Thread: New J.A. Henckels | Cognitive Dissonance

In other words... buyer's remorse.

When I locate the cable for my digital camera, I'll post some pics of the unboxing, but I received my new Zwilling J.A. Henckels 5/8" in the mail today and I was most certainly not excited when I opened the box. I was looking for a nice Henckels for daily use, and while I see vintage ones on eBay often, I just don't really trust the consistency of eBay razors, so I bought one of the brand new ones.

I was initially drawn to the simplicity - this seemed like a solid, no-frills blade that would do well for daily use. But this thing just feels cheap; reminds me of my DOVO "Best Quality" (the first 'real' razor I ever bought), only it came at more than double the price. Blade feels similar, and the cheap plastic scales are an eyesore. At least the pin job looks decent, but overall I was severely disappointed.

Who knows... I'm going to put it to the finishing hone tonight. This thing had better shave better than it looks in person. Henckels: Get it together. You have a reputation, for Pete's sake!

Here's the stock photo of what I got.

I hope it works out for you!

Ouch.. hope the shave makes up for the quality of the razor. Good luck!!!

I am really interested to read about your results. I have been curious about these new Henckels razors.

I even started a thread about them awhile ago:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...ls-razors.html

From what I have been reading, these new Henckels razors have been disappointing. There are rumors that Dovo maybe manufacturing these razors for Henckels, and that is perfectly fine if the quality is there. Of the new Henckels razors, people seem to have be more luck with the Friodurs as opposed to the Twins, but still the impression that I have been getting is that the whole line is somewhat disappointing. This is kind of sad as I had really high hopes about these.

I hope this razor turns out great for you!

AltShaver,

I actually read your thread prior to ordering my twin, and based on Glen's observation (essentially that there was little difference between old and new), opted for the new as I assumed there would be more consistent quality there.

Having just come back from the hones, I'm now "cautiously optimistic." I could feel a big difference between this and my cheap DOVO pretty quickly, and the edge off the 12k looked pretty good. Sliced (not popped) arm hairs off easily; so I may have been too quick to judge.

Until tomorrow morning...

We await your shave report with baited breath. Twice the price? Seems like today's market, they would be more competitive...there's Revisor to worry about.

I just bought one of the NOS Henckels Friodur 7/8" from Ebay, and unfortunately when it arrived the toe had been chipped/dented, and it looked like someone had either tried to overgrind it or heat it, because there was heat discoloration in the same area. The manufacturer was good about taking it back for an exchange, but then reported that all 10 of his stock of Henckels blades had the same damage.

So now, sadly, I'm awaiting a refund. I hope your new Henckels turns out a lot better for you!

Gentlemen:

I awoke this morning with some optimism, hoping that the shave would make up for the initial impression of this Henckels. Long story short; it didn't.

In really taking a closer look at this razor with fresh eyes, I did notice a few things that I missed yesterday that make me think I was a little too harsh on the razor's appearance. The first thing that caught my eye was the tang stamp - minor, I know - but I liked that the tang was actually stamped, and stamped with enough depth that I trust the stamp will last for the lifetime of the razor. The blade really is pretty, in a satin/matte finish, and the double stabilizers look good. I still can't get over the cheapo scales, however.

The shave was... well... interesting. The thing that got me first was that the scales are so light it throws the balance of the razor off. I don't mind a razor without thumb jimps when there's enough weight to keep the razor feeling solidly in your fingertips, however this thing is so light that the smooth top & bottom of the tang was slightly aggravating. To Henckel's credit, the top & bottom of the tang are fairly wide - so there's plenty to grasp - but were polished smooth, which I didn't particularly like. Most importantly, the razor just didn't seem to plow through the whiskers like I had hoped. It didn't pull, it wasn't irritating; it just wasn't as smooth as I was expecting. After the WTG and 1/2 of the XTG pass, I ended up putting it down and finishing with something else.

Not to talk specific pricing, but for a buck-fifty you could do a lot better than this in the realm of new-production razors. For $10-20 less, you could pick up a Boker Edelweiss, DOVO Perlex, or DOVO Silver Steel - the latter two of which I own and are much better shavers than the Henckels.

Originally Posted by MrDavid

Henckels: Get it together. You have a reputation, for Pete's sake!

Well, maybe they're cashing in the reputation the vintage razors gave them without carefully checking if the quality of the new razors lives up to the vintage ones.

I wonder if these "new" Henckels are being made by someone else and the guys at JA H. are just cashing in on their boutique name.

Pity if so.