Victorian 7 Day set....opinions???

Antique John Heiffor British Army 7 Days of Week Straight Razor Set w Case RARE | eBay

I'm watching this and am interesting in anyones thoughts on this.
I'm new to bidding on eBay. I had trouble getting/winning a Barber's Hone...ended up just buying one (carborundum 102).
Read up a bunch on the hone here on the site.

SO, I'm interested in the experienced eyes that exist here.
SWMBO is NOT happy that I'm even looking....so I guess I'm just looking to start a discussion/learn a few things about sets like these.

I hope this starts some good discussion, if not, that's OK too I guess.

Everyone have a great day AND happy bidding.

You can tell from the wordy-yet-uninformative description that the Seller don't know squat about straight razors -- all those friggin' numbers, but no mention of blade width. Not to put too fine a point on it, but out of twelve photos, four of 'em are of the friggin' box! (and only one of those two razors-in-box photos is worth including).

IMNSHO, unless you're a wealthy collector, or plan on using one as your one-and-only razor rotation, 7-day sets are fine to look at, but not worth buying. Sure, even if it goes for $650, the math's good on a per-razor basis; but seven identical, mediocre razors (all of which will require honing, and that one with corrosion front and back)? Not on my dime.

Save your money and take a pass on this one. YMMV.

Thanks JB,
I too was wondering about all the verbiage, and then I noticed that it is word for word of what is on the case.
And I found myself wondering what the blade width was too.

I'm certainly NOT wealthy...just really interested in these 7 day sets.
Can't wait to hear what others have to say...

I have always been intrigued by the "7 Day Sets" and have often bid then chuckled as the price flies way out of sight. JB brings up some good points which even clarified the way I will be looking at these in the future.

The one thing I did was do an eBay search on just the maker and came up with this:

heiffor | eBay

As you can see there area few Heiffor SR's for sale and they aren't going for much money or seeing much action at all. That could mean it is a normal, mediocre razor and simply isn't worth a lot or more likely that the majority of people haven't used them so there isn't a big push/demand for them.

Compare that to a "Henckels Razor" search:

Henckels razor | eBay

... Totally different results and you can see the price/demand in a completely different light.

So much of any purchase is subjective but if you try to whittle down as much objective information as possible you can sometimes glean clues... And, from what I see, the clue here is that average price for one of the razors in that 7 Day Set looks to be worth $10 or less... Multiply by 7 would be $70 and then you add the fact that it is a 7 Day Set with a 'whatever' condition box with a completely absent latch and maybe bump the individual price by 50% and you'd get $105... Add 50% more because you 'really' want a 7 Day Set and you get $155. Current Bid is $470 plus $16 for Shipping and you are comparing a ballpark desired price range of under $160 to what is likely to be greater than $500 and that means either my formula is rank with error, there is a LOT of emotional energy behind that bidding or I am missing a huge factor/consideration in my pricing.

Army/Navy/Marine Razors are definitely sought after and so this Set may have a lot more going for it that I don't know about but I just don't see it. And, when you add in JB's assertion about "7 mediocre" razors it is definitely a no-go... In fact, after reading that I'm now thinking that unless it is a set of named/known/proven razors that I have used and already love I'm going to pass on 7 Day Sets almost at any price.

I will just keep it as my White Whale and keep doing alternative searches which involve misspellings/mis-categorized items and hope to one day get lucky. ;-)

Cool Thread that gave me a great "Aha!" moment! :-D

Shawn
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Yes, have to say, as much as I like the 7 day set idea, the more I thought about it, the more restrictive it actually is.

The same razor, just with a different day on it, forever. Wrote this in another thread, so what if Tuesday's blade is the best and Friday's is the worst? Suddenly you hate Friday's!! haha

For me, I can rotate the blades I have and use what I want, when I want, without being restricted by the set, which is exactly, IMO, like JBHoren said, restricted to 7 mediocre blades forever....

So, YMMV, but not for me....

