If it's a good quality razor, it doesn't matter to me whether its old or new. There are plenty of very good ones out there to choose from. I have a nice group of "new" razors, and regularly use others that are 50, 60, and 70 years old or more. One thing is for sure. If you take good care of them, they will last a lot longer than you will.
Vintage for me - doesn't seem that anything manufactured today compares in quality to the vintage Gillette and GEMs. For those that might it seems the price outweighs the value. A bullet tip Micromatic, 1961 Fatboy and a 1948 Superspeed are my chosen tools (a 1946 Gold Tech may join the rotation if it performs well)
I have a newer Edwin Jagger DE razor which gives and exceptionally smooth shave. I also have a vintage 1940's Gillette that was used by my father. While the EJ gives a better shave, I prefer to shave with the Gillette and can hopefully pass it on to my son someday.
Ive had a few Mercur's, and they're nice. for some reason I like the old stuff. Im a big fan of the Gillette Tech's. This is a good thing for me because there are a lot of them lol. I might feel guilty using a perfect fatboy every day.
I was a vintage fan until I got the Muhle 2013 R41 now that is all I use for now...it may change later who knows
I started out with a '68 Lady Gillette, was PIF'd a Nanjie, bought a MT1, and then bought a Maggard MR6. The Nanjie is a nightmare, the MT1 is a half decent copy of a SS, which I started on. I absolutely love my Lady Gillette, and loved the SS I started out with in the '70s. I also love the MR6. I don't think I could choose. They each shave a bit differently, and I like that about them. They are like different people with different personalities, and that is part of what I like about wetshaving. Different razors(DEs and Straights as well), different soaps and creams, different brushes, heck, even different blades. Don't want to choose, don't plan to anytime soon. I have just begun. Vive la difference!
Vintage Gems! People definitely underestimate these! I have a modern Merkur, and when I drop it (which is every time I use it), I just wait for it to break. And besides vintage razors are somewhat exclusive. You can not just walk into a place and buy one, you have to hunt for what you want, especially the rare ones. You are also recycling razors, (good on the environment) and each one has its own history that comes along with it ( though you don't know most likely what it is).
This is either the 3rd or 4th post in the past week regarding dropped Merkurs. Either the Merkurs are inherently prone to being dropped, or there exist this propagated fear of potential breakage from the choice of material Merkurs uses. This is no indictment of the poster, but there seems to exist on shave forums this sense that Merkur and or other modern "pot metal" (non-brass or stainless) razors are more fragile than a Lalique crystal vase! I've owned Merkurs (and own Muhles), and have yet to drop them—even the oh-so-slippery-when wet Futur. I have dropped a few Gillettes in my years and most times, there was little or no damage—however, some of these vintage razors have suffered bent teeth or worse, the drop resulted in warped or misaligned TTO doors. So I suppose the rule of thumb is: no matter the composition of the DE razor, be careful with it.
Well Gillettes don't really get slippery when wet haha. My cheap Merkur does, but looks well with its chrome finish. I still rather a nickel finish though.
I just want to point out that he's dropped his Merkur numerous times, and it actually has yet to break.
If i didn't buy in july, I'd not be sitting with a 1905 old type right now. grabbed some crazy stuff this weekend
Instead of dropping your Merkur razor so you can have an excuse to buy a new razor, you could send them to me and say you lost them. No questions asked, and I will not tell anyone.
I'm relatively new to this (2 months) and have one of each. I keep switching between my prewar Canadian fat Tech and a Merkur 33C. I haven't decided which I prefer yet as I have gotten great shaves from both of them. I would eventually like to aquire at least a couple more Merkurs (1904/6, 34HD) and a few vintage Gillettes. For now, I'm firmly in the BOTH camp.
I have a 1904, and do use it every so often. I find it very mild for an open comb razor. If you a new to shaving, then its a solid choice for a beginners open comb razor.
Modern razor. I'd be interested in a 1963 L1 in nice condition but honestly have no idea what to even look for or where or what is a reasonable price. At least with a new razor I know what the price should be and what I'm getting...
