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My experience with Merkur

When I was still living in the USA, I bought a Merkur 37C. I’d heard that, in spite of imperfect finish, it was an awesomely efficient razor. So I paid the 40+ dollars it cost in the USA and brought it home. The finish was indeed lacking, like the chrome which did not perfectly followed the teeth of the safety bar for instance. To me, that was no big deal at all — so long as it shaved right.
Anyway, so I loaded a blade in and, after struggling a bit, got it aligned on both sides with the top cap. That playing around with the blade didn’t bother me much either: I knew the blade wouldn’t fit in as perfectly as it did in my Edwin Jagger razor; and again, as long as it shaved right…

However, I soon discovered that the cap had been ground shorter on one side, meaning that blade exposure was greater on one side of the blade. That did bother me a bit, but I soon accepted the fact that my razor would possibly be a tad more aggressive on one side of the head than on the other. I actually found that it might not be a bad thing; I could modulate the level of “aggressiveness” (or efficiency, I like this term better) I wanted as I went on with my shave. I did contact Merkur at that point though, because that was a problem with their setup at the factory, and to me it qualified for a replacement cap already. I started obsessing over my razor a bit. We razor geeks are a bit ridiculous at times, let’s admit it. But then, after looking at the blade exposure in the sunlight, in different angles, I found that my blade was wavy! Not only was one side of the cap ground shorter (which I could see because, in addition to blade exposure being greater on one side, the scalloping on the cap was also visibly shorter on the side with greater blade exposure), but also the shorter side was not ground evenly, and there was a “inward belly” where the edge should have been straight… This caused the blade to come up at that point, to fall back again on either side of the “belly”. That was not acceptable to me. I thought, if you are to make money out of selling engineered pieces of metal, it has to be done right. So I contacted Merkur again. For the longest time, they kept telling me that uneven blade exposure was how slants work, although of course I knew that and was not talking about blade gap. After many emails, they knew I wouldn’t let that one go, and they sent me a replacement part after I’d moved back to France. The replacement part had the exact same defect. I ended up giving the razor to a friend.

I’m not sure how, or whether this impacted the shaves I got from this razor (which were by no means terrible, but never struck me as fantastic), but as I’ve said before, if you are to make money selling engineered pieces of metal, you must do it right. So that was my first — and last — experience with Merkur. Merkur strikes me as a brand that lives off its name and… nothing more. I don’t know that they’ve come up with innovations in a very long time, and they charge a good amount of money for faulty razors. I could understand if at least they sold their razors cheaper than others do, like Fatip does, but they don’t. I have a very high opinion of German brands, they build cars with minute attention to details, they have a reputation for high-level engineering and perfection. The Merkur I had, and its two caps, simply didn’t live up to the idea people have of German manufacturing. And again, maybe I’m a bit anal when it comes to the stuff I buy, but although I was willing to disregard imperfectionssuch as chrome finish, I can’t accept that the edge of the blade isn’t perfectly straight in my razor. Some will think it’s tiny details, but how come my grandfather’s Gillette adjustable has the blade sit perfectly straight in it? I mean, it IS possible to attain perfection in this regard.

So, no more Merkur for me. There have been many reviews that shed light on such defects on their production lines, I don’t understand how they haven’t fixed the products yet. I guess they're products are selling so they're good enough for them.

In comparison, I’ve just received a Mühle R41, and that razor boasts an innovative design plus perfect finish, for the same price. And no I’m not affiliated in any way with Mühle, nor can I ever imagine them posting bad reviews on Merkur. They seem like a brand reaching for perfection, and the reviews that can be found on their products, in comparison with the ones that can be read on Merkur’s, is probably enough publicity that they don’t have to make the competition look bad.

Oh, by the way, in videos I’ve seen two ways of pronouncing Mühle (which means “mill”) with the correct accent. I’ve never seen anybody get it right, so I’d like to make things right: no diphthong there, but the two dots on the “u” make it not the “u” sound of “brood”, but the one we have in French, /y/ in phonetic writing. Not an easy one for English speakers, I’ll give you that. As for the final “e”, that people got right, it’s the “schwa”, that is the sound of the “a” in “about”.
 
Hey!

Thanks for your reply. I've been on the forum for a while, only I never really contributed to it. I'm back mostly to give my opinions on two German brands, hoping it might be helpful.

