The DublDuck Wonderedge myth

I took this from the verbage of a DublDuck Wonderedge sale on eBay. I contacted the guy and asked him to ask his uncle if it is true that what seperated the Wonderedge from a Goldedge was the Wonderedge is cryo hardened carbon steel.

His uncle responded that there was absolutely no difference in the steel or hardening of any of the DublDuck razors. He says the only difference is the handles!!!!! This is from Pearlson son himself! Still want to pay $400 for a Wonderedge? This one went for an incredable $560 and the blade is the same as a DublDuck #1 Special!

Dubl Duck Wonderedge 5/8 Straight Razor. BRAND NEW and in the original box. This razor comes from the private collection of one of the founders of the company. It is one of two of the only remaining brand new in-the-box razors in existence. (He didn't lnow it but this is not true!) Billed as the "World's Finest Razor" it is made of Solingen Steel which is the finest and best manufactured steel in the world. In 1957 my family closed Pearlduck, a business that was started in the late 1920's by Carl Bresnick and David Perlson, my grandfather. It was run by them and my two uncles for the entire time, although Carl Bresnick retired shortly after the partnership. The razor my uncle gave me to post here is in its original, unopened box. The photos are of its "sister" which he retains. As you can see, the polished brass and blade are pristine and the razor is perfect. This razor was probably manufactured some time in the early 50's I do not have a Pay pal account, so payment has to be made by check or cashiers check. Item will be shipped the moment you tell me payment is in the mail.

I am still enjoying the great razors from the Shaving Shop.

Treated steel; honed by someone who knows blades.

my special #1 has it's fingers crossed, but who knows. I need to get off my rump and send her to get honed, as I'm not ready to slap her on the DMT myself yet.

John,I used this info on another thread here(I credited you) very good info Regards GAry

Did he say who the original solingen manufacturer was?

Do we know (with any certainty) if the seller is who he claims to be (i.e the grandon)? Just curious -- I don't want to challenge anyone's credibilty, but this is the internet. Also the part in the description -- "Item will be shipped the moment you tell me payment is in the mail" -- seemed very strange to me, and raised my suspicions. Now that I think about it, that's is why it sold for so much -- no need to actually pay, just tell the seller "the check's in the mail". :nj

I have a wonderedge and a goldedge and I love them both. They both feel the same for the most part, except the wonderedge is a square point and the goldedge is a round point. One thing though, the goldedge is magnatized. I'm not sure why, but that would be a difference of sorts...:shrug:

Oh, I totally believe that there is no difference from one Duck to the next. It was really cool to see a Wonderedge unopened in its original packaging, though. Purchasing that razor would be a lot like going back in time to the 1950's, buying that razor at a store and then travelling back here with it -- unless the inside of that box just has a mix of rust and plastic in there, of course. Is it worth around six hundred bucks, though? Well, even it the Wonderedge did have an extra blade treatment, based on peoples' love for the Goldedges and other ducks, I doubt it would have mattered much. It's not that blade treatment that keeps people paying through the nose for these -- it's mainly whisper throughout the fanbase about supernatural razor powers coming from the Wonderedge blade. I think it's a very appropriate name for that razor, actually, since people sure do wonder about it.

I have a DD SP1 and I haven't came across another blade that come even close to shaving as well as it does.

Credit to C utz for selling it to me the very second he bought it because I had been on the lookout for the very exact blade. It's like new.

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Originally Posted by ccddo

Do we know (with any certainty) if the seller is who he claims to be (i.e the grandon)? Just curious -- I don't want to challenge anyone's credibilty, but this is the internet. Also the part in the description -- "Item will be shipped the moment you tell me payment is in the mail" -- seemed very strange to me, and raised my suspicions. Now that I think about it, that's is why it sold for so much -- no need to actually pay, just tell the seller "the check's in the mail". :nj

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I agree. If it was legit, and I was the nephew selling the razor, I would have had made a certificate and had my uncle sign it in front of a notary public. Then you have something. This razor with a true certificate of authenticity like that would be worth much more. I would have then set the minimum bid at $1,500 and let it go up from there. And, under those circumstances I bet it would sell for that or higher.

