This is the easiest, most consistent way to sharpen knives, which means your beloved chef will not only have a way to sharpen their knives, they’ll also actually use it. Knife nerds turn up their noses at this sort of thing, but most cooks, even professional cooks, don’t really care about burr building and knives that slice paper to a clean edge. We just want a way to sharpen a knife to a good edge with little to no time and effort. That’s what the Horl system provides.
In my testing it produced a more consistent edge than any of the pull-through sharpeners most home cooks rely on, and it’s smaller to boot. I should probably point out that there are cheaper, knock-off versions of this available. Do not buy them. Their magnets are inferior, the rollers aren’t nearly as smooth, and the results are noticeably worse. Just because everyone on TikTok and YouTube is hawking them does mean they’re good, it just means they have a larger advertising budget. Get the original, get the Horl. Yes, it costs more, but it’s a better value because it actually works. The bundle version linked here includes extra sharpening grits and a nice strop, and makes the better gift, though you can also buy those separately for $139.