Review: Timeless Razor's OC model

Thanks for the thoughtful review. It's helpful information. However, I have to admit that I take with a grain of salt any review of an item received free from the manufacturer. Despite the best intentions, one's subconscious is always affected by a free gift.

Thanks for the thoughtful review.  It's helpful information.  However, I have to admit that I take with a grain of salt any review of an item received free from the manufacturer.  Despite the best intentions, one's subconscious is always affected by a free gift.

Thanks.
I can understand that hopefully, having spent this, and more, on individual razors, it's not too difficult for me to internally assess how the 'value for money' feels here. I also try to not make any comments about 'if it's worth it' in the review (as I prefer to leave that up to the reader to determine).

All I can do is to as honestly as possible report how I feel the razor looks, feels and handles and hope that it can be helpful for prospective buyers.

Thanks for the thoughtful review. It's helpful information. However, I have to admit that I take with a grain of salt any review of an item received free from the manufacturer. Despite the best intentions, one's subconscious is always affected by a free gift.

John, this happens all the time. Happened with the Rocnel and the turkish members, the ATT SE1 and many other razors, with youtubers receiving gifts... Some gentlemen seem to be the lucky ones, who spread the hype. I get your point, it is in the human's nature to be less objective when they receive gifts. My advice is, you already do that I'm sure, to wait for reviews from people that actually bought the items you're interested in. Recently, I did that with the Rocnel SE razor, not the SE50.

Thanks for the thoughtful review. It's helpful information. However, I have to admit that I take with a grain of salt any review of an item received free from the manufacturer. Despite the best intentions, one's subconscious is always affected by a free gift.

My advice is, you already do that I'm sure, to wait for reviews from people that actually bought the items you're interested in.

Of course. And as I mentioned, darkbulb's review provided some useful information.

Man, didn't take long for them to sell out on all their razors.  All out of stock as of this morning...

A, no worries they'll shake and bake in no time.

I had a very close shave yesterday with a vintage Swing razor so my stubble this morning wasn't too thick.

What I will do (to try the razor out with varying degrees of 'scruff') - is three shave reports;
#1 (today): One day's worth of stubble,
#2 (Thursday): Two days's worth of growth
#3 (Sunday/Monday): Three-four days of growth (timed nicely as I can use the weekend to caveman it a bit).

I'll make a more thorough summary of my thoughts on it next week after gone through the shave reports above.

That, brings us to;

SHAVE REPORT #1

Picked out a new Rapira blade for this morning's shave as I've use them in most razors and they're a pretty good, consistent baseline blade.

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The blade sits securely and evenly in the head and displays a rather healthy bit of edge.
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Another angle of the razor with a loaded blade:
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From the side showing the curve of the blade
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I'm still rather intrigued by the OC design in that it's an OC-SB hybrid.
The closest I can think of, top of my head and not having any of my razors near me, is caged head designs like you found on some Famex and Le Coq razors back in the days. It also reminds me a bit about the vintage Bohin DE razor but inverted.
If someone can refresh my memory about what modern razors sports a similar base plate design I'd like to hear as I can't think of one but I'm thinking there are some that I can't recall.

Before I forget it, here's a finger-balance photo attempting to show how the weight is distributed with the original handle
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Anywho, off to the den I went.
Soaked my brush, picked out Tabac as my soap du jour, showered and got on with the shave.

Remember this is a shave with just one days's worth of beard growth and I'd say I'm a "mid-density yet rather coarse" grower.

First pass (WTG):
Right away I like the audible feedback from the razor. Maybe it's the design that allows the sound to 'echo' a bit behind the curved up teeth. First impressions is that it's a very, very efficient razor. There's no doubt that it's an OC base plate in how it allows the lather to pass through.
The demi-cage design (in lack of better word) removes the sometimes 'harsh' feeling that you can sometimes have when using traditional OC razors where you have pronounced teeth ends against your face.

Second pass (ATG):
It's a rather aggressive razor. Not anywhere near say a King Cobra razor but it's a razor that feels as if the bark could turn into a bite if you're careless. Probably around a 7-8 on a Gillette Slim.
The handle did, in use, feel a bit too short for me. I would have loved an additional 15mm on it. Next I'll try the head on a somewhat longer handle.

After two passes I was dolphin smooth. No nicks or cuts. A very close and smooth shave.

