German products

rangers62

rangers62

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Brethern
Our Germanic friends are known, rightly, for the quality of their manufacturing. German razors / steel, is well regarded the world over, as is their automobiles.For example, Tabac shaving soap is generally regarded as the benchmark. So! which brings me to my point;
German razors good. German razor blades pish!
How can this be?
Discuss please.
Regards
 
I'm wondering if they're actually not German-made, but made elsewhere and shipped as a work-in-progress to Germany for packaging (like Oral B dental floss is made in Ireland for the world market - but is shipped as WIP to Mexico for packaging etc for the NAFTA market and bears no manufacturing provenance in North America - only packaging)
 
That would make sense.
Maybe they don't know their blades are mince?
When you buy a Merkur razor they include a "free blade" I bought my Futur in the States and the guy threw in a couple of packs of blades stating " Well they are German, bound to be good" He was a Mach 3 guy. Obviously ;)

Regards
 
Oddly enough, I've just ordered a Merkur 23C, to add to the collection, today! I'm expecting a nice, light and long handled quality piece of kit. Sales points come in handy sometimes. Review to follow in a couple of weeks. I simply adore Merkur razors, me!

I digress.

The excellent Palmolive (and Wilkinson?) soap stick is also made in Germany as is the equally good Nivea aftershave balm but getting the actual Nivea shaing cream in the UK is a bit of a task. I emailed Nivea some weeks ago and got the corporate brush-off about market demand (horses for courses) etc. I actually was made to feel guilty that I'd asked for help, at the end of the exchange. Strange sales approach, I suppose; still they are a big company, they must know what they are doing. Surely. :?

BS
 
hunnymonster said:
I'm wondering if they're actually not German-made, but made elsewhere and shipped as a work-in-progress to Germany for packaging (like Oral B dental floss is made in Ireland for the world market - but is shipped as WIP to Mexico for packaging etc for the NAFTA market and bears no manufacturing provenance in North America - only packaging)
Click to expand...

That makes sense. So the 'German' Wilkinsons would just be brought in from the UK? ;)
 
I know that German steel and the Solingen brand enjoy a high reputation, but speaking with my cabinetmaker's hat on, German tools tend to have the best finish, but the steel itself is inferior. The good stuff is older Sheffield cast steel (with a high carbon content and few "improving" additives), and Japanese. British Wilkinsons and Feathers are among my favourite blades, Merkurs and German Wilks we all know about, so the same seems to hold true, assuming that the latter are indeed from Germany. I'd like to know how modern Dovo razors compare to older English ones, come to that.
 
Interestingly I saw some NOS stock american wilkinson sword blades and on the front ofthe packaging it had, Made in England Packaged in America.

They are stil on the bay US i think.

oddly enough I dont understand why murker blades are so bad the german made wilkinsons are no match to most blades but certainly not the worst either.
 
I've also noticed Souplex blades made in Solingen but never tried them. Maybe the source of Merkurs and Wilks?

Also Rotbart made in Berlin but now part of Gillette and out of production?
 
Arrowhead said:
I know that German steel and the Solingen brand enjoy a high reputation, but speaking with my cabinetmaker's hat on, German tools tend to have the best finish, but the steel itself is inferior.
Click to expand...

Well, actually some German steels are still pretty much OK, especially knife grades. Apart from that, US and Japanese steels are good, as are the Swedish Sandvik grades.

For tools, I prefer UK turning chisels over German ones big time.

Henk
 
Do we have a list of highly rated German shave software?

I will be heading over for some Weihnachtsmarkt action later in the year and may take an empty bag with me :hungrig
 
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