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I have a question that has been begging to be asked.
What makes Filarmonica razors so sought after ? Is there really something there or is it just hype ?
These razors look awesome but does the way they do their job justify the price tag ?
If you favour Filly's over any other razors, then which razors do you prefer them to ?
And if you think they are overrated, have you tried one or more and which razors are better in your opinion ?
Thanks,
Ian.
I won two Filarmonicas. I DT 12 and DT 13. They are probably my top two shavers along with my Scheon Burg.
I think my Fillys are on another level compared to my other razors, so yes, they are worth the price in my opinion.
Of course, worth of straight razors is subjective.
They are up there in my "Favorite Shavers" list. What makes them sought after....
The are NOS, meaning they're new, but old, they never sold all of them back in the day.
So, it's like buying a new razor from the 1950.s Here's a quote from Max's website:
Filarmonica - The company started manufacturing straight razors in 1915 in the city of Mataró, province of Barcelona. They are considered as one of the best manufacturers of cutlery, knifes and razors. About 20 years ago the company shut down all operations and closed their doors.
So, the Fily's are Nos, They're super sharp out of the box, a rare thing for any str8 razor. How do they compare to others, Well, I guess a lot of it's personal preference.
What I like, you may not, and vice versa. I've used many different brands of straight razors, vintage, new and custom. Fily remains in my top ten list. For me, they kind of remind me of shaving with a vintage Dubl Duck Wonderedge...Just scary sharp...
It's one of the few blades a practiced hand can pick up out of the box, and go, "WoW"....YMMV
Yes - 'nuff said!
They are great razors, of course most quality manufacturers make great razors. What is "worth it" to one of us might not be to another. Bottom line of it all is that the Fili's take a great edge and hold it well. They give a smooth comfortable shave when properly honed. Only you can say whether you think they justify the cost because what works for you may not work as well for me...
You can find a plethora of other brands who will do the job equally well.
At a much much lower price.
That said, I have more than a dozen of them now....
My reasons for having bought them are simple; they take an exceptional edge very easy, they look very good and they are wonderful shavers.
Worth it?
To me they are, others might find it the ultimate stupidity.
And I see on the bay that the prices aren't exactly going down either.
So from an investment point of view, I feel pretty good about it:)
I think of it like some think of classic cars. Many vehicles offer you a safe, fine ride to get you where you need to go. Some cars have more "cachet" to some than others. The same for razors. For me, buying a Filarmonica was cheaper than getting a 1957 Ford Thunderbird. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Shuriken
I bought a NOS DT13 while they were priced below my "Go/No-go" decision point. I shaved with it right out of the box, and it delivered a very nice shave. I tweaked it, and the shave got even better. I love shaving with it, and I hope to never have to sell it.
I think they are fine razors, but a lot of the appeal is hype. There are lots of vintage razors that will give you just as fine a shave. Just to name an example, I recently shaved with a vintage Boker King Cutter, and I was very impressed. It doesn't have the "cachet" of the Filarmonicas, but it's a very nice razor.
Sometimes, hype is not necessarily a bad thing though. It all boils down to having a chance to enjoy something that might appeal to you.
Look at it this way. A Filly DT 13 can usually be had in the range of $200-250 and the DT 14's slightly higher.
A new razor from Thiers Issard costs easily in that range if not more. I haven't shaved with a new TI, but I can honestly say the my DT 13 and DT 14 are among the best shavers I've ever used.
So to me, yes they are worth it. If you are considering buying a new razor, then buying a NOS Filly for the prices they go for is really not all that expensive.
If we start talking about the Filarmonica Novodurs.....well that is another discussion.
I have a couple fillies and they are so easy to work with on the hones. I put an incredible edge on the one I use and it's definitely in my top 5 shavers.
Truth is are they great shaver ?
Yes they are?
question is are there any cheaper razor available will be shaving in same level as Filli and for less price?
Answer is Yes.
gl.
Remember in this case you are comparing a new razor with a NOS razor. In just about any scenario the NOS will outperform a new razor. I have a couple of vintage Dovo razors and they will flat out shave just about any razor I have and I pretty much have them all.Quote:
Originally Posted by Harvitz81
As far as the fillys go all this hype makes me laugh. 6-7 years ago they were unknown and then Classic Shaving started selling the last ones made. They were no where near shave ready out of the box and were touchy to hone and as I recall were sold for around $100. After that the hype started and guys started going crazy over them and the prices climbed.
