Semogue Caravela!

I received my Caravela in the mail the other day. I didn't shave this morning so I took her for a spin this evening. I'll do a full review once I've had a few more shaves. The handle feels great in my hand and it destroyed my AOS soap. The knot has great flow through. I've never made lather this quickly and effortlessly. I just got one of the best shaves I've ever had and I wasn't even trying for BBS.

If anyone has a Caravela and a SOC 2 band I'd like to know how they compare.

that thing looks familiar

The Caravela is one awesome brush. Best quality to price ratio brush I've ever bought.

I want one! Unfortunately no one want to sell his.

noahpictures said:

I want one! Unfortunately no one want to sell his.

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And there's a good reason for that! I absolutely love my Caravela.

Love mine also, and like stated above, nothing goes after those hard soaps like this brush. and I find the handle to be perfect, I know this has been somewhat of a nit to pick with some but not here.

Ian

I have both. Basically the Caravela has more backbone and the SOC has softer tips.

I have both as well. Caravela is my top brush. It really lathers up anything very quickly. I hope they will soon make more. I'm also a member over at www.foroafeitado.com they said that Semogue would measure customer feedback and create more. If enough people want them I think we should email Semogue to let them know.

Altair said:

I have both as well. Caravela is my top brush. It really lathers up anything very quickly. I hope they will soon make more. I'm also a member over at www.foroafeitado.com they said that Semogue would measure customer feedback and create more. If enough people want them I think we should email Semogue to let them know.

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I know it was a limited edition but Semogue NEEDS to make more of these knots! I would buy another if I wasn't going to be denying another shaving enthusiast the chance to trying this brush.

Would B&B member Leon from Vintagescent have a say/influence in Semogue making more of these wonderful brushes?

noahpictures said:

Would B&B member Leon from Vintagescent have a say/influence in Semogue making more of these wonderful brushes?

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Just give it a try, my feeling says he's not just your average retailer when it comes to semogue brushes

I already shot Bruno an email expressing interest and asking him to please either forward my interest to Semogue or to let me know a good way to contact them. I'll post any updates I get here.

Bruno got back to me. He said no more Caravelas will be made (since it was a limited edition), but a brush with the same or a similar knot MIGHT go into production eventually (but not right away). He's already told the factory that everyone is really excited about it. To me, it seems like it would be pretty similar to the situation with the 2009 LE vs. the SOC.

I'd prefer they made another pass at a brush more similar to the Semogue LE 2010 than the Caravela. To me the only reason the Caravela is getting more "air time" is because not a lot of them shipped over to the States, appeal of the unknown sort of thing. It's a good brush, but to me not better than the SOC2 or the 2010 LE in Selected Silvertip!

rntdcarvalho said:

I'd prefer they made another pass at a brush more similar to the Semogue LE 2010 than the Caravela. To me the only reason the Caravela is getting more "air time" is because not a lot of them shipped over to the States, appeal of the unknown sort of thing. It's a good brush, but to me not better than the SOC2 or the 2010 LE in Selected Silvertip!

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I agree.

I've got all three mentioned, and although the Caravela is a very nice brush, to me it doesn't outperform the SOC 2-band or the 2010LE.
To me the SOC 2-band is the best Semogue has put out there, closely followed by the 2010LE Silvertip, 2009LE boar and the Caravela (although I must admit I haven't used the Caravela as much as the other brushes yet, so it might move up on that list)

I know the SOC 2 band has a great reputation. To me it's the level of quality for the cost. The Caravela gives great performance at 1/2 the cost of the SOC 2 band. If Semogue can make more brushes with these knots and keep the price down it will be great.

dannymayo said:

If Semogue can make more brushes with these knots and keep the price down it will be great.

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If Semogue made more brushes with that knot... Then the Caravela would be a really crappy "limited edition"

Semogue has never returned to a limited edition brush, the closest being the SOC1 to the LE 2009, similar but also quite different. From a collector's point of view I can see people investing in a limited edition brush and then buying a current production brush, same knot different handle, but from a users point of view it doesn't make sense, YMMV and whatnot. I think a remake of Caravelas would be insulting to the people who waited months for their own Limited Edition brush with custom engraving of the brother forums Barbear Clássico and Foro Afeitado.

B&B has and had a lot of LE brushes, and you don't see a lot of people telling Rudy Vey to make the 2011 LE into a current production brush, so why should the Caravela be different?

I hope Leon is seeing this. Slap that knot in an SOC handle and call it a production model!

I love my Caravela! I wouldn't trade it for a million dollars. Oh, who am I kidding, of course I would.

JPDyson said:

I hope Leon is seeing this. Slap that knot in an SOC handle and call it a production model!

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Actually that's exactly my everyday brush - the mixed knot in a SOC handle. That was the prototype and I've been using it ever since.

See it here in a SOTD pic: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/239182-TRAVEL-KITS-SOTD-quot-themed-week-quot-July-4th-July-10th-2011?p=3276006#post3276006