The gold wash on Dovo's is pretty thin...VERY thin and will wear off after some time. I've had a Bismarck for a little over a year and the gold in some areas is beginning to wear, but there's a small spot that must have had oil on it when it was being plated and ended up wiping right off the blade after literally the first shave. Kinda a bummer, but if the razor still shaves well, I wouldn't worry about it too much.