What Do You Consider When Looking For A Coticule Or Other Natural Stone On eBay?

I do pretty well with Razors, Strops, Brushes, Scuttles and Mugs but Natural Stones have me completely perplexed. I know the best place to get one is the Classifieds here hut wondering if there is much chance of making a solid buy using whatever keen observation or if it is a leap of faith on Auction Sites like eBay.

I look at those stones and aside from obvious cracks dunno what I'm looking for. If it is a stone local to the country the Seller is from does that account for a lower price? There are just huge price swings out there.

Anybody have info they'd like to share on a nice Stone score and how they determined it was the right deal?

Man untested natural rocks are always a major gamable.
They some times hve flaws that don't show up in the photos.
A huge flaw a natural rock can have is the feeling of the stone putting off
sand onto the cutting surface.
When they are dirty greasy messy the pictures don't tell you the grit.
All natural rocks from every darn country has grit swings.
The Superfine natural rocks which we are after should be really heavy for their size.
The cut speed in my opnion should not even matter.
cause i kind of think you should already have a really nice fine edge before going to the finest rock
ya got.

My opnion of stones is i like a really like the edge
off a really fine peice of arkansas stone.

As with everything in this hobby, you'll learn more in person than anything else. PM me and I would be willing to sit down with you to discuss some of the finer points of purchasing natural stones.
They are a gamble in many cases, but if you find a nice graded vintage coticule in the classifieds, you usually have something.

Whether it is stones or micro fasteners you can put a WTB (want to buy) in the appropriate part of the classifieds. If someone makes an offer you are not obligated to accept it. You can request details.

Back fifty years ago when there was no internet and barbers still shaved folks with straight razors barber supply salesman had routes. They would go from shop to shop in a panel truck loaded with strops, Stephan's Hair Tonic, straight razors and ...... coticules. These were supplied by distributors who imported them out of Belgium. IME they were often 5x2 1/2 but there were other sizes. They all seemed to get the job done if the honer knew his stuff.

What Do You Consider When Looking For A Coticule Or Other Natural Stone On eBay?

eBay is hit & miss even for the experienced . Better to speak to a respected dealer & tailor what you want. It may cost more but you won't be gambling that way.