For 100 years, KUM (Kunststoff- und Metallwarenfabrik) in Erlangen (Germany) has been manufacturing high-quality sharpeners. The best known and most highly praised by graphic artists, illustrators and writers all over the world is the ‘Masterpiece’, whose cult status is based on a two-stage sharpening process. Its little siblings may be more conventional, in that they peel and sharpen at the same time, but they share the 64 HRC hardened steel blades with the Masterpiece, which do their work reliably and without splintering.