Thread: What's so special about a coticule?

No sarcasm intended here -- what makes it special?


Justin

Absolutely nothing. Its just another tool for sharpening a razor. I have one and I find it will polish the edge better than anything else and the edge seems to last longer than when I use a 12K hone.

I don't know if that qualifies as special, if someone would invent one stone to do it all and quickly, now that would be special.

It is simply a very good finishing / polishing tool.
A coticule consists of little garnets that look a bit like ball-bearing shaped gems.
They are set in a clay matrix, and during honing the ones at the top come loose.

This creates a very fine abrasive slurry that creates smooth edges because the garnets are round and not sharp.

They are expensive because it is a natural stone that is only quarried in 1 village in Belgium. Belgium has been occupied by almost all other european countries since the Romans. The occupiers (incl Napoleon) carted off boatloads of the stuff because it was the best polishing stone known to men. As you can imagine, this was vrey important when wars were still fought with swords and axes.

As a result, all of the easy accessible stuff is gone, and they literally have to hew it out of the rock plates in a >1000 kg slate to 1 kg coticule ratio. The seams are very narrow and surrounded by slate, blue stone and granite.

In its raw form it is also extremely sharp when plates snap along natural edges, making the work dangerous and cumbersome.
Since it is a natural stone, there is also a significant variation in coticule quality.
It is sold in different grades of quality and price.

Originally Posted by Bruno

...They are expensive because it is a natural stone that is only quarried in 1 village in Belgium. ....

Just for the record, what village would that be?

-thanks for the interesting information

-whatever

-Lou

Some info here... http://www.shaving-and-razor-shop.co...jpstenen-e.htm

Including a movie about the production of yellow coticle.

http://www.shaving-and-razor-shop.co.../Coticule1.wmv

Originally Posted by scarface

Just for the record, what village would that be?

-thanks for the interesting information

-whatever

-Lou

Vielsalmes. Its a village in the Belgian Ardennes.

Roadtrip!

Coticules are mined in Vielsalm which is in southeast Belgium in the Ardennes Forest where the Battle of the Bulge was fought in WWII. Unique geological conditions created these remarkable stones in quantity sufficient to be mined commercially. They are a very special stone and anyone who has used one will tell you so. My hone collection of about 400 hones spans selections from all over the globe and even though I have all of those at my disposal, I use a coticule to hone my razor.