With that in mind, even if this IS legit, without a certificate of authenticity (since it's a foregone conclusion that this is a collectible piece due to its history) the "alleged" history doesn't mean anything. I picture 20 years from now for this razor the buyer appearing on Antique Road Show telling this story..........where's the proof?!!

Chris L

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Originally Posted by Chrisl

I agree. If it was legit, and I was the nephew selling the razor, I would have had made a certificate and had my uncle sign it in front of a notary public. Then you have something. This razor with a true certificate of authenticity like that would be worth much more. I would have then set the minimum bid at $1,500 and let it go up from there. And, under those circumstances I bet it would sell for that or higher.

With that in mind, even if this IS legit, without a certificate of authenticity (since it's a foregone conclusion that this is a collectible piece due to its history) the "alleged" history doesn't mean anything. I picture 20 years from now for this razor the buyer appearing on Antique Road Show telling this story..........where's the proof?!!

Chris L

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I saw the auction soon after it was listed, and although I wondered whether or not the story was 100% accurate myself (I try to research the origins of most of my own razors), as you said, the fact it's an unopened razor from a bygone era is the main reason it has value - you just don't see these every day. It's pretty freakin' awesome that one turned up like this. I fantasize about finding one in an estate sale. It wouldn't be sealed like this one is, obviously, but still.

I'm constantly surprised by how much people are willing to pay for things on eBay, but I still do wonder what a certificate of authenticity would actually do for a razor like this. On the Antiques Roadshow they frequently comment on how such certificates, like an oral history, require a level of trust, because forgeries of certificates keep people guessing....such as with baseball memorabelia.

If a Dubl Duck found its way to the Roadshow, it's my guess that they'd give a frank estimation of its actual value, and then comment on the zealous collector's market. Those razors use nice steel, but in that respect, they're no different than thousands of separate razor makers or independent cutlers in England and Germany (and America or France, who used imported steel, I guess) over a couple hundred years. Their scales are plastic and they were almost always sold individually, with very little ornateness. I think this particular sale is really awesome, and I'd love to own it myself (assuming what's inside is in perfect condition, as it is implied), but I doubt a certificate on a subject like this would matter too, too much, especially since it's impossible to validate. It might be one of two razors from the company, but who's to say some old, generational hardware store doesn't have a whole closet full of the things in their boxes from back in the 50s? If you can distance yourself from the endorsement, hype and perception of scarcity, what is the Wonderedge, anyway? Well, one of a number of Dubl Duck models which, if it weren't for the label(s), would not be discernable from the others - save for tell-tale varying sizes in the makes.

So I'm a bit skeptical. Whoever buys a razor like that is obviously into straight razors in general, otherwise there'd be no reason to get it. But what do they do with it? Do they leave it sealed in the box, or bust it open for an experience no one here has likely had: to shave with a brand "new" (unused, anyway) razor from over half a century ago?

Well,

I guess the price of the Goldedge just went up significantly.

I have heard many stories that the DD Wonderedge, Goldedge and Satinedge were prized by barbers in the old days for their shaving quality. Mine are all still fabulous shavers.

Beauty, shave and price are all in the eye of the beholder.

Have fun,

Lynn

I know a little about antiques sales, and antiques with a valid certificate are always worth more. Even if there is no question about authenticity, the certificate itself makes the item even more rare because the manufacturer handled it and the certificate personally.

Also antiques dealers and auction houses are used to working with certificates. I guess it would make an item easier to accept in certain circles where antiques get sold for $$$.

Now if only my antiques market hunts would land me a NOS Wonderedge or a YG Escher for 3$...

