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Rocnel DE-P
Razor specs
Manufacturer: Rocnel
Country of Origin: Turkey
Manufacturing: CNC machined
Material: 316 Stainless Steel
Finish: Hand polished high reflective head
Weight: 121gr
Handle: 85mm
Blade gap: 0.21mm according to Rocnel
Vendor: Yourshaving.com
Availability: Currently (Oct 12, 2016) out of stock
Update Oct 13: Batch 2 should be available already next week
Price: $188 / £133
Looking back
The Turkish company Rocnel made quite a name for themselves by coming out with a series of rather well priced stainless steel razor offerings that often sported an innovative - or 'quirky' depending on how you look at it - blade loading mechanism.
The Rocnel DE-P (the "P" is the Rocnel identifier for "mild-medium" and that is how most of their razors so far have been branded) is however a very straight forward, traditional three-piece DE design. It harkens back to their very first DE razor offering but now in a simplified offering (sans box, stand, multiple base plates).
Another thing that is different with this Rocnel razor is its price. This is the highest priced razor in their current product line. The increase in price has been somewhat of a trend if you look back at their line of razors;
Now, there are of course reasons why the original half-DE-blade razors were priced lower. Rocnel were very open about that the one-piece head allowed them to come out with a low-cost razor that could be affordable to many people.
The razor was released on the Yourshaving site on October 5, 2016 and sold out in about twelve hours. At this point I don't have any confirmation that there will be a second batch of DE-P razors made. The reason for that might be a combination of trying to come out with both the DE42 as well as the B&R adjustable before Christmas. Don't read too much into it though as there might very well be a batch around the corner. We shall see.
Fit and Finish
The DE-P has an absolutely gorgeous base plate.
It's completely free of any blemishes (take note Rx Asylum...) and the polish is just outstanding;
The inside of the top cap has a, well, 'less refined look'. I'm torn between saying "I expect more for $188" and "Well, even the Timeless razors have less than perfect finish on the inside of their topcaps". I guess I end up feeling somewhere in between.
(Note: the red specks you might see is residue from the red wax seal that the razor came with. It cleaned up right away after I took the photo).
The two parts do come together and present a very attractive head;
Here's a one minute video by Rocnel showing off the razor a bit:
..and if you want to see how the head is hand polished here's a 25 minute video showing that:
Design
I was, admittedly, a bit disappointed in that the handle that the razor comes with is the exact same handle that has been sold with previous Rocnel razors - a polished, knurled handle. The handle can be bought for about $12 on Extrashaving. With some simple math that means the razor head ended up being (188-12)= $176.
To put that number somewhat into perspective a Timeless razor head (smooth top cap and scalloped SB base plate) would run you (65+95) = $160.
It would had been nice to have a handle especially made for the DE-P - or at least the ability to buy just the head (and save the $12 I guess).
Update, see post #11 for some updates on the handle
In the end it's hard to take too much away from the razor though as it does end up looking really nice - and it's shiny;
The drain holes in the base plate should theoretically help with lather buildup/clogging and I like the scalloped safety bar design.
Note: I'm not sure about the blade gap but have asked and will update when I have it.
The blade aligns well in the razor;
(Mental note..next time clean off fingerprints before taking photos)
How does it shave?
I don't know yet but it's on deck for tomorrow's shave as I'm sneaking a shave in w/ it before I return to the Hawks and Asylum.
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