I would argue for a good bread knife. If you bake bread at all, even one in moderate shape will cut a loaf better than the sharpest chef knife.

If it's for your profession then that is a whole different animal. I'm talking personal, hobby work. I do some building and repair around the farm, inexpensive power tools have lasted for years. I found I use a few hand tools to point where they were degrading, so I got Klein versions of them, but there majority of the tools in the shed are bargain bin harbor freight.

For tools it's always been buy the cheapest version then buy the BIFL option if it breaks. If a cheap version is all you need to do the work you're going to do with it, it's no point going with the expensive version. It probably applies pretty well to most items.