If you look at the DD advert that Martin posted, it states that the German model the scales have the gold inlay and the 3 pin design. The implication here is that the American model does NOT. (and I know all of my "american" models dont) This would explain why the american model would be cheaper, and suggests that they shipped the blades here to be scaled. Certainly a box of 100 blades would be cheaper to ship than a box of 100 complete razors. At the top of their game, they were probably moving enough razors to see big savings in doing that.