Help choosing faux damascus Japanese knives

Not just Faux Demascus but also Hammered texture and 15% off for July, I've tried this one, its pretty much Gekko, not a bad gift - http://korin.com/Togiharu-Hammered-Damascus-Santoku

"Faux Damascus" means "san-mai" construction with a pattern welded jigane (the outside layers).  If you want to stay within your price range and get really good knives for your friend, I suggest staying away from all san-mai -- Damascus or no.

If you're willing to select knives from different manufacturers and concentrate your money where it's most important, $500 should get a pretty good set (better than Globals), consisting of three of the four good cook's basic profiles:  ~10" chef's; 10" - 12" slicer; 10" bread; and 6" petty.  If you take one or two knives out of the equation, you can bump the quality of the others significantly.  If you increased your budget to $600 you could get all four, or take three from very good to "frikkin' excellent!"

Knives themselves can never be better than the care their owners give them.  Depending on how and how well he sharpens, you might want to consider a gift set which consists of a really good sharpening kit and one excellent knife.  Or, a decent sharpening gag (like a MinoSharp3 for $80) and two very good knives. 

Some other things to consider are whether or not your friend would enjoy Japanese style "wa" handles on his knives, and whether he might be interested in trying (non-stainless) carbon.  There's a whole class of knives called "lasers" which are very, very thin and get very, very sharp.  He might be interested, or not.  If you think any of these things are possibilities, let me know and we can start talking.

Last year I bought my daughter a kit from CKtG, consisting of 9.5" MAC Pro chef's, 10.25" Forschner Bread, 6" MAC Pro, and a MinoSharp3.  The same kit at current [ahem] retail prices would be just under $500.  But, you might find MAC Pro and Forschner kind of plain-Jane and pedestrian.  I should mention that if you're buying several knives and accessories, it never hurts to ask the seller if you can get a discount.

If you really want western-handled lookers, your friend already has all the sharpening stuff you need, etc., think about a couple of Hattori FH knives -- for instance the 240mm chef's and the 150mm petty.  They're not Damascus, they wouldn't in a million years be my choice for myself, but they are very good knives and sure are beautiful. 

Sharpening is everything,

BDL

As BDL alludes to, one reason Shun gets a bad rap is because of their faux Dammie!  I'd also warn you away from going that route.  That said, a pro sharpener buddie of mine is very fond of Ran.  He considers them a big step up from Shun.  However I'm just going on his words since I've not used one.  The Kasumi (brand) knives are pretty nice.

If your heart is set on faux damascus my favorite is probably Kanetsune, at least for any sane amount of money.  But suminigashi is just for looks.

I don't like san-mai because it makes the knife feel "damped" in the cut and on the board to me.  However, that's a minority opinion in the senses that most people don't feel at all, and a large percentage of those who do don't really care.  Of those that do feel it, it seems almost all hold the knife with a similarly "soft" grip.  I try not to make a big deal out of it, because it is a minority view (call it 30%).

Here in the west, people who know knives, who want, can afford and buy in the high-end can afford best tend to shy away from most of the san-mai blades, with a few exceptions like (but limited to) Shigefusa and Takeda. 

If you were to ask me would I buy a san-mai Damascus knife for a friend, I would not.  That's as much an aesthetic as a practical judgment on my part and includes my own experience as well as my ideas of what constitutes a good gift.  If you were to ask me do I think you're making a good choice, I do because it includes your research, you consideration of your friend and your ideas of what constitutes a good gift.  You can't beat that. 

While it doesn't apply to gift giving particularly, I feel that good knives can only be understood and appreciated within the context of sharpening.  All knives get dull eventually, nearly all of them sooner than later. Any dull knife is a dull knife.  And all dull knives, no matter how beautiful, how well made, how expensive, how sharp to begin with, how good in any or every other way, are equal.  Sharpening is darn near everything.

BDL