Thinking of buying a Rex Ambassador..

[Labrecque24]

Interesting you mention about the dial! I wonder how smooth are they supposed to be anyways. Mine does seem to have a little resistance. Nothing crazy though.. like it isn't "hard to turn".. there's just a little resistance. I think it has gotten a tiny bit stiffer since I've been using it.. maybe a little dried soap scum inside or something. At the same time you wouldn't want it too loose either.. that the wheel could be accidentally turning while you're using it. I wonder if maybe the dial might benefit from a single drip of oil to the dial now and again to keep them running smoothly.

It was just off.
You should oil the razor from time to time.
Pretty sure Matt has a video on caring for the Rex and Konsul (and similar adjustables) on the Razor Emporium site.

 

[JavaDaShave]

I really can't say anything about the Rex razor because I don't have one but I find it hard to shell out super high dollars for a razor. I was wondering if you had thought about vintage such as Fatboy or a Slim adjustable? I have both and my Slim is my number one razor, even paid $125 for it since it was re-plated in rose gold and is the most I will ever pay for a razor. I recently picked up a Vikings Blade Meiji adjustable razor but I can't really recommend it, I don't know if their Crusader or Emperor adjustable razors are any better. I would look at the Parker Variant or even the Merkur Progress you mentioned. One other razor that I have been contemplating getting is the Rockwell 6S or even the 6C, no dial but comes with different plates to adjust the aggressiveness of the shave.

 

[razorfool]

Had it twice, sold it twice.
It's very much blade forward, and I never had so much drag when using a razor. But it's one of the most beautiful razors out there. But too expensive just to look at it.

Maybe the third time would be a charm? I have a 2023 model and haven't noticed any of the previous problems people have wrote about except the feeling of some drag or resistance across the skin. Not a problem for me, I use slick shave cream anyway. I compared the Slim set on 5 to the comparable setting on the Rex, and using same blade in each, the Rex seemed to give a closer shave, as confirmed by the alum block. Only a slight tingle with the Rex, and none with the Slim.

 

[flash75]

Maybe the third time would be a charm? I have a 2023 model and haven't noticed any of the previous problems people have wrote about except the feeling of some drag or resistance across the skin. Not a problem for me, I use slick shave cream anyway. I compared the Slim set on 5 to the comparable setting on the Rex, and using same blade in each, the Rex seemed to give a closer shave, as confirmed by the alum block. Only a slight tingle with the Rex, and none with the Slim.

There will be no third one. Definitely. Though it's a beautiful razor... I prefer mild ones with little blade feel.

 

[FormAndFunction]

There will be no third one. Definitely. Though it's a beautiful razor... I prefer mild ones with little blade feel.

I haven’t tried the Ambassador and have ordered the Konsul since I have sensitive skin, but the Ambassador is the best looking razor I’ve seen. If Braun had made that razor, it would have won the Red Dot Award for design.

I think I recall the Rex Emporium guy say recently that he’s thinking of making a Tech clone but I may have misheard that. If he does, I hope he gives it aggressive knurling similar to the Ambassador. I’d buy it.

 

[LooneyToons816]

I absolutely love my Rex Ambassador, if you are willing to spend the money its a great razor and you can take it apart for cleaning and drying easily

 

[railer489]

I haven’t tried the Ambassador and have ordered the Konsul since I have sensitive skin, but the Ambassador is the best looking razor I’ve seen. If Braun had made that razor, it would have won the Red Dot Award for design.

I think I recall the Rex Emporium guy say recently that he’s thinking of making a Tech clone but I may have misheard that. If he does, I hope he gives it aggressive knurling similar to the Ambassador. I’d buy it.

I absolutely love my Konsul. Very low blade feel at times if any. I like the ability to dial up or down the razor based on my needs.

 

[MikeFish]

Hello folks,

I'd not really got any adjustable razors so recently I thought I'd add one or two to my collection as an adjustable is really all I think I'd like at this stage. I bought a Slim but I'm also curious about a Rex Ambassador adjustable.

