Thread: Nice Pakistani copy or ****ty looking new Solingen?

lol
Pretoria. Most of my family (and I obviously) have left due to the unfortunate slipping of social standards. I still have an uncle, aunt, a few cousins, and a set of grandparents who live in the Cape Town area. And yes Cape Town is beautiful and an amazing vacation spot, actually, amazing to live too I guess, but for beauty you cannot beat the veld. My dad + family were born and raised in Namibia and we would vacation there- stunning. My dad became a vet, specialised in large animals, and has since worked with a lot of game reserves, including the Kruger Park. I tell you what, the Bush is the place for me. However, Cape Town is definitely one of my top five favourite places in the world.

I just realised that "slipping of social standards" could seem racist, but I don't mean it this way, and I'm not going to change it. The crime rate has gone up, the school system has declined, the economy has declined (and is not being revived despite what people say), the government is one-party (I don't care who is in power so long as there is a balance), and America seemed like a good choice. And it seems it was. While the lifestyle is very different, and the general conclusion of my family is that we should've stayed in our beloved Africa in retrospect, here in America we can live without a security fence, without iron bars on our windows, with our doors unlocked, my younger brother playing with his friends in the street, and I think the ultimate is I am now attending Cornell University which is an opportunity I never would have had otherwise so.

Now you're doing it! I know what you meant, but it's safer to clarify.
Anyway... Buy it if you can get it cheap & report back!

Another thing: I got a razor (was the first straight - got from my wife), a 5/8 with round point, SS blade, plastic scales (really ugly ones-i mean the texture), horrible pinning, no manufacturer stamp, some goldwash on the blade. The guy in the store said it was made in solingen. I'm not sure about that (now, after some knowledge), but the fact is, that i can get average to good shaves with it. Of course, i had to make some honing on it, but it wasn't that bad. Oh, and it cost about 15 U$D.

I just wanted to share it, to have another point of view, and encourage people to give those cheaper things a try...

Dude, that blade's tang "stamp" is an etched decal. God only knows where that blade was forged.


Those are a vintage pair of scales, though, aren't they??

No they're actually quite common. Lots of companies are using them. I think they were vintage already but they're easy enough to make new so...

Looks like an old Fromm blank. Can it hold an edge? If its stainless it may be an old Soligen generic originally sold by Hoffritz. Big question is can it take an edge and hold it. Let us know. If it is a Pak opening a letter will tell. A good razor will still shave after that. A Pak wont.

Originally Posted by mry314

Hm..., if it cost 1 U$D, give it a try.
As for the manufacturing, and stamping: I red somewhere, that the German law says: If the razor/knife/scissors, etc. was ASSEMBLED in solingen, the factory is allowed to mark it as a Solingen blade.
So, if the blade was forged in China, pakistan, or anywhere else, but they put the scale on in Solingen, the can legally sell it as made in solingen.

From the Revisor site:

Regulation for the Protection of the Solingen Name
(Solingen Regulation)
On the basis of § 137 of the law on trademarks of 25 October 1994 (German law gazette I 1994, p. 3082) the Federal Ministry of Justice decrees in agreement with the Federal Ministry of Economics, of Food, Agriculture and Forestry and of Health:
§ 1 Principle
The name Solingen may only be used in business for such cutting equipment which

1. was processed and finished in all major stages of manufacturing in the Solingen industrial area and
2. is able to achieve its characteristic intended use according to raw material and processing

§ 2 Region of Provenance
The Solingen industrial area includes the area of the urban commune Solingen and the area of the town Haan which is in the district of Mettmann.
§ 3 Definition of Cutting Equipment
Cutting equipment according to § 1 are in particular:

1. Scissors, knives and blades of all types,
2. Cutlery of all types and parts of such,
3. Small equipment for table use such as cake slicers, cake-tongs, sugar-tongs,
   grape scissors and serving cutlery,
4. Table utensils such as cigar cutters, letter openers, nutcrackers and cork screws as well as cutting kitchen tools such as tin openers and knife-grinders,
5. Open razor, razor-blades, razors,
6. Hair clippers and shaving machines,
7. Manicure and pedicure equipment such as nail-files, cuticle and nail forceps, nail clippers and tweezers,
8. Cutting and thrusting weapons of all kinds.

§ 4 Effective from
This regulation will come into effect on 1 January 1995.

Sorry for the mistake, maybe i saw the old regulation on an archive page.

JimR is right, the regulation ist, that it can't be a Solingen made blade if it wasn't forged in solingen.

IHK24 - Das Service-Center für die bergische Wirtschaft - Minimum Requirements for the Solingen Qualification

As for this "solingen like" razor, the scale is moulded plastic, not a vintage one. The blade itself is a quite good quality as i wrote, i can shave with it multiple times without any problem.

Originally Posted by Kees

Solingen is a registered trademark AFAIK so it should be made in Solingen. However, cheap imitations abound in this world so I would not be surprised if it is Pakistani junk after all. It looks el cheapo somehow.

So I voted for real Solingen: so don't if I get it wrong.

There was a Pakistani guy in Canada a few years back selling razors he purchased from a relative in the UK who had them shipped there from Pakistan. The razors he was selling didn't say Solingen but his advertising said they were from there. I reported him to the Solingen Knife Guild and their lawyer forced him to stop. I think they say they are "German quality" now.

I have sent a picture to someone who might know or might be able to find out about this one.