Got in my new Dovo Bismarck from SRD today and just HAD to try it out....I kinda figured that it would come today so fought the temptation to shave last night so I would give it a good go. The Dovo flew right through those hairs like a lightsaber. One thing caught my attention though...

Vintage v. New

I've noticed in comparing my new razor to my vintage models that the newer ones seem to have a thicker spine, fatter overall width between spines and a general overall 'larger' feel to it that my vintage models....which begs the question of why?

The only thing that comes to mind is the whole notion of 'bigger is better' or of higher quality. In the case of the razors, this isn't the case per se. My comparison is in the world of fountain pens. In the heyday of quality fountain pens, most pens were smaller and of high quality. Today's fountain pens are exhorbitantly expensive but some with lots of bells and whistles...notably, thicker bodies and larger nibs than the vintage models...sadly, most new $300 fountain pens don't hold a candle to a vintage Parker 51 which could be had for about half the price in today's money.

By the same token, in today's money, most of my vintage razors should cost only about $30...not $130. Granted, like fountain pens, Dovo has lots of bells and whistles that the vintage models just don't have...gold, decoration, fancier scales, etc...but certainly not a better razor than a 90 year old restoration. Ironically, when I gently wiped off the oil on the Dovo, a 1/8 bit of the VERY thin gold wash came off in the washcloth.

Now, don't take this as a hack on Dovo or TI, these are just some of my observations. I'm really digging the Dovo and wouldn't trade it for anything...well...almost.