My opinion is this. i have had 3 eschers and i sold them all.i did'nt use them as much as i should most likely. i've not got the experiance that sham as with the escher. i have had razors finished and honed by members finished on escher and coticules. they both shaved nice , very similar and nothing in it, this my experiance . I love the scher but in the end i just rather get my 500 $ back and stick with say my coticule , so thats why i sold them on. i've tryed them and i decided thats how i felt. maybe escher does improve the edge over coticule in some cases i felt the escher edge was nicer and in others i felt it was more crisp and not as buttery as my favourite coticules. Now the j nat surpassed both and was way better edge than i got of the escher. that was my experiance and i no others have gotten better results with j nats . i realy do think they are good hones if you no how to use them. Like i said cronium oxide is simple and it can make a real differance i actauly like the finish of cronium oxide . my simple routine would be coticule crox its just so reliable .