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Weekly Razor Review

@Errol , that's an honest and bang on review mate. My love for the Harlequin actually stems from the one Vintage razor that I am a huge fan of - The Gillette Goodwill. Having shaved with that awesome Gillette in the past, I grabbed a Harlequin head on discount. I'm not a fan of Yaqi making their razors look like bling often as in the over polished ones and neither was I attracted to the original handle so stuck my Razor head on a Stando Svarga. The first shave with a Wizamet Super Iridium had my full attention as I was sure after a few strokes that it would bite but it was efficient and I got away with no damage.

Over the next few shaves, I fell in love with the Harlequin head and discovered that the Gillette Blue Swedes and even the Personna Lab blades worked well in it for me. I always get a two pass BBS with a touch up or two thrown in. It isn't a razor I would pick up everyday but every third day and it's perfect for me. I didn't have any issues with my threading on the top cap or the handle end but having said that, consistent QC issues need to be dealt with as far as Yaqi is concerned.
 


Saponificio Veresino SV2.0 (Italy)



Razors from Italy seem to come in spurts and then there is nothing for a long time. Sure, there are some constant manufacturers but it seems that individual outlets are now developing and releasing new models in small batches. Once stock in that batch is exhausted, they release a new model rather than do a resupply, a nuisance for collectors like myself, by the time I receive and schedule the razor, there is a new model, hopefully that won’t be the case with the Saponificio Veresino V2. 303 stainless steel has been used for the head but there is 14 different choices of wood or resin for the handle. Mine has the deep black Makassar Ebony wood handle with polished stainless steel fittings. To the naked eye there the Ebony is a solid black, however the camera can identify the wood grain. The design of the Veresino looks to be well thought out so I expect it to work exceptionally well. Round blade posts on the cap do not sit flush with the bottom of the plate, an observation and not a complaint. Something I’ve not seen before but really like, are the machined flats at the outer edge of round surface of the cap, they should accommodate a variety of shave angles (Mr Henson, please take note). On the underside, outer edge of the cap is another flat for blade clamping. One negative aspect to the quality of the machining is the thread engagement, it could be a lot better. Other than the underside of the cap which maintains its machine marks, the remainder of the metal work is deeply polished.

I was not at all surprised when the wooden handle provided true positive grip, all done without knurling or grooves for assistance, it looks good and wet or dry, it didn’t matter. Efficiency wise the Veresino was very similar to Karve CB level C, positioning it at the bottom end of my operational sweet spot. Even more appealing was the pleasant amount of positive blade that the Veresino has designed in. This allowed me to really enjoy the comfortable shaves on offer without any thought of self harm so long as I didn’t do anything really stupid. When a smooth shave is so easily achieved, it’s hard not be impressed by the performance of the Veresino.

Blades Used – Glatz and Gillette Minora

Material – 303 Stainless Steel and Makassar Ebony

Weight – 71.6g

Blade Tab - Covered

Head Width – 43.03mm

Handle Length – 85.66mm

Handle Diameter – 16.19mm

Availability – Saponificio Veresino

Final Word – Give me more
 
Errol said:


Saponificio Veresino SV2.0 (Italy)



Razors from Italy seem to come in spurts and then there is nothing for a long time. Sure, there are some constant manufacturers but it seems that individual outlets are now developing and releasing new models in small batches. Once stock in that batch is exhausted, they release a new model rather than do a resupply, a nuisance for collectors like myself, by the time I receive and schedule the razor, there is a new model, hopefully that won’t be the case with the Saponificio Veresino V2. 303 stainless steel has been used for the head but there is 14 different choices of wood or resin for the handle. Mine has the deep black Makassar Ebony wood handle with polished stainless steel fittings. To the naked eye there the Ebony is a solid black, however the camera can identify the wood grain. The design of the Veresino looks to be well thought out so I expect it to work exceptionally well. Round blade posts on the cap do not sit flush with the bottom of the plate, an observation and not a complaint. Something I’ve not seen before but really like, are the machined flats at the outer edge of round surface of the cap, they should accommodate a variety of shave angles (Mr Henson, please take note). On the underside, outer edge of the cap is another flat for blade clamping. One negative aspect to the quality of the machining is the thread engagement, it could be a lot better. Other than the underside of the cap which maintains its machine marks, the remainder of the metal work is deeply polished.

