SRAD fading

I have collected several straights over the this summer and it has been a lot of fun. I have found some Japanese, Swedish, English, German,an old American Shumate. To finish this off this past month I got my hands on a Sub Cero Fili and 8/8 W&B wedge. The only thing I see missing is a French razor.

Am I missing out on anything else? What are some must haves to watch out for? For a French razor I've been looking at Le Grelot. Is there a better choice? I also don't have a Spanish point but I don't know if I'm missing much.

What are your thoughts?

Careful with french razors. I thought I was happy with my collection, then I got my first grelot, a dozen french straights later... And yeah.

In all seriousness I would get a shoulderless 13/16 grelot with a round point. To me it is the quintessential french straight. You could also be very selective and wait for a #14 grelot, but be forewarned they are very scarce and priced as such.

no 7 and 14


no 357

Hrmm editing my post isn't working on my iphone...

There are a few major manufacturers for french straights, that had a few different brands.

P hospital was the guru of this idea. They created blanks that were modified depending on the brand. So in effect you could have a hospital 7 that was sold as hoffritz, Grelot, Lotus, or eventually sold by TI after they bought out some of the old Grelot blanks. The Hoffritz blades were very blue collar and didn't have much razzle dazzle. The Grelot brand is a bit fancier with etchings. Lotus was the rolls Royce of the brand lines, is fairly scarce, and had the fanciest finish work. Another brand to look at is Le Jaguar, they are relatively cheap, are amazing shavers, and have really cool etchings on their blades. Fontenille is a very highly regarded brand as well, but they are a bit harder to find. Last but not least is TI, you can buy new or vintage and get a great razor. One of their cooler etchings and scales is the Spartacus blade.

tldr; Grelot, Lotus, Le Jaguar, Fontenille, P Hospital, TI are all great blades, can't go wrong with any of them.

Hopefully Heeso and Marc will show up and dazzle us with some perty french blades.

Before the razzle dazzle starts, is there anything noticeable or notable about French blades?

imatabor said:

Before the razzle dazzle starts, is there anything noticeable or notable about French blades?

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To me they have a softer feel to the steel. I know it could be totally irrational. But, they shave differently than my Swedish or solingen steel. Similar to how de blades are different. They also hone easier than my Swedish and German straights, again subjective, but are slightly more difficult than a fillie. If you want to try one I can send you a grelot for a test run.

I would describe the Sheffield the same way. I find the Swedes and Japanese steel to feel hard and the Sheffield to feel soft. German steel feels to be in the middle.
Maybe it is just my untrained face but I find that if the razor is the size and grind are the same then most of the razors of the same origin feel the same.

So typical french will be similar to german in softness, but a tad softer. Still a lot harder than a typical sheffield.
There are exceptions. Vedel are harder than the hardest Swedish or Japanese I've tried and my Opinel is softer than the sheffield I have.
TI are amazing for being very hard (see Doc's 120+ shave test on one hone), yet they are not harsh.
In terms of shave comfort I favor the Le Grelot and Fontenille over TI though. Although all 3 are good.
There are not many Fontenille floating around and they might not have been as popular as LeGrelot in the first place (although both got the distinction of earning a Gold Medal at a Universal exposition, and so did Vedel), but it also seems the steel used in Fontenille just want to rust. I have seen some NOS, but again they are scarce.
For the LeGrelot, there are many models. And different models and some used Sheffield and Swedish steels, most use French.
Some of the notable models are:
- the 319 - 'Le Masque de Fer' which has an elaborate wrought back.
- the 196 - 'Le Petit Coiffeur' which is their famous Thumbnotch
- the 357 - 'Triomphe de France' which is similar to the 196 but a bit bigger
- the 97 - 'Nostradamus' which was a full 8/8 (i.e. bigger than the 14)
- the 14, just because it is a 14

Those are hard to get. The Royal Canada is more common and a great razor.

In all seriousness I would get a shoulderless 13/16 grelot with a round point. To me it is the quintessential french straight.

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I think this is what I'm thinking about if this is the last razor I seek out. Is the shave much different than say a German blade? Am I not missing much not having one or is there a distinctive feel to a French blade?

Also thanks for the information. It gives me something to search and read about.

SRAD fading

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Heh heh.....


Ha.....ha, ha, ha....


Ooh, HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!


That's a pretty good one!

SRAD fading now I've heard 'em all!

Time for a custom made razor...........we have a pulse....

cleanshaved said:

Time for a custom made razor...........we have a pulse....

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Haha that's definitely the next step! Just when you think SRAD is going away, you realize that there's an infinite number of possibilities for customs...

And then you also realize that there are currently 7,408 straights listed on EBay currently (I just checked).


There's gotta be at least ONE of those you must have...

What I'm finding is I have some very distinct feeling razors but most are starting to feel very similar. While I love looking at the beautiful razors here, since the Fili and W&B I don't feel the "I have to have one" feeling. I like the idea of rounding out a collection, hence the thoughts on a French razor. I sort of ask already, is there a distinct feel to a French blade.

As far as a custom goes, I'm waiting on the convergence of cash and a Seraphim razor being available. Most other customs are outside of my price range.

Back to SRAD, what are a must have razor?

imatabor said:

Back to SRAD, what are a must have razor?

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The next one that stops you in your tracks, for example this, which I would like to nominate for razor of the year or moment but I digress.

That's not playing fair!
That is a beautiful razor. Last time you posted it I actually looked it up. I wish I could afford one and if you sent it to me I would receive it with gladness. But I feel I can live without it.

I wish it was mine but it is evenpar's, lucky devil.

Interesting thread, guys. Thanks for all the information.

Maybe this is for another thread but I think this is where I'm at. What razor is distinctive enough to own?
I asked something like this once before and the answer was a Fili 14. And I agree. What else would be on this list of must haves?

I think you're there ... If I were to narrow it down to three it would be 8/8 wb, fili, or grelot with heljestrand a very narrow tie for third place

The Fontenille Radium is one.

The LeGrelot 196 or 357 (there is a slight difference in the tang's shape, below is a 357)


An Opinel would be the other French one I'd mention as I find its smoothness to be unmatched.



Or you could just go for something that is just classy and beautiful like a Beaujeu Dumontel