Steel, Schmeel. For all practical purposes we're talking about what most of us have and most guys have vintage or new factory made razors. Just consider that most of our vintage razors were made in an environment where most companies only did minimal fabrication. Most bought the blanks from a supplier and most bought the scales from a scale supplier and many probably didn't even do the heat treatment. It was a rare company that did it all. So based on that you can conclude that the steel is pretty comparable from brand to brand and no different for the English makers or U.S makers. maybe the really old stuff from the mid 1800s or earlier were complete manufacturers out of necessity.

So if you want to know why one is better than the other I'm afraid the raw material is not the place to look. Of course modern custom's are a different story with choices in steels.