Thread: Evidence of Filarmonica Manufactured in Solingen?????

I'm totally unconvinced by your argument the master grinders and the huge skilled force and factories were there in Soligen just waiting for any kind of order do you really believe they would care who's name was on the tang, and Spain is hardly known for their quality engineering skills, when someone tells you he's talked with old German grinders that admit to making and grinding these 14s blanks I think this counts for something, and many early Filarmonicas had no country of origin stamped on the tang I have one myself.

Originally Posted by johnmrson

Perhaps someone had some plans to set up Solingen Filarmonica's?

That makes no sense at all. They were not exactly renowned for their superior quality at that time, German razors were.

I did not argument anything...i just sayd how i came to piece with this neverending topic. I'm not trying to convince anyone I'm just saying that with patience and in time the pieces of the puzzle will show up and we will se the big picture...it'prudent not to quarrel and not to take sides in this argument but rather try to bring some new solid evidence in to the ecuation. This could actualy be fun to solve if more people seearched for facts...
My last post is just the way I see it at the moment from all the info i came across...including what was posted here and my own reaserch...

Originally Posted by celticcrusader

... do you really believe they would care who's name was on the tang, ...

Especially in a shrinking market, which was the case after WWII.

This conversation brings to mind the time I went into a watch repair and asked the old fellow, "Is this a 'good' watch?"

He said, "If it keeps good time, it's a good watch."

How does the razor shave, hold an edge, respond to touch up honing ? If it does well with those things it is a good razor. Regardless of what is stamped on the tang. IMHO.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

How does the razor shave, hold an edge, respond to touch up honing ? If it does well with those things it is a good razor. Regardless of what is stamped on the tang. IMHO.

I agree with that Jimmy. It's just that some of the brethren here persist in attributing near-mythical properties to some brands/types of razors, Filarmonica among them.

If the blanks were made in Solingen, and if they were ground there (which I personally believe), it is one step in showing that there's nothing magical about these razors.

Originally Posted by ovidiucotiga

Also...I doubt a proud german would ever make/grind and/or assemble a razor with someone else's name on it...with no recognition for his work...and skill...for someone else to collect the cash and glory...
for one of the best brands of razors ever made...that would be hard not to collect...I mean why would you do that...?

It was done all the time. They made razors for others for money. Plain and simple!

Originally Posted by decraew

I agree with that Jimmy. It's just that some of the brethren here persist in attributing near-mythical properties to some brands/types of razors, Filarmonica among them.

If the blanks were made in Solingen, and if they were ground there (which I personally believe), it is one step in showing that there's nothing magical about these razors.

I'd go one step further and say no matter where a razor was made a good razor is a good razor. Of the 30 odd razors I use made in 5 different countries the one Filli that I have shaves as well as any of them. No better no worse. It is just a good razor.

Bob

Originally Posted by ovidiucotiga

Also...I doubt a proud german would ever make/grind and/or assemble a razor with someone else's name on it...with no recognition for his work...and skill...for someone else to collect the cash and glory...
for one of the best brands of razors ever made...that would be hard not to collect...I mean why would you do that...?
This is what i belive...
There are rumors that after his death (JMP) the factory still produced the blades from left over stock blanks...but after they finished the stock they did not manage to work with the old steel...something was missing the old man did not get a chance to pass down...so they looked desperatly for a solution...The brand was worth a fortune and they could not afford to loose it...probably after several failed atempts of trying to continue the legacy they gived up and closed shop...This makes sence and all the pieces would fit into the story....the grinders from solingen statements of grinding filarmonica blades made there....the scales found...the diffrence in the way steel of JMP and post JMP filis hone and feel shaving....Eventualy if they did manage to land a deal at Solingen and make the razors there or the blades....there would have already lost the uniqueness of the Filarmonica shave and feel.....In conclusion I belive that a Filarmonica is not the best example of Solingen quality and craftsmanship....
The story ends when they sold the factory and invested in the public transport sistem.
And that's the story I belive up until now...it is not definitive and subjected to change as more data is unvaled...Just beliving this makes me go to sleep in peace at night.
Peace

The fact is that as long as the man lived they wore his name on the tang and the country of origin...and the quality was up there...after he died with the sello oro boxes...and cost reductions on scales and embelishments it would fit right in for the airs to want to find a cheaper way to make the blades or the entire razors...we've all seen the double temple sub ceros and oter variations that ebay is full of them...maybe someone wanted to keep making profit of the brand after it was extinct or maybe they just couldn't manage making the blades anymore and turned to Solingen for help...both JMP filis and post JMP filis are sweet shavers but there is a diffrence in the way the steel shaves and hones...surely ther is something we are missing...and with so many people interested in finding out...we will solve the mistery eventualy...
No sense in arguing over the subject...we need facts and the facts show that there are a lot of clues linking Filarmonica and Solingen...maybe some were made in Solingen but i doubt that the ones stamped JMP were made there...
It's amusing that you can find facts about much older brands and not so famous ones then the Filarmonica and this one is missing links...

Now these two posts make perfect sense!!!!!

Originally Posted by engine46

The fact is that as long as the man lived they wore his name on the tang and the country of origin...and the quality was up there...after he died with the sello oro boxes...and cost reductions on scales and embelishments it would fit right in for the airs to want to find a cheaper way to make the blades or the entire razors...we've all seen the double temple sub ceros and oter variations that ebay is full of them...maybe someone wanted to keep making profit of the brand after it was extinct or maybe they just couldn't manage making the blades anymore and turned to Solingen for help...both JMP filis and post JMP filis are sweet shavers but there is a diffrence in the way the steel shaves and hones...surely ther is something we are missing...and with so many people interested in finding out...we will solve the mistery eventualy...
No sense in arguing over the subject...we need facts and the facts show that there are a lot of clues linking Filarmonica and Solingen...maybe some were made in Solingen but i doubt that the ones stamped JMP were made there...
It's amusing that you can find facts about much older brands and not so famous ones then the Filarmonica and this one is missing links...

Now these two posts make perfect sense!!!!!

Man when this forum gets busy, it get's BUSY!!!!!!!! The emails are rolling in plus I have a source on ebay where to buy the bone, horn, micarta & so on. The seller is in the process of putting them back up. They had ended & they didn't know it.