I was not at all surprised when the wooden handle provided true positive grip, all done without knurling or grooves for assistance, it looks good and wet or dry, it didn’t matter. Efficiency wise the Veresino was very similar to Karve CB level C, positioning it at the bottom end of my operational sweet spot. Even more appealing was the pleasant amount of positive blade that the Veresino has designed in. This allowed me to really enjoy the comfortable shaves on offer without any thought of self harm so long as I didn’t do anything really stupid. When a smooth shave is so easily achieved, it’s hard not be impressed by the performance of the Veresino.

Blades Used – Glatz and Gillette Minora

Material – 303 Stainless Steel and Makassar Ebony

Weight – 71.6g

Blade Tab - Covered

Head Width – 43.03mm

Handle Length – 85.66mm

Handle Diameter – 16.19mm

Availability – Saponificio Veresino

Final Word – Give me more
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From my experience with this razor, your review is spot on @Errol. I picked up one with a faux horn handle and really like like it.

876dCNl.jpg
 
@Errol Terrific Review of one Beautiful razor. Sometimes we neglect the aesthetics and the artistic brilliance that a razor embodies. Like you mate and thanks to you, I have come to appreciate the uniqueness of using different kinds of wood. The Makassar Ebony wood handle is stunning and this is the kind of razor that one would desire to pick up as often as possible. SV products spell class but cost an arm and a leg for what they offer in terms of engineering and design concept. Many modern Artisans will trump them with their new offerings.

If SV dropped the price on their V2 razors, I'd be on the purchase list in a flash.
 
Goodfellas Bayonetta (Italy)



It’s a substantial looking razor but somehow Rasoigoodfellas has managed to keep the weight of their brass Bayonetta to under the benchmark 100g. Looking through the end of the head, yes through under the end of the cap, there is a wide machined out section in the cap that leaves the material very thin at its corner. A tight radius on this super lite cap pushes the blade line rearward but it should not hinder shaving in those tight spots. There are wide blade clamping flats machined on the underside of the cap, but they are somewhat wasted because they overlap the chamfered off an edge of the block on the plate. Goodfellas have machined the plate to be it quite thin where it contacts the skin; further emphasizing this thin edge is the convex profile to the back of the plate. Two wide channels on each side of the plate allow the lather through the plate. A series of circular grooves and five longitudinal grooves provide grip to the handle, but a fine reverse taper machines out the grooves towards the end of the handle. Completing this razor’s appealing presentation is its sand blasted finish.

With efficiency somewhere between Karve CB level #D and level #C, I was certainly impressed by the Bayonetta’s pleasing manners. Goodfellas have introduced a pleasant amount of positive blade so for my money, they got the formula very much right to deliver both a comfortable and smooth shave. There is nothing particularly special about the razor that stands out, it is an ageless design that can be easily overlooked but that is to everybody’s detriment. All we need now is for Rasoigoodfella to start supplying their products into Australia.

Blades Used – Gillette Platinum and

Material – Brass

Weight – 98.5g

Blade Tab – Covered

Head Width – 43.6mm

Handle Length – 86.94mm

Handle Diameter – 11.47mm

Availability – Rasoigoodfellas

Final Word – Good stuff
 
@Errol , a much awaited and lovely review of a Brass razor that gained a lot of popularity during its release. Many had it plated in Nickel, Rhodium and even 24K Gold only to sell those off a month later. I don't know if its a trend but most Italian manufacturers seem to be concentrating on delivering mid aggression or milder razors, Goodfellas did that with the Aluminum Styletto, the Syntesi ( Al and SS) and the Valynor.

