Thread: Filarmonica collectors?

I'm always trying to learn about razors, and the interest I see in Filarmonicas and the prices they go for intrigue me.

I don't mean this in a bad way, but what is the specific attraction? Are they particularly good shavers? Is it the romance of Spanish steel, dating back to the sword days, kind of like Japanese razors and the samurai mystique? Was the production so small they were all effectively custom razors?

Please don't take this as a knock on Filarmonicas, many of them are really beautiful. But I don't think I've ever seen one go for less than $100 in any condition, with many in the $200 - $400 range. I'm trying to find out if I've been missing something special, or if this is a collector's niche based primarily on rarity/collectability.

I only have one and I really like it, but I don't know that it's really that special. It's one of those brands like dubbl duck that is definitely excellent but maybe overpriced.

It's hard steel, holds edge well and shaves really nice when you figure out how to hone it. But there are much much cheaper razors that also shave great (robeson for example, and even henckels, which is hardly cheap).