I was watching this auction, knowing nothing about this razor other than I thought it looked quite stunning. Had a "whoa!" moment at what I assumed was a snipe battle at the very end. Crazy!
I thought i had til.......last minute bid came in. I even had it sniped.
very expensive ^^ and i cant understand where the love for this razors came from? is there any special history or something liek that behind the razor?
rare? i see that this razor pop up once or twice a month... definitly not a common razor like a tech but not as rare as an eclipse...
Hand made of colbalt steel in small numbers and shooting up in value..............and they shave well I am told
Yup, that as me getting hit by money shrapnel from the winning bidder.I was watching this auction, knowing nothing about this razor other than I thought it looked quite stunning. Had a "whoa!" moment at what I assumed was a snipe battle at the very end. Crazy!
Rich, just 2, it that enough for you?That's a lot of money. I had that one on my watchlist too, more out of curiosity since I'm shaving with straights and any DEs are just to look at on the wall. I lost all interest in this one once it passed $70(US).
I really should thin my herd of modern Merkur and Muhle, since the only modern DE that I'll ever likely use will be the 2011 R41. I'd keep that one and the Tech.
I am more sorry, i should have gone $375, but i ran out of time at $302, i think the winner prob wouldve gone to $400....darn it i think i may too.Ah, I was watching and wondering if you'd win - sorry you didn't get it.
Considering I haven't touched a DE since my 2nd Straight shave?Rich, just 2, it that enough for you?
Hand made of colbalt steel in small numbers and shooting up in value..............and they shave well I am told
..Darwins are not mass produced like the Eclipse were, they are hand made and in less masses.
...rare? i see that this razor pop up once or twice a month... definitly not a common razor like a tech but not as rare as an eclipse...
Where are you looking that you are seeing this? I try to monitor Ebay UK and until the flurry of Darwins that showed up a few weeks ago, it had been months since I had seen a Darwin DE razor for sale...unless you are seeing the Darwin that is made like the Rolls Razor which is a SE with the integrated stone, etc. Those are for sale a lot but not the DE. I see Eclipses all the time but I am not really interested in any other DE's since I got my Darwin.
...
Hand made of colbalt steel in small numbers and shooting up in value..............and they shave well I am told
Hand made..? Where did that came from? Any facts about that..? Maybe you imply the etched Darwin logo? I say, it´s statements like that after a while get´s in the head of people and trigger up prices. Without doubt very little is known about the company. I actually had an e-mail chat with the current Darwin manager last week asking for more information about the company. He replied that obviously no current employees were still around that he could ask. He had very little information to give actually. It was more like that he confirmed that the razor business was around up until the second world war. And yes- I have already asked him if he had some old Darwins on a dusty shelf somewhere and the answer was no. In my last e-mail to him I asked if he could keep me updated if he indeed happen to stumble on some old documents that might reveal more of the history of the company- and it´s razors of course. If that happens I will notify you of course....
Darwins are not mass produced like the Eclipse were, they are hand made and in less masses.
...
The Darwin DE razors are rare & hard to come by -- but if our comrade in Germany has a source & doesn't like them -- perhaps he could purchase them & then offer them to the eager fans over here. Maybe he does have a line on ones we don't see. Wouldn't that be excellent?
As for the Darwins being hand made... Long shot I'm afraid. CooncatBob -- now he's a hand made razor king -- and there may be others. But hand made out of cobalt steel -- unlikely. Doesn't diminish the value and effectiveness of these razors, just not to further that myth. One of the many razor legends that are simply made up out of wishful -- or is it wistful? -- thinking...
The Darwin DE razors are rare & hard to come by -- but if our comrade in Germany has a source & doesn't like them -- perhaps he could purchase them & then offer them to the eager fans over here. Maybe he does have a line on ones we don't see. Wouldn't that be excellent?
As for the Darwins being hand made... Long shot I'm afraid. CooncatBob -- now he's a hand made razor king -- and there may be others. But hand made out of cobalt steel -- unlikely. Doesn't diminish the value and effectiveness of these razors, just not to further that myth. One of the many razor legends that are simply made up out of wishful -- or is it wistful? -- thinking...
keep us postedHand made..? Where did that came from? Any facts about that..? Maybe you imply the etched Darwin logo? I say, it´s statements like that after a while get´s in the head of people and trigger up prices. Without doubt very little is known about the company. I actually had an e-mail chat with the current Darwin manager last week asking for more information about the company. He replied that obviously no current employees were still around that he could ask. He had very little information to give actually. It was more like that he confirmed that the razor business was around up until the second world war. And yes- I have already asked him if he had some old Darwins on a dusty shelf somewhere and the answer was no. In my last e-mail to him I asked if he could keep me updated if he indeed happen to stumble on some old documents that might reveal more of the history of the company- and it´s razors of course. If that happens I will notify you of course.
I was not sure if they were hand made or not, but many have said that it was hand made. I cant find any real evidence at this point...But this is one razor that is really hard to get and not many are around. I wonder why such a great razor and design was not produced in higher numbers. I figure if it was hand made maybe not many could be made.Hand-made? Well, we're talking the 1920's here. No doubt machines were used, and Darwin was a foundry after all. But think about it, they may well have been more like what we would consider to be tools rather than the kind of machines we think of in manufacturing.
While I don't doubt machines were used, I too would think much of the production was indeed by hand. There are videos of Dovo straights being made and yes, lots of tools and lots of machines are used, but they're pretty much made by hand today.
Persoll the eye glasses maker still makes their glasses largely by hand, using designs and techniques from the 1930's.
And while I know nothing about how handles are made, the Darwin handle doesn't look like it was done on a lathe, does anyone know how stuff like that was made in the 1920's? Would the steel have been poured into a mold?
View attachment 247114probably drop forged. I suspect they had a high scrap rate. I also suspect the deck and lid are "matched" pairs.
I have heard they shave the same and are the same razor except the posts are on the top cap on the standard and on the base on the deluxe. Pretty much the same razor with a minor variation so they should go for the same at auction. The deluxe name sounds better though so maybe yours would go for even more...but you can't sell it now can you.
Aaron
Yes you are correct, the differences in the razors are minimal.
I have been deciding whether to sell it or not for the past couple months. At this time I cant but maybe soon. If I find the right price I will let go of it.