April Bloomfield with knife

The Kitchn recently pointed out this article from details.com, which asked six chefs to name their favorite knives: April Bloomfield, Marc Forgione, Jesse Schenker, Stuart Brioza, Chris Shepherd, and Stephanie Izard. The answers are an unquestioned victory for the Japanese - all of the knives are of Japanese origin - with strong and thin seeming to be the most attractive attributes. 

Unfortunately, expensive is also an attribute. So if you'd like some more ideas that are less of a splurge, the Kitchen has this article on recommended knives.