First, welcome to the Den. Be sure to sign up for our October Newbie Give-Away. Unfortunately you may not hear back from Jake; it's been a while since he's been around. His last post was over a year ago.
I've always heard that the Darwin's are on the aggresive side. That is why I've never tried to get one. They are good looking razors though.
Oh Ive tried to get one several time and when £255 is your bid and you dont win not so good lol, that was in the last 18 months I have kinda given up with the idea as the prices are just getting higher, Plus if you add up my DE's and straights I must have 40+ and the GF may kill me if I spend that on one when I have soooo many razors lol
I shave daily with ATT Titan H1 with Wilkinson Sword blade, and that is an aggressive setup... Occasionally, I would pull out my Darwin Standard, load it with the same blade and get a closest shave in months... I don't think it's nearly as aggressive as the ATT, but it lets you get much closer shave then Titan. I never cut myself with the Darwin, with the Titan I get occasional whipper... Every time I shave with the Darwin, I thank God for letting me be the owner of this instrument! It's a pleasure shaving with this marvel of per-WWII engineering.... If I could only get my hands on a Delux model, I wouldn't buy any other razor in my life... Why don't I try to do a comparison... ATT Titan H1 vs. Darwin Standard both using Wilkinson Sword blades... At 81 grams, Darwin weighs only a half of the Titan, it feels as if you are holding a plastic razor. But you know that this is a marvel. It retains heat and has that unmistakable sleekness of the stainless steel. When I shave with the Titan, I have to hold it by the tail of the handle as not to accidentally give it extra pressure; knowing that I will surely cut myself if I give it a bit of pressure. With Darwin I don't have to worry about this, it's a very forgiving razor; just hold it naturally... Shaving itself: Shaving with the Titan you have an unmistakable audible feedback, with the Darwin, I don't get that same feedback. But each stroke with the Darwin does remove more bristle then does the Titan. With the darwin I always get done in 3 passes ( with the grain, 90 degrees, and against), Titan always leaves me with the cleanup job at the jaw line and the cheek bones. Don't get me wrong, I love my Titan, it's my daily go to razor. But when I want a treat..., I know that my Darwin is always waiting for me... These are my Titan and Darwin side by side...
Which begs the question -- as long as you have the means, why wouldn't you want to treat yourself every day???
When I use the Darwin, it's the ritual... Everything must be done right, I don't wants to cut corners..., and that takes time... Now, imagine me at 4:30 in the morning getting out of bed to get to work by 6...., I want to be done as fast as I can, no time for rituals. And that, my friend, is the reason I don't use it every day; I wish I had the time to do it every day.... Sigh....
Nice presentation Jake and the fit of the top and connecting posts are excellent. There are pictures of the center screw sticking out of the cap by several mm's on many of these beautiful, functional, pieces of art deco. With interest, we will be looking forward to your shaving experience. Doug
I must agree, the center screw does stick out just a little, but when shaving it's not even noticeable. Vlad
On number of occasions I was thