Interestingly enough, I have had much better luck sharpening the D2 Queen knives using conventional stones rather than diamond sharpeners.
When the D2 series first came out, I bought several and tried sharpening them on borrowed DMT diamond hones and got them sharp but it was VERY frustrating. And on those knives I did the mouse-pad-with-sandpaper as the first step. I eventually let those Queens go and did without any carry knives for awhile except for one 1095 Moore Maker.
I decided to give the Queens another try last year when the Birds Eye Maple series came out, only this time I just used my Norton India stone followed by a hard Arkansas stone. For some reason I have had a much easier time putting a screaming edge in the D2 with the Norton. I use the coarse side first at a very low angle (almost flat) until the edge is starting to get scary sharp. Then I go to the Fine India (orange) and then the Arkansas. It still takes time but I am very happy with the resulting edge. In my experience sharpening ANY decent knife from its factory edge to scary sharp takes time.
I find that for edge holding, the difference is as follows. If I get a non-D2 knife, like a Case CV or a Moore Maker 1095, to scary sharpness and use it hard, the edge will not just go dull but will really bend over completely and not be worth anything. If I get a Queen D2 to scary sharpenss and use it hard, the "scary sharp" edge goes away but a good "working" edge remains and will stay for quite awhile. I also find that only the inital edge profiling takes a long time - resharpening the edge of one of my Queen D2 blades after it has dulled - at least for me - takes no longer than it would for about any other decent relatively hard steel blade.