Shown in some earlier photos are the a bit oversized 'drain holes' (I really need to work on my terminology) in the base plates and I thought it would be fun to show what they do while shaving;
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As you can see they actually allow quite a bit of lather to go through them.
I'm not sure yet if it dramatically reduced the number of times I rinsed the razor while shaving but I thought it was a fun photo and I'll make a note of checking for that in subsequent shaves.

Summary
Performance is the hardest thing to describe in any review. It's easy to show photos of design and features but performance is so subjective that I sometimes wonder if it makes any sense to even try. But, I would summarize my this shave report like this;

I have a mid-density, coarse beard growth and am not prone to having overly sensitive skin when shaving.
The razor felt very efficient (meaning it took down a noticeable amount of stubble with each stroke), audible (good feedback) and somewhat on the aggressive side (meaning 75% towards a bite instead of a bark) but stayed well under control and delivered a very smooth shave without any cuts.

I hope that makes sense.

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(I did btw notice that they have now enabled ordering on their site again but due order volume there appears to be a week's leadtime on fullfillment).

Very nice pictures and an informative first-use review, darkbulb! Looking forward to reading more about your continued tests with this beautiful razor.

While the photos are striking, darkbulb, after I realized you were compensated, this razor review is simply a non-starter for me.  I have truly been ticked off at Amazon doing this so freely and now here.  I shall wait until someone actually pays for, and reviews, a product before deciding on the legitimacy of the review.  You may believe you are giving an unbiased review but I simply do not believe that is possible.  There is now 'baggage' tied to whatever you write about this product.  My initial post here called your 'review' a 'report' and I believe there is a very big difference.

I realize there are those who will disagree with me but, for me, it taints virtually anything you might write about it.  This is strictly the way I feel and in no way suggests you should stop.

Not going to lie.

I'm jealous.

I agree with Freddy in that I won't even read Amazon reviews with the disclaimer jargon in them even if they're neutral or negative. Bias can be subconscious.

I appreciate the perspective that you have with your experience. I am enjoying the pictures and reading your report. I just can't honestly say it will hold much weight in swaying me for or against the brand. Even if you decide you don't like it. You didn't pay for it.

Is it rational? I'm not sure as I can imagine the arguments for and against feeling this way. Instead of analyzing if it's possible for anyone to give an unbiased review I defer to my gut. I read it and consider such reviews for entertainment value only.

100% not personal either. I am jealous.

I think I have to throw out such reviews at the end of the day if I want to consider a truly neutral and unquestionably, unbiased consensus. Obviously there are not loads of reviews to go on yet. Ultimately I'm still neutral here. I realize how much mileage varies and that I would have to try one to decide for myself anyway.

A pass around might have returned better equity in the long run. In the short run, somebody had to get a review out there. It would have happened organically on it's own eventually. With the price point here it just feels too forced. I'm just trying to be honest. At $30 I might feel less strongly about it. At $300 - well paint me unfazed. I would hate to be in a situation where I have a free item and dislike it. I'd feel pretty bad dumping negative feedback and would worry about hurting a startup. If I praise it will people be dissatisfied if they don't share my preferences?

You're braver than I for sure.

With such a skeptical and jaded section of consumers being sometimes the most vocal, I am hesitant reviewing things I love AND paid for. I'd be loosing sleep in your shoes man. It's tough. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Time will wash out the rest. So, if the brand lives up to its name, they shouldn't have needed to give out freebies. Praise or criticism would come on its own. Waiting a few weeks for unsolicited reviews would carry more credibility. Not like the SOTD photos wouldn't pop up on their own eventually.

Love the pictures. Impressed with the balancing one especially.

Darkbulb, I'd be interested in a comparison between this and the Wolfman. When I purchase a new razor, I typically try it out by loading a new blade in the new razor and an identical new blade into a favorite razor. Then I lather up and shave 1/2 of my face with the new razor, the other half with the old favorite. I do this for several days so I have a fairly good sample size. While it's excessive, it removes the shave prep bias and keeps me from going just off memory - I have a something real to compare the razor to, for quality of the shave and the other elements of the shave - the "How did I like it" subjective stuff. Right now the Wolfman is a favorite and at that price point, probably what most are wanting it compared to. Just something to think about if you have the time.