Thread: How much is this Dorko Solingen razor worth?

Hello,

I have been planning to buy a straight razor for long time, and finally I got my first one last week - for free. The blade was first useless, but I took the challenge to hone it. I bought a Naniwa 3000/8000 stone and honed the blade following honing tutorials in youtube. To my big surprise it was not difficult at all, and now the blade shaves very well. Learning to shave was not difficult either, and now I am really excited.

And now to the question - as I got the blade for free and I find it very useful, I would like to pay for it. My nephew donated it to me, perhaps without realizing the true value of the blade; he himself found it useless. The blade is Dorko Solingen n/o 25 4/8, it came with nice casing. As I have no former experience of straight razors, I have no idea how old this blade might be and how much it is worth. Any idea, anybody?

Pictures would help. You can check ebay and see if there are similar and what they are going for

Originally Posted by Chugach68

Pictures would help.

Sorry, I clicked send accidentally before attaching the picture. I have looked to eBay, but the price range is quite big; I have no idea whether this is of lower or higher value.

Appraisals are against forum rules. Having said that it looks like a nice blade. Enjoy it and that would be payment enough.

Originally Posted by Mephisto

Appraisals are against forum rules. Having said that it looks like a nice blade. Enjoy it and that would be payment enough.

Woah, sorry for asking then! I was wondering where to ask such a question, and this forum came first to my mind. Perhaps I should have read the rules. I do enjoy the blade very much, indeed.

If you're looking to compensate your nephew for the razor, I would suggest looking at some vendor websites, i.e. Straight Razor Designs, Classic Shaving, etc, to get an idea of what they sell similar razors for. Then you could either pay your nephew for the razor, or get him a gift of similar value, or just accept it as a gift. You may even consider teaching him how to shave with it and get him to join SRP as a member.

Originally Posted by Hermit

Woah, sorry for asking then! I was wondering where to ask such a question, and this forum came first to my mind. Perhaps I should have read the rules. I do enjoy the blade very much, indeed.

I think you were asking in the right spirit. Some folks want to know how much a razor is worth so they can make money. In your case you were just asking so you can give back to your nephew. However, I do not think anyone will give you a dollar amount. It is a vintage razor so the value can be highly subjective. Btw, I was not trying to come off as sounding mean or condescending.

Tervetuloa palstalle. Täältä Turusta, siis.

And welcome to the site. Nice razor you have there. Pretty good condition.
If you are wondering about the value, just check some domestic web auction sites or 2nd hand/antique stores and you'll get the idea.
If you check from eBay and similar interenet sites you'll find that razors nowadays cost damn lot more there.

Regards

Sailor aka Tomi

Originally Posted by ReardenSteel

You may even consider teaching him how to shave with it and get him to join SRP as a member.

I have indeed been considering this. As the blade is now razor sharp (sic) and fully functional, I might even return it and teach him to Shave. After buying my own blade, of course; there is no return to disposable blades.

But anyway, I believe you got my point - I am truly amazed how brilliant the razor is and how much money one can save with it on the long run (if you don't count all the hi-fi accessories you eventually end up buying). I just feel kinda ashamed to get such a gem for free.

As the old saying goes, "You don't look a gift horse in the mouth". Prices on vintage razors vary wildly depending on where and from whom you make the purchase. Perhaps it came from a friend or it was bought in an antique store for very little because the salesperson had no idea of its actual value. I have bought a lot of razors for a fraction of their actual value because someone was clearing out "junk" from an attic and just wanted to get rid it. Even when I offered more than they asked, they stuck by their original price.

Regards - Walt