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Originally Posted by Blade Wielder

I'm constantly surprised by how much people are willing to pay for things on eBay, but I still do wonder what a certificate of authenticity would actually do for a razor like this. On the Antiques Roadshow they frequently comment on how such certificates, like an oral history, require a level of trust, because forgeries of certificates keep people guessing....such as with baseball memorabelia.

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If an affidavit was notarized, the notary would have to be licensed. Unless collusion in faking a certificate for this razor in my hypothetical scenario was on numerous levels, the notary's license could be cross referenced. The person signing the document would have to prove their identity to the notary while signing in their presence. Could the steps in my scenario be faked/forged? Absolutely. But since we're not talking about the Mona Lisa, my point was simply that some form of documented written authenticity other than a screen print from some Ebay listing where the seller says the razor is historic in that way would increase it's value. Just theororizin' ;)

Chris L

Oh, I understood. I'm also very aware that a documented history for an antique is usually beneficial, especially if there's ever a need to question its authenticity. But with a razor like this, we know where it came from, and as I said, its value is more to do with hype and talk. I like Dubl Ducks myself, but to an Antiques Roadshow person, they probably wouldn't see the final days of the Dubl Duck compay to be any more significant than the last time any ol' forgotten razor company stamped their last blade.

True.
A certificate would make it accessible to people outside the wet shaving audience, and probably fetch a higher price.

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Originally Posted by Blade Wielder

Oh, I understood. I'm also very aware that a documented history for an antique is usually beneficial, especially if there's ever a need to question its authenticity. But with a razor like this, we know where it came from, and as I said, its value is more to do with hype and talk. I like Dubl Ducks myself, but to an Antiques Roadshow person, they probably wouldn't see the final days of the Dubl Duck compay to be any more significant than the last time any ol' forgotten razor company stamped their last blade.

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I see what you're saying. Agreed. But see, in my fantasy world, one of us would be the roadshow expert and every person from the public that would come out to that roadshow would bring nothing but razors & other barber antiques.....................:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Chris L

The only problem here is if the razor is in a sealed unopened package the exceptional price is partly owing to that fact. As soon as you break the seal the value of the razor has just dropped probably by 40-50%. So does the owner open it to look at it and fondle it or keep it in the sealed package as a collectable and sell it in 20 years and hope to get double what he paid for it? The Wonderedge I have came in a sealed package but I opened it and use it and I didn't pay anywhere near the price of this one.

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

The only problem here is if the razor is in a sealed unopened package the exceptional price is partly owing to that fact. As soon as you break the seal the value of the razor has just dropped probably by 40-50%. So does the owner open it to look at it and fondle it or keep it in the sealed package as a collectable and sell it in 20 years and hope to get double what he paid for it? The Wonderedge I have came in a sealed package but I opened it and use it and I didn't pay anywhere near the price of this one.

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I'm a shaver, that package would be opened almost before I could get the shipping envelope open. but then I wouldn't spend that much on a blade either.

Even assuming the seller is who he claims to be, I thought these were made under contract by a manufacturer in Germany who made the razor to order for Dubl Duck (much as China or someone makes the new Dubl Duck dog clippers etc etc)
So, I somewhat wonder about the lack of difference claimed in the blades. There may be none, but one wonders how much Dubl Duck actually knew about the manufacturing, which took place long before the internet, in a foreign country...
I'm very curious about this.

John P.

So... does this mean that the Hess 44 is the only frozen tempered razor? That would seem very odd. I know that Hess had their razors made in Germany. Why would a manufacturer only offer that service to one customer?

Just my two cents,:)

Randy, I don't know. But I've seen Hess razors which were not Ice Tempered.
Oh, and btw...the Hess 42 Ice Tempered is FAR superior to the 44.

