Originally Posted By: Tom_L
Actually no, those are small diamond rods, one pair coarse and one pair fine.


You see how its white in the picture, and not silver? That means its ceramic (aluminum oxide).
gerbergear itself says its ceramic.



Originally Posted By: Tom_L
Also, Wileycoyote is right, the diamond rods wear our pretty quickly if any serious pressure is applied at sharpening. But realistically, that's to be expected from a $5 product.

Its not really related to price,
electroplated diamonds will get dislodged with high pressure
the surface area on those crock sticks is very small, the pressure is going to be very high, you need the lightest force possible to sharpen with, as in under 100 grams