Comment on Wednesday SOTD Thread - November 13th, 2024 (#521)
djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social 4 days agoBecause if we’re being honest, a well made safety razor (or straight razor, or shaving brush) is a luxury item.
I both agree and don’t. Yes, in the sense that nobody needs a stainless steel safety razor for over €100 if a brass Tech will cost a fraction. On the other hand, nobody would call it luxury if you shave with Mach3 cartridges, but those are more expensive than the “luxury” stainless steel razor in just a few years. So it’s all kind of messed up in my opinion.
Worst case scenario, someone has a broken and unusable razor at home that has cost them 200+€.
Yeah, this one gets to me. The meissner series they sell is a porcelain handle zamac razor that might just break after a some years of use because the threads wear through the plating for €655, and a brush that has the same lame knot as my brush and costs €675. I don’t understand.
DaveWave94@sub.wetshaving.social 4 days ago
I see where you’re coming from and I think we’re generally on the same page. There are also expensive cartridge razors with fancy handles or vibration or heated blades, but no one from our hobby would call a cartridge razor luxurious. The cartridge prices are ridiculous and I think that’s what pushed a lot of us into traditional wetshaving: the promise of saving money while finally enjoying to scrape those unwanted hairs off. Of course that was long before we fell down this rabbit hole and are now firmly into the sunk cost fallacy…
Yep, we wouldn’t necessarily need a 100+€/£/$ stainless steel razor due to all the vintage brass razors still around in great condition for a quarter of that price. Yet if we actually save that amount and make such a purchase, we expect rock solid quality that should outlast us in the way that vintage razors outlasted their previous owners. Sadly this often isn’t the case. Anecdotal evidence, but my Stando Perun really pisses me off in that regard. A 100+€ stainless steel razor simply shouldn’t catch rust, period. 😞
Oh yes, the Mühle series in cooperation with Meissener Porzellan is mind-blowing in a negative sense. These are probably more or less collectors items, but I still believe that the fun thing about wetshaving is that you have this collector’s obsession aspect of the hobby while actually being able to use your precious items for the intended purpose! However, as you said - that shouldn’t be done with this precious porcelain handle razor, since it has just a Zamac head. What an absolute (cruel) joke! Meissen really creates porcelain art and then it’s honoured with one of the cheapest materials possible for razor construction (the others being plastic and bakelite, who at least don’t corrode easily).
A good contrary example to this might be PantaRei brushes from Italy. Some of their brushes are custom order, made from expensive woods and/or ceramics and most even hand painted… yet you also get a quality horse/boar/badger or synthetic knot in 28 to 30 mm! And Mühles supposed “gold standard” synthetic fibre only goes up to 25 mm as their XL option. Weird. I think they could do lots of things right, e.g. the R41 design was quickly gaining notoriety as a very aggressive shaver, but it’s also a very unique design. It’s cool that they even came out with the GS model after the success of the Rocca.
I apologize for rambling way too much, but you brought up so many valid points and instigated such a meaningful discussion that I wanted to share my two cents, but instead dropped my whole bank account on you. Sorry 😅
djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social 4 days ago
Yes, we are on the same page, I think.
Yeah, this one is infuriating. I’m sorry this happened to you.
Both PantaRei and Zenith could be good examples for Mühle IMO. Luxury quality, or good value.
Yeah, it really is. The GS is really well made too, tight fits, good surface quality. For a European made razor, even the price seems reasonable.
Oh please, this is exactly what we have this instance for 😊
DaveWave94@sub.wetshaving.social 3 days ago
Well, it is what it is with the Perun. I actually digged out my Greencult GC 2.0 out again today due to this. At least that one has a solid plating/finish.
Yep, considering the materials and CNC processes alone, the R41 GS is well worth its price.
Zenith makes really awesome brushes at a very fair price point. PantaRei was just my example of choice as they actually seem to care about a full luxurious product instead of a half-assed job like Mühle’s brushes and I knew they also do ceramic brushes (at a third of the Mühle price even!)