Thread: To save, or shave... that is the question.

Hey folks,

There are two funny phrases I've used to justify spending more money for something better than I really needed. "I'm too poor to afford anything but the best", and "The quality is remembered, long after the price is forgotten." You might not need a Les Paul Classic guitar to play good music, and you might not need an Armani suit to look good, but if you had the money - wouldn't you want to buy them? Assuming it wasn't going to affect your rent or your mortgage payment, or prevent you from eating in the next month, wouldn't you want the better item, even if it cost more?

This is a subjective question assuming you would. Imagine the guy who collects expensive classic cars; he buys cars like an Aston martin DB5, maybe a Ferrari 250GT California... but never drives them. He just waxes them with a diaper and keeps them parked in his garage. He might argue that while he doesn't enjoy driving them, he might have a mint condition '56 Corvette that he can still appreciate locked away for years to come, that he could sell down the road should he choose. And we all love this guy, because he gives us hope; hope for an opportunity that one day he might relinquish his property to you, and you would receive it with warmth and joy in all it's well preserved integrity. And you would pay for it, maybe twice or three times what the original cost was, because of the scarcity and high-quality condition that it remains in.

Now imagine his neighbor, who appreciates cars and buys both top-of-the-line classic cars and modern cars, like a 64 Lamborghini 350GT and a Porsche 997, and he does drive them. In fact they're his daily drivers, and he drives the pants off them. He drives them to work, to the grocery store, to his brother's house, and to the gym. He drives them for the appreciation of driving, to use them for what they were intended and made for- to be the most exhilerating way to get from point A to point B. And his cars are full of worn parts, cracked leather seats, rock chipped paint, door dings, curb rash on the wheels (picture his '85 Dolorian after 20 years of daily driving)... and though he could he would never sell them because he appreciates them so much. He doesn't care what they look like, or that they don't look as good as the day he bought them. He doesn't care that he won't a huge monetary return for his investment - his return is his enjoyment of their use.

Now ask yourself - who is better off? The guy with the 'mints' stuck in his garage, waiting to be sold, or the guy who has put them through their paces?

Relating this back to razors... who would you be like? Would you buy an expensive new razor like a DOVO Bergischer Lowe, or a Thiers-Issard Leaf & Vine, Red Stamina, or a vintage Mint Dubl Duck Wonderedge and store it in it's box, only to take it out and marvel at it. Would you hesitate to sharpen it for fear of rubbing off the gold? Would you only shave with it on special occasions, or only on weekends, to minimize it's use?? Would you want to preserve it, to pass it on to your children, original as the day you bought it, or to sell it down the road for a pretty penny as a 'mint'? Or would you use it as your daily shaver, enjoying it's use as often as you can, appreciating it as a superior instrument, and that is the reason why you own it? To use a superior tool because it is superior.

I know which I would be.
Which would you be?

Yup, 'you get what you pay for' is what we say 'round here.

If I bought a high end blade, I would definitely shave with it. I might even take off the gold foil intentionally 'cuz I think it's a bit gaudy. I don't see the point in spending on collectible razors. I don't have that kind of income or inclination.

X

It was made to be used!

Rick

Use it or loose it! There is only one shaving item I ration. My three cakes of Will G's soaps. Will G sold soaps on ebay. Went in for a operation, and discovered he had cancer. Never returned, and sadly, passed away. Without a doubt, the best soaps I own. Each gets used once a month at the most.

RT

I am like the guy who drives the expensive cars.
I don't believe in keeping items mint.

My wife and i are of the principle that we make do with what we have, and save for what we really want.
We made do with a cooking furnace that was over 30 years old until it was totally unusable. Then we bought a 2600 euro smeg with 5 regular burners, a stir frying burner, and a 60 cm oven that can do everything you could ever want.

Why should you settle for anything less than the best?
You still enjoy the quality when the price is long forgotten. The stupidest thing you can do is to die with 100K euros in your savings account.

If I'd buy a high end razor, I'd buy a Maestro with mammoth ivory scales, and use it for daily shaving. There is no point in owning an item like that, and using a 60$ dovo for actually shaving.

Originally Posted by Bruno

The stupidest thing you can do is to die with 100K euros in your savings account.

Agreed! Dying knowing that you've got a pile of money in the bank won't make you any less dead!

Life is this, right now. Sitting at the computer, going to bed, getting up and having toast. ( I got a sweet new toaster for Xmas. It looks like a spaceship)

That shave in the morning could be my (or your) very last. I'm not going to shave with my Pinto knowing that I've got a Vette in the garage. Not unless that Pinto gives me a great shave.

There's no point in keeping something locked up for 20 years, because your life doesn't start in 20 years.

Of course, if I could afford a Corvette, Porsche, Ferrari and an Aston Martin, I'd buy all the razors in the world, along with all the razor makers. Then I would start my own country and be the Sultan of Steel, getting shaved everyday by a harem of virgins, and then shaving.... You get the picture. If I had a stupid amount of money, I'd probably do really stupid things with it. Like fight with a lesbian talk show host over the stable of models that I own.

So are you getting a new razor, or what?

I've just bought a Thiers - Issard LE and ordered a Mastro Livi Takeda razor with my Xmas money (no one in my family knew what to get me so I got money), and I intend to shave with them. They may be things of beauty, but they are also made for a purpose - shaving !

Northpole

Thats an unfair question here on this forum because we are all shavers and we use what we buy. If you asked this on a knife collectors forum they would probably tell you they put them away and take em out once a year to fondle them and reapply preservative on them. Its your point of view. I collect watches and I have watches I rotate and wear every day and I have watches that are vintage that I never wear because they are collectable and I don't want to mar them. In that case I enjoy handling them and looking at them and it has nothing to do with value because some of my daily wearers are worth more than my vintage watches.

Its just your point of view. As far a razors go, I don't collect them I use them.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

As far a razors go, I don't collect them I use them.

I'm learning how to use them.

As for purchasing expensive things, I believe in "amortization". For example: my gym membership costs $525/year... seems like a big chunk 'o change. But divide that by 313 (Saturday is my R&R day), and it becomes $1.68/day. That's nothing; especially compared to my now-studly bod.

So, if I was another six-months, or a year, farther down the 'pike in terms of straight-razor shaving, and I had the Benjamins on-hand, and my bills were up-to-date (I only use a debit-card), and I had 6-12 paychecks-worth of savings in the bank, then I'd buy 'em to use 'em.

But I'm not a collector. I don't buy books -- I use the public library, etc. I've got three straight-razors, for shaving every-other day (and not on weekends). If, one day, I'll be in a position to buy a $100 razor, it'll be to replace the "weakest link" in my shaving chain.

I digress. "Amortization" -- but be careful: your wife'll use it as a rationalization, too.

Use what ever it is. I have seen to many guys keep cars mint for years. They might make a few bucks, but the only thing they did is keep it mint for the next guy. The car I bought was hardly driven for the 7 years the owner had it. Then he lost his job and had to sell it and lost money. Now I drive it all the time except for winter

Look at how many people collect stuff and when they die it gets sold off cause their kids don't want it. Now some stranger uses it and what did the original owner get out of it?