpg
The second image shows the patina that develops on the high carbon steel core on the older (lower knife) over a couple of months, it turns a dark bluish grey. The upper knife has never been used and still has a mirror finish. The lower knife (though discoloured) is almost equally sharp after several months use.
http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/o...5-08at1657.jpg
I have been as succinct as I know how but still feel that my written words fall quite short of what is required.
All I can suggest is either read this last post through twice or try one.
best
c