The Magnificent Seven

Discussion in 'The Brush' started by Zach, Oct 27, 2009.

  1. Zach

    Zach New Member

    [​IMG]
    left to right: 1305, 620, 1250, 2000, 1800, 1520, 1470

    I passed on the 1460 to be frugal. ;)

    It's really hard to review these brushes because you want to use them all, right away, but it literally doesn't 'work' that way; you need to use one for a couple of weeks. I'm going to go with the 1250 first, I think. The no-sketch version of the 1305 with the Portuguese oak handle just like the 2015.

    What a friend to our hobby Sr. Leon is!
     
  2. Teiste

    Teiste New Member

    Leon and Mr Gomes whos making really good brushes!and stay tuned for the next ones to come my friend!
    Looking forward to read your reviews!
     
  3. Manos

    Manos Member

    Zach, did you order a 1470 as one of your seven brushes from Semogue? It's listed at Vintage Scent as a beech handle, but the photos show a darker wood than the other beech handle model, the 1800. Is it really darker?

    I'm very interested to read your reviews. I should be receiving my model 1520 in a few days, and would like to order a wood finish handle next.
     
  4. Zach

    Zach New Member

    Manos is an interesting name; Υπάρχει μια πιθανότητα που είστε Έλληνας;

    Sadly I had been linking directly to the postimage.org images to keep the ads away and they seem not to like that any more; I did show them all lined up in a row; I will re-post the image tonight when I get home. To answer your question, though, yes, it is darker and a very handsome brush, I like the look of it a lot. It also shows less grain than the oak handled 1800 (the 1800 is NOT beech it's Portuguese oak, I'll send Leon a note).

    all the best,

    Zach
     
  5. Manos

    Manos Member

    Σας ευχαριστούμε, Zach, for clearing up the beech/oak question. Your single photo of all the new brushes will be useful to discern differences in the wood finishes. If it helps, I've used Tinypic to post photos with excellent results.
     
  6. Zach

    Zach New Member

  7. Zach

    Zach New Member

    Image fixed!
     
  8. Manos

    Manos Member

    Thanks for the photo, Zach, and for the informative bit of Greek history. (I knew of the holiday, but not the full significance.)

    I'm glad you chose to start with the 1250 brush. I'm curious about that one because it seems quite different from the 1520 I am patiently waiting for. I also like the rich color of the 1470's beech wood handle. Since the 2000 is also beech, I'm assuming the 1470 has a stain or varnish applied to make it darker.
     
  9. JimR

    JimR Active Member

    Gorgeous! What a pic...I envy you my friend.
     
  10. Baloosh

    Baloosh Duder

    Great pic Zach! From left to right, what are the model numbers in that pic?
     
  11. swarden43

    swarden43 "It's your shave. Enjoy it your way."©

    WOW! Ab-so-lute-ly beautiful, Zach. :love008



    **SIGH**
    (as I sit, waiting for my 2000 to arrive...)
     
  12. Zach

    Zach New Member

    good point, I just added them to the pic; thanks Jason

    Manos, yes, I would say it's been stained or that the 2000 is not beech, not sure; I'll take a closeup of the 2 for you so you can see the grains
     
  13. glassmtn

    glassmtn Member

    Wowa.

    eric.
     
  14. crackstar

    crackstar Israeli Ambassador to TSD

    Zito Elladha-Zito i panastasi-Zito ikosipende martiou! Zito Eleftheria! Zach, did you know that Thessaloniki is my 2nd home? Before to move to Canada, we lived there a few years, when we left Israel.
     
  15. Jackliquor

    Jackliquor New Member

    Would this be an appropriate place to ask what might be to many people an obvious pre-novice question -- what is the difference between boar and banded boar? Could it be that black band on a few of our respective models? If yes, from what I have understood, they are merely cosmetic to give it a badger look?

    If I can go further, is it entirely possible that plain white boar bristles are a tad more soft on the skin? I think I have completely broken in my Semogue 1800 however, my Omega 10066 a little bit more kind and soft to my skin.

    Am I wrong?
    Andy
     
  16. fozz77

    fozz77 New Member

    Jack,

    the semogues do seem to have "stiffer" bristles. However once broken in the tips a very soft but the stiffness remains lower down the bristle.

    Zach,

    Perhaps a little early to tell...but here goes anyway, how do you find the 620 & 1470? Does the 1470 have the same bristles as the 2000? only with a shorter loft??

    Fozz
     
  17. Zach

    Zach New Member

    Sorry for the lack of a reply here; I will take some pics for Manos today.

    Jeff, I did not know that; you're quite well travelled; I have family way up north there, but when we'd visit we would not visit because back then it was a long drive. Seems wrong to me now; I have hence never visited Thessaloniki.

    Andy, with the Omega line of brushes, the banded boar was first bleached a lighter color and then sketched; the bleaching process would make the bristle softer than the unbleached bristle. The unbleached bristle would have a yellow color to it and would not look like badger if they just striped it. Some people think it's psychological, but I do agree with those who believe that the bleached lofts are somewhat softer. The Semogue brushes have a shorter loft / smaller knot combo in the brushes that are sketched, so it would be a lot harder to tell the difference.

    Fozz, the bristles do look as little bit finer right now, but that might be because they are newish and not broken in. I would imagine that they'll likely be the same bristle just less and cut shorter.

    I've had 3 shaves with the 1250 and it's a really nice brush.
    It has a 22mm knot, and a 55mm loft, so this is a medium sized brush, identical in size and shape t the 1305.

    It was not stinky at all, gave a great scrub and as it's new held out enough soap for 2 passes.

    The 1800 is the same as this brush, but with a sketch; so between the 1305, 1250, and 1800, it's basically aesthetics that should drive your decision.

    The 620 and the 1520 shave identically; I like the feel of the faceted handle in the 620 but the 1520 works, too, so it's basically aesthetics here as well.
     
  18. fozz77

    fozz77 New Member

    Thank you for that Zach.
     
  19. Zach

    Zach New Member

    The 2000 and the 1470 are made of the same wood, upon closer inspection.
    Beechwood.
    The 2000 has a natural stain and a heavy lacquer; the 1470 has a dark stain and appears just to be polished.

    [​IMG]
     
  20. Manos

    Manos Member

    That is exactly what I was curious about, Zach. Thank you for your observations and that nice photo showing the grain of each brush. Those are beautiful handles.

    I got my model 1520 today (ordered 10/18, shipped 10/22, arrived 11/3), along with a La Toja shaving stick. The brush is nicely weighted, and has no animal smell at all. It held a hint of the shaving stick scent, actually. I will give the brush a good shampooing tomorrow. Interestingly, the Semogue logo is missing from my brush. Only the Excelsior decal is affixed.

    I'll post a photo tomorrow.
     

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