So I received the razor within a week, it was shipped from Boldkings warehouse in switzerland. They are based in Holland but seem to have a few european hubs for shipping. It arrived well packaged in bog standard brown outer cardboard box and when opened I was presented with a nice looking inner product box. Below I've used images from the net as I didn't take actual pics on the opening and have thrown away the packaging. My box was identical to the pics here. On opening the product box I was presented with a rubber red sticker with the Boldking logo holding tissue paper together over the contents of the box. Which did actually look cool almost wax seal type.
Inside the box I have 4 blades in their holder, the razor handle, an aftershave cream, a suction holder for the handle and some tips and product info.
I jumped right in and loaded my first blade onto the handle and I have to say it felt rather nice in the hand. The handle is well designed good rubber grip though out, it a good balance along the whole razor, I moved it around my hand getting a feel of the angles, the cutouts and curves do well to allow different grips that I tend to use at different parts of my shave. Not to sure on how strong the blade locking mechanism will be at this point. The blade locates into the handle at the front face as opposed to on top the handle as in most cartridge razors i've tried. There is a thin bit on the blade head that fits into a lil slit in the handle where it clips in.
But that being said as the clip part is actually on the blade head and not on handle as most cartridge razors. If it fails or breaks you change the blade and not the handle so that is a good thing as i've had many a time looking for after market handles to replace my broken ones. So everything else in the box really read. I have to add the suction pad handle holder is a nice touch and for me not just a rubbish gift.
Ok so my thoughts after using the razor for 2 shaves so far.
First shave...
I did my usual pre shave routine. A shower and i'd put some hot water on top of my 1912 palma violet for a little blooming. Hot water soak for my satin tip brush. After shower used some wilko shave oil as a pre shave and did my usual steel cup lather which is then placed into/on top of a mug with hot water in it. It's almost like a bain marie or a diy scuttle, I got the idea from a turkish barber. Anyway I digress lol.
Full 3 pass shave WTG, XTG and ATG the handling was as expected good. I got audible sound on stokes from the blades on my hairs which surprised for a modern cartridge. I have to admit to liking that. There is nice air space between the blades which makes for easy cleaning between passes making it non clog, during the first pass I felt what I thought was pulling and didn't over do pressure as I was scared of irritation and so I was only ultimately blessed with DFS. However with some ruff spots in the usual hard to reach places. But ultimately actually happy to find I had no weepers and no cuts, alum block gave no real sting. I have to say this was a different shave, very good in getting up close to the lines on my chin strap beard. As the first blade is right at the top of cartridge head it is very precise, if you know the Wilkinson sword hydro 5 the way the moisture bar flips back to give you a clean top. Well just imagine no moisture bar to get in the way all the time. I found it is very nimble in how it moves around my face mostly due to the handle. It wasn't as I had hoped, but i did enjoy this shave. I can't say that for all razor's i've tried in the past many DE's included. I had a think and I wanted to see if this was just a poor razor, mostly I guess due to the blades not being as sharp as the pro glide which i'm used to or that it was my first shave and it had a learning curve. I was thinking I might have also been over cautious with the new blade and not allowed it to really shave me. It's very difficult to gauge a light cartridge razor and this is far lighter than mac3 or pro glide and i feel needed to have applied a little more pressure as the weight would hardly be doing the cutting for me. So I may be wrong but I think i have worked out where I went wrong. As the cartridge head flex's across each blade and pivots from the centre. Not like my mac3 or pro glide as they pivot from the bottom of the cartridge head. And its different from my sensor as the flex replaces the sprung blades. So I felt I own it to the razor to see if I can learn another way to shave better suited to it. I wanted to make use of the razors function and form and movement. ... to be continued lol. I will update with my second shave and my finally thoughts and pros and cons later.