Thread: Fili 13p Novodur

Originally Posted by Speedster

The tl;dr = marketing!

https://straightrazorpalace.com/razo...questions.html

Outstanding info, thanks for the reference!

Yeah, well, the Dude abides.

Originally Posted by FatboySlim

Hehe - polished horn or ivory...it ain't. But I still love them. They're the Old Spice or Tabac of razor scales.

Yeah! Nothing else like them!

They are classics. I love them on a Filly. I would not want them on another razor. A Filly just wouldn't look right in horn or bone, maybe ivory. I have re scaled a few and always in some type of plastic material. Enjoy the shave with the new razor.

The early ones frequently had more conventionally colored scales though there were variations of course. Here’s a ‘black-and-white’ pair, probably 80 years old or more.

I’ve never seen warped Filly scales though I’m sure abuse could do it, and I haven’t seen any black corrosion lines on the nose where the scales contact the steel. I am not a Filly expert though.

Cheers, Steve

The first generation Filarmonica 14s came with quality scales including a real metal Lira inlay in the scales, here are two examples I owned for a while before selling them on, this is my own personal view as to why the later generation scales are rather cheap and tacky looking, I believe that all first generation razors including the scales were made exclusively in Germany, the later second and third generation models I believe the blades were made in Germany stamped fabrication Spain then shipped to Spain where they made the scales then assembled the razor to look like it was made in Spain.

Wow, if Filarmonicas are faked Spanish razors actually made in Germany, that would really burst my bubble.

The Filarmonica story (myth?) that I had read either on this forum on another forum, was from a Spanish poster who explained that Filarmonica came about after World War II, when Germany embargoed trade with Francoist Spain. The Spaniards were very fond of German razors, and cut off from supply, started making their own razors, like Filarmonicas. I also vaguely remember the poster saying that many Spaniards considered Filarmonicas to be junk, so they primarily were sold to the export market in Central and South America, marketed as a classy European import.

But reading your theory, I guess I was naive to believe the story I recounted above, because the only Spanish razor brand I have ever seen is Filarmonica, I know of no other. If Spain did develop their own straight razor industry, I would expect there to be many more makers. Maybe there are, and I just don't know of them, because they didn't have the flamboyant style and marketing that Filarmonicas have, and never made it out of Spain. And by the mid-1950s, America was a big trading partner with Spain, and I'm sure we were selling them a bunch of Gillettes, so the whole idea doesn't make sense.

This story appealed to me because I have this romantic theory that the countries that became famous for making straight razors generally already had a solid grasp of metallurgy for centuries because they were established famous sword and weapon makers - Japan, UK, France, Germany, and ....Spain. But maybe that's just nonsense I dreamed up because I'm fascinated by straight razors.

Originally Posted by FatboySlim

Wow, if Filarmonicas are faked Spanish razors actually made in Germany, that would really burst my bubble.

The Filarmonica story (myth?) that I had read either on this forum on another forum, was from a Spanish poster who explained that Filarmonica came about after World War II, when Germany embargoed trade with Francoist Spain. The Spaniards were very fond of German razors, and cut off from supply, started making their own razors, like Filarmonicas. I also vaguely remember the poster saying that many Spaniards considered Filarmonicas to be junk, so they primarily were sold to the export market in Central and South America, marketed as a classy European import.

But reading your theory, I guess I was naive to believe the story I recounted above, because the only Spanish razor brand I have ever seen is Filarmonica, I know of no other. If Spain did develop their own straight razor industry, I would expect there to be many more makers. Maybe there are, and I just don't know of them, because they didn't have the flamboyant style and marketing that Filarmonicas have, and never made it out of Spain. And by the mid-1950s, America was a big trading partner with Spain, and I'm sure we were selling them a bunch of Gillettes, so the whole idea doesn't make sense.

This story appealed to me because I have this romantic theory that the countries that became famous for making straight razors generally already had a solid grasp of metallurgy for centuries because they were established famous sword and weapon makers - Japan, UK, France, Germany, and ....Spain. But maybe that's just nonsense I dreamed up because I'm fascinated by straight razors.

I have also read somewhere that there are old grinders and workers from Solingen who also claim this, saying all 14 blanks were made in Germany.