While I have absolutely no doubts that they are great shavers, I'm glad that I think they look cheap and tacky. To me, they come off as almost toy-like in appearance. To me, they are just not worth the price tag, no matter how great the shave is. Obviously that is just my opinion and there are many out there who would be quick to disagree with me. It's all personal preference. If you like the way something looks and it's a reputable manufacturer and you're willing to pay the price for it...get it!
I like the old vintage Fillys and glad I got 4 before they went nuts on them. I've never tried one of the NOS examples. Vintage or NOS, they aren't worth the price they are bringing on ebay now unless you collect them IMHO. Not as shavers anyway.
anyone have a comment on the differences between a Jose M. Pou without the fili tang brand (maybe pre-filarmonica) and the branded? not the DT versions, but a Medallion Tauro or something like that..
They are very good, thats for sure, even though the scales are a bit tacky. But they are great shavers and take a wicked edge.
They feel very similar to Wackers in my opinion.
Although there are many shavers as good or even better than Filarmonicas out there, the difference is the availability, and the size...
Finding a 6/8+ size DD, C-Mon, or Boker, is as rare as Hen's teeth and don't even think you are blessed enough to even see a 6/8+ American...
As crazy as that sounds bigger blades have an intrinsic value, just because of "more steel", add the 7/8 and 8/8 size to a buttery smooth edge and you get stupid prices :)
Same thing happened with the big Sheffield blades...
So as the saying goes "size does matter", and it pushed the value of the brand higher just because of name recognition...
That is all JMHO take it for what it is worth, and yes I own Fili's but I haven't ever paid more than $105 for a #14 DT :)
I borrowed a Filarmonica 6/8, and shaved with it a few time. I'm glad I didn't buy one like it. First, I don't particularily like the 6/8 larger blades. And, I have razors that have cost me under 10 bucks that could shave rings around it.. my opinion, my face. I will say it was a very pretty blade. But, for shaving I thought I wouldn't like it as well and probably would not use it as much. Revisor makes quite a few 6/8 blades at their website.. .or did. They are exceptional things of beauty, but I would not go for them, even though I love Revisor, because of the larger size.
The cheapes razor I own, a Gold Bug made in Solingen Germany by A. Witte, that I bought for about 5.00 gives a bettr shave then the Filarmonica I had for a while. In all due respect, it was not my razor and as such I did not try to hone it, or improve on it. It might have done better with a little work.
There's an old saying about success. It's 5% more. If someone would spend 5% more time on whatever they are doing, many times it's the difference between excellent and "ok".
2 questions,Quote:
Originally Posted by Gibbs
1)how do you hone your razors? and 2) do you know how the owner honed the borrowed fili?
Well, No to the second question. I am not exactly sure how he hones.
As for me, I will start out at 1K level and get the bevel set to that point so that you can easily shave hair on your arm. If you can't get it sharp all the way along the blade at that point, going further is just a nightmare of time spent. The finer the grain of the hones the less and less they do to remove metal, so it's real important to look at the edge of the blade and NOT see the edge at the 1000 grit level.
I do a lot of circular motion honing and that keeps the minute scratch marks on the bevel at more than one angle. If you were to plow a field and then go straight back down the furrows with a disk harrow, you wouldn't get as much effect of smoothing out the field if you actually went somewhat diagonal to the furrows. So, imagine tiny furrows on the bevel edge. Going criss-cross helps to take out the hills and smooth out the valley.. for me anyway. Many do not do it this way and that is all well and good. In the end, at the finish, I have a tendency to hone, then strop on the wool felt and then back to the hone, doing this back and forth. Maybe doesn't make a lot of sense, maybe most everyone doesn't do it this way, but for me it seems that the stropping aligns the edge very minutely so that when I re-hone it just polishes more and more and defines the actual edge just a bit. Perhaps it's my 5%. Many don't do this and many have great success with honing. All I know is under 20X my bevel has very minuscule scars on the surface, and the edge stays pretty free of minor chipping. It is, like I said, my way of doing it and many may differ greatly from this way I do it.
The last hone I work with is a very hard C 12K stone with dark intrusions. Only time I ever saw a slurry on it is during lapping to make sure it is flat. Since it seems so hard and slow I probably spend a little more time on it. At that grit level it can remove metal but it's not likely to cause great inroads into wearing out the razor too quickly. Does a very nice job of polsihg to a mirror in the sunlight, though! When it's done the razor glides across like butter. BTW I have finished the last part in the process with the hone dry, most of the time
thanks Vern, i understand your method, i was just curious as to your tools. thanks -Jon
I am just approaching my sixth month of straight shaving so am still pretty much a Newbie. I have read all the hype on Filarmonicas and seen the astronomical bids on eBay. Among my goals in building a 28-day collection was to find new and vintage razors from different countries in a variety of grinds and sizes. My first 26 razors included razors from the United States, England, Germany, France, and Sweden. I had despaired of getting any Filarmonicas (Spain) because of the high cost. Fortunately, I finally found two (one in France and one in England) that did not have the exorbitant prices on eBay.US. I did settle for a 4/8 and 5/8 size. The available larger sizes carried a pretty steep price even in the European Union.
Early this morning, I received a NOS 4/8 Filarmonica DT Stainless from England. I sterilized it and used it for for the time. I decided to see how it shaved right out of the box with a factory honing. Wow! What an incredible shave. It was smooth, comfortable, and close. 95% to a BBS with one pass. I can't wait to see what happens with a normal preparatory stropping. I was prepared to be unimpressed with this 4/8 razor so was a bit taken back by its excellence. I can see why so many people love Filarmonicas. I have some very fine razors but I would certainly place this one in the top tier. This razor completed my 28-day set.
Last Thursday, I got "Razor No. 27", which is a NOS 5/8 Filarmonica Doble Temple from France. I was busy with a house guest and have not gotten around to using it yet. However, after my positive experience with the 4/8 Stainless, I am now looking forward to seeing how the 5/8 DT stacks up.
I will not generalize on all Filarmonica razors but my first experience with a Filarmonica has made me a convert. YMMV.
Happy Shaving!
:D
FOLLOW-UP:
The shave I got yesterday with the 4/8 Filarmonica Stainless was so close that, this morning, I didn't have enough beard growth to even contemplate a shave. This is the first time I have experienced not needing a shave after 24 hours. Actually, I was a little disappointed because I had planned on trying the new 5/8 Filarmonica for the first time.
It seems Gibbs and I are on the same Revisor bandwagon. Amazing blades.
I've there too. So sad when there is not enough beard.I just received my first Filly. DT 13. Great shave.Quote:
Originally Posted by DLB
I found them to be good shavers, but not worth the money they ask for these days IMHO, that said I sold them because I have other vintage straights that I like more.
Filarmonica are quality solingen razors. As are Otto Buch, E Herder, Dubl Duck, Puma, and a host of other brands from the same time and place.
The hype surrounding them is just that. Hype. By the same token, W&B is definitely not better than Joseph Rodgers. It's just what the masses think is more popular at a given point in time. You're not paying for higher quality, but for popularity.
+1 with all of the above.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruno
If a razor is honed correctly it will shave great no matter what the brand is.
I am so happy there are some great brands out there that are not hyped, helps expanding the collection without breaking the bank.
I have two Filly's, both DT 13's, purchased on eBay as NOS. I did pay a lot for them, but that was a while ago and I still use them.
Along with my Puma, they take a superb edge and only really ever need stropping on pasted strops (3.0, 1.0, 0.5 and 0.25μ each in that order).
The only other razor that I own is a Le Grelot 6/8 quarter (one of the originals). That shaves long stubble like a blow-torch through butter. Very smooth and refreshing.
I can only justify the additional coin spent on the Filly's due to the long-lasting edge that they take. They don't make them like this any more! Same level as a Puma, Dorko or Henkles and others from that period/area. Other than that, not worth any more than the others.
Maybe it is a poor analogy but I think of a lexus or a mercedes as opposed to a ford focus or a kai. They will all get you where you want to go but some , with admittedly a bit more luxury. (that is why it is a poor analogy) I sold my Fillys, 4 vintage pieces, too. They were great shavers but as mainaman said, not better than many unknown and non collectible Solingen vintage razors.
OTOH I keep some of my relatively expensive TIs because I really like them enough to hang on to them while there are many inexpensive alternatives that will probably shave just as well. If someone wants to spend the $ to get a vintage Filly they probably won't be disappointed.