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Ok, this is a nice, big (7x2) stone with an intact label, but $475?! Wow. Is there something special about this one, like the color or grade, that I'm not educated about, or is this just buyers going wild for what is obviously a pretty nice hone to begin with? Just wondering. Thanks!
escher water hone for straight razors, razor hone - eBay (item 230455855129 end time Apr-05-10 16:59:17 PDT)
Looks like it was taken off the site. Thanks for posting, I'm sure the seller freaked out if they saw they were called out on ripping people off.
Maybe this link works. (item 230455855129 if all else fails) Wow. I think maybe it went for so much because "yellow-green" Eschers are highly prized as high-end finishers, and this one is just about the yellowy-greeniest in color of any I've ever seen, anyway. :)
Yep search for this item number:
230455855129
It was a purdy one...
Looking at the bid history, after $172 the same three people were gunning for it until the end. I don't know for sure why it would be so valuable, but it looks like they did!
Check out the question at the bottom of the page. That was mine. Than go to the fifth photo down and you'll see a better representation of the color of the stone IMO. The other photos are distorted by lighting. I have a couple of Y/G eschers as well as a light green and they are gray stones. If you don't have experience with them the colors can be misleading.
That was a beauty though and I was going to go for it. I was stuck doing a tattoo and forgot about it. When I remembered it was too late. OTOH, i would have sniped it in the last few seconds and wouldn't have bid enough so I would have lost it anyway. Great stone though. :boohoo:
So Jimmy, the Y/G is what captivates everyone? That's funny, because I have a few Eschers now, from dark, dark blueish grey to the very light grey, and I think the darker color stones are actually smoother to the touch than the lighter ones. The lighter ones, in fact, feel more like Thuringians, and I would even say they are indistinguishable when feeling them blindfolded.
Anyway, I agree that the lighter stones seem to be rarer, so I guess the price goes up accordingly. Still, it's hard to see how nearly $500 is the right price here, but congrats to the buyer and seller anyway!
It is especially surprising that it went for that much without a color label on the end.
Who made that bid knew what he is doing.
I have a yellow green Escher with no label, but would not dream of selling it. Too nice a finisher and no proof that it is an Escher. I know it is an Escher because it is the precise correct dimensions, but has that nice yellow green color which is obvious when side by side with my other, labelled, Escher. Without the label, though, it is not saleable as an Escher, IMO, and I would not advertise it as such if I ever decide to sell it. Maybe, a "yellow green Thuringian"? Nah, I am just going to keep it.
The bid history on this auction reinforces one simple concept...
SNIPE!
If you bid early all you do is guarantee that you will pay more than you would have if you avoided bidding until the last few seconds.
WORD . :rock:Quote:
Originally Posted by hi_bud_gl
I've got more than one in every color and I like them all. Some are better than others ..... or are they ? It is so hard to quantify..... for me anyway. Y/G and Light Green may be faster but the dark blue and the blue/green are killer too. Some stones with some razors are great but ... the results are what I go by and they vary..... is it the razor, the stone or me ? Great stones though IME whatever color you have.Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffE
i have exact same issue JimmyQuote:
Originally Posted by JimmyHAD
i do have dark i mean black droescher will perform as well as yellow green escher.
This is confusing. in theory shouldn't be but it does.
Croaker, if you want to sell that "yellow green Thuringian", I'll take it from you! I'm sure the lack of a proper label is keeping you awake at night, and I just hate it when friends of mine aren't happy with their razors or hones.Quote:
Originally Posted by Croaker
No deal? Oh well, it was worth a try!
Thanks for the laugh! I need it this morning. I really need to do a comparison with the same razor, from dull (drawn through a cork) to shave ready, using both stones, to see which one gives the better (for me) edge. Will post pics when I do, and it will be soon.Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffE
I agree with my fellow members. The color on that stone is amazing, plus the label is intact. I paid around 200 for my Mine. I love it, and still use it, even though I have J nats...
Well remember one thing, man made Nortons, Shaptons and Naniwas ..... God made Eschers and coticules. :rock:
Cool! I was half-kidding, but if you want to sell it, keep me in mind! -JeffQuote:
Originally Posted by Croaker
Those pictures looked odd to me. Way too yellowy. Even the label looks like it's been soaked in gatorade. Yellow-green eschers are so sought-after that I almost thought someone had used a camera filter to get that effect... But the seller didn't sound particularly hone-savvy so I doubt it.