The finish on the EJ is flawless, for sure. It's quite pleasant. As far as shaving goes, I've found it too mild for my sensitive skin on the neck, which requires maximum efficiency for a shave with minimal going over the same spot again and again. For one with no such problems, I've only read good stuff about it. As for me, with the sensitive skin I have, I've found that the Muhle R41, the 2013 version with zero blade-flex and yet maximum efficiency is the best I've tried. That's the other post I've just contributed, if you wanna take a look.
 
Oh, and it seems my number of contributions has be zeroed-out because I haven't posted anything here for years (I mean I think that's why), but I did introduce myself when I first joined (unless I have terrible memory).

Anyway, I should be good with regards the procedure of how you need to introduce yourself before you post, but if I do need to do that again, by any means let me know and I'll make sure to fix that right away.
 
Thanks for your reply. I've been on the forum for a while, only I never really contributed to it. I'm back mostly to give my opinions on two German brands, hoping it might be helpful.

Aha, fair enough! And yes, for newbies such as myself it's always interesting to read about other peoples experiences.

The finish on the EJ is flawless, for sure. It's quite pleasant. As far as shaving goes, I've found it too mild for my sensitive skin on the neck, which requires maximum efficiency for a shave with minimal going over the same spot again and again. For one with no such problems, I've only read good stuff about it. As for me, with the sensitive skin I have, I've found that the Muhle R41, the 2013 version with zero blade-flex and yet maximum efficiency is the best I've tried. That's the other post I've just contributed, if you wanna take a look.

I had no idea that a more aggressive razor would be beneficial to sensitive skin. I'm currently using a Merkur 34C which is working for me, but it doesn't give me as close a shave as I'd like. Being only a few shaves in, it's probably a combination of blade choice and technique. When I get comfortable enough with the 34C I will probably experiment with my adjustable Slim and see if a more aggressive setting is good for my face or not.

Oh, and it seems my number of contributions has be zeroed-out because I haven't posted anything here for years (I mean I think that's why), but I did introduce myself when I first joined (unless I have terrible memory).

Anyway, I should be good with regards the procedure of how you need to introduce yourself before you post, but if I do need to do that again, by any means let me know and I'll make sure to fix that right away.

How odd! It looks like your posts have indeed been zeroed out. There are no procedures as far as I know, but it's always fun to learn more about the members here, which is why The Hall of Fame forum exists. Feel free to make a post there if you want. :001_smile
 
Completely agree with you on the Mühle points, haven't had a Merkur so can't say anything about that.

I also see it's not just me the pronunciation annoys (although happily I don't have to ready it like that) also when you just flat out ignore an umlaut. If you don't possess the patience to press Alt + 0252 on an English keyboard at least spell it Muehle.

Best advice for speaking German is to "enjoy your vowels".
 
Haha, yeah. I wouldn't say it really annoys me, I myself say Harry Potter the French way if I have to talk about it, or else people don't understand you or simply think that you're pretentious. The effort to try in itself is very laudable, and I can assure you in France too (especially in France of all European countries) people wouldn't even wonder how it's actually pronounced. but I thought since people seem interested in how it should be said, I'd go ahead and say a word about it.

By the way, while the Germans "enjoy their vowels", as you say, the French don't. If any are interested in trying to say Martin de Candre in French, we can't expect everybody to produce the french "r", nor the oh so difficult nasal "in", but you could get closer by not sounding the final "e" at all. But again, sure when you speak a language, it sounds a bit odd sounding the foreign words in the way they do in the tongue of origin.
 
Sorry to hear about experience with Merkur. No manufacturer is perfect all the time. Glad to see the post. I have read other posts that some of the finishes on a Merkur are not as good as other manufacturers. The blade exposure is a different thing. That definitely could get a little dangerous.


Joe
 
I think if Merkur were contacted about this defect they would take care of it. I read somewhere where Merkur are now made in China which would explain the defect. I don't know if thats true or not.? My Merkur 47 C is perfect.
 
Haha, yeah. I wouldn't say it really annoys me, I myself say Harry Potter the French way if I have to talk about it, or else people don't understand you or simply think that you're pretentious. The effort to try in itself is very laudable, and I can assure you in France too (especially in France of all European countries) people wouldn't even wonder how it's actually pronounced. but I thought since people seem interested in how it should be said, I'd go ahead and say a word about it.

By the way, while the Germans "enjoy their vowels", as you say, the French don't. If any are interested in trying to say Martin de Candre in French, we can't expect everybody to produce the french "r", nor the oh so difficult nasal "in", but you could get closer by not sounding the final "e" at all. But again, sure when you speak a language, it sounds a bit odd sounding the foreign words in the way they do in the tongue of origin.

