Thread: Real Dovo or Fake?

Originally Posted by Shangers

So I got tired of waiting for my new hones and strop to arrive, and just decided to try to hone it up on my old Chinese waterstone, and strop it on some linen. It was popping hairs on the back of arm with ease, but the shave was less than pleasurable. Took quite a few passes WTG, ATG, XTG and still not BBS, and my neck is not loving me right now. Also, I noticed it started tarnishing in a few spots within a couple minutes of being in the water. I thought maybe I didn't clean it enough with Alcohol after honing, so I tried to clean it up again. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying attention and the gold wash (etching) on both sides of the "facharleit" came off. Is that normal? I still think I can get it to shave nice. I should have my hones and strop at the end of the week. I guess I will know for sure at that time.

Oh noes! You broke it. The only place that can be trusted to recycle Slrmanian razors properly is here in Finland, quite near me. Send the razor to me and I'll take care of it. Here, let me give you my address...

Gold washing is usually extremely thin, maybe only tens of microns and doesn't really stand up to real abrasion with solvents. Especially polishing compounds such as Maas are notorious for stripping gold wash. In the future, try to clean up around it for example with a cotton bud.

hehe... I'll get that right in the mail. Actually, I figured it would be delicate. Just didn't think that alcohol would take it off. Luckily, I bought the other one last week. So, at least one is still in NOS condition.

Originally Posted by ursus

Oh noes! You broke it. The only place that can be trusted to recycle Slrmanian razors properly is here in Finland, quite near me. Send the razor to me and I'll take care of it. Here, let me give you my address...

Gold washing is usually extremely thin, maybe only tens of microns and doesn't really stand up to real abrasion with solvents. Especially polishing compounds such as Maas are notorious for stripping gold wash. In the future, try to clean up around it for example with a cotton bud.

Originally Posted by Shangers

Luckily, I bought the other one last week. So, at least one is still in NOS condition.

Cool. Did it have the same misspelling?

Originally Posted by AlanII

Cool. Did it have the same misspelling?

Yes, it was exactly the same. I told the lady when I bought it about the misspelling. She said she didn't know about it, but had bought 5 or 6 razors years ago and the 2 that I bought were all that remained. She said she bought them from the distributor in China, but had no reason to contact them for years as it took her so long to sell the original stock she had. If she decides to restock (not holding my breath), she will ask him about the strange stamp.

Originally Posted by Shangers

Yes, it was exactly the same. I told the lady when I bought it about the misspelling. She said she didn't know about it, but had bought 5 or 6 razors years ago and the 2 that I bought were all that remained. She said she bought them from the distributor in China, but had no reason to contact them for years as it took her so long to sell the original stock she had. If she decides to restock (not holding my breath), she will ask him about the strange stamp.

There you have it. Since they both have the same misspelling, and it is coming from China, I believe it is more than likely fake. If I was a store selling Dovo razors I would not order it from a distributor in China, but rather from Germany directly. In the long run it would cost more as it would have to be first shipped to China, and then shipped to the store.

As for why would someone want to copy a Chevy and not a BMW, Dovo is a famous name in razors, and has a very good reputation. I would be more suspicious of the typos on a BMW than on a Chevy. It may be that the manufacturer was simply selling to people in China as well, where such a name would carry far greater weight. In that case, the manufacturer wouldn't care about liability. China does not recognize most patent and copyright laws around the world.

Originally Posted by keenedge

That "shave ready" sticker sure is a nice touch.
Kent

As someone else pointed out "ready" was not
spelled correctly. Even my spell checker
sees the error "readey". Big clue, offer the guy $5.00.

Hi I am new to this and am in the same boat as SoCalNewb I have limited funds and just cannot tell what razors are fake and what ones are real. I was thinking of buying this razor of ebay but don't know if its a fake it says that is a band of Dovo sold with no markings to keep price down it also specifies that the blade was made and honed in Solingen Germany and is new, the seller has 100% positive feedback too.

I would still keep an eye here for good deals on the classifieds. Keeping in mind that most of the blades you buy on ebay have to be honed you can add 20 to 25 more to the ebay price for getting it shave ready. I don't regret the blade we bought on ebay or the honing and restoring we are paying for but in hindsight maybe we should have bought from the classifieds first, learned a bit, and maybe then ventured into the ebay straight razor buying realm.

Although if you buy one and want it cleaned up and honed just the little bit of work I have seen that has been done on ours has been amazing. We were very impressed by the work a fellow member did so far.

Originally Posted by tophthegoph

Hi I am new to this and am in the same boat as SoCalNewb I have limited funds and just cannot tell what razors are fake and what ones are real. I was thinking of buying this razor of ebay but don't know if its a fake it says that is a band of Dovo sold with no markings to keep price down it also specifies that the blade was made and honed in Solingen Germany and is new, the seller has 100% positive feedback too.

i have one very similar to the one you posted. mine even has solingen on the scales. the name on the tang is printed on it and not stamped on mine. the thing only cost me $11 with s/h. it honed up ok but the metal is cheap and with only minimal honing the spine showed wear, this is not a good razor if it is the same as mine. you might ask the seller if the name on the tang is printed or stamped in the metal....i think you would be better getting a shave ready straight from the classifieds here...good luck

59caddy I asked the seller and he told me he bought a few of these razors in Germany and that the Solingen is stamped in the tang