What in your opinion are the qualities of an excellent razor and do they exist?

For me, it's a combination of the razor being nicely balanced (I like aluminium, zamak and stainless razors), good grip and smoothly efficient. Nearly every one of my razors offers this. I'm under no illusion that any new razor is going to be any better than those I already have but I've enjoyed adding them to my collection.
 
For those of you saying that the AS-D2 is the bomb, I need some advice.

I am contemplating a new razor and am trying to decide between the AS-D2 and the Timeless 0.68 safety bar.
Any comments?

For me, the AS-D2 takes just too much concentration and time to use. It's beautifully made and handles well, but you need to keep the angle just right for it to work best, even with a Feather or Kai blade, and I'm afraid I tend to lose patience trying to do that. The Timeless 0.68 doesn't need to be used with quite the same degree of precision and so gives me a better and more enjoyable shave.
 
Edwin Jagger Kelvin, about £15 on Amazon?

I haven't tried one myself but the closed comb Edwin Jagger head seems to be one of the most popular razors for beginners. If the criteria are smooth, easy & cheap it could be hard to beat.
 
The perfect razor for me; not sure I'm there yet - the factors I look for:

1. Solid blade alignment.
2. Easy angle - I love the Pils bit for me it has a very narrow range on the optimal cutting angle.
3. Smooth and comfortable shave.
4. Fun factor.
5. Asthetics - Murry Walker used to say a good looking F1 car was always fast and a winner.

The Colonial Silversmith is a good DE razor for me, along with the Feather AS-D2, with the Hone 15 getting honourable mentions.
 
For those of you saying that the AS-D2 is the bomb, I need some advice.

I am contemplating a new razor and am trying to decide between the AS-D2 and the Timeless 0.68 safety bar.
Any comments?

The Timeless .68 is superior in every way. The only way it wouldn't be would be if you really really needed an ultra mild razor, which the AS-D2 is.
 
I would say that the word "excellent" could be attached to a good number of razors from Gillette. Later into their production, the Tech for example cheapened in terms of production and/or materials, but remained a consistent quality and remained a very good razor. From the 1940s and 1950s, the Tech was indeed an excellent razor, as was it's predecessor (the "New") from the 1930s.

Yes, it certainly exists for me: quality materials, consistent quality of control, good shave can be achieved in a single pass, excellent in more; neither too harsh or too strong, cost was acceptable when new and absolutely acceptable today.

In many respects, Gillette is the McDonalds of shaving. Love 'em or hate 'em, they invest millions into R&D to produce a product that is capable of the job and good for the vast majority of people, crossing geographical, political and cultural lines, neither offending nor disappointing.

So, yes, the Gillette Tech - flat bottom 1940s, British Made.

... but for "truly excellent" you have to look over to the sibling forum (Shaving Tackle > SE Razors) for talk of a razor called the 1912.
 
Sure I've said this before, but many years ago (12?) we were all enthusing about Weber razors, stainless steel razor ( almost unknown back then) made in the states. You had to order them directly from him. Compared to the early feather, Ikon and ATT stainless razors these were astonishing. A half to a third of the price but simply superb. I still have my polished finish example and it still impresses me.
It's one of those razors that is undemanding to use but gives an unnaturally simple and close shave without any drama.

Sadly he finished production, I believe because he couldn't find suppliers capable of accurately casting Stainless to his exacting standards. I believe he still makes Bulldog handles which are really nice and much copied.

Once they became unobtainable their value went into orbit and they were selling (even on here) for far more than the new price. I won't sell mine, ever.

Do any of the longer term members on here remember them- or indeed still use one?
 
The qualities I'd look for a) able to deliver a smooth trouble free shave with each shave b) easy to learn how to use and c) not so expensive as to be out of reach for most folks. Ive not yet found the perfect razor.
Both the EJDE89 and Merkur 34 tick all of these boxes as far as I'm concerned. I've tried many other razors but none meet all my requirements (which are precisely those @Burnsy set out) in the same way that these two razors do. So much so that rather than buy any different razors (other than a Leaf and a vintage Tech both of which I bought recently) I've now started to just get different handles for my DE89 heads and different variants of the Merkur 34.
 
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