Shawn,
Thanks for your insights and personal calculus on what your Top Bid would be.
+1 on the emotional energy...it certainly seems like people get carried away.
After doing my own Top Bid calculations, I plan to set a top 'automatic bid' and then just leave it alone.
Thanks Shawn....

Big Phrank!
Like you, I like changing things up blade wise; 5/8 full hollow, followed by 13/16 near wedge, then settle in on day 3 with a 6/8 hollow.
7 days in a row with only the day changing on the spine would get old after a while....

OK, here's my experience with multi-blade sets.

Early on in my straight razor life I was fascinated with multi-blade sets. Absolutely fascinated. Loved them, loved the idea of them, subsequently bought a few.

You know where those sets are now? Oiled up in a storage box. Last time I used one was quite some time ago now.

Now this could just be me, I have a notoriously short attention span. But that's been my experience. They seem like a great idea, but the shine wears off (for me at least) quite quickly.

Plus they usually end up quite expensive on a per razor basis for some reason.

James.

Actually, one thing I've found in their favour is they are quite useful when travelling. If I have to be away from home for a reasonable amount of time (>5 days say) I'll usually chuck in one of the multi-blade sets. My favourite for that is a 5 day Joseph Rodgers wedgey set with a single clip-in handle.

So to be fair they can be practically useful in that kind of way - just that in the past couple of years I haven't had to travel a lot, and the travel I have done has been shortish trips.

James.

Just looking at the sold bay listing Oct/Nov for John Heiffor, about 12, and generally they sold at around $30.00. Did not see one that went for $75.00 and more. They seem to be very workman like razors with not a lot of pazzazz sort of like a 4 door chevy vs a caddie.
It might be a relatively low cost way to get into a 7 day set if you really want one.

I watched a nice 7 day set for the last 2 minutes it was on and it went from holding for days at a little over $200.00, a slight bump with about 30 sec. to go and in the last sec jumped to over $1000.00. A new 7 day set is over 2 grand.

I think I would rather just pick a blade I like and buy it. The most I would go for in a set would be a gentleman's matched cased pair if I traveled with straights. that sort of has some practical logic to it from my perspective.

Bob

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ColonelG

I plan to set a top 'automatic bid' and then just leave it alone.

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That is what I typically do now as well. In fact, for the first time since starting to buy SR's I've actually hit the "$10 Straight Razor" that I've read so much about in the past. I just do a search, place my top bid amount and then try desperately not to look at the ongoing results or spend much time looking at how many Bids I have going... My last bout was 50 bids and I won 5... But, 10% of SR's in my price range is still pretty good.

Definitely cannot say enough about 'Weird Searches'/'Misspellings' like this "Wade And Butcher" search:

Wade And Butcher | eBay

vs a "Wade & Butcher" search:

Wade & Butcher | eBay

Gaming your searches in this way can yield some surprising wins! :D The potential negative being a dent to a CC if you ever hit a 75% success rate on 60 bids! ;)

Jimbo,
Thanks for yet another perspective, and this one carrying MAJOR weight b/c you have a couple of sets.
Awesome!!

Colonel...

Firstly, I have several Heiffor's and they are very fine razors. Sheffield steel all the way...

Having said that...I would ask for lots of extra pics of each razor including close-ups. If your satisfied with the condition of ALL the blades, and you have the money, time, tools, and skill set to restore and hone these razors then consider it. Personally, after weighing all the factors I would maybe (MAYBE!) go one more Ben Franklin...but that's it, and that's just me. That's MHO...

If you are a dedicated collector...these sets in GREAT condition are nice to have. BUT...for what you normally pay for these sets you can build your own 7 day set of some pretty incredible razors if you have the patience. As an example (and just ONE EXAMPLE)...I have a Jacques LeCoultre complete set with 7 blades, box and screwdriver (a very NICE frame-back and wonderful shavers IMO) that is absolutely Pristine! I mean MINT!

I paid way less than 1 BEN Franklin for this razor, and it is inscribed on the inside of the box as once being owned by a Cadet at West Point. Just an example...

