I'm building up to ordering another custom, the first for quite a long time. I don't have the budget to buy lots of razors these days, but I received a little money at Christmas and my birthday is in January, so I'm considering a 1-off purchase of a custom that will hopefully be special to me.
It's a shame I missed the boat on the B&B Zowada razor, as it's almost exactly what I'm after. However, every cloud has a silver lining and there are of course other great custom razor makers out there.
I've decided on the blade material/shape, so I'm not going to talk about that, other than it'll be a 5/8.
I need a little input on the material for scales. I want the razor to be as awesome/unique as possible, but it has to be a daily/regular shaver too. The shape I like is the 'standard' Thiers Issard shape, I'm not sure why but for me that shape is simple yet elegant. My main remaining question is over the material for the scales.
I want something rare/unique yet light, and preferably hardwearing. My first choice is mammoth ivory, but I have no idea how heavy or durable it is. Will it be light enough yet stand up to everyday use?
I'm not sure about hippo ivory, it looks lovely but isn't 'rare' as such.
I had 2 razors with stag antler scales in the past (a RW and a ML) and while they looked great I found the scales much too heavy for my preference, to me they upset the balance of the razor even when coupled with mahoosive 8/8 blades.
What about abalone, i.e. solid abalone? It looks stunning but I've never held any in my hand apart from some small samples, is it heavy/brittle when used on its own?
Any other thoughts, suggestions, recommendations?
It's a shame I missed the boat on the B&B Zowada razor, as it's almost exactly what I'm after. However, every cloud has a silver lining and there are of course other great custom razor makers out there.
I've decided on the blade material/shape, so I'm not going to talk about that, other than it'll be a 5/8.
I need a little input on the material for scales. I want the razor to be as awesome/unique as possible, but it has to be a daily/regular shaver too. The shape I like is the 'standard' Thiers Issard shape, I'm not sure why but for me that shape is simple yet elegant. My main remaining question is over the material for the scales.
I want something rare/unique yet light, and preferably hardwearing. My first choice is mammoth ivory, but I have no idea how heavy or durable it is. Will it be light enough yet stand up to everyday use?
I'm not sure about hippo ivory, it looks lovely but isn't 'rare' as such.
I had 2 razors with stag antler scales in the past (a RW and a ML) and while they looked great I found the scales much too heavy for my preference, to me they upset the balance of the razor even when coupled with mahoosive 8/8 blades.
What about abalone, i.e. solid abalone? It looks stunning but I've never held any in my hand apart from some small samples, is it heavy/brittle when used on its own?
Any other thoughts, suggestions, recommendations?