Fili 13p Novodur

Hello fella"s... .. Hope all is well. The wife and i got home the other day from a pretty stressful week of being out of town.. Things immediately turn for the better when i see 2 packages on the counter, fully knowing the contents of each.. I decide on opening and using my 1st Filarmonica that i purchased from Gabe last week... I dont want to make this post any longer than it already is so ill get to the point... This razor rocks!! Ive had a number of straights that i would consider top notch shavers, everything from $12.00 ebay finds to my Koraat 14.2 I purchased not too long ago.. But there is something special about this beauty!! This thing literally wiped away 2+ days of a pretty heavy beard growth.. Only took 2 passes and it was good to go.. For me personnely the Filarmonica 13p novodur exceded my high expectations.. Thank you Gabe and i hope everyone enjoys the weekend... Scott WAttachment 295830

I love a Fili. I have a 14 and its a wonderful razor. But i hate those funny colored scales thet come with them. I wouldnt change one but those colors are just ugly to me. Some folks like them. Mine is original black. I keep looking to get another Fili but i just cant do it with those faded looking colors. Enjoy the razor. It is a nice shaver and will hold a great edge for a long time.

Agree on the scale colors.. Most of them remind me of colors my folks had in the house growibg up in the 70's.. From carpet to dishes.. Like you i wouldnt want to change the scales unless i had to.. Quite a while back i made a deal with myself saying that when and if i make it to 1000 shaves im going to treat myself to a few "high-er end" straights.. I figured @ 1000 shaves im in for the long haul and i will know my grind, size, etc preferences.. I got the Koraat, Fili and within the next week or so Victor is sending me one of his razors to yry out (buy).. A lot of $$ spent but been well worth it so far . Peace!

Nice choices on quality razors. Ive never shaved with one of Vics razors, but they are impressive. Held them in my hands a few times. Love the grinds he does. He has offered to let me use/barrow one, but im afraid that if i did i would be hooked and have to buy it. I think that how he gets ya. Its a good thing but sneaky. Ha.

Enjoy your razors and be sure to post pics.

Awesome!!! Im really happy you liked the razor Scott! Like I said, I was sure you were going to be pleased!

Glad you liked the edge as well man, and thanks for the comment.

The pale jade scales? Well i guess its more of an acquired taste folks :) ... I preffer these to the gray or black.. but my favorite are the pearl ones hehe...

Once again, colors to tastes but fillys are near to my heart and many others simply because they deliver! :)

Cheers!

You can have the colors Gabe, but im with ya on the quality of the razors. They are right up there in my opinion.

I have a question, and maybe an answer about the Filarmonica scale colors.

My question is: What is a Filarmonica Novodur? I am a big Fan of Filarmonicas and have several Doble Temples and one prized EPBD, but no Novodur. Can anybody fill me in on how a Novodur differs from the rest of the Filarmonica line?

My answer is: I actually very much like the Filarmonica scale colors. They are unique and define the brand. As near as I can tell, they appear to be based on the DuPont "Duco" lacquer colors used on classic American automobiles, and on the classic lacquer-painted Fender guitars from the '60s, which were themselves imitating the classic car colors. I'm guessing that in 1950s - 1960s Spain (or America), a man would feel pretty stylin' driving around in one of these colorful classic American cars, so the Filarmonica scale colors probably were an attempt to reflect that attitude and style.

The first time I saw a Filly Doble Temple 14 in Daphne Blue, I thought "Hey, sign me up, daddy-o!" But I'm just a tasteless, nostalgic American. :)

Attachment 296042

Lots of Filarmonica scales, such as those blue ones, were made from recycled Spanish detergent bottles.
Or so I was told.....:thinking:

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Originally Posted by FatboySlim

My question is: What is a Filarmonica Novodur? I am a big Fan of Filarmonicas and have several Doble Temples and one prized EPBD, but no Novodur. Can anybody fill me in on how a Novodur differs from the rest of the Filarmonica line?

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The tl;dr = marketing! :p

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

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Originally Posted by sharptonn

Lots of Filarmonica scales, such as those blue ones, were made from recycled Spanish detergent bottles.
Or so I was told.....:thinking:

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

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Speedster

The tl;dr = marketing! :p

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

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Outstanding info, thanks for the reference!

Yeah, well, the Dude abides. ;)

Quote:

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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.

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Yeah! Nothing else like them! :tu

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.

https://i.imgur.com/mtUfAsI.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/SIqYf1b.jpg

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

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.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FatboySlim

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

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.

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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.