Help me understand the allure of a vintage DE razor over a modern DE razor.

This is something I don't understand. I find the quality, depth, and variety in modern, current production DE razors to be very impressive. Surely, with more advanced machining, materials, and design, wouldn't current day artisans be able to take the best from the past and innovate and improve on it? If you prefer vintage razors, why do you like them more and which are your favorite models? If you prefer modern DE's I'm interested in your opinion also. Thanks in advance for educating me on this.

Short answer is no and not because of the innovate or improve reasons. Artisans are not interested in producing cheap razors nor could they with the materials and machining costs unless they did it in house. If they were they wouldn't be Artisan. There is a saying price is what you pay, value is what you get. The value is the subjective part depends what you value. I don't think Artisan made razors provide any value that justify paying above a cheap Chinese made razor if you are buying strictly to shave with.

Vintage is a different story because now you have collectable factor to consider besides functionality. That brings much more add value above cost if you know what to buy. One thing I do value besides functionality is if I bought it today could I sell it tomorrow for what I paid for it and the answer with modern is no because of depreciation with vintage depreciation is not an issue. If you like aesthetics vintage has far more to variety to choose from than modern also, French razors are a whole subset in of themselves as far that does.

As far as functionality goes it depends the type of shave you prefer. I like what is referred to as natural angle razors. That term refers to razors that are designed to shave at close to the same angle as a straight razor or shavette. It goes back to the 1910s if not earlier. First off no one makes razors like these anymore in the SE realm anymore commercially and secondly there were almost no razors in the DE realm produced like this except for the Shake Sharp razor. An example of these style of razors is the Gem Featherweight.

I'll do a separate post on individual razors I like and reason why.

When I was starting out wet shaving (about 6 years ago) I used vintage razors exclusively. They were plentiful and inexpensive and seemed to be better built than the EJ/Muehles that were what were otherwise available. I would say that began to change when I bought a Timeless (SS). I think that I've gravitated more toward modern razors more because I'm less put off by the high price of high end modern razors rather than because I have a marked preference for new over old. In fact, I pulled out my Gillette New Deluxe earlier this week and had one of the best shaves I've had in a while.

Most of the low and moderately priced modern razors are clones of earlier Gillette razors...

Actually, today almost all clones copy the Merkur "scalloped" bar design and not Gillette. I personally think the Gillette style safety bar design was/is far better. 


Back to the OP's topic. It is a given that with today's CNC eqpmt. manufs. can machine to the nth degree and hold tolerances far better, but that in and of itself does not equal a better shave. People should remember that a razor is only the "delivery" platform for the end result which is the blade. It is in short a mere blade holder. Far more important to shave quality is the modern stainless coated/sputtered edge blade. Remove it from the equation and you will discover just how little of consequence is the razor or soap for that matter. Don't believe me? Try an old uncoated carbon blade in either your "Fatboy" or Wolfman and prepare for pain.    

I always grimace when the phrase "only a blade holder" appears in reference to DEs. Were this the case Nickerson would not have struggled as long as he did to develop the flexible blade for the curved Gillette Double Ring head. How that flexible blade is managed makes all the difference in the world in determining how the blade performs. This is entirely different from injector/AC and SE blades which rely not at all on a frame for rigidity.

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That mattered in the age before modern blades.

I would say nostalgia, along with material quality and affordability. Not many people can afford many of these modern stainless razors. That leaves them with Vintage, Fatip, or Zamack as the only options.

Here are my big 12 of razors. Before I go into each some background on myself. I moved over from carts 10+ years ago and shaved exclusively with a Merkur Progress for the first 7 until the razor broke. Then I realized I should have a backup just in case that happened and by happen chance bought a Gillette Slim at an antique shop then a Gillette 3pc tech along with a replace Progress. I shaved with both those almost exclusively for a year with the Merkur getting less and less face time then the sickness started and here I am having owned about 200 or so razors later. It is also when I got into collecting I also started to treat shaving like a skill and not something I did originally to save money on carts and for less irritation and ingrown hairs.

Some I like more for the design but all perform to my high standards which I can use them regularly doing 5 pass shaves and get BBS finishes consistently out of them.

Here are the 12 best of the best (my criteria) of razors I still own.

Left to Right, Top to Bottom
Famex, Gem Clog Pruf mk2, Gem Contour II
Bohin. Schick E3 injector, Schick I2 hydro-magic

Key features, the Famex is also an adjustable, Bohin is a 4 way adjustable with reversable plate then the shoulders are designed to adjust blade exposure something no DE razor I know of is purposely designed for so that is 4 seperate adjustments plus an exposure adjustment for each. That particular I2 and they came in a few interations is an absolute beast when it comes to cutting hair, that thing will take a weeks+ growth off the face like it wasn't there and won't clog up or make the blade a 1 and done like most razors when you shave that much hair off with out trimming it first.




left to right, top to bottom
Gillette 37-38 Sheraton, Gillette 46 - 48 Aristocrat, Shake Sharp
Sha-Ve-Zee, Liberty, Clauss

Key features
The Shake Sharp is the only true SE style natural angle razor that takes a DE blade other razors like the Razorock Eco are not. They use only one edge at a time but the razor head is a traditional DE scraper type of angle not a planer type of angle like natural angle SE razors. The Liberty is the epitomy of K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid0 with handle thread pushing the plate up to lock the blade between the plate and tabs when you tighten it up. That particular one is a great shaver also, I have a few other razors with the same design which don't shave as good. The Clauss is most likely the first TTO razor ever made with the date on the razor being 1903.

Actually, today almost all clones copy the Merkur "scalloped" bar design and not Gillette. I personally think the Gillette style safety bar design was/is far better. 


Back to the OP's topic. It is a given that with today's CNC eqpmt. manufs. can machine to the nth degree and hold tolerances far better, but that in and of itself does not equal a better shave. People should remember that a razor is only the "delivery" platform for the end result which is the blade. It is in short a mere blade holder. Far more important to shave quality is the modern stainless coated/sputtered edge blade. Remove it from the equation and you will discover just how little of consequence is the razor or soap for that matter. Don't believe me? Try an old uncoated carbon blade in either your "Fatboy" or Wolfman and prepare for pain.    

I always grimace when the phrase "only a blade holder" appears in reference to DEs. Were this the case Nickerson would not have struggled as long as he did to develop the flexible blade for the curved Gillette Double Ring head. How that flexible blade is managed makes all the difference in the world in determining how the blade performs. This is entirely different from injector/AC and SE blades which rely not at all on a frame for rigidity.

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That mattered in the age before modern blades.

Geometry and rigidity still matter.

Sent from my LG-US998 using Tapatalk

I always grimace when the phrase "only a blade holder" appears in reference to DEs. Were this the case Nickerson would not have struggled as long as he did to develop the flexible blade for the curved Gillette Double Ring head. How that flexible blade is managed makes all the difference in the world in determining how the blade performs. This is entirely different from injector/AC and SE blades which rely not at all on a frame for rigidity.

Sent from my LG-US998 using Tapatalk

That mattered in the age before modern blades.

Geometry and rigidity still matter.

Sent from my LG-US998 using Tapatalk

The Shake Sharp a razor I know you are familar with hammers home the point of rigidity mattering and still matters using modern blades in it when using it with or without a shim since it doesn't bend or put any tension on the DE blade.

it's a sentimental thing for me... the vintage DE's get pulled out for my dad's or grandfathers birthdays. 
Otherwise it's modern DE's every day of the year