Submitted 5 weeks ago by AutoBot@sub.wetshaving.social [bot] to wetshaving@sub.wetshaving.social
Share your shave of the day!
Nov 13, 2024
Black Watch is an all time favourite of mine. I like to combine it with Cerberus, Braeburn or other warm fruity fragrances, but this is trickhole week for me, so I’m trickholing it. It never disappoints.
The stainless R41 Gs is a heavy beast and my favourite version of the R41 family. It has that heft that inspires a (sometimes misguided) sense of quality like a good tool. It’s one of my favourite DE razors on par with my Wolfies. This and the Rocca are underrated products IMO and it might have to do with Mühle’s awkward positioning in the shave market. The bulk of their offering is this annoying combination of a cheap product with a luxury packaging. For example, if you go on their website, the majority of their razors are cheap zamac heads with expensive (pretty) handles. This brush is the same, pretty handle and lacklustre knot. My travel synth is similar with a nice folding handle and an unpleasant knot. I don’t get it. Mühle is a small family-run business, they could easily run in the “German Quality” direction, this razor and the Rocca are proof they can make quality products at good prices. Instead they compete with cheap mass produced products by attaching pretty handles to their cheap mass produced product. I think they may be stuck and unable to advertise their good razors (stainless steel and titanium) as quality worth a few extra Euros while still praising their “high quality” zamac razors which cost the almost the same despite a fancy porcelain handle. How do you tell your customers to choose between quality and luxury when many would expect the two to go hand in hand?
In their words, stainless steel vs zamac (which they refuse to name, so they call it chrome instead. This is close to dishonest IMO since chrome is only the plating on the zamac):
Edelstahl steht wie kaum ein anderes Material für kühle Eleganz und Robustheit. Es ist besonders beständig und bringt eine zeitlose Schönheit, die bleibt. (Stainless steel represents cool elegance and robustness like almost no other material. It is extra durable and brings a timeless beauty that persists.)
Ohne Chrom würde die Welt viel von ihrem Glanz einbüßen. In der Verarbeitung für unsere Nassrasur-Accessoires beweist er seine besten Eigenschaften: Die Oberfläche ist korrosionsbeständig, besonders langlebig und hat einen kostbaren, verführerischen Glanz. Im Kontrast dazu kommen Farben und Formen anderer hochwertiger Werkstoffe besonders gut zur Geltung. (Without chrome, the world would look a lot of its lustre. It shows its best properties in its use for wetshaving-accessories: The surface is corrosion resistant, extra durable and has a precious, seductive shine. The colours and shaves of other quality material come into play particularly well in contrast to it.)
From this marketing speak, how would someone who doesn’t know that chrome is just a plating and that the underlying zamac breaks when you drop the razor or corrodes away when wear (micro)cracks the plating on the threads understand that the stainless steel razor head is worth a few extra Euros if you care about durability? Both are “extra durable”, and the chrome one is described as prettier, and also of superlative quality if you believe this text.
Oh neat, didn’t know they did a titanium one. Was it just that special edition or did it become a regular product at some point?
Unfortunately I think the best we can do with the situation is appreciate that they ever bothered to make the machined ones and that they are almost certainly subsidised by the zamac. Which is also why the price isn’t that far apart: few would buy the machined one if they sold it at the same margins as the zinc alloy.
It really is exhausting though. Every time I make a purchase decision I have to be skeptical because I might be getting the zamac-with-fancy-handle version of whatever product or service I’m trying to buy. Avoiding that takes time which is how they sell all this junk at a high margin. Especially with how we’ve integrated almost every facet of life into the economy. Contributes a bit to a sense of despair. So I try to appreciate the people that do sincere work and, instead of being frustrated by it, try to consider the time it takes to winnow the quality offerings from the grift as doing my part to signal a better direction for society.
Was it just that special edition
Yes, they made just two editions, the London and the Berlin edition with I think a couple hundred razors.
few would buy the machined one if they sold it at the same margins as the zinc alloy.
That sounds right, unfortunately.
the time it takes to winnow the quality offerings from the grift as doing my part to signal a better direction for society.
I like this perspective a lot.
Well, somebody had their espresso this morning! :)
I agree about your assessment on this type of marketing. Compared to razors offered in plastic with many tiny blades of the cheapest possible stainless, chrome-covered zamac is still a large improvement in quality. :)
It never disappoints. 🍻
Compared to razors offered in plastic with many tiny blades of the cheapest possible stainless, chrome-covered zamac is still a large improvement in quality. :)
I agree! I still recommend the Merkur 34C for beginners for instance. It’s just praising it as peak durability that irks me and it leaves no room for making the case for steel.
I don’t have much experience with stainless steel or brass razors, but I find that chrome-plated razors slide better on the skin.
But then, you can chrome-plate stainless steel or brass just as well as zamac 🙄
I never noticed a difference. Now I have a homework for my SLS 🙂
Wow. Great take and I honestly agree 100%!
