Parker Variant: Long(ish)-term Review

[kluber]

Brother Amateriat,

I too want to thank you for an outstanding review of a most outstanding adjustable razor. I echo your comments about the Parker Variant.

I just recently "discovered" Parker razors. The Variant is the only one I've purchased to date. I'm wondering about the other razors that Parker makes. I have a fairly tough beard and I shave with the Variant on a 3.5 setting. Is there a high quality Parker DE razor you might recommend, that is slightly aggressive and also gives a close and comfortable shave?

As noted above I’m a big fan of the Variant like many.

However to offer another opinion, outside of the Variant I have generally not liked Parker razors. I have only used Parker TTOs and found the angle always awkward or not intuitive to me compared to other DE razors such as 89 series heads, merkur 34c, ATT offerings, etc. (I have owned the Parker 99R & 96R). Obviously others had a different experience.

 

[hrumpole]

I am a fan of the shave I get from the Variant and it looks great. Only annoyance is moving from my other razors in rotation to Variant, I have to adjust to the weight and feel. No big deal, but if I am not aware I can dosome damage.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

First use of my new Parker Variant today and...Wow!.Set at 3 and then 2 for a 3 pass shave which resulted in a very smooth and close shave, one of my best ever!. Used a new GSB blade.

Only one shave in yet, so early days but i think it may surpass my Rockwell 6C which i also got fairly recently.I think the angle and head geometry of the Variant suits me better. It may even go on to topple my Muhle Rocca R95 due to its added versatility of being adjustable.

Thankfully the fit and finish is bang on so Parker seem to be getting to grips with previous QC issues.

 

[Gate4]

All is going well with the mighty Variant [emoji4]

Still trying out different combinations, but I think I might have found my favourite daily setting.

My soap of the day was WK Man From Mayfair, blade Gillette Nacet second use.

3 pass shave, started on a 2.5 first pass, 1.5 for pass 2 & 3. WG/XG/AG(XG on lower neck)

Result no fuss BBS/DFS shave! Great razor!

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

 

[Johniem]

I was glad to see the OP's review. It confirms my decision to buy the Variant. I'm now one week into my new Variant. It marks the turning point in my development in wet shaving. It (or I) didn't seem to like the Personna Blues that I ordered for it, but an Astra blade has gone five days, something I've never been able to do before with any other razor or blade. I'm a newbie, so this is a significant milestone for me. I'm pleased with the overall quality of the razor, its weight, its ability to deliver a smooth shave even for a newbie. After a couple more Astra blades, I'll probably try a Feather in it. Or maybe not. I'm a happy camper ...errr, shaver.

John

 

[GavinH]

Super review, thank you.
I had 10 adjustable DE razors in my collection, both vintage and new and got my Variant in the post yesterday (number 11). Perchance I had a good 4 days of growth to test it out on. Honestly, if the next few shaves are as good (and they will probably be better as I get used to this one) I can see my beautiful display of razors slowly gathering dust and being sold off or given as presents to others who have yet to convert to DE shaving.
A diabolically efficient shaver with looks and finish to match.

 

[tsallinia]

Hello guys,

Just bought a Variant and must say that I absolutely loved it. Building quality seems pretty solid, shaving experience is amazing compared to my edwin jagger de89l, and generally I would definitely recommend it.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Congrats!. The Variant is a great razor.

 

[GAW9576]

@amateriat. As many have said thank you for the excellent review of the Parker variant. I have been considering one for quite a while but was never sure. Now I'm confident I will be adding one when I am ready to purchase a new razor. I love the KAI blades in my Gillette super adjustable.
My friend and I split a 100 pack. It helps bring the price down. My previous favorites where Bluebird Hi-Stainless- Platinum. But the KAI blades blew them away and I get more shaves per blade with them witch brings down the per shave price.
Also what brush is that in the original post?
Is it solid brass? It looks amazing.

 

[amateriat]

@amateriat. As many have said thank you for the excellent review of the Parker variant. I have been considering one for quite a while but was never sure. Now I'm confident I will be adding one when I am ready to purchase a new razor. I love the KAI blades in my Gillette super adjustable.
My friend and I split a 100 pack. It helps bring the price down. My previous favorites where Bluebird Hi-Stainless- Platinum. But the KAI blades blew them away and I get more shaves per blade with them witch brings down the per shave price.
Also what brush is that in the original post?
Is it solid brass? It looks amazing.

Thanks so much!

The brush is a J. Peterman silvertip badger I purchased a little over 20(!) years ago at their Grand Central Terminal store in NYC (during that brief period when they had a brick-and-mortar presence, which became something of a corporate fiasco). Yes, the handle is solid brass. Still love the thing, even though my newly-acquired Yaqi synthetic has been hogging the spotlight of late.

 

[amateriat]

More Variant love here, and another thank you to @amateriat for a great review. I got the Variant in February and my first two vintage adjustables at about the same time, a Fatboy and a Slim. Both the Fatboy and Slim are very nice copies as nearly as I can tell, but they were soon benched in favor of the Variant. In fact, the Variant benched my well loved Timeless SS 068. My experiences are very much like amateriat's except in two regards. First, my blade of choice for the Variant is a Personna Med Prep, although I may try a Kai in the near future. Second, while the head design surely contributes a lot to why I like the Variant, it is a thick head - manageable but not the best under the nose.

Nevertheless, all things considered, the Variant is a fine razor. Plus at $57 bucks, some trade offs in materials are understandable. I happen to have a group-buy Rex Ambassador somewhere upstream, and I will be interested to compare the two after the Rex arrives - different designs and different price points.

