Just simple test of nurbs skinning. I found this very usefull.
Rendered in yafray with HDRI.
:o
As always, grzybu marvels me.
I wouldn’t say anything about modeling which seems quite perfect to me. I’d just like to say that there’s much banding of the knife (something to do with Bias value, but not sure how it’s related in a yafray render). Moreover, on the leather thing sitting on the table (very cool texture BTW) it seems to be a light artefect on the upper part. Because of the angle, I don’t think it’s caustic reflections (not sure you can have caustic reflections with built-in yafray yet, anyway). Perhaps a HDRI side-effects?
I also love very much how you engraved your sig on the knife. Discreet and aesthetic.
Cheers,
There is banding because this is damascus knife 
/me wonders if grzybu is serious or just joking at /me %|
As I’m not sure, I’ll nodd ‘huh-huh’ in order not to show that I’m still puzzled 
Here you are some pictures of such knives:
http://www.ycsi.net/users/jolley/knives/IMAGES_DAMASCUS/jones_1.jpg
http://www.hokiyama.com/en/IMAGE/DMS%20Knife2.jpg
Unfortunately, the damascus effect isn’t quite achieved. It looks good, but it does indeed look more like banding than damascus. Perhaps if it was a bit larger, and the rest of the scene had less noise?
Very nice, is the handle supposed to be that shiny
i think the damascus blade looks pretty realistic.
the metal on the handle though looks rather plasticy,
all in all though a really good job 
The blade would definitely look more convincing if it were more metallic. But besides that, excellent lighting and excellent texture work. A very striking image.
Samir
As I’m not sure, I’ll nodd ‘huh-huh’ in order not to show that I’m still puzzled
Damascus steel is created by mating a layer of soft metal and a layer of hardened metal together, then heating, folding, flattening (by hammering, usually) and repeating the process over and over until the pattern you see results. Its an attempt to combine the properties of edge-holding hardened metal with the flexibility of soft metal - the classic balance that every knife maker strives to achieve. Whether or not this balance is achieved, the metal comes out looking quite nice.
grzybu, I would simply darken the “soft metal” part of your texture up just slightly, and you’ll be there! This may not even be necessary, as your second example image attests. Each damascus blade is unique. To have created that model with nurbs surfaces is an accomplishment in itself! Kudos!