Thread: Does this Escher need a slurry stone?

Dylandog, thank you very much for the response. I've actually asked the vendor if he might agree to a price adjustment if I keep the stone, but no response yet. I will keep you posted, and I appreciate the help here.

Eshcers are Thuringian hones but not al Thuringians are Eschers. Like we tend to call all bubbly champagne.

The vendor must have done some research into hones, how else would he have come up with the idea to call this hone an Escher? As it does not say Escher on the label he has consciously tried to take advantage of the inflationary properties of the Escher name.

Agreed. In fact, if he had just described the thing accurately from beginning, my guess is that he would have gotten near the same price from at least one of the other people bidding on this hone (and there were quite a few).

I know that others have said that if it's a great hone, then the label doesn't make a difference, and of course that's true in one sense, but as the person who overpaid for this item thinking that it was something else, I can tell you that it does affect the enjoyment that I would get from owning the hone, even if I never end up reselling it. Anyway, thanks again for all of your help. I would never have noticed this problem without the guys here, so I appreciate all of the good advice!

Yes it's frustrating to think you've been taken advantage of. (In general I wish newer guys weren't going and spending hundreds of their hard-earned dollars on "real Eschers" – unless they're antique-collecting and know what they're doing, but that's another matter). But keep in mind that the fact that the seller was playing fast and loose in his listing, and then behaved like a jerk when called on it (slagging off Lynn etc.) – these things don't necessarily mean that the stone you bought isn't an Escher.

The label isn't clear in your photo, but it looks very similar to the inner labels on two Escher & Co. hones of this size, type, and box that I've had in the past. E. & Co hones used a particular wording on their labels, and their labels on these small boxed hones were usually color-coded – green for a green escher, blue for a blue, pink for a black (go figure on that one!) etc. Is your label yellow or is that a photographic distortion? Does it say "the celebrated German razor hone"? Tell us the wording and we might be able to tell you something.

Originally Posted by Kees

Eshcers are Thuringian hones but not al Thuringians are Eschers. Like we tend to call all bubbly champagne.

Bearing in mind that what makes it champagne is the region it comes from (Champagne) and the type of grape – not the brand name of the bottling and labeling company. In this sense all Thuringians are Champagnes, so to speak, whether they're "bottled" by Escher or one of the other companies.

"Champagne for my real friends, and real pain for my sham friends," someone once said.

Very interesting! You know, I thought that because the hone doesn't have an Escher label and is in the same kind of box as a Thuringian, it must be (only) a Thuringian. Now you're saying that the color and wording of the label might identify it as an Escher.

Well, I should have the hone soon, and if I decide to open it, rather than sending it right back to the seller, then I'll post some better pictures of the label here, probably tomorrow.

Thanks again for all the help, and I will keep you posted.

Originally Posted by JeffE

You know, I thought that because the hone doesn't have an Escher label and is in the same kind of box as a Thuringian, it must be (only) a Thuringian. Now you're saying that the color and wording of the label might identify it as an Escher.

Just to be clear, Escher & Co. boxed and distributed a lot of 5 x 1 thuringians in exactly this manner; glued into a nice wooden box with a hinge on one side and a clasp on the other, and a label on the inside of the lid. There is one company (not E. & Co.) which produced these with the words "The Genuine Thuringian Razor Hone" in an arc across the top of the lid. Maybe this is what you're thinking of when you say the one you bought is in "the same kind of box as a Thuringian"? At any rate yours, from what I can tell from the fuzzy photo, looks a lot like the E. & Co. ones.

I've had four of these. Two were E. & Co., one was a brand called Apex (with a very cool label of its own), and the fourth was generic. As far as I know (and I must stress that I only know so much about these stones, my knowledge isn't authoritative at all), only E. & Co. used the color-coded labels.

I'd say there's a fair chance that you bought exactly what you thought you bought, notwithstanding the shortcomings of the seller's character.

If you do a search on my posts I have posted labels from my hones in such boxes, only one had the E&Co logo between the two columns of text.
And some said echter, which means true/genuine, not Escher.

Thanks, Ivan, I will. I posted the text of the label for the hone that I received, in case it will be helpful.