Anyway it sure went for a bomb.
Like a couple of other posters here I'm not convinced the Y/Gs are special among vintage Thuringians. I have one and love it, but I don't see any difference as a finisher between it and the dark blue Escher I used to have. The Y/Gs seem to be softer, and therefore a bit faster if you're using a slurry and doing some workhorse sharpening. I can see this making them popular with barbers back in the day. Nowadays most guys use Eschers as finishers only, and have other hones for workhorse sharpening. Used this way, I don't think there's an appreciable difference between yellow-greens and thes slightly harder dark blues.
I haven't tried the other colors (well, I did have a black one but didn't use it very extensively), but in general, I'm sort of skeptical about the differences in fineness among the color-grades of vintage Thuringians.
After Bart came up with the bevel setting by using a heavy slurry on a coticule I started trying to duplicate that on an Escher. My fastest cutter is a light green with the Escher end label. I point that out to specify that 'light green' is what Escher designated the stone, not my adjective. I don't know what anyone else might achieve with one of them but for me the Escher is a finishing stone. Not a bevel setter or intermediate sharpening stone. I have tried all of the colors and IME all are good. Some may be faster but they all give the same fine, sharp and smooth edge but only as a finisher.Quote:
Originally Posted by dylandog
This sounds about right.Quote:
Originally Posted by JimmyHAD
In general I think that back in the day, speed was highly prized in naturals. Hence all the hyperventilating over Turkish oilstones.
Nowadays when the market is flooded with inexpensive superfast synthetic waterstones, speed is less of a big deal; what hone freaks splash out for is rareness, beauty, fineness.
Either the bidders are not members of shaving forums, or they just don't give a damn and are childish enough to get into silly bidding wars, because many many people (including me) have said this exact same thing many times and yet, there are still razors on eBay right now with over 3 days left that are already at 90 bucks. And those same early bidders didn't just bid and decide that if they lost they wouldn't come back. They bid, then get outbid, then come back and bid, then get outbid...until the item goes for more than it would have if they had just left the damn thing alone.Quote:
Originally Posted by Utopian
I don't know if that's necessarily the case with this Escher, since they are pretty highly sought after and consistently go into the high 300's and low 400's (the past 5 or so bigger Eschers that I've seen have)
Hmmmm....maybe all it means is that the price of Eschers could be back up to the level they were a few years ago? This price for such Eschers was commonplace at that time. Then the prices seemed to go down fairly quickly.
If anyone is shocked by the seemingly high price for a hunk of rock used for honing, I'll advise very strongly that you don't start looking into the wide world of Japanese natural stones!!!
Chris L
If you look at the member count of this forum alone, it's doubled since I joined. New guys read about how wonderful Escher's are, and Coti's, J-nats and the like. I don't see prices coming down anytime soon. Which is fine by me as a collector.
I figure I'm sitting on a gold mine, or my kids are....
Also, If I want something, I don't worry about price, and I'm not well off by any means. I'm a Civil Servant. If you do, you wind up regretting buying stuff. If you have the means, Always get what you want, Don't settle IMHO....
As far as Escher colors go, If you collect, it's nice to have one of each, if possible regardless of how they may differ from each other. I think Sham did an experiment and came up with some interesting results on Escher colors and how they perform. He may have even tested the NOS Thuringians at Mueller's Timber Tools....
Quote:
Originally Posted by zib
That is my philosophy too as long as business is good. When it isn't I have to back off but I agree with you Rich. If you got it, spend it. :)
Do you know where this study/review is? I'd love to read it...Quote:
Originally Posted by zib
Jimmy, Zib, I agree 100%! You cant take it with you after all. Thats why I'm probably going to pull the trigger on those Naniwa stones I've been looking at! :D
I'm not aware of that study/review. There are two by Russel Baldridge ... one on the Muller Thuringan here and another on a vintage Thuringan here . After reading Russel's review I took my Mulller and followed the same procedure that Russel used and my results mirrored his. Here is a great archived thread on Escher colors with a lot of eye candy. :tuQuote:
Originally Posted by dylandog