Thread: The Filarmonica

Originally Posted by ovidiucotiga

...and a brand like that loved and hunted by so many to have a twist in the storry we get to hear only now....after so many years people searched the info out...it seems rater unlikely....

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...You tend get agressive when someone tells you your favorite razors you spent a heap of cash on over the years are not actualy what you think and they are the same as no name ones a tenth of the price...
Cheers!

I think you got to the heart of the problem right there. When you have a lot invested in something - emotionally, financially or both - it is hard to consider that what you believe to be true may very well not be. This sometimes results in a refusal to change ones perspective.

Take, for instance, Dubl Ducks. Irrespective of their quality, they are said to be quite "rare and hard to procure, in good condition". Though when looking ONLY at ebay auctions, it becomes painfully clear that they are not anything even remotely close to rare, but more often than not suffer from severe forms of deterioration, often caused by celluloid rot, meaning: they came in inferior scales. But even the ones in good (or restored state) are quite numerous. Yet, inexplicably, they sell at prices that, to me, do not make sense. I cannot explain this particular case in any other way than hype and wishful thinking or self-fulfilling profecies.

Back to the #14 discussion: even though, so far, there is no piece of paper that says "This and this many #13 blanks, this and this many #14 blanks for Filarmónica, to be produced and delivered by Hugo Herkenrath Edelstahlschmiede by this and this date", a verbal confirmation by this same company is really as close as it gets, and

Originally Posted by RobinK

You can ask the companies and craftsmen which are still there (a scant few), and why would they lie? They have nothing to gain from badmouthing their own industry, have they?

makes a lot of sense to me.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

I would just love to see some actual tangible proof Anyone ??? A piece of tangible proof ???

Why not contact the forge at Herkenrath and ask them if they have any such material in their archives?

Originally Posted by RobinK

[…] There is no holy grail, and I personally believe that there certainly is no one single brand that outperforms everything else. If there were, people would have noticed. […] [We] often forget that, talking about the vintage equivalent of hair-dryers or washing machines. Except for souvenir razors and seven day sets, we are looking at household items which were bought because they either worked, or they did not.
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I have seen similar variances depending on the preparation and shaving products used with the same razor off the same hone, which is why I keep telling beginners to invest in high quality shaving products rather than some brand name.

Even more: I have, more than once, had strikingly different shaving results and experiences while using exactly the same set-up. There are so many variables; differences in steel and grind (read: similar grinds between different razors) are likely rather minor players, as long as you have a keen edge that effortless removes stubble. Especially for beginners, this is not something to be focussing on.