Thread: Help Me Evaluate this Henckels

Hey, there's a Henckels Zwillingswerk 21 in my local pawn and I'm thinking of getting it. However, this is only my second straight so I can't hone or evaluate things well. There's a tiny nick in the blade, how hard would it be to hone out/would it cost any extra when I send it to a hone meister? Plus, how is the hone wear and overall blade condition? Basically I'm asking if this is a red light or green light item... and how much should I pay? It's 45ish, but I may be able to bargain it down based on the nick and because they don't know stuff about razors.

IMHO- not worth $45. I've bought far better for far less. Keep searching and you'll find a good deal.

That nick isn't catastrophic. But if you're factoring in having it honed you're already talking about $65 minimum for that razor to be shaveable, and you can find better than that in the classifieds on a pretty regular basis.

Are all those pics of the same razor? Some things don't match up...

I agree with Tyler above.

It'll clean up and hone nicely if you're patient and have all of the equipment/experience. But is it worth $45? I don't think so. For the amount of work needed on the razor and considering you'd need to pay extra to get it honed and fixed up, you can get a nice razor without the work needed for a comparable price.

Just my opinion obviously, take it for what it's worth.

Originally Posted by kenneyty

IMHO- not worth $45. I've bought far better for far less. Keep searching and you'll find a good deal.

That nick isn't catastrophic. But if you're factoring in having it honed you're already talking about $65 minimum for that razor to be shaveable, and you can find better than that in the classifieds on a pretty regular basis.

Are all those pics of the same razor? Some things don't match up...

+1, did the nick occur while you were photographing it or something?

I'm far from an expert, but if I saw those pictures on ebay, and assuming the scales are in good shape and the pivot pin is pretty tight, I would bid for around $20-25 shipped tops, and I think that would be about what it would go for on the bay. Whether or not that is actually how much it's worth, I dunno, but that's probably around what it would sell for, so arguably it's how much it's worth. I recently picked up a similar henckels in a little better condition for just under $30 shipped on ebay. But I'm still just a newbie who is addicted to buying and fixing up razors myself, so take my opinion for what it's worth. Anyway, personally, I would not pay $45 for that razor.

I'd leave it well alone. I just picked up a Henckel in far better shape for 19.99 and they threw in a Genco for an extra 10 bucks. That was from an antique shop.

Be patient. You will stumble into a beauty.

wouldn't get it... you can find these in good shape for very little if you look long enough.

as far as your specific questions for evaluation:
you will probably pay a bit more to get this one honed b/c of the chip.. but this depends on the honemeister.
The honewear looks ok, but the blade has some nasty scratches near the toe... I say red light

Not worth it imo. Too much cleaning up and honing required. Knock off $20 and I'd think about it. But the blade is rather small looking.

That nick is a deal killer. Without the nick I would pay max $10 shipped.

If you're partial to henckels and love the way they shave, might be worth it to you. Not to me though.

Talk then down to $20, when they know that you're actually going to use it are not just a collector, their mind changes a little bit.

This would be a good piece to learn to hone on if you're interested in learning.

How about we assume I bargain it down to say.... $25? Still not worth it? I guess not cus of the 20$ hone I'd be paying for.