Anyway...that's my opinion.

WP34

WolfPack Mike!
Thanks for weighing in with your insights AND an example of what a motivated man can do when putting together his own set.
And the box that was once owned by a West Point Cadet open a whole other research tangent. I don't think they've used SR at the Academy for quite some time...long before it was seen as a resume enhancer. My guess is that Cadet stayed in uniform for quite some time and more than likely has an interesting professional timeline.

I'm just an ROTC guy....

Thanks for sharing.

My experience mirrors Jimbo's. I have 3 sets currently. I've only used any razors out of one of the sets, the other two being mint when I got them remain so. The one that I got used was not pristine and I got it at a very reasonable price. That is a nice set you've linked to but it is already beyond what I would pay if I was attracted to yet another 7 day set of identical razors. Variety is after all, the spice of life. :)

Thanks Jimmy for sharing your insights and experience as well.
WOW, I'm really thankful for getting so many Heavy Hitters responding to this thread.
I keep learning!
+1 for Variety!!!

I love 7 day sets,have had many over the yrs.I have no more tho.
If I were to travel for 7 days and shaved every day,I would pack one well honed razor and a strop.Would serve me just fine:)

Pixelfixed,
Multiple sets but none left??
I don't have so many yet where I'd ever think about parting with any, let alone a complete set.
I do travel a lot with my current job. I take 3 razors, a strop, my Keen Kutter Combination hone (K20) and CrOx.
Even for the short trips, I never know which razor I'm going to reach for at zero-dark-30.
I need the variety!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ColonelG

Pixelfixed,
Multiple sets but none left??
I don't have so many yet where I'd ever think about parting with any, let alone a complete set.
I do travel a lot with my current job. I take 3 razors, a strop, my Keen Kutter Combination hone (K20) and CrOx.
Even for the short trips, I never know which razor I'm going to reach for at zero-dark-30.
I need the variety!

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Razors to me are like women,they come and they go when the thrill is gone:) who sang that song??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Razors to me are like women,they come and they go when the thrill is gone:) who sang that song??

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I think you were paraphrasing The Eagles.
So razors are like women?? LOL
TOO FUNNY!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ColonelG

I think you were paraphrasing The Eagles.
So razors are like women?? LOL
TOO FUNNY!!!

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Was actually B.B. King,perhaps before your time:)

I never really liked the idea of a seven day set, simply because i find the idea of shaving with essentially the same razor day after day a tad boring. If you didn't actually DO this (use the set as designed) unless you used the same razor (when you opened the set) you'd never know which of the seven may need honing (unless you tried them all). Also, if you didn't use all seven, the others would just sit there getting duller and needing some maintenance.

If one DID use a set consistently, you'd then need to eventually hone all seven razors, which seems quite a chore.

I'd rather rotate an interesting collection of disparate vintage razors. Of course, the razor's I've bought all up have been about the same cost of a seven day set...

I have never honed or used a razor out of my seven day set. It's nice to have and to hold. I don't think I'd get another set unless it was like this Messer der Woche
In that it is something that Really raises my eyebrows.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Razors to me are like women,they come and they go when the thrill is gone:) who sang that song??

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Come on Bill, you ain't that old ....... :rofl2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXsusJ787sU

Quote:

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Originally Posted by carlmaloschneider

I never really liked the idea of a seven day set, simply because i find the idea of shaving with essentially the same razor day after day a tad boring...
I'd rather rotate an interesting collection of disparate vintage razors. Of course, the razor's I've bought all up have been about the same cost of a seven day set...

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Thanks for weighing in...It seems like most aren't really into these sets, or were at one time and grew tired of the repetition.
With time to think about this, I definitely leaning towards putting real effort into a great box/case to hold my razors...maybe just label the slots....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RezDog

I have never honed or used a razor out of my seven day set. It's nice to have and to hold. I don't think I'd get another set unless it was like this Messer der Woche
In that it is something that Really raises my eyebrows.

