Thread: All "A+" Shaves?

The Big Spendur: Out of 34 razors, I have two that leaped to the front of the line the first time I used them; a new 6/8 Thiers-Issard Le Grelot and a vintage 5/8 J, A. Heckles 72 1/2. All of the other razors shave really quite well but these two feel like an extension of my hand and arm and the shave is so effortless that both razors fall into the exceptional quality. As I compare shaving with any of the other razors to these two, the other razors come out lacking something, yet it is very difficult to verbalize exactly what quality is missing. However, during the past couple of days, I have found your three categories of Excellent, Outstanding, and Exceptional have enabled me to more clearly rate my razors. All of them are excellent, about a fourth of them (especially those with professional honing) are outstanding, but only two are exceptional. That said, I love using all of them. Using a razor that is "only" excellent makes me appreciate the exceptional razor even more.

Originally Posted by DLB

......I cannot imagine how I even thought I could fairly rank razors with my beginning technique. What I was really ranking was my miserable and inconsistent technique....

A couple of points that you may wish to consider. YMMV of course. When starting out try to keep the number of razors that you rotate through to a minimum, it will help a little with the learning curve.

When I had been shaving with the same amount of time as you have put in I obtained the B&B 1/4 grind LeGrelot through the group buy. That amount of money, at the time, seemed insane to me. The very first time that I put the blade to my face....it was just different! I guess it has been about 3 years since then and it is still not bettered by any razor that I have, equaled, but not bettered. I know a lot of people that have a great razor in their hands when they are new at this and sell it for something new and live to regret it, so take it slow. Go with your instincts and if you feel that it is a great razor, it probably is very good one at minimum.

Take Care,
Richard

Originally Posted by riooso

A couple of points that you may wish to consider. YMMV of course. When starting out try to keep the number of razors that you rotate through to a minimum, it will help a little with the learning curve...Richard

Richard,

Good advice but a little late for me. LOL

Early on, I did a lot of reading and was fascinated by the SRD discussions of such names as Sheffield, Solingen, Dovo, W&B, Red Imp, Union Cutlery, Torrey, Waterville, Thiers-Issard, Le Grelot, Heljestrand, dubl duck, Revisor, Boker, Henckels, and Wostenholm. I made a plan to get razors in good condition representing the USA, Germany, France, Sweden, England, and Spain. In my naivety, I first planned to get one new and one vintage razor from each country until I discovered that new razors were not being produced in Sweden, England, and Spain.

My collection now has:
USA: 9 (2 new and 7 vintage)
Germany: 12 (6 new and 6 vintage)
France: 6 (1 new and 5 vintage)
Sweden: 3 (3 vintage)
England 2 (2 vintage)
Spain 2 (2 vintage)

I really enjoy using a variety of sizes and styles from the different countries. While the 6/8 Thiers-Issard Le Grelot and the 5/8 Henckels 72 1/2 are consistently my favorite razors, I would be loath to give up any of the other razors. In a way, my favorite razor is the one that I am holding in my hand when I am shaving. If I were forced to reduce the collection to two 7-day sets, I would agonizingly select 7 of the new and 7 of the vintage razors to keep.

Happy Shaving.

LOL! Never mind.....you are lost!

R

I have somewhere around 100 straights. Interesting how often the Grelots have been mentioned. I've been thinking lately that, had I sense, I would sell all the razors I own and keep the two Le Grelot 1/4 grinds I'm blessed to have.

Originally Posted by pcb01

I have somewhere around 100 straights. Interesting how often the Grelots have been mentioned. I've been thinking lately that, had I sense, I would sell all the razors I own and keep the two Le Grelot 1/4 grinds I'm blessed to have.

I hear you. My half-hollow new Thiers-Issard Le Grelot is my "Number One" go-to-razor. It will be the razor that they will have to pry out of my cold, dead hands! I have one vintage 6/8 Thiers-Issard 69 and four vintage Le Grelots (one 4/8s & three 5/8s); all of them superlative shavers. I was able to buy my French razors on eBay.fr for about a quarter of the price on US eBay. I keep telling myself to get one more new Thiers and I will have a dream 7-day set.

Happy Shaving!