I'm a purist in that I want a great edge, and a pragmatist in how I get there.
That said, my coticule is hands down my favorite hone. I love that it can take any normally dulled edge (i.e. anything short of major microchipping or raggedness) and make it sharp again, quickly. The escher and certainly the chinese seem less effective for a seriously dulled razor. And I love the feel of the edge on the face. No razor burn ever from a coticule edge.
But... I have very thick facial hair and oddly, sometimes a coticule edge requires a little more pressure in shaving. The result is BBS w/ no razor burn, but a little pressure is required. This is fine for wedges and 6/8+ hollows, where the heft + momentum of the blade takes care of 'pressure' by itself, but for 5/8 full hollows I like to go either to my Y/G escher or chrome oxide, and then go light.
A coticule edge never provides that resistant-free squeegee wiping feeling I associate with the escher and especially chrome oxide. It just provides a very comfortable, burn-free, effective and long-lasting cutting edge, but one that requires deft handling to get BBS from. All things considered, I can see why it was the hone of choice for barbers.