Thread: eBay sellers offering fake Filarmonicas?

I recently bought a Filarmonica Novadur from a certain eBay seller. All the pictures were very convincing and that I would be getting a very nice New Old Stock Filly. What I got instead was an absolute forgery. The scales were very sloppily pinned together, the blade felt "cheap" and had several workmanship flaws that I have never seen from Filarmonica.

Here you can see the pin flaws. The two scale halves don't meet right and the pins were hammered together lopsided:



Here you can see where the blade was ground wrong and got too hot resulting in the blueing near the shoulder on both sides of the blade:


Next look at the blade profile. It doesn't have that crispness that I am accustomed to on my other Fillys. Instead, it is more rounded at both ends and it was FAR from sharp. It has the feel of a cheap knife rather than a fine razor. The typical muted square point is non-existent. Also notice the blue heat mark showing on this side as well.


Finally, look at the lack of jimping. A Novadur should have jimping, and the pictures he shows in the listing show jimping. This razor has none. I am also not very comfortable with the writing on the blade. It sort of looks right, but doesn't match other Fillys.





I have returned this razor to him and am waiting for a full refund. He seems to be selling legitimate gear, but beware of what you are buying. Some may be real, but some like this are not genuine.

Did you shave with it ?

Respectfully, I doubt it is a 'counterfeit'. Like other formerly venerated brands, such as Puma, Hen & Rooster, they just ain't making them like they used to. Good that we have paypal nowadays and can get our $ back when we aren't happy with a purchase.

Originally Posted by bongo

Did you shave with it ?

No. I returned it ASAP for a refund.

Originally Posted by Gotdzel

No. I returned it ASAP for a refund.

I would have too. Thanks for the heads up on the quality control issues.

Would bet the real Deal.Have seen several like that.I think they were made in the waining days of Filly production.
The Quality just was not there.

Last works of a disapearing Producer, sad to see Fillis like that, hope youll get a unproblematic refund.

In the 4th photo from the top the pin looks to me like the ones TI use today. The ones that have a fixed head and only the other end is peened the traditional way. I am likely mistaken but it does look odd to me.

Bob

In any case, if it is real, it is not the one pictured in the listing. Buyers should double check what they get against the listing. If this is what Filarmonica was sending out the doors towards the end of production then they deserve to go out of business. This razor was junk. It reminded me of cheap Chinese razors that sell for 99 cents on the Bay.

The last of those that were made were sold off by Classic Shaving years ago. They were NOS pieces and though they had cheap plastic scales and the razor was devoid of ornamentation and had a very basic finish to it, still it was a quality blade with good workmanship requiring a good deal of honing before initial use.