How would you compare this to the Karve Overlander in terms of smoothness and efficiency?

And would you say this is the best brass offering for under 60 USD?
 
Bladerunner7 said:
@Errol , a much awaited and lovely review of a Brass razor that gained a lot of popularity during its release. Many had it plated in Nickel, Rhodium and even 24K Gold only to sell those off a month later. I don't know if its a trend but most Italian manufacturers seem to be concentrating on delivering mid aggression or milder razors, Goodfellas did that with the Aluminum Styletto, the Syntesi ( Al and SS) and the Valynor.

How would you compare this to the Karve Overlander in terms of smoothness and efficiency?

And would you say this is the best brass offering for under 60 USD?
Click to expand...
@Bladerunner7 you’re right about most Italian made razors being on the mid range efficiency side, there are very few that go much above that but every one is smooth. The Bayonetta is slightly more efficient than the Overlander but both will deliver comfortable shaves.

If I was in the market for a sub $60.00 razor I would look no further than a Yintal DE. Probably too mild for you.
 
Errol said:
@Bladerunner7 you’re right about most Italian made razors being on the mid range efficiency side, there are very few that go much above that but every one is smooth. The Bayonetta is slightly more efficient than the Overlander but both will deliver comfortable shaves.

If I was in the market for a sub $60.00 razor I would look no further than a Yintal DE. Probably too mild for you.
Click to expand...
Actually Errol I did get the Yintal with the old Head and the new design too. The older version was exactly as you reviewed it, smooth and efficient. It was hard to believe that it costs a fraction of what other brass razors do

Now here is what caught me by surprise. Previously I had written off the new Yintal razor head after a single pass, my folly. So I went back to it and realised that it performs like the Overlander,.smooth as silk, practically no blade feel, superb ATG pass and a BBS with two and half passes.

I have to agree with you at the price point the YIntal is top value.
 
Atelier Durdan Numéro 7 Bronze – 1.1mm Gap (France)



For an old bushie like me it’s a Number Bloody 7, but the invoice had it listed as a Tête Numéro 7; sure sounds inspiring, so I’ll refer to it as that. With a vast choice of efficiency levels available and nothing much to go on except for prior experience that Atelier Durdan razors are traditionally mild and then procrastinating over the descriptions given, I eventually chose the 1.1 gap. I’d been thinking for a while that my next Atelier Durdan would be bronze, that part was simple but what finish? In the end I chose the premium polished finish. But Errol stuffed the order up and ended up with two heads, more than likely from the same batch, both bronze, both 1.1 gap, one premium polished the other with a machine finish and no handle for either. Don’t ask me how, I tried to work it out and it made no sense to me either; razors are useless without handles so I’d better order a couple of matching Numéro 7 handles. I could pack the machined razor away and pretend that it never existed, but I hit on the idea that not only would I test the Numéro 7, I would also compare shave feel between two identically specified razors except for their finish.

Their prices may not reflect it, but Atelier Durdan are not yet at the Wolfman level of polished finish perfection but with every new model the quality of their polishing improves. Some polished over machine marks are visible on the underside of the cap but elsewhere it's a quality finish. It has been noted previously just how good the machined finish on Atelier Durdan razors is and the machine finished Numéro 7 confirms that finding. With no blade fitted there is a gap between the bottom of the cap and the top of the plate that you could drive a Mack truck through, however the blade is firmly clamped between angled flats at the edge of the cap and corresponding flats on the plate. When clamped the blade can be seen smoothly radiused through the wide gap. Something I’ve not noted on any razor previously is engraving on the end of the round blade posts; the Numéro 7 cap with its wide flat on the top would enable the engraving to be performed much easier than had the top been radiused. By removing the metal from the top of the plate and the bottom of the cap, Atelier Durdan have reduced the weight of the head considerably; the weight of the Numéro 7 with the Numéro 7 handle fitted comes in considerably under the benchmark 100g. Thread engagement on both razors was superb, very smooth after I oiled them and with no play whatsoever.

