It's been asnwered often, but don't worry about it.
Ceramic is pretty much of a dead letter in quality knives.
It the santoku idea his or yours? It's a decent knife profile for a cook who reaches up to the board, has small hands, and/or lacks basic skills and the ambition to acquire them. It's something of a "girl's knife" or a "beginner's knife," and very seldom the go to choice of a man with skills. Not just because of the pejorative connotations, but because it just doesn't function as well a good chef knife given size and/or adequate skills.
That's the sweet spot on the cost/benefit curve. Spend more and it's diminishing returns. Spend less, and you're not getting all the knife you can get for your money.
Makes things a tiny bit easier.
Hmmmm. Sending knives out is less than ideal unless you two are in a position where you can send them out at least four times a year. Maintaining knives includes keeping them sharp. You can do a barely adequate sharp, if nothing goes wrong, with a set of "V" sticks like the Spyderco Sharpmaker or the big Idahone set -- but it's a poor stopgap. Enough nagging about sharpening.
There are plenty of good stainless knives on the market in your price range. You get more for your money with non-stainless -- what we call carbon steels -- and you've indicated that he's sufficiently detail oriented to maintain them, but... let's stick with stainless unless you want to know more.
I'd stay away from santokus for the reasons already given. If you like, I can offer more.
A 7" chef's knife is ridiculously small. An 8" chef's knife is on the very small size of adequate. A 9-1/2" (240mm) is probably more like it. If he's used to an 8", the extra length will take a little getting used to but once he learns to hold the knife properly it will be very controllable. If he's got good knife skills, board management skills, and an adequately sized board -- he'd probably be happiest with a 10-1/2" (270mm) knife.
I'll make it a little easier. Don't buy Masahiro, Shun or Global. In your price range, you should be looking at the Masamoto VG, the Togiharu G-1, the Misono UX-10, the Sakai Takayuki Grand Cheff, and the MAC Professional.
Let me cover a few highlights:
Masamoto VG was just named "best" in its class by Cook's Illustrated. Outstanding geometry and feel in the hand. Excellent blade steel. Cosmetics, especially around the handle, can be variable. Masamoto is replacing the wooden handle with a high quality plastic they call "Duracon," which is (I think) POM -- the same stuff almost all top-end Euro knives use. Some western users, especially those moving from stiff western knives, find the Masamoto a bit too flexible aka "whippy." Masamoto's tend to be the most Japanese of Japanese knives, but more so. It's worth repeating: Incredibly good geometry. They leap into your hand eager to go to work in the same way a K-Sabatier does.
Togiharu G-1 is a clone, more or less, of the Masamoto made expressly for Korin (an international chain of knife stores with its main branch in NYC). It's very slightly less expensive than the Masamoto, and very slightly less good in several respects including the geometry, where it's only very good. Also, the handle seems a little small for many western cooks. It's flexible as well.
Misono UX-10 is on the extreme high end of your price range, especially at the 240mm length I'm recommending. It's very streamlined, agile and nimble; beautiful appearance. Incredibly good handle. It's in the small group of "best mass produced knives at any price." Also flexible. Great choice.
Sakai Takayuki Grand Cheff (yes, two effs) is a very nice knife with a good handle. Very easy to sharpen and keep sharp. Nice knife. It can be a little hard to track down and purchase here in the USA, but that's doable. Unfortunately the weak supply chain translates into lack of support in the event you need it down the line. Still, it's an excellent knife at the price.
MAC Professional is the most robust, and has the stiffest blade by far. It performs like a Japanese knife, but feels like a western. Excellent handle, excellent fit and finish -- which unfortunately can be variable in Japanese knives. Very good supply line with a prominent USA division located in Sacramento and headed by a very service oriented and very friendly guy. Easy to sharpen, maintains well on an appropriate "steel." A truly skilled sharpener using excellent stones might be able to bring out a little more sharpness with the other knives -- but not much and it wouldn't last long anyway. The closest thing to a weakness is that the label is silkscreened and wears off quickly, but it's not a very attractive label.
The MAC Pro is my usual first recommendation for someone looking to buy their first quality knife, or who wants to move from a good Euro to a good Japanese blade.
Shuns have terrible geometry starting at their too high tip, and carrying along their too deep and overly curved belly. They start losing their faux "Damascus" pattern at the first washing. Otherwise, they're OK. Knife people tend to harbor a lot of hostility towards Shun. While most of it is silly, there's some merit to it as well. In their favor: They definitely can get sharp, pretty easily, too; and they hold their edge well. Excellent distirbution, excellent fit and finish, a pretty knife at least until it starts scratching (a matter of a couple of months at most), and a handle some people just love. Bottom line: Don't buy Shun unless you need to buy from the likes of SLT or WS.
Masahiros are pretty much Shuns with slightly but not greatly better geometry.
Most American find the Global grip to be very problematic -- to the point of causing chronic hand pain. Also, a lot of people don't like the way Globals balance. It's ironic because Globals were designed to be "ergonomic," and have a neutral balance. Personally, I like the Global grip and balance, but it's impossible to recommend them given how many other people complain.
Most of these knives come sharp out of the box (ootb), and all have excellent edge holding characteristics. That doesn't mean they won't need regular steeling and/or sharpening.
How to put this?
All of the recommended knives take a better edge and hold it far better than an equivalently priced knife from a western mass-producer. But in order to maintain their superiority they need regular and appropriate sharpening -- something on the order of every couple of months.
Hope this helps,
BDL