Have y'all seen and has anyone tried the Yaqi Harlequin?
Yaqi Harlequin - Gillette Goodwill Homage
- Thread starter spacemonkey42
- Start date
Yaqi puts out Quality Razors at a very nice price IMO.
Looking forward to the reviews.
Looking forward to the reviews.
Ron R
I survived a lathey foreman
Looks like a fine razor head, it should sell well I'm thinking. Blade exposure is only 2/1000 of inch or .05mm according to Yaqi.Have y'all seen and has anyone tried the Yaqi Harlequin?
It will not be as aggressive a shave as the Gillette Goodwill I'm thinking & guessing. This actually is very similar to the Probak razor owned by Henry Gaisman owner of Valet Auto-strop razors and many other company's he controlled + he eventually became chairman of the board and in control of Gillette when Valet auto-strop merged with Gillette after the lawsuit. When Henry Gaisman took over Gillette because of a huge Lawsuit he won for blade patent infringement rights for the Probak razor in 1930's for over 30 million dollars. (I know it reads a bit strange, but thanks to Henry Gaisman he guided Gillette through the dirty 1930's great depression and possibly through part of WW2 from my limited research.) When Gaisman took over Gillette he had the Gillette Goodwill razor(Probak design)come into service for a short few years of production time period. Henry Gaisman had 100's patents for also other products he designed & invented & was a astute business man in American history.
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They make interesting razors. I wish they had a US outlet.
You are probably correct.
Yaqi never rests as they put out some nice product. I am tempted. Strange but I cannot find it on Aliexpress?
- Thread starter
- #8
Odd, the search doesn't pick it up. Here is a direct link. Or just go to the Yaqi factory store and sort by new.
Thank you and Whoa! They are not being shy about pricing for us North American chumps. Makes me want to find a Vintage Gillette Goodwill.
I still ordered one. I can't wait to try out a stainless steel good will knock off.
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Most interesting!! Waiting for some reviews. 
I wonder how they came up with the name Harlequin. Must be the diamond like shapes or something.
Yaqi is in China wonder how consistant their product are, if they actually are quality 100% of the time, or is you gambling buy anything Yaki?
Was at Derby Party with friends and one of the guys there was talking about his company moving production of their products from China to India. Because the Chinese quality control was iffy. v Apparently the new company in Indiabuilding this item is OCD about quality control.
Was at Derby Party with friends and one of the guys there was talking about his company moving production of their products from China to India. Because the Chinese quality control was iffy. v Apparently the new company in Indiabuilding this item is OCD about quality control.
Yaqj seems to be pretty consistent quality wise. Funny thing though, only razor I've ever had to return due to quality issues was from India.
EclipseRedRing
I smell like a Christmas pudding
Chinese companies make exactly what they are paid to make. If they are paid enough money then they are perfectly capable of making products to the highest standard and quality, comparable to any other country in the world. Conversely, if you pay a Chinese company little money to produce a poor quality product, then that is exactly what you will receive.
What's your personal expierence with the working with Chinese companies? Art you trade broker, manufactures representative inbedded in Chinese company?
I will say the Chinese are capable of producing quality products, but I will also add their standard of quality is not the standard of quality in the WEST.
Companies in USA have gone Off - Shore for production of parts, and products for several reasons. Cheap cost to build, higher profit. Eno strict enforcement of enviormental laws, no OSHA to deal with, cheap labor, no trade groups, or uniosn to deal with, and last many American no longer find working in skilled trades or factories attractive.
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Ron R
I survived a lathey foreman
There seems to be a slow shift of manufactures out of China over the last 3 years it seems(Covid related issues is my understanding in transportation and suppliers), but mostly everything we buy now a days is made in China from pots and pans, computers, mobile phones to TV's. The US is bringing home some big name companies for making computer chips of lately. India has some of the brightest minds in computing business because of the large population they can chose from (cream of the crop.). They say in 5 years time almost 1 in 5 computer chips will be made from India(cheaper labour.)
As for razors there might not be enough traditional wet shavers to feed their expectations for growth on high end razors I'm thinking + trade laws & competition is ruthless world wide??
We in Valley of Sun have largest Chip Plant in World under construction now, the facility is monster/. Company from Taiwan is owner.
