Zafirro: The Sapphire Blade Razor Back on Kickstarter

Len

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Several years ago, this razor was originally produced in the super rare and hard metal, iridium, and sold for $100,000. It won many renowned design awards, was featured in some of the world's largest publications, gaining international attention.

At that time, producing synthetic sapphire blades was super expensive, so they embraced the cost, making it out of one of the rarest and hardest metals on the planet, selling it to the super rich.

Manufacture of synthetic sapphire has since come down tremendously, thanks to its use in products such as the iPhone. Sapphire is the third hardest substance known to exist, only behind diamonds and moissanite. Due to its extreme hardness, blades can apparently last anywhere from 6 months to 4 years. The cutting edge is also much sharper and uniform than anything possibly made from steel, with the thinness of the cutting edge being at the molecular level.

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Late last year, Zafirro first attempted to bring this razor to the mass market via Kickstarter. They had some problems with outside private investment firms, and subsequently cancelled their campaign, not taking any monies pledged from their backers. They promised to return, and here they are:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zafirro/zafirro-sapphire-blade-razor/

If they come to market, this razor should retail in the $250 range, with replacement blades under $39. Kickstarter backers will pay approximately $100, depending on the reward level. Delivery of the razor should be by December this year.

A few comments:

Unlike other Kickstarter ventures and their ilk, I am not worried about Zafirro's ability to make this razor if the funding is completed. They have done it before successfully, with more difficult materials and with sapphire technology much less advanced than it is today.

While disappointed with their first Kickstarter venture, I was impressed with their foresight and integrity in cancelling the campaign when they realized they couldn't do it with the amount of pledged funds. In other words, they never took anyone's money, trying to wing it on a shoe string. This adds a level of trust, for me.

What might disappoint some here, is that this is a 2 bladed cartridge razor, and moreover has a pivoting head. I will remind doubters that pivots do work, adding a level of safety and forgiveness that easily rides around the contours of the face. Anyone who's tried a OneBlade is aware of the pivot's effectiveness. I can't say that I'm happy about the cartridge component, but with the blades made of sapphire, I suspect it will shave differently than any cart ever made.

I took a punt on pledging for this razor because I love innovative technology, and this is potentially the first truly radical shaving innovation in many decades. This razor has the possibility of changing shaving as we know it, with a sharper, harder blade in build quality that can last generations, and that having just handful of spare replacement blades will be enough to shave the rest of your life. At $100, this is too cheap to ignore, considering what they will eventually sell at. And, it is one of the most stunningly beautiful razors ever made!
 
Interesting - are the blades 100% sapphire or just the cutting edge ? Assuming they are mounted in plastic, I'd have doubts on the longevity of the plastic. Most worryingly though is this is a two blade design - clogging could be an issue - why, if it's the sharpest blade on the planet - would you need two in the cartridge ?

Having said all that, I may take a punt on this (bear in mind it's $119 for UK backers). Retail is looking like $250, at worst I'm sure i could get my money back if its a face shredder.
 
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The whole blade is sapphire, not just the cutting edge. I'm not sure if the cartridge containing the blades is metal or plastic, but even if it were plastic, the head is disposable with the blades when you replace the cart. The rest of the razor I believe is stainless steel.
 
The whole blade is sapphire, not just the cutting edge. I'm not sure if the cartridge containing the blades is metal or plastic, but even if it were plastic, the head is disposable with the blades when you replace the cart. The rest of the razor I believe is stainless steel.
With Kickstarter - do you know when the money is actually taken ? At the current exchange rate $120 is around £91, which is pretty poor. Hoping the money is taken once the GBP has recovered substantially !
Replacement carts $39 (around £30 at todays rate)
 
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With Kickstarter - do you know when the money is actually taken ? At the current exchange rate $120 is around £91, which is pretty poor. Hoping the money is taken once the GBP has recovered substantially !
Replacement carts $39 (around £30 at todays rate)

If the campaign reaches its funding goal of $1,000,000 by August 10, your money would be taken on that date (August 10). And you can change or cancel your pledge before that date. No monies are taken if they do not reach their funding goal.
 
I like the design and concept and the people behind it seems as credible as they get on kickstarter so I'm rather tempted to support this.
I asked the owners why they chose a 2 blade design, they replied the following...
Hi Mark,

Thanks for the note. In our testing, two blades made a significant difference in terms of cutting down the number of passes it took to get a great shave. However, adding more than that (3, 4 or 5) didn't seem to make a huge difference.

I'd prefer for many reason to just have one blade, but unfortunately two seems to be significantly better.

Thanks,

Hayden
 
Same here - however was reading the 'reward' - it says $150 off retail of a new razor - if they decide to sell for $100k like their last razor - not sure I'll take that offer up ! When signing up I assumed we would get a razor for out troubles...
 
Same here - however was reading the 'reward' - it says $150 off retail of a new razor - if they decide to sell for $100k like their last razor - not sure I'll take that offer up ! When signing up I assumed we would get a razor for out troubles...

I believe retail is set to be $250 so your $99 is "$150 off retail"
 
Last I saw (they are constantly updating the kickstarter page) it's $199 on their own website...which is a little odd as later pledges are $199 and you get $50 off retail....

http://www.zafirro.com/

When they first did Kickstarter, the Kickstarter pledge was $199, saying that was $50 off retail, so they may have not updated this on their website. Either way, it looks like retail will be between $199-$250, depending upon how much demand there is for the razor, because the more bulk there is to make, the cheaper it will be for them to produce.

But it seems like a win-win for Kickstarter backers, because even if you don't like the razor, you should definitely get your money back, or more, by selling it on eBay. And if you do like it, you got a great deal off the retail price.
 
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