Whats the highest price you have paid for a shaving item? it can be anything or even list razor,brush,scuttle or soap/creams was it/they worth it? And on the flip side what was you bargin buy?
For me my most expensive item so far is a gold merkur futur in gold £30.00 although i will be buying a scuttle when i get home from holiday, from roberts feats of clay. must decide on colour yet i know it will cost about £50.00 ish inc postage but better than my other options in the uk.
Erm $201.... was it worth it, yes and no. Since I have been wet shaving I always wanted a CH2 Super, now that I have it yes its my favorite brush and nothing can compare, yet at the same time I still feel guilty about buying it. Simpsons Super and the world "Value" don't go hand in hand. Cheapest, does free count?!
hmmm does free count, i will say no only because my brush (taylors old bond street) and some soaps where free and thats the only reason i didnt mention them. I think i saw your pics of the new brush (did u post about it?) did look good i will invest in something special in good time, i dont mind paying high price's if it does what it say's and what i want.
Indeed, take your time and find that one item you really want. Yeah, I did post my brush in this thread actually. Ok since free doesn't count, best bargain would have to go with Arko shavestick.
Least - Fatboy (excellent condition) in case with instructions - $2. Most - a custom str8 from Glen or a custom brush from Elite Razor - both were somewhere around the $80-85 range.
I guess my most expensive piece is my rare Gillette 195 Adjustable, aka bottom-dial Fat Boy. I'll just say it was well North of $600.00 but it came with the original case which is even rarer than the razor itself. The best "deal" I've gotten so far is probably my Darwin Deluxe. These sell for minimum $200.00 and I got mine for $80.00 by contacting an eBay seller and asking if they had one. He had sold one on eBay for $200-something and I sent him a message asking if he had another he'd be listing. He replied yes but that I could have it for $80.00 via PayPal instead of him listing it on eBay. Sometimes, you just got to ask. The law of averaging comes into effect quite a bit in wet shaving, especially if you're a collector and a shaver. You may pay a lot for one razor but get another that's worth a lot, at a low price - and vice versa.
That would be $52.40 for a Kampfe Lather Catcher in the case. It's a style that came out in 1902, but was still being made in 1919, and the case would put it at the later date, probably. Takes either wedge blades or modern SE blades. It would have come with a wedge blade originally, but that was missing, and I've only tried it with disposable blades. Was it worth it? Hesitant yes. Haven't been able to get a good shave with it yet, but I do like owning it, and maybe I'll eventually get the hang of shaving with it. Best deal would be harder to say, since it's not necessarily just the cheapest. By buying razors in lots, I've gotten decent shaveworthy vintage razors for less than $3 each, but they're not necessarily my favorites. Probably it would be the $9.13 I paid for a Gem Junior Bar. It's my favorite SE razor, and although I wouldn't commit to what the going rate should be, I haven't seen another one go for less than $30.
The most I have spent on anything, was my Simpson Chubby 2 in best. With a T&H sampler pack of creams, it was about $115 shipped after the forum discount code. Am I happy with it, yes, it's by far my favorite badger brush. It has definitely ruined the rest of my badger brushes for me to the point that I might have to sell them off. Would I spend it again if I had to replace it? Not this week. I have really been enjoying my $9 Omega 49 Professional. The cheapest razor I picked up isn't my best deal as I am not overly fond of it. I found an auction on the bay with 2 minutes left and got a near mint in cardboard shipper Gem Junior 1912 for $1.24 plus $2 shipping. My best deal would either be a near mint pair of OC MicroMatics for $10 or my 1902? Gem Junior Bar for $16.95 at a local antique shop. I have no idea how to actually date the Junior Bar.
Most I've spent - $70 on T&H 1805 Cologne. Worth it? Yes, considering I've used about 40% of the bottle in almost two years and I love the scent. Scents wear different on different people and this one just works extremely well with my body chemistry. Best bargain - the $6 President I found at the local antique store in a bin with mostly Techs, Super Speeds, and Micromatics. I bought a few others for the same price, but this was clearly the biggest bargain. Traded two razors I picked up that day for a Parker 51 fountain pen that absolutely love and would never have paid the going price to acquire.
Good price. I'm having my doubts about giving Waits Compendium as an absolute authority, but it's all I have. The Junior Bar has 1900 and 1901 patent dates on it, but he says it was advertised around 1907. No idea when they stopped making it. It would be reasonable to guess that it was discontinued when the 1912 came out, but that's just a guess.
Thanks Slivovitz. It's not the prettiest, but it is a nice, but mild shaver. It has the 1900 1901 patent on it near where the handle attaches. That sounds logical that it was discontinued when the 1912 came about. I enjoy using it, but I have to say that the OCMM is definitely my SE of choice and quickly becoming my overall favorite.
some good replies there, and some dam good finds ie the fatboy and the darwin, I really like the look of the darwin 'I AM THE JODY' told me its also very good shave, so im gonna have to get one if i find one i know the price but i'll still get one. I got some cheap creams (polish ones) as im on holiday in poland only 70p-£1 each and only tried one the LIDER classic and i got some good shave's will post pics of em when i get home later this week.
Most-my W&B resto by Glen, I think it was $65 best value-$2 I paid for a gold Aristocrat that I found on a table full of junk at an antique fair. I bought it with the intent of gifting it to my Dad and he loves it. I used it once too, just to say I used a 'crat, but then passed it along. Excellent value and a beautiful razor. I also got a Schick Eversharp G2 Schick 66 for $5....pretty proud of that one too. EDIT: 8/24/2011 I forgot to mention that I got gifted a relatively rare Gillette pocket razor in the floral pattern, with the case and several original blades. It cost me nothing though, so I didn't take it into account. And also, I have an EJ silvertip in gery faux horn that was $180 but on sale for $120. This is technically my most expensive purchase.
Most I have spent on a single shave item: $35 for my first Fatboy Best Deal: Near mint cased Diplomat for $12, or my second Fatboy for $7 Although, most of my razors have been purchased between $6-12. Those are prob. two of my better buys.
I have far too much shave "stuff" that works great, and I've spent very little for it. The most expensive purchase would be a used Rooney 3/1 Super Silvertip. Yes, it's worth it, it's a fantastic brush. But that doesn't mean I couldn't live w/o it. I like and use boars that are significantly less expensive. So too my Simpson Special best and pure face latherers, inexpensive, but work great. My bargain buys are, hands down, my vintage razors. They are made up to a standard that the average razor today can't hope to match, the really old SE razors are included in that as well. Just fantastic razors at any price, yet they give a fantastic shave. A bulk purchase of Arko has to be tied for quality/value with the vintage razors though. It works great and is unbelievebly inexpensive bought in bulk. The free stuff (PIFs), well a free 40's Gold Tech, Eveready 1914, or GEM Damaskeene is, well, there's no way to compare (see above paragraph). I began the latest bout of blade shaving (this time successful) with 4 what I consider free razors. All good shavers BTW. The few razors I've bought have been inexpensive and good shavers. BTW, the newer razors that are built up to a standard, not down to a price, are expensive. Are they good? Sure? Are they worth it? Maybe. There is value in ownership and as an heirloom you bought new. There are also expensive soaps, are they worth it? Maybe. You need to decide for yourself. I think a great aftershave is worth far more than a great soap that will get washed off after the shave and will be of no account to the face for the rest of the day. YMMV.
Nothing crazy, I think the highest dollar amount I've paid for shave gear was $60 for a lot of 10 razors. There were 3 adjustables and a couple SS etc...in the end it comes out to about $6 per razor though so I guess it was actually a pretty good deal. Cheapest are my first 2 ebay buys - 1) A Wilbert Straight, a ball end tech and a 40's style SS among other assorted things, the lot for $2.54, and 2) Wade & Butcher Straight for $1.04 in very decent shape (does need a hone though). Not to worry, there's still time...
