Maestro Livi Brush

[LeeMaz]

I’ve been surfing the BST and eBay and found a lovely little brush I’m tempted to buy, but have very little information on the maker or if it’s worth it. It’s going for £55 and is a Maestro Livi.
The handle is 65mm and is inlaid with semi-precious stones in green white and red representing the colour of the Italian flag.
The brush head has a 55mm loft of soft silver tip badger hair.
No other details but I’ve found very little on the maker. A few razors on the SOTD but that’s it. There’s a Facebook group but I don’t use it to find out more.
Any help or advise on the likely quality appreciated!

 

[Crossan]

Think this fella came up when I was looking at marfin handles. I think it might be Mastro Livi, think he's mainly known for straight Razors but released 'club' brushes. Unless it's definitely maestro then I'm taking rubbish. I'll be back after some Google stalking...

 

[Crossan]

Wow quicker than I thought, looks like 2017 club brush, if it isn't that looks bloomin similar


As to quality, sorry can't help there but seems solid enough based on skipping through the vid.

 

[UKRob]

Livi was at one stage a very well regarded maker of straight razors and had a thriving custom made operation that extended to brushes and strops. If you google Maestro Livi you will find pictures of his razors - but all signs of his website appear to have been erased. I once asked the shaving community if anyone knew what had happened but didn’t get very far. I’m aware that there were questions about ongoing quality issues towards the end - I had to return a razor because the scales were not up to scratch and even then he insisted on additional payment In part.

I can’t help with any knowledge of his brushes - but if you use the search engine in this forum you should get lots of hits.

There are loads of videos on YouTube including one on the brush above

 

[Crossan]

If you google Maestro Livi you will find pictures of his razors - but all signs of his website appear to have been erased.

Rasoio Grifo in acciaio inox e olivo - Coltellerie Livi

Rasoi a mano libera di Mastro Livi, vengono preventivamente controllati dallo stesso Mastro Livi, per poi essere consegnati all'acquirente già pronti all'uso e non necessitano di nessun tipo di affilatura. Qualora venisse effettuata qualsiasi tipo di manomissione, per mezzo di pietre o paste...

www.coltellerielivi.com

Edit: Thought that might have been it, found it through multiple links but might not be right

 

[LeeMaz]

Rasoio Grifo in acciaio inox e olivo - Coltellerie Livi

Rasoi a mano libera di Mastro Livi, vengono preventivamente controllati dallo stesso Mastro Livi, per poi essere consegnati all'acquirente già pronti all'uso e non necessitano di nessun tipo di affilatura. Qualora venisse effettuata qualsiasi tipo di manomissione, per mezzo di pietre o paste...

www.coltellerielivi.com

Edit: Thought that might have been it, found it through multiple links but might not be right

Thanks Marc that’s the exact same one! The website does indeed look to be his too. @UKRob I saw lots of his straights but not many brushes but it makes sense if he was mainly a razor maker. Luckily my parents are Italian so I could understand a fair bit of the video, (Google/YouTube subtitles are only part correct). Looking at his prices it may be a bit of a bargain!
As for him trying to charge extra to fix the scales, as someone who’s British/Italian and has family over there I’m not surprised! The business etiquette for such things in Italy are very different to over here! Everything requires a barter, or is an opportunity to try to make a little more cash if possible! Hopefully he sorted it for you eventually!

 

[UKRob]

@LeeMaz @Crossan - this is a different site to the one I ordered from many years ago and appears to be his son’s. This is a personal opinion but I think his razors were both over-hyped and over priced - the quality of mine which cost in excess of €500 was not as good as I thought it would be. Unfortunately, because it was bought for me as a present, I decided not to pursue the other issues once the scale problem was settled. This period coincided with growing criticism in the straight razor community - so it’s not just sour grapes on my part.

Another personal opinion, but maybe his business was a victim of its own success - especially during a period when interest in straight razors was at its peak - by taking on too many custom orders with a consequent drop in quality control.