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As many of you guys will know from my acquisition post yesterday I stumbled upon a Darwin DE razor yesterday while on an antique hunt. I knew at the time of this purchase it was a sought after razor but I didn't fully understand how rare and sought after it was.
When I informed my wife of it's potential value she immediately began to apply pressure but unfortunately for her I have since used the razor and it won't be going anywhere soon. Due to the potential value in the razor I'm not saying I would never part with it because you just don't know what is around the corner that would require a cash injection but all things being equal it will remain for the forseeable future.
The Look - It's a beautifully ornate piece of hand crafted cobalt steel. The art deco handle really catches the eye and ensures it won't be rolling off any bathroom counter space. It also has a deliciously sloped top cap that gives it a very stylish but acute angle. Allied to the glossy natural finish of the cobalt steel and the engravings on both sides of the top cap and it has the ability to look classically stylized , pretty but chunky and robust.
Functionality - The one and only drawback I can find so far is that the blade positioning can be less than perfect upon my first use anyway. It did take a few minutes for me to adjust the blade in the nearly locked down position and when I felt it was good to go it would end up slightly askew upon tightening. Perhaps this is the price you pay for the unique relationship the handle has in screwing through the base plate for the polished top of the threads to pop up and join the other two polished blade post nubs when fully tightened . However I eventually got the blade exposure equal on both sides. Despite being a solid looking little razor , handle and head ; in the hand it was nowhere near the weight of my ATT S1 Atlas. The weight ratio and balance of head and handle felt perfect though.
The Shave - I continued with my Personna 74 on its 11th use at this point, in my experience about a third of its lifespan. I had almost four days of growth to get through and as another member mentioned it might not be the best at slicing through multiple days of growth but my fears were soon dispelled. Maybe it's the acute sloping head or maybe it is that very thing combined with the glossy , smooth feel of the material used to construct the razor but the angle , although steep was very easy to find and manipulate around the face. I felt it was particularly good on my neck, where I achieved BBS very quickly with less strokes and without having to employ as many stroke techniques to get all those hairs that grow at awkward angles on my neck.
I've never used a razor head with a DLC and I sometimes doubted how much this could improve performance but this is what I would imagine those principles of design would achieve. The razor head just slid off the skin but far from leaving patches of roughness having not made enough contact it just took everything! It's efficiency was quite a surprise for me , a pleasant one but a surprise all the same. I ended up not requiring the 3 passes that is usually but not always required to achieve BBS and ended up calling it a day at two. Now I often see guys on YouTube claiming that their shave was so good that while applying their alum there was no sting at all , as their face gradually resembles a ripe red tomato. I always have a bit of sting and redness if I use alum and this shave was no different but there was a significant reduction in sting and residual redness after applying the alum.
Now don't get me wrong I'm really excited to get to use this razor but this is the first use so I'll reserve my opinion until it has had significant use as in months gone by I have had the closest I can imagine you can have while shaving to having a religious experience with my Mongoose and ATT S1. In my experience the smallest thing can alter the outcome of a shave quite a bit. When all the stars allign with a shave, when all the tools are in the perfect sequence ; soap , razor , blade etc then the Holy Grail shave can be achieved and it's a hugely satisfying experience.
The signs for this razor are all favourable and I'm excited to go down the road with it but only time will tell if it is worth the money some people are willing to pay for it. As fantastic as it is too look at and the feeling I have that I was so lucky to find one in the first place only adds to the razor and its mystique but is it that much better than the best of old and new razors out there , we'll see.
When I informed my wife of it's potential value she immediately began to apply pressure but unfortunately for her I have since used the razor and it won't be going anywhere soon. Due to the potential value in the razor I'm not saying I would never part with it because you just don't know what is around the corner that would require a cash injection but all things being equal it will remain for the forseeable future.
The Look - It's a beautifully ornate piece of hand crafted cobalt steel. The art deco handle really catches the eye and ensures it won't be rolling off any bathroom counter space. It also has a deliciously sloped top cap that gives it a very stylish but acute angle. Allied to the glossy natural finish of the cobalt steel and the engravings on both sides of the top cap and it has the ability to look classically stylized , pretty but chunky and robust.
Functionality - The one and only drawback I can find so far is that the blade positioning can be less than perfect upon my first use anyway. It did take a few minutes for me to adjust the blade in the nearly locked down position and when I felt it was good to go it would end up slightly askew upon tightening. Perhaps this is the price you pay for the unique relationship the handle has in screwing through the base plate for the polished top of the threads to pop up and join the other two polished blade post nubs when fully tightened . However I eventually got the blade exposure equal on both sides. Despite being a solid looking little razor , handle and head ; in the hand it was nowhere near the weight of my ATT S1 Atlas. The weight ratio and balance of head and handle felt perfect though.
The Shave - I continued with my Personna 74 on its 11th use at this point, in my experience about a third of its lifespan. I had almost four days of growth to get through and as another member mentioned it might not be the best at slicing through multiple days of growth but my fears were soon dispelled. Maybe it's the acute sloping head or maybe it is that very thing combined with the glossy , smooth feel of the material used to construct the razor but the angle , although steep was very easy to find and manipulate around the face. I felt it was particularly good on my neck, where I achieved BBS very quickly with less strokes and without having to employ as many stroke techniques to get all those hairs that grow at awkward angles on my neck.
I've never used a razor head with a DLC and I sometimes doubted how much this could improve performance but this is what I would imagine those principles of design would achieve. The razor head just slid off the skin but far from leaving patches of roughness having not made enough contact it just took everything! It's efficiency was quite a surprise for me , a pleasant one but a surprise all the same. I ended up not requiring the 3 passes that is usually but not always required to achieve BBS and ended up calling it a day at two. Now I often see guys on YouTube claiming that their shave was so good that while applying their alum there was no sting at all , as their face gradually resembles a ripe red tomato. I always have a bit of sting and redness if I use alum and this shave was no different but there was a significant reduction in sting and residual redness after applying the alum.
Now don't get me wrong I'm really excited to get to use this razor but this is the first use so I'll reserve my opinion until it has had significant use as in months gone by I have had the closest I can imagine you can have while shaving to having a religious experience with my Mongoose and ATT S1. In my experience the smallest thing can alter the outcome of a shave quite a bit. When all the stars allign with a shave, when all the tools are in the perfect sequence ; soap , razor , blade etc then the Holy Grail shave can be achieved and it's a hugely satisfying experience.
The signs for this razor are all favourable and I'm excited to go down the road with it but only time will tell if it is worth the money some people are willing to pay for it. As fantastic as it is too look at and the feeling I have that I was so lucky to find one in the first place only adds to the razor and its mystique but is it that much better than the best of old and new razors out there , we'll see.
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