I bought this razor because

1) I wanted a nice Thiers issard

2) I wanted a 7/8 blade and had not had one before.



Once I got the razor I got it out of the box and had a good look. It turned out that the gold on the blade was in VERY poor shape. To me that was a dissapointment because I liked the look of the blade on classicshaving. The gold wash was a very light yellow colour....not like gold at all.



The scales to me look like some kind of imitation wood and I don't really like them. Once I have some money I'll most likely get them rescaled.



Then I laid it down on the hone for a few laps to make it shaveready because we all know NO razor comes out of the box shave ready.



Once done some laps on the strop and out for a shave the next day.



it was SCARY sharp and I loved every second. It would pop a hair just by looking at it.



It kept it's edge quite long and it's still one of my favorite razors to date...probably my favorite.



Now when I contacted classicshaving they simply said: Thiers-issard makes good blades but their finish is a bit shoddy.



I believe that but when I pay $140 for a razor I want one that's at least as good as in the picture. So for that fact I didn't give crafftmanship a high rating.



When it comes to the quality of the blade though this razor is right up there. I still love it and although it must've been made on a friday afternoon (people in quality control a little bit tired and not paying attention) I'll most likely keep it for life.

Above, is a picture of my custom Elephant Ivory handled 7/8th's TI, with the exact same blade as reviewed here (just the stamina scales taken out, and the Ivory scales put on).



Standard crap TI build quality, but lordy do these things shave like a dream. Really the SHAVERS choice of razor. They don't look all that great (usually) they aren't built all that great (usually) and the gold wash is pathetic (nearly always), but once you tune 'em up, you'll be really hard pressed to find a razor in the same category (size/grind/etc) that'll shave as well... at any cost. It is my personal opinion, that from a pure shave quality standpoint, TI's can go toe to toe with razor costing 4-5X their price.



With the cost of large W&B's, Puma's and Dubl Ducks in the 7/8th's size range being as much, or more than a similarly size TI - I say go with a TI, as it'll shave every bit as good... possibly better.



I'll even take a good TI over a henckels friodur, and they are about the same $. If you REALLY want to do it right, get a TI (bottom of the line handle) expect it to show up with crap quality gold leafing/logo's, etc - and send it out to get some custom scales put on it (could be as low as $30). You'd be hard pressed to find a nicer looking/shaving razor for the $.



One word of caution... if you are not experienced in honing TI's in particular, I would suggest sending it to someone who is, as they are be incredibly tricky.



TO DISCUSS THIS REVIEW, PLEASE GO TO THIS THREAD.

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- Joel
joel (at) badgerandblade.com

It's my only production razor but I love the thing.



It's an excellent shaver for sure. The weight and balance are excellent for me. The only shoddy thing about mine was the gold wash/stamp. it was a bit pathietically yellowish.