Especially if I ever decide to let it go...:w


John P.

buying something "unopened" after all this time, off of pictures of something like it, from a guy no one actually knows, with no recourse if the item is simply a pile of rust and plastic after spending $560 (it is 'as is' and unopened, how did he know?):shrug: ........... i don't think so! :nono: maybe it's just me but i want to at least see what i'm buying because if this thing was even opened and unwrapped once and not properly stored.......some one is out a lot of $ for what could be junk.:mad: it would be worth it being unwrapped for a few pics, seeing as i would use it anyway, before i spend that kind of $.


then again, maybe i'm just not that trusting. but i'm not willing to :gth (i've been dying to use that little guy)

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Originally Posted by Blade Wielder

Oh, I understood. I'm also very aware that a documented history for an antique is usually beneficial, especially if there's ever a need to question its authenticity. But with a razor like this, we know where it came from, and as I said, its value is more to do with hype and talk. I like Dubl Ducks myself, but to an Antiques Roadshow person, they probably wouldn't see the final days of the Dubl Duck compay to be any more significant than the last time any ol' forgotten razor company stamped their last blade.

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I'm betting the Antique Roadshow person, probably won't know much without a ton of research about straight razors unless it was one of the collectors like John West or one of us who has watched the market for the last 10 years or so. Value is in the eye of the beholder without any question and prices have been going up every year as our population has been significantly increasing.

Have fun,

Lynn

Good evening gentlemen,
I've been a member of this forum for over two years now and I do appologise for not introducing myself earlier.
I live in Jerusalem Israel , I am 54 years old and have been using straight razors since my early thirties.
Because this particular WE has been the cause of so much controversy and speculation I felt it would be rude of me as the buyer and SRP member to ignor the issue totally.
The seller happens to be a respectanle owner/CEO of a reputable advertising company in California and he did post this sale on behalf of his uncle. I have no reason to doubt his story about his family's involvement with DD and frankly it does not concern me.
What does concern me is that he was truthful in his description that this razor has never been used or opened . This is why he didn't realize that the razor he was selling was a spike & not a round point like the one pictured on Ebay.
I have seen dozens of famous brand razors offered as mint or NOS only to discover later that the description is inaccurate. This was the first WE I have come accross that was sure to be 100% mint.
As for the price , high or low is relative value , like everything else in life. Like most of you I buy only razors that I intend to use and enjoy and do not look beyond that . I never consider buying a razor as an investment nor do I equate the quality of the shave to the value of the razor. My $30 Heljestrand will probably outperform any Duck.
We all feel a certain passion for this hobby and occasionally demonstrate what may appear as eccentric to others. Hell, my wife of twenty six years till this day wonders how I persist on wasting at least twenty minutes every morning on something that requires no more than two or three minutes.
Cheers
Kal

I don't think anyone here was upset about whatever the razor turned out to be. For my part I e-mailed him and asked some questions about the razor and he never responded. As far as mint wonderedges go I have one that I got about 2-3 years ago and it came in a sealed box and as I recall I paid around $300 for it. I think the questions or comments people had concerned how he could say with authority there are no sealed in box WE's in existance.

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Originally Posted by kq53

Good evening gentlemen,
I've been a member of this forum for over two years now and I do appologise for not introducing myself earlier.
Kal

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kq53 http://straightrazorpalace.com/image...er_offline.gif ;
Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
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Location: Jerusalem, Israel
Posts: 1


Somehow, this just makes my day.:) In the best possible sense.
You must hold the longest "junior member-ship" in the entire history of SRP. The lustrous Lao Tse once wrote "Those who know do not speak, those who speak, do not know". As an incurable chatterer myself, I cannot else but to admire such stoicism (If I may call it that way).
And then you bought the holy grail of the entire SRP-community: the "very last' -excuse me the slight exaggeration- mint and still sealed Dubl' Duck WonderEdge. Most of us were already trying to reconcile ourselves with the thought that it probably was a scam and the buyer ended up with a sealed box of junk next to the unopened bottles of Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1973.:D

I am sure that DD found a good home.
Now, please excuse me sir, I must rush off and go buy a Heljestrand on Ebay, before they quadruple in price...

All the best,

Bart.

I didn't want to open again this can of worms, but somebody else brought this up, so I guess I can make use of duck-n-cover....