However, I think there’s a socialization component to it too - men, especially in (East) Germany, are rather reluctant to spend too much money on grooming tools and something for their self care. They can justify buying expensive tools and cars or motorcycles, but when it comes to their grooming the bare minimum has to suffice. “I can’t justify spending so much money on a safety razor!” is a common sentiment. I know since that was how I used to think before finally having an epiphany after shaving with your Rocca that you lent me. Mühle as well as Merkur could totally focus on high quality materials, especially the former: have an inexpensive line of Zamac razors under your nom brand, everything Mühle will be at least aluminium heads on fancy material handles. That makes wetshaving accessible for students and folks with a low income while keeping your brand identity as a luxury item. Because if we’re being honest, a well made safety razor (or straight razor, or shaving brush) is a luxury item. I also don’t see the point of putting Zamac heads on porcelain or ebonite handles that look really awesome. Worst case scenario, someone has a broken and unusable razor at home that has cost them 200+€.
Good point about quality and luxury often not going hand in hand despite the public expectation that it does. I personally think we might need to push companies in the right direction by voting with our wallets: if we only buy products from materials that will stand the test of time, maybe then companies produce more of those and less Zamac crap. Shame to hear about the brush though. It looks so great, but a lackluster knot in an awesome handle is still a below average brush. I can relate with the Cooldog brushes I used to own: very cheap synthetic knots set at a very low loft, making it look almost like a make-up brush and coins that were only glued in with a cheap adhesive sticker so they fell out. In fact, I enjoyed my cheap RazoRock brushes way more than these (supposedly) premium products! So I just put them away.
Because 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.
@PorkButtsNTaters666@sub.wetshaving.social mentioned that he finds that chrome-plated razors glide better on his skin that stainless steel razors. Since I have my R41 comparison going anyway, I used them both and tried to feel a difference. It’s tricky since they feel different being of vastly different weight, but I couldn’t really feel a meaningful difference in how they slide over the lather. YKMV, I guess.
71^st^ Anniversary;
Indeed!
“Sniff, sniff – ooh, is this my favourite?” - my wife
I can’t compare the same razor in zamac and stailess, but the Greencult has a drag that none of my other razors have, and my Karve also drags a bit. Maybe some polishing would heh 🤷
I wonder whether it may be more a function of the shape. The R41 GT in titanium has a matte, stone washed-like finish, and I don’t feel any drag from it either. So smooth stainless steel (polished), zamac (chrome plated), and rough surface titanium all don’t drag.
November 13, 2024
Brush: Wolfman WRB2 Bronze w/AP Shave Co MiG 26mm Premium Hybrid
Blade Holder: Wolfman Razors WR4/WRH3
Blade: Feather Artist Club Professional (9)
Lather: Elysian Soap Shop - El Dorado - Soap
Aftershave: Elysian Soap Shop - El Dorado - Aftershave
Fragrance: Elysian Soap Shop - El Dorado - Eau de Parfum
Talc: Yardley Gold
2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.
A true luxury shave for my second SOTD (SSOTD). Elysian Soap Shop is another overlooked brand IMO. Personally, I think the marketing is a bit over-the-top and leans too far into the Elysian Fields/ Greek mythology association, but some of her soaps, like Cherie Tobacco, and this one, don’t. The soap base is very nice, and she works with a professional perfumer (I think). It feels like she’s trying hard to make a top-notch product.
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
The Flying Wing is maybe not the best GEM razor, but definitely the prettiest. And brutal burn with Marmara Barber.
Have a good evening!
Entropy Man++;
The Flying Wing is actually my favorite GEM at the moment. It’s the mildest one I own, except maybe the Damaskeene.
November 13, 2024
Super nice shave. Everything clicked.
I see you upgraded - buttons in the web interface are no longer in the same places 🙃
But everything looking good!
Really? That’s an odd thing for them to change, but what do I know.
I didn’t see any major bugs, and I confirmed with our auto-bot developer that that software will work with the new version, so cross your fingers.
I’m also working on a fancy uptime page which you can see here uptime.trntech.app/status/wetshaving (URL subject to change).
gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social 5 weeks ago
November 13, 2024 - WestMan Wednesday
Brush: Chisel & Hound Classic 26mm V23 Fanchurian
Blade Holder: Blackland Razors Blackbird Ti
Blade: Personna Lab Blue (11)
Lather: WestMan Shaving - Nirvana - Soap
Aftershave: WestMan Shaving - Nirvana - Aftershave Balm
2 passes. Face lather. Excellent shave.
It never hurts to start the day in a state of Nirvana. I think WestMan is somewhat overlooked. The soap base is very nice, especially for straight razor shaving, and the scents I’ve tried are unique and well done.
DaveWave94@sub.wetshaving.social 5 weeks ago
I totally agree. WestMan makes some really great products. In general, european artisans are somewhat overlooked due to them being rather quiet in the marketing front (HAGS being the exception there). WestMan’s soap base, as well as the one by José/Los Jabones de Joserra is very creamy, rich and thick while retaining great slickness. Top notch stuff 👍🏻
gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social 5 weeks ago
💯