I am planning to buy a nice knife set for my mother and am currently looking at Wusthof knife sets from Williams Sonoma. My mother is not a serious cooking enthusiast, but I would like her to have better knives than what she currently has (and to encourage her to sharpen them regularly!).

I am looking at 12 piece sets, which are available in both the "classic" and "classic ikon" ranges (seems handle design, and therefore perhaps balance(?) is the main difference). Does anyone have any suggestions or experience with these knives? I figure a 12 piece set (including four steak knives) is about the right size, since she can of course purchase additional individual knives as needed.

Although I am leaning toward Wusthof since that is the brand I recognize the most, should I be considering Henckles or other brands (perhaps Japanese)?

I hope this is the right place for this post. I searched but could not find any recent thread on knives.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!