There are no new barber hones. The best of the old is a Swaty. Many others, but most serious honers consider the Swaty as THE barbers hone. As far as a set of stones for honing from bevel to shave ready, many choices. 1k, 4k,8k and 12k for finishing. Naniwa's, Norton's, Chosera's, Shapton's are all considered fine stones. They are synthetic and consistent in their grit numbers. Naniwa's don't need to be soaked. Also needed is a DMT325 or an Atoma for lapping the stones to keep them flat. Read the wikis and watch the videos. Great stuff there.