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That is a SWEET looking set...just seeing that many gorgeous blades/works of art is special....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Come on Bill, you ain't that old ....... :rofl2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXsusJ787sU

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Jim, I had two kids and a mortgage in 1970 when that song came out:)

Eagles - After The Thrill Is Gone

Just to show I wasn't completely Off The Reservation

BUT, to be honest, I'm embarrassed that The Eagles occurred to me before BB King

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BobH

Just looking at the sold bay listing Oct/Nov for John Heiffor, about 12, and generally they sold at around $30.00. Did not see one that went for $75.00 and more. They seem to be very workman like razors with not a lot of pazzazz sort of like a 4 door chevy vs a caddie.
It might be a relatively low cost way to get into a 7 day set if you really want one.

I watched a nice 7 day set for the last 2 minutes it was on and it went from holding for days at a little over $200.00, a slight bump with about 30 sec. to go and in the last sec jumped to over $1000.00. A new 7 day set is over 2 grand.

I think I would rather just pick a blade I like and buy it. The most I would go for in a set would be a gentleman's matched cased pair if I traveled with straights. that sort of has some practical logic to it from my perspective.

Bob

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I got this interesting Wilkinson Pall Mall case of supposed to be three razors, was only two, but I have another that will fit in the case, have taken this before travelling and it's worked great. Got the Pall Mall's and case for approx $100, they're 4/8th, and they shave like a dream!!

This is about the extent I'd be willing to go for a box of the same blades...nice and convenient for travel.

Attachment 151382
Attachment 151383

I had a set of two, boxed like that, of those Wilkinson razors. Sold it a few years back. Still have the four day set seen at this link here, unusual I think, and they shave nice. Why a 3 or a 4 day set ? Guess it was to give the guy who couldn't spring for the 7 day set a more affordable alternative. Here is one of my 7 day sets that has never been used. Not by me nor those through whose hands it has passed. We're custodians of this museum piece. :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I had a set of two, boxed like that, of those Wilkinson razors. Sold it a few years back. Still have the four day set seen at this link here, unusual I think, and they shave nice. Why a 3 or a 4 day set ? Guess it was to give the guy who couldn't spring for the 7 day set a more affordable alternative. Here is one of my 7 day sets that has never been used. Not by me nor those through whose hands it has passed. We're custodians of this museum piece. :p

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That Dovo set is absolutely, utterly, magical!!!

Now that is one 7 day set I would buy, just to look at!!!!

If you're ever thinking of letting that set go, you let me know, I can offer the following: my wife's a good cook, quite attractive until Full Moon, is a nurse, and has a pleasant, down home disposition. The boy, he's young, but eager to learn and strong like a bull! I'm sure it would be a mutually beneficial arrangement!!

Just so we're clear, I have a no return, no refund policy.

:)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ColonelG

Thanks for weighing in...It seems like most aren't really into these sets, or were at one time and grew tired of the repetition.
With time to think about this, I definitely leaning towards putting real effort into a great box/case to hold my razors...maybe just label the slots....

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I use two three-razor cases and work through them from Sun to Fri. On Saturday I rarely shave and when i do it's often with my DE. My seventh straight is stored in it's 'coffin'. I like playing with the order, I rotate them so a 'softer' or smoother razor follows a 'harsher' or 'sharper' razor. I find some more 'aggressive' than others. That's why i like different razors rather than using the same one all the time...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Phrank

That Dovo set is absolutely, utterly, magical!!!

Now that is one 7 day set I would buy, just to look at!!!!

If you're ever thinking of letting that set go, you let me know, I can offer the following: my wife's a good cook, quite attractive until Full Moon, is a nurse, and has a pleasant, down home disposition. The boy, he's young, but eager to learn and strong like a bull! I'm sure it would be a mutually beneficial arrangement!!

Just so we're clear, I have a no return, no refund policy.

:)

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I watched 12 Years A Slave the other night so I both laughed and cried at that! :) :( :popcorn: