Thread: A question of quality, new v's old

So there are only a few manufacturers of new razors. You don't really see old dovos but heaps of bokers. You see heaps of new dovos but not new bokers. Are the antique razors better or are the new stocks just as good. Any honemiesters out there could lend a hand would be helpful. Also the new giesen and forsoth are they any good. The antique one I have is one of my best razors. Cheers Ed.

Originally Posted by eddy79

Also the new giesen and forsoth are they any good. The antique one I have is one of my best razors. Cheers Ed.

I've read here that the new G and F razors are nowhere near as good as the old ones.
Never tried either, so just going on what I've heard.

Bongo

I'm no honemeister, but I've found my best shavers, for the most part, are vintages. That being said, I have some new production razors (including a Boker Tree Brand Brown Micarta) that shave with the best of 'em. However, the vintage world can a gamble (especially eBay) unless you purchase from the classifieds here or another reputable vendor. At least with the new production razors, you know you'll get a good shaver.

Out of over 30 razors in my rotation only one is new production and it shaves as well as the other used ones. That is not to say the used ones don't have their quirks and cosmetic short comings but the metal seems as good as the one new production. As always YMMV.

Bob

I have a fair amount of both new and older razors in my rotation.
Saying that one group is better than the other would be quite impossible to me.
Most all I have are really good shavers, the few lemons I have are both of new and old stock.

I do have favorites of course, and most of those are vintage but there's a couple new ones as well that shaves phenomenally.

true you rarely see vintage Dovo razors except the Fritz Bracht ones from the late '50s to early '60s those are great.

Boker went a few decades without making straight razors and only restarted razor production around 2008. the new blades are just as nice as their vintage ones or so I have found.

thiers-issard razors are good either new or vintage.

I like vintage revisors and bismarks over the current production ones but that could just be me.

The issue with new production is an outfit like say Boker who stopped making razors years ago had to go and find people who were skilled at razor making if that is even possible anymore. Either that or they have to train new people and learn through trial and error. So, you need to look at all these outfits who restart production on a case by case basis and see which ones have gotten it right.

Outfits like Dovo and TI have been doing it continuously so training new people as need be isn't as big a problem.

If you stick with the knowns there is no problem with buying new and of course the custom makers out there are doing generally great work. With vintage there is rarely a concern. It's more a matter of condition over name.

Boker has a new line up ,in their 2013 catalogue.they send it out free.the elite looks grand to me.They start around 165 and go up to 1200 bux.fyi