Home cooks might be more serious than ever – two years spent trying to craft dishes and navigate restaurants’ do-it-yourself kits in one’s own kitchen has born thousands of domestic chefs. For those who are keeping their gastronomic skills on point, a new brand of knife sharpener has been developed that could reinvent how we sharpen blades – allowing anyone to get professional-level results.

Horl 1993 knife sharpeners offer the same precision and razor-sharp edge you’d get from a whetstone but in a way anyone can operate. The Horl sharpener consists of two parts: a magnetic angled sharpening block called the S-Pad to hold one’s knife in place, and a diamond grinder on a satisfying roller that can be moved back and forth to create the perfect angle for your knife. On the other side of the rolling grinder sits a ceramic honing disc which, after a few movements, significantly refines the grinding and results in a smooth and clean sharpened knife edge.

‘We want to make it possible for everyone to sharpen their knives so that cutting is a real pleasure. To achieve this, we develop easy-to-use, stylish products that always feel great to use,’ says Otmar Horl, co-founder of Horl 1993.

There are three Horl products in the range: the Horl 2 Cruise, £99, that is suited for grinding at 20 degrees, so suitable for most classic kitchen knives; the Horl 2 (£139), which has settings for both classic 20-degree knives as well as Japanese and Damascus knives, which tend to need to be ground to 15 degrees. And the Horl 2 Pro (£299), which achieves results three times quicker than other Horl sharpeners thanks to the planetary wheel mechanism.

It’s a simple and effective way to bring old cutting blades back to life and take care of treasured kitchen knives you rely on every day. And Horl comes from a family business run by father-and-son duo Otmar and Timo, who run their workshop from the Black Forest where every aspect of the manufacturing process is done locally. A very sharp investment, indeed.

horl.com