I have the new Harlequin head along with the harlequin handle, here is my review, for what it's worth.
Here are my thoughts on the new Harlequin. a beautiful Razor from Yaqi.
It’s a tribute to the highly sought after vintage Gillette Goodwill and I must say that the engraving on the head is truly magnificent. However, this stunning specimen is made totally from stainless steel and highly polished, not brass like the original. I can understand why this new razor is named Harlequin, just look at the diamond shapes not only on the top cap but inside the head itself the locator pins are also diamond shaped. The name of the handle is also the Harlequin, no doubt due to the diamond patterns.
I really like the way the blade mounts into the head, diamond cutouts in any standard blade fit perfectly over the diamond shaped pins, and both the top cap and baseplate is milled so that the blade is held very tightly at the edges reducing blade vibration and chatter with no overhang of the blade end tabs. This ‘diamond pin’ design ensures that the blade loads perfectly symmetrically each and every time, with spot on alignment and needing no adjustment.
The geometry seems very similar to my vintage Gillette “Old type” Which I believe the Goodwill was originally based on, though being CNC’D stainless steel both the baseplate and the top cap are a bit thicker, The teeth are about the same length as the old type though the more downward curve of the baseplate make them feel less apparent on the skin.
The blade gap, I am informed is 0.95mm with what feels to me to be positive exposure.
I loaded with a new Wizamet, my current favourite blade, and lathered up with a good thick layer of Tabac soap, my yaqi Casino brush really whips up a great lather.
I did 3 passes though I could have called it after two and the shave itself was comfortable and easy, though highly efficient due to the geometry, it felt very much like my Fatip piccolo o/c with plenty of blade feel so it needs a light touch although it still felt as if I’d been using this razor for months. The Harlequin handle has great grip, even with wet, not soapy hands.
The razor and handle proved to have great balance even though it’s not exactly a lightweight at 102 grams in total, but it was easy to wield and felt quite nimble in use to be honest.
The shave was smooth and VERY close (bbs), with no real irritation (a fact borne out by the use of the Alum block). I wouldn’t say that this is a daily driver, and it wouldn’t need to be after the shave I had with it today! In fact, I’d be surprised if I need a shave tomorrow
Here are my thoughts on the new Harlequin. a beautiful Razor from Yaqi.
It’s a tribute to the highly sought after vintage Gillette Goodwill and I must say that the engraving on the head is truly magnificent. However, this stunning specimen is made totally from stainless steel and highly polished, not brass like the original. I can understand why this new razor is named Harlequin, just look at the diamond shapes not only on the top cap but inside the head itself the locator pins are also diamond shaped. The name of the handle is also the Harlequin, no doubt due to the diamond patterns.
I really like the way the blade mounts into the head, diamond cutouts in any standard blade fit perfectly over the diamond shaped pins, and both the top cap and baseplate is milled so that the blade is held very tightly at the edges reducing blade vibration and chatter with no overhang of the blade end tabs. This ‘diamond pin’ design ensures that the blade loads perfectly symmetrically each and every time, with spot on alignment and needing no adjustment.
The geometry seems very similar to my vintage Gillette “Old type” Which I believe the Goodwill was originally based on, though being CNC’D stainless steel both the baseplate and the top cap are a bit thicker, The teeth are about the same length as the old type though the more downward curve of the baseplate make them feel less apparent on the skin.
The blade gap, I am informed is 0.95mm with what feels to me to be positive exposure.
I loaded with a new Wizamet, my current favourite blade, and lathered up with a good thick layer of Tabac soap, my yaqi Casino brush really whips up a great lather.
I did 3 passes though I could have called it after two and the shave itself was comfortable and easy, though highly efficient due to the geometry, it felt very much like my Fatip piccolo o/c with plenty of blade feel so it needs a light touch although it still felt as if I’d been using this razor for months. The Harlequin handle has great grip, even with wet, not soapy hands.
The razor and handle proved to have great balance even though it’s not exactly a lightweight at 102 grams in total, but it was easy to wield and felt quite nimble in use to be honest.
The shave was smooth and VERY close (bbs), with no real irritation (a fact borne out by the use of the Alum block). I wouldn’t say that this is a daily driver, and it wouldn’t need to be after the shave I had with it today! In fact, I’d be surprised if I need a shave tomorrow
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