There are only a few blades that I trust to deliver the same performance and consistency from the very first stroke, after considerable thought I settled for an old favourite: the Gillette 7 O’Clock Black. Both razors are identical except for their finish and the blades are from the same puck, I can’t get much closer equipment wise for this comparison. My first shave showcased a yet to be released shave soap, so the only relevant feedback was the first impressions of efficiency and with both blades broken in I’m ready to proceed with the comparison. I could detect a miniscule variation in feel between the razors but there is so little in it; as expected, the polished razor was smoother. That conclusion was reached after four shaves with new razors, natural contact with the face would polish the plate surfaces even further making the initially small variance almost impossible to detect. There’s only the slightest difference so anyone purchasing the machined finished version should not feel let down.

At this point, I’m going to congratulate myself; I made an excellent choice in plate selection, the 1.1 gap performed superbly, at least I got that part right. With efficiency around Karve CB Level D plus a comfortable level of blade feel, I enjoyed every shave with the Numéro 7. Even though I swapped the polished and machined razors regularly between passes and in some cases strokes, very little difference in grip or overall feel of the razors was noted. Now I have a benchmark plate, I will order a titanium Numéro 7; for a comfortable shave I don’t require more efficiency than the 1.1 mm plate but a slight reduction in efficiency would work so a 1.0 gap would be a great option if Atelier Durdan made one, I’ll enquire about the possibilities. For as good as the Numéro 7 is, I don’t want two titanium Numéro 7 razors.

Blades Used – 2 x Gillette 7 O’Clock Black

Material – Bronze

Weight – 94.4g

Blade Tab - Covered

Head Width – 42.99mm

Handle Length – 89.65mm

Handle Diameter – 12.08mm

Availability – Atelier Durdan

Final Word – Stellar performance
 
Shield Vortex (China)

I missed seeing that the Shield Vortex was dual sided, probably because I was overwhelmed by the machined features on the cap and the handle, after all, they immediately stood out. Along the length of the handle are machined out diagonal grooves that complement the grooved out sections on the cap. There is less thickness to the cap than any razor I can immediately recall, it is positively thin and being titanium there is the ever-present danger that it could blow away in a stiff breeze. Now to the most interesting feature of the whole razor, the edges of the cap do not extend equidistant; in effect this is going to produce different results depending on the cap/ plate combination in use; by my calculations, the Vortex can produce four different efficiency levels. There was a problem engaging the threads and at times they would not align without much fiddling, however once engaged there were no issues and the screw itself was reasonably smooth. There is a machine polished finish on the Vortex, but unlike some other Chinese brands it has not been overdone, the profile of the razor remains, it is not slippery and remains striking to look at.

With four different combinations of efficiency available, the decision was made to use one brand of blade only for this review, what better blade to select than the Wizamet Polsilver. With no reference to guide me, I had a think about the efficiency levels and came up with the list below mild to efficient – let’s see how my guess went.
  • Safety bar with long cap edge – Looking at the lack of visible blade and I’m thinking this is going to be a mild shave. How wrong can I be; a wide blade gap made the razor feel like it was going to take large lumps out of the side of my face on every stroke. Karve CB level #D efficiency but far from comfortable.
  • Safety bar with short cap edge – My guesstimations on efficiency was blown out of the water with my second selection. This combination was slightly down in efficiency but remained at around the Karve CB level #D efficiency, there was less blade feel but the shave was still less than comfortable.
  • Open comb with long cap edge – Already out of contention in guessing efficiency, I also got this one totally wrong. This time the efficiency remained at Karve CB Level #D and the blade feel was not as noticeable as with the safety bar side. Sounds like a good thing but the feeling of less blade was destroyed immediately by the feel of the teeth as they raked the side of my face, again the shave did not impress.
  • Open comb with short cap edge – This combination was never going to cut the mustard, I was using the open comb and knew it was going to rake the side of my face, and it did. Add in copious amounts of blade feel and I had a very uncomfortable shave. Again, the efficiency was around the Karve CB Level #D.
Simplicity is the key to getting a pleasant shave that I can say I enjoyed. Four different options in one razor is not exactly simple and on top of that there was not one of the four options that I felt comfortable using. For those purists who delight in tracking how many shaves they get from each blade, the Vortex is going to have you pulling your hair out. I used 2 x Wizamet Polsilver blades for this review and only think I used a fresh edge for each shave. This razor is not for me.

