Thread: Tanifuji question

i have like 8 or 10 Tanifujis and a bunch more have been in my hands... never seen one with stabilizers... i have even had razors made by perfectworks like Rinnets that you compare with tanifuji and they are just exactly like them, same scales, same weight, grind, edge retention, same feel on the hones and on the shave... in all accounts are Tanifujis to my eyes, but stamp is not there... nor have I seen any examples of a Rinnet with a tanifuji Logo...

it is believed that Perfectworks was Tanifuji's factory at least for some time, but i havent seen proof that perfectworks was ONLY owned by him, or itf it was ever sol.. what we have proof is that perfect works also produced razors for other brands. So... can Imake the statement "this Rinnet designed or made by Tanifuji for sure"? ... answer is NO.
Could my Rinnet have been designed by Tanifuji under contrat? hell yeah!.. but also could be just Perfectworks factory made after it was sold, or Tanifuji had passed or something like that... they just learned how to do this model and then made it under a different name or as a contract for a different reseller...

There are some other models like Club 1000, 2000 and 3000 that you can see them with the logo of Tanifuji OR with the logo of Perfectworks, and in the boxes there is the "Tanifuji" name or not. Those create some disagreement in the community as if they were all made by Tanifuji or not...

my position about that is that I simply dont think Tanifuji would stamp his name on a razor designed by someone else... and if there is for example a Club 3000 with his stamp, that means he designed the razor. does the stamp means that he made the razor personally or nor? or does the perfectworks stamp means it was an operator and not him? again no evidence of that, but the CLUB 1k, 2k, and 3k models were designed by him ... so for me, those models are tanifuji.

Come on guys... maybe Ralf Aust makes all his razors (single man company) but do you think Jose Montserrat Pou made all the Fillys out there (generation 1 and 2 i mean, we know for Gen 3 he was there no more)...
or that every razor with stamp of a name was made uniquely buy the guy with that stamp? What we appreciate is the steel type and treatment used, the design and balance, the grind, scales material, attention to details, etc... and in the case of those Clubs this came from the master...

on the other hand I love my Rinnet and it looks exactly like any other Tanifuji blade, and has the perfectworks stamps and has same scales and all of that, i have never seen a Rinnet with tanifuji stamps or tanifuji in the box, so i cannot call that razor a tanifuji... no matter how much i loe it and how much it looks and perform as one...

last but not least.. i have seen several models of Japanese razors with the text "For barbers" or "for babers use" and "best quality" oir "First quality" or combinations of those in the stamps, from several different brands.... Alas, this cannot be taken as an indication that razor was made by tanifuji.





cheers!

Gabe

Well -said, Gabe. Someone in Japan made razors. Just as complicated as Sheffield and American makers.
Like it or not, it came from SOMEWHERE!