Here you go:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/attac...1&d=1209155662



I will gladly accept your generous donations of Goldeges, Satinedges, Satinwedges, Dwarfs, Specials, Liferimes, Vesuvii, etc... and will provide you with a free copy of the final report on the finings.

unconditionally guaranteed forever....

I wonder if the cutler imagined we would be fighting over their products 100 years later.

-Bob

I know that in the case of these unqualified, unconditional guarantees, the FTC warned fountain pen manufacturers off of them as far back as the late 1930s. Waterman offered a "100 Year Pen" that after the FTC objected, they renamed to the "Emblem Pen." Sheaffer changed the wording on the guarantee of their "white dot" pens for the same reason. I think the reasoning was that the promise in such guarantees was far beyond any company's ability to support them.

Nonetheless, well into the 1970s, Sheaffer would still repair white dot pens from the 1930s and 40s, provided the indiidual would represent themselves as the original owner. After their parts stock was depleted (and their most skilled pen makers retired), they would replace such pens with a modern "equal." The thought was good, but the modern pens were not an equal at all, sadly.

Dan

kq53,

could we please have some pics of your new Duck?

Hopefully some very clear and big ones....:)

You notice it doesn't say guareanteed forever. Only guaranteeed forever from manufacturing defects. A big difference there.

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

You notice it doesn't say guareanteed forever. Only guaranteeed forever from manufacturing defects. A big difference there.

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That is a really important point of clarification :)

Hello all,
I wanted to chime in on this topic because of an observation I have made.
First, I am no expert, and do not have an extensive collection. But, I do shave with a WE, GE, and SP#1. They are all wonderful. However, I do notice a distinct difference with the WE over the other ducks, and over other brands as well. My preferred finishing method is on a chromium oxide strop after the Norton. However, I can't do this with the WE. It took me a while to figure what was happening, but it would get too sharp if I finished on the green. Therefore, I always finish a razor on the green, except for my WE. This is not to say that the shaves are always superior to other razors and ducks (sometimes they are), but the point I'm trying to make is that with the shave, and in the honing, the WE is different than anything else I've seen.
I'd love to hear other peoples opinions about this and if anyone's experienced similar observations.

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Originally Posted by Mud Duck

Hello all,
I wanted to chime in on this topic because of an observation I have made.
First, I am no expert, and do not have an extensive collection. But, I do shave with a WE, GE, and SP#1. They are all wonderful. However, I do notice a distinct difference with the WE over the other ducks, and over other brands as well. My preferred finishing method is on a chromium oxide strop after the Norton. However, I can't do this with the WE. It took me a while to figure what was happening, but it would get too sharp if I finished on the green. Therefore, I always finish a razor on the green, except for my WE. This is not to say that the shaves are always superior to other razors and ducks (sometimes they are), but the point I'm trying to make is that with the shave, and in the honing, the WE is different than anything else I've seen.
I'd love to hear other peoples opinions about this and if anyone's experienced similar observations.

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Resurrecting this thread because I recently got a WE. I also have various ducks, goldedge, satinedge, hand forged, lifetime. All but the WE were easily and quickly honed to shave ready. The WE, which was in really fine condition, was much tougher. More like a TI or a stainless blade. My conclusion is that there really is a difference between the steel in the WE and the other ducks. Just my 2 cents.

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Originally Posted by JimmyH-AD

Resurrecting this thread because I recently got a WE. I also have various ducks, goldedge, satinedge, hand forged, lifetime. All but the WE were easily and quickly honed to shave ready. The WE, which was in really fine condition, was much tougher. More like a TI or a stainless blade. My conclusion is that there really is a difference between the steel in the WE and the other ducks. Just my 2 cents.

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Yeah Jimmy we know !!!! or at least some of us do, I guess it's all in our heads though :D
I am just finishing up a WE restore and a "Reaper" Lifetime restore, they are both going on the hones today....
Guess what, I will probably feel a difference in the steel on the hones but again it might just be all in my head :shrug: