Thread: Henckel Question

Can anyone please tell me the difference between the 401 Twin Platinum(above) and the 401(below) with red lettering and red twins? Both are carbon steel. How do they differ? Thank you. I pulled these photos out of the clan of the dancing twins, I hope their owners will not mind.

No problem, I am right on this.

The first one has the word platinum on the tang, the second doesn't. The second has red lettering whereas the first does not. The first one has orangey scales and the second has yellowy scales. The second one has 3 pins, the first only two.

Any other questions, don't hesitate to ask me!



James.

The steel. I am interested in what the difference is, funny guy.

I think the 401 refers to the batch of razor blanks that were made. If that is correct then you could have many models from a single batch of blanks, but don't quote me on that cause I am not sure if I am correct or not

No humoring you a RJD... anyway I make an effort to ignore all the obscure numbers and codes that often appear on razors - unless they are well known or correlate to the size (Fillarmonica 13,14 etc) they are pretty much redundant (or lost to the annals of history). My guess is they probably only ever meant anything to the salesmen and craftsmen of their time.

Originally Posted by RJD

The steel. I am interested in what the difference is, funny guy.

No one knows what the steel is, I bet they shave just great.

I'm with JSmith1983 on this one. I have a couple of pieces with 81 on them that are roughly the same size, exactly the same spine width, and come from two different makers. I believe that they would get their blanks from the same place and/or even the same batch, but either grind or shape them differently. So your 401 would have the exact same steel as his 401 but yours may have a spike point and his has a round.

Been a while since I have had both side to side, but from what I can remember, the 401 is a little smaller stock than the Platinum and I believe the grind is more on the extra hollow vs. full hollow side. Both definitely are superior shavers.

I am not convinced that the lettering on the spines does not reflect the different shops that some of the razors have come out of and still come out of today although there are certainly fewer today.

Have fun.

I have both and can take shots of the grind for you. although my Platinum isn't NOS you may get a better idea of the difference between the two.

You'll see variations in stampings of the same brand, be it dubl duck, Puma , or Henckles and all of the others. At some point in time they decide it is cool to put red paint on a tang stamp, gold wash, various etchings. They all try one thing or another to market their products. One of the things that drives collectors and keeps it interesting.