Thread: did I get taken?

I recently picked up a supposed J.A. Hanckels Solingen straight. The box is old and is stamped as such. However, neither the blade or scale have any identifying stamp on them. Here is the link
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...:X:RTQ:US:1123,

Any comments woulkd be appreciated.
Thanks
Al

Well....without a stamp there is no way to say you have a Henkels. The boxes are interchanged all the time. Ill let others chime in.

I would be hard pressed to say is was without the stamp and the tang design doesn't look right to the ones I have seen in the past. Anyone else?

That happened to me once too. You have to make sure the tang is stamped unless you absolutely trust the source and they have a viable explanation.

Jordan

Without a tang stamp I'd give you a better than 90% chance that you have been duped.
EDIT: the tang has no visible wear, so the stamp is not worn away. and companies like henckels would have a stamp. so make that 100%. Also it doesn't look like a henckels.

you certainly paid quite a bit for a henckels box and unknown razor. i wouldn't say you got taken, as the seller could claim ignorance and their pictures clearly showed all tang markings (or the lack of them). plus the feedback you left indicates you were perfectly happy with the seller and the way they described their razor.
it may still turn out to be a decent razor, but it needs some restoration work first.

just noticed you've been a member here for several months - there are plenty of henckels pictures on the forums...

Always sad to read that someone does not get what they hope to get.

I checked the seller, he or she sells all sorts of antiques and brocante. I did not see any straights so they might argue they found the razor in the box and therefore presumed it was a Henckels razor. They can claim they did send you the razor you saw on the picture so you got what you bid on.

Continueing as the devil's advocate: I checked with my Henckels and even with the blade between the scales you can still see the Twin sign and J.A. Henck.. stamped on the tang.

I am afraid that you met a seller who did not know more about Henckels razors than you did at the time of the transaction.

OTOH: if he's a half decent antique's vendor he may offer you a partial refund or a full refund if you send it back to him. It's worth a try. However my experience is that corresponding with sellers after the transaction is completed is far from satisfactory if you even get a response.

I am afraid you got to live with it as it is. Hone it up and it may be a surprisingly good razor.

It looks to me as though the seller was right up front with his description:

"I recently picked up a supposed J.A. Hanckels Solingen straight. The box is old and is stamped as such. However, neither the blade or scale have any identifying stamp on them. Here is the link"

* That should stand out loud and clear, besides the photo with no name on it.

If you are familiar with J.A. Henckels (he spelled it wrong), you would be familiar with the Twin Works logo that should appear on the tang. As you can see (or not see), there is no stamp of any kind on the razor.

Yea, I think it is very unethical to give a name to a razor based on the box it came in, especially a str8 razor. The vendor can claim all the ignorance he wants, but my goodness, this goes beyond common sense, IMO. He did cover himself, though.

I'm sorry this happened to you. Try to appeal to him, maybe he'll surprise you. Otherwise, that's a tough lesson to learn.

Good Luck,

Steve

Amazing coincidence. I bought a Henckels on ebay recently that turned out to be a J. A. Henckels box and an A. N. Other razor.
I suggested that the vendor refund the difference in price between what I'd paid and what I thought it was worth; which they did.

Originally Posted by Kees

I am afraid you got to live with it as it is. Hone it up and it may be a surprisingly good razor.

Ditto. All part of the ebay crapshoot, but it looks like you have an eminently restorable razor that might serve you well. Probably only about $20 difference from what you might have paid for a razor in that condition, so you're not looking at a disaster.