Just jumping in really late here: I (among others) would be quite curious to know how the Ambassador compares to the Variant, although there's a huge gulf in price-points (one would expect some improvements, however potentially slight). The Ambassador is a very handsome piece of engineering, and, IMO, the more new-design adjustables there are on the market, the better.

 

[Marlor]

Just jumping in really late here: I (among others) would be quite curious to know how the Ambassador compares to the Variant, although there's a huge gulf in price-points (one would expect some improvements, however potentially slight).

I’m not fortunate enough to own a Rex Ambassador, but just from photos, it seems to have a geometry much closer to that of a Gillette Adjustable than the Progress/Variant.

I do own a Fatboy and a Progress, as while they’re both adjustable, and both great in their own ways, they’re hugely different razors. They have different optimal shaving angles, different blade feel, and require entirely different techniques, but both shave well.

I’d say that the same would go for the Ambassador and the Variant. Both different, but both worth buying.

 

[HighSpeedSpoon]

Just jumping in really late here: I (among others) would be quite curious to know how the Ambassador compares to the Variant, although there's a huge gulf in price-points (one would expect some improvements, however potentially slight). The Ambassador is a very handsome piece of engineering, and, IMO, the more new-design adjustables there are on the market, the better.

I went on to two other razors shortly after receiving the Rex and have not used either the Rex or Variant very much since then. As it stands the Rex did not wow me, but to be fair, I was dealing with some health issues at the time that made shaving difficult. I still think the Variant is a great razor.

 

[FloorPizza]

Well, after reading this thread for the upteenth time today, I'm convinced. I'm going to return my Qshave Parthenon, as the adjustment on it appears to be broken; there is little (if any) difference between min and max.

It's going to be replaced by the Variant.

Thank you for your fantastic review.

 

[amateriat]

The Continuing Adventures Of…

While my name rests patiently down the list of participants on the Rex Ambassador US Tour pass around..., I'm having a ball exploring the limits and possibilities of my still-number-one-with-a-bullet Parker Variant. This time, I want to talk about what might–might, I emphasize–have been my absolute best shave ever.

The big change-up was with the shaving soap. I'm very gun-shy about shave soaps, given my mixed experience with stuff that was hyped to me in past years as being "unsurpassed", "mind-blowing", et cetera, only to have me grumbling at my literally red-faced reflection post-shave, and vowing to stick only to creams. Only a chance try-out of Classic Shaving's then-new line of self-branded soaps changed my mind, and I've used them since with much satisfaction. (One small detail: I traditionally switch from soaps to creams from late November to April, when the air is colder and drier where I live.)

Hard-to-budge as I am, someone on B&B (looked far and wide, but can't seem to find that thread) waxed quite warmly over Sakura Musk–WCS' limited-edition collaboration with Dr. Jon, and it was the cherry-blossom description that made me click over and order a tin…which was most fortuitous, since practically a day later their site listed it as out-of-stock. It arrived well before I traditionally make my cream-to-soap changeover, but I decided this would be as good an acid-test as any. For the first shave I decided against changing out my twice-used Croma blade, allowing me to get a better read on how the new soap sized-up against my now-Winter-standard D.R. Harris Arlington cream.

As it turned out, it sized up really well: using my Yaqi Heavy Metal brush, lathering-up was pretty much as described, as I ended up adding a bit more water than usual for a deep but controlled lather, with a lovely scent, evocative but not overpowering. The shave was wonderful, very slick glide, consistent from first to third pass, minimal irritation on rinsing, and a finish somewhere between DFS and BBS some ten minutes after applying after-shave balm. I was seriously satisfied with Sakura Musk, right then and there.

But the real surprise was with the next shave, two mornings later. (My routine is every-other-day.) For that one, I loaded a fresh Croma in the Variant, but kept the routine exactly the same: first pass with the Variant set at 1.5, second and third passes set at 1. Pre-shave prep is a shower/shampoo, then using conditioner both on hair and as a pre-shave on beard. (Got that idea from Corey Greenberg years back.) Even now, All I can say is…wow. No drama, near-zero irritation, absolute-BBS finish. While I can't say this Zen moment hasn't ever happened to me before, I will say equaled, if not surpassed, that experience. The kicker is that the shave after that one–today–came ridiculously close. Even the wife took notice.

At this point, the Rex has one hell of a lot to live up to. ;-)

(Addendum: Once again, I want to give a shout for Croma Diamant blades. As fas as I'm concerned, these are the nicest blades to be flying way under the radar in the retail sphere. They are a tad eccentric in feel, whereas they don't do the silent-but-deadly hair-slicing of an Astra or the like, but they do such an effective job, and consistently, that they've become my singular go-to with the Variant, with Astra's Superior Stainless (again, not the Platinum) as solid second choice. (KAI, of course, is the cost-no-object pinnacle.)

 

[Venetian]

Brother Amateriat,

I too want to thank you for an outstanding review of a most outstanding adjustable razor. I echo your comments about the Parker Variant.

I just recently "discovered" Parker razors. The Variant is the only one I've purchased to date. I'm wondering about the other razors that Parker makes. I have a fairly tough beard and I shave with the Variant on a 3.5 setting. Is there a high quality Parker DE razor you might recommend, that is slightly aggressive and also gives a close and comfortable shave?

I would suggest the new "Semi Slant", really smooth and efficient but safe.