Here's a question aimed mostly at those of you on SRP who have been around a lot of razors for a lot of years. Just occured to me on this Sunday AM as I was thinking about a few posts that mentioned that this brand of razor or that brand was a "good shaver." So...are some razors just "better shavers" than others. I mean by this that, regardless of the honing and stropping expertise that's gone into a razor, it just shaves better? True? Or maybe not? Can enough honing and stropping fix any razor (unless if falls below some threshold of quality such as the Pakistani razors seems to)?

If true, would this apply to most razors of a certain brand or just a few individual razors -- an accident of birth, if you will? I got started thinking about this because of the pricing range of razors, and wondering if this is because of collector value (in the case of vintage razors) or workmanship or something else? Then moved on to pondering whether price relates in any way to shaving ability. More $ = better shaver? I kind of doubt it past a certain point but I don't really know enough to be definitive about it. Or, might it be the case that once a razor has a certain modicum of quality steel, heat treating, edge geometry and whatever other factors, that with expert honing and stropping, it can be turned into a great shaver? If this is the case, does anyone care to hazard a guess about where the price point may lie for a razor that can become a great shaver? $100 USD? Less? $200? More?

Just something to ponder as you shave today. Newbies want to know.