Normally when in France i tend to speak English (past the introductions because my French is terrible) but there was an occasion in Nice when the French bloke i was speaking to was speaking to me in German and bloody hell that got confusing with the accent :lol:. The same happened in Luxembourg (although i know it's a very different country and by no means mean offence) where my Mrs (as a native German speaker) couldn't understand a word.

I was always awful at French in school anyways, i can't do the pronunciation.:blushing:
 
I guess I've been lucky over the years, I started out first with a 34c Merkur, fit, finish, and alignment was good, my go to is a 37c, blade alignment is perfect, the Progress is my latest Merkur and everything is good. If the newest ones are made in China, then yes I can see a problem. I can also see problems with the older ones too, quality control today sucks in a way, its like a crap shoot. I have a newer Fatip Piccolo, thers a blemish or machining marks under the topcap finish. I bought a cadet a few years ago, the top cap is not aligned with the base, having way more blade exposure on one side, but I still shave with it. My R41 is perfect. Guess what, My vintage Gillettes are all perfect in the area of blade alignment. Especially the TTO's. What does that tell ya, Quality control over the years has diminished across all of the brands. You just dont know what you are going to get anymore when you buy something, not just razors, firearms, cars, etc. Sorry for rambling.:bored:
 

nemo

Lunatic Fringe
Staff member
Never had a problem with any of my Merkurs. I did have a problem with a top cap of a FaTip but I'm not judging the entire brand on a single razor purchase.

And no, Merkurs are not made in China.
 
I wouldn't say that the uneven blade gap issue would have been dangerous. I used the razor and never got hurt. had it been the case, I'd not have given it to a friend. it just bothered me that the razor didn't have perfect blade alignment. Just like you Gitira6, I have a GIllette TTO and the blade sits in there perfect. What I'm saying about Merkur, however, is that razors are simple tools, and they should be perfect nearly everytime. Again, I'm not talking about chrome, I don't care that it's not perfect, never did. But I do care that the blade edge is wavy. THAT should never be a problem. As I was saying, that's the only thing that really matters in a razor, and when you're charing the price they're charging for a engineered piece of metal it should be perfect as far a the edge being straight, at least. That was simply not the case.
As for judgin a brand on a single purchase, as I've said in my first post, I had them send me a replacement cap, made probably several years after I'd got my razor, and the issue was the same. Two faulty parts in a raw, either I'm very unlucky, or it's nothing to do with luck. In addition to that, their customer service is very unresponsive, in my experience, and it takes a lot of emailing to get them to even aknowledge that there is an issue with their product.
So my experience, which goes I believe beyonf just buying one razor and not being happy, hasn't been fantastic; and if I am to believe what other users in the shaving community have reported, I'm not an isolated case. This altogether justifies, I believe, my initial post. Merkur just don't deserve me as a customer and, as they're apparently not willing to make an effort, I thought it worthwhile to let others know. They don't make anything that can't be found elsewhere, with better fit and finish (with the exception of the slant).
 

Raven Koenes

My precious!
I think if Merkur were contacted about this defect they would take care of it. I read somewhere where Merkur are now made in China which would explain the defect. I don't know if thats true or not.? My Merkur 47 C is perfect.

Nope they are not made in China. They are still made by Dovo in Solingen Germany in a plant that employs 86 people and since 2013 have moved to focusing mainly on their shaving products (they produce cutlery and scissors as well) and introducing a new range of straight razors.
 
Well it's good to know they are not made in China, all of my Merkurs are good to go. Aside from that, my 37c is my go to razor, just about every night. When I put in a new blade I get like a wavy edge appearance also, could just be an optical illusion, maybe just from being torqued, I would think that if the edge was really like that, I would have rough shaves or a bloodbath. I'm also running two shims, and the 37c is the smoothest razor I own. I dont know.
 

tankerjohn

A little poofier than I prefer
Sorry you had a bad experience. My Merkurs have all been fantastic. My 47c has a flawless finish I would put against any EJ or Muhle I've seen. I had a magnificent shave with my Sledgehammer this morning. I just took a good look at it and the blade is sitting straight, even and not wavy. I'm pretty sure it's the same head as the 37c slant. Weird you got two bad heads in a row. I don't know. I have found Merkur razors to be well designed and a good value.
 
Alright, well then I guess I've just been very unlucky. Thank you guys for counter balancing my statement, for the sake of truth. I won't take a chance again with Merkur, I don't see one reason why I should anyway; but good to know they're not such big frauds, overall, as I thought!
 
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