Blades Used – 2 x Wizamet Polsilver

Material – Gr 5 Titanium

Weight – 70.2g

Blade Tab – Covered

Head Width – 43.29mm

Handle Length – 99.4mm

Handle Diameter – 13.71mm

Availability – AliExpress

Final Word – Overly complicated
 
Errol said:
Shield Vortex (China)

I missed seeing that the Shield Vortex was dual sided, probably because I was overwhelmed by the machined features on the cap and the handle, after all, they immediately stood out. Along the length of the handle are machined out diagonal grooves that complement the grooved out sections on the cap. There is less thickness to the cap than any razor I can immediately recall, it is positively thin and being titanium there is the ever-present danger that it could blow away in a stiff breeze. Now to the most interesting feature of the whole razor, the edges of the cap do not extend equidistant; in effect this is going to produce different results depending on the cap/ plate combination in use; by my calculations, the Vortex can produce four different efficiency levels. There was a problem engaging the threads and at times they would not align without much fiddling, however once engaged there were no issues and the screw itself was reasonably smooth. There is a machine polished finish on the Vortex, but unlike some other Chinese brands it has not been overdone, the profile of the razor remains, it is not slippery and remains striking to look at.

With four different combinations of efficiency available, the decision was made to use one brand of blade only for this review, what better blade to select than the Wizamet Polsilver. With no reference to guide me, I had a think about the efficiency levels and came up with the list below mild to efficient – let’s see how my guess went.
  • Safety bar with long cap edge – Looking at the lack of visible blade and I’m thinking this is going to be a mild shave. How wrong can I be; a wide blade gap made the razor feel like it was going to take large lumps out of the side of my face on every stroke. Karve CB level #D efficiency but far from comfortable.
  • Safety bar with short cap edge – My guesstimations on efficiency was blown out of the water with my second selection. This combination was slightly down in efficiency but remained at around the Karve CB level #D efficiency, there was less blade feel but the shave was still less than comfortable.
  • Open comb with long cap edge – Already out of contention in guessing efficiency, I also got this one totally wrong. This time the efficiency remained at Karve CB Level #D and the blade feel was not as noticeable as with the safety bar side. Sounds like a good thing but the feeling of less blade was destroyed immediately by the feel of the teeth as they raked the side of my face, again the shave did not impress.
  • Open comb with short cap edge – This combination was never going to cut the mustard, I was using the open comb and knew it was going to rake the side of my face, and it did. Add in copious amounts of blade feel and I had a very uncomfortable shave. Again, the efficiency was around the Karve CB Level #D.
Simplicity is the key to getting a pleasant shave that I can say I enjoyed. Four different options in one razor is not exactly simple and on top of that there was not one of the four options that I felt comfortable using. For those purists who delight in tracking how many shaves they get from each blade, the Vortex is going to have you pulling your hair out. I used 2 x Wizamet Polsilver blades for this review and only think I used a fresh edge for each shave. This razor is not for me.

Blades Used – 2 x Wizamet Polsilver

Material – Gr 5 Titanium

Weight – 70.2g

Blade Tab – Covered

Head Width – 43.29mm

Handle Length – 99.4mm

Handle Diameter – 13.71mm

Availability – AliExpress

Final Word – Overly complicated
Click to expand...
All sorts of drama this morning so no photo.
 
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