Turning to true "sharpening" (which is only needed once honing to blade no longer works) then that's where you use a diamond rod of an oil stone to actually grind a new cutting edge, rather than simply restoring minor damage to the blade by "honing" those minor dings out without removing metal. As an amateur chef, you might use a diamond rod or an oil stone perhaps once a year on a quality steel knife. It's highly unlikely your knives would get enough use to require actual grinding metal away to form a new edge more than this. It's also why a diamond rod is probably an ill-advised purchase, as its ease-of-use compared to an oil stone means you'll be tempted to use it far too often. This being the case, your best advice is to only use a traditional honing steel on your knives and, maybe once a year to visit your local butcher to entrust actual grinding sharpening of your knives professionally to an expert!

As for ceramic honing rods, these are just like the traditional European-style honing steel, but are better suited to Oriental knives which are made of a harder steel that would quickly wear out a traditional steel. Again, think about this, there's a reason thar European knives are made of slightly softer steel, and that's because it allows us to hone those kinks out of the cutting edge by realigning the bent edge without losing metal. "Honing" is your friend; "Sharpening" isn't something for us amateurs — and absolutely stay away from those worktop sharpening tools !