Thread: Visit to Taylor of Old Bond Street / Penhaligons

Last week I visited TOBS in London.
I had looked forward to it for a long time, and maybe as a result, it was a severe disappointment.

The storefront was nice enough. Lots and lots of brushes, soaps, aftershaves etc.
But when I asked to see the straights (which everyone in the UK only seems to know as cut-throats), they only had something like 2 dozen dovos.
That's right: no TI, no Boker, no vintage (one could hope)... The guy hadn't even heard of sheffield razors so I really had to take the level of my questions down a notch or 2.

It was the first time I handled Dovo razors, and they were a huge disappointment as well. Flimsy scales, loose pins, uneven bevels... some were gaudy as jewelry, but still low quality shaving wise.
The 1 interesting razor they had was mammoth scaled. The scales were nice, but the razor was only a 11/16 (I think) hollow ground so the balance was awful.
I left the store with 1 tub of shaving cream, and 1 shattered dream...

But then later in the day we happened to pass by a Penhaligons store.
Recognizing the name I entered the store out of curiosity, not expecting anything.
There was 1 sales guy and his pitch was just perfect. He let me sample a couple of aftershaves, delivering a brilliant sales pitch and making it a really enjoyable experience.
I ended up buying a bottle of Endymion aftershave, leaving the store with a good feeling. I used it yesterday, and it really was as good as I remembered.

So to summarize:
Taylor of Old Bond Street:
Penhaligons:

I was in London two weeks ago. TOBS as well as Geo F. Trumpers and Truefitt & Hill are all really close by. Never got around to seeing them though... kinda of disappointed... but your story made me fee a little better

It's a lost art for sure. The marketing of the products (except blades) appears to be the only thing that has improved with these shops.

Good choice on the Penhaligon's Endymion it's a real nice one. I've had a few samples for a little while and I'll definitely buy a bottle someday soon.

I rather like my DOVO... I experience no issues that you described... But yeah, sorry to hear TOBS was so bad...

I think the shop is fantastic at what it does. Overcharging customer.

I have to agree with you on the gaudy scales Dovo puts on their razors. There are very few that I think look decent. I will say though, that the Dovo blades are excellent. They take a good edge and are excellent shavers.

Too bad about the razor selection at Taylor. I hate going into a shop that should specialize in something like that, only to find their sales people uninformed and uncaring and the stock neglected and shabby. It sounds like they put together their razor inventory as an afterthought and with only a half-assed effort.

All of my Dovos are scaled with plain plastic (black or white), pearlex, or tortoise. Seems
like pretty classic choices to me

- Scott