I've watched a few videos and read a few reviews here and there and they generally seem to get some very good reviews with the occasional exception here and there.

I've heard these Rex Ambassador are relatively aggressive with considerable blade feel.. even on lower settings.. although I'm not too concerned with this now.. Initially I was more keen on milder razors like AS-D2, R89 etc but as I've gotten more into the way of using a DE razor I'm more keen to try more aggressive razors.

I was also curious about the QC and if there are any specific issues that affects the Ambassador? By chance I came across some video on YouTube where a guy was showing some issue he claimed he had was having with the screw knob at the bottom.. I'm not exactly sure what was wrong as I'm not familiar with the razor but it seemed like he couldn't get the screw knob to join the threads of the head and the inner shaft that it screws onto. He also posted another video claiming there was an issue with the adjustment dial. I think that he said it was difficult to turn past around 5

However these videos are a few years old.. so it may have been earlier production runs. Of course, we all know with a lot of new razor models they can have teething problems initially which are usually rectified as time goes one. From what I gather the Ambassador has been upgraded at least once in its lifetime.. I've seen the newer ones have a thicker base plate, more rounded ends on the drainage holes wheras they were squared off before, also the cap seems to be machined much smoother than it was in the beginning. I think I read it was a newer, better production method.

The one other adjustable razor I was going to buy was a Merkur Progress. There's obviously a huge difference in the price of these two razors. The Progress is around £60 give or take whereas the Ambassador is closer to £250.. almost the price of five Progress' razors. I'm sure it may not be five times better but nonetheless I've been somewhat drawn to Rex razors for some time.

Initially I was keen on the Ambassador but thought I'd satisfy myself with an Envoy as it fitted my budget better. I've spent a lot building up a collection of artisan soaps, splashes etc recently and its made somewhat of a hole in my pocket.. so I'm taking this into account also. The only reason I'm even considering the Ambassador at the moment is I have a gift voucher to spend so it reduces the Ambassador to around the £150 mark which is a bit more affordable.

I'm in somewhat of a dilemma! Do you guys think the Ambassador is the good purchase here? I'd heard of the Indian Pearl Flexi which seems to be an Indian take on the Rex.. however I've heard it is not without it's issues and it is very heavy. Sometimes I find when I buy a dupe in the hope of saving money, I end up going for the real thing soon after anyways, so I'd be better off just buying the real thing in the beginning anyways which actually would have turned out less expensive overall as I wouldn't be buying both dupe and genuine.

Any advice, tips, shared knowledge/experience on the razor etc would be much appreciated!

Best regards,

BelfastBlade

IMO, the Ambassador is a blade forward, aggressive razor. I tend to like mild razors and I would not buy this after borrowing one from a friend. I found it uncomfortable at lower settings.

 

[OLD GOAT]

I know this is a late post, but regarding the difficty with turning the blade adjustment knob, many adjstables require you to loosen the open/close knob before using the selection knob. Don't know about the Ambassador, but the Fatboy and others are like that.

 

[flash75]

I know this is a late post, but regarding the difficty with turning the blade adjustment knob, many adjstables require you to loosen the open/close knob before using the selection knob. Don't know about the Ambassador, but the Fatboy and others are like that.

The Ambassador has a different construction. It does not require loosen the knob like all gibbs style adjustables.

 

[Chumango]

I know this is a late post, but regarding the difficty with turning the blade adjustment knob, many adjstables require you to loosen the open/close knob before using the selection knob. Don't know about the Ambassador, but the Fatboy and others are like that.

Although it has become internet lore that the Fatboy/Slim doors must be opened before adjusting, it is not, in fact, a requirement. It was never in the instructions for any of them. Whether you choose to do so is up to you.

Consider what Captain Murphy, who has serviced many of these razors, had to say about it:

Gillette Fatboy Cleanup|Before and after w/commentary

So that's two who like the idea, Cool! What would be the easiest way to do this gentlemen? What would be the most convenient for y'all? I don't think B&B has a podcast section, do they? If not, it would all be Youtube stuff, linked to these threads. I will certainly list the ingredients and...

www.badgerandblade.com