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SOTD WEDNESDAY MORNING, MAY 18, 2022
This morning I shaved with the first LeCoultre replaceable blade Frameback I acquired. These razors have been mistakenly identified as French. They are actually Swiss, but from the French as opposed to the German part of Switzerland. The LeCoultre family, originally French, settled in Sentier, Switzerland in 1593. Their blacksmithing business got started about a century and a half later by Abraham Joseph I, born in 1711.
His grandson, Jacques, a blacksmith, along with his great grandson, Antoinne, a watchmaker started the replaceable blade straight razor business around 1830. Their unique contribution emerged out of their blacksmithing expertise, allowing for the consistent manufacture of very hard (Rockwell 64), replaceable, tempered steel blades for their razors. By the 1860’s the razors were marketed as luxury items with “blades only requiring sharpening every 10 years”, and were sold in jewelry and very high end cutlery merchants.
Honing them, as a result, turns out not to be a trivial endeavor. This first LeCoultre razor arrived shave ready, requiring only touchups. Honing my second LeCoultre after receiving sage honemeister guidance reminded me of my Klas Tornblom. Setting the bevel on that razor required almost twice the effort as a Sheffield or Solingen steel blade on my 1k Chosera. The resulting edge though was delightfully sharp and buttery smooth. Three slow pleasant mug passes with this first razor put the baby to bed, leaving yours truly velveteen smooth.
Adjustable safety razors, as it turns out are pretty much wasted on me. When I first acquired my Rex Ambassador three years ago, it had some issues. Fortunately, Matt Pisarcik truly does stand by his razors, and remedied the initial issues on his dime thanks to the generous guarantee that comes with every Rex razor. I realized early on in its use that I prefer shaving my dome with it wide open. It is without doubt one of my most efficient safety razors. The two pass ATG noggin shave following my mug endeavor left me velveteen smooth from noggin to neck.
RAZOR: LeCoultre Frameback with No. 2 blade (Mug), Rex Ambassador (Dome)
BLADE: Feather DE (Dome)
PREP: Cold water rinse followed by a heavy scrub with Argan Oil
BRUSH: Alpha Shaving T400 with 26mm Silvertip Badger Ferrule
SOAP: Mitchell’s Wool Fat
POSTSHAVE: Cold water wash with brush squeezings followed by a rinse with Humphreys WH. Finished with Canoe Original EdT AS Splash.
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