My husband and I have had an older knife set for a very long time. He diligently sharpened them but it really never seemed to help. After smashing tomatoes instead of cutting them and hurting our hands and wrists from sawing so much, we said enough! The other reviews on this product helped me with the decision to buy this set. I loved the look but we're they sharp? YES! We've had them about a month so I can't necessarily say how long they'll stay sharp but no changes yet and we have used them multiple times a day.
They do stand a bit tall, just FYI. We ended up not placing them under our cabinets since we would have had to pull the block forward if we wanted to remove and use the back knives. 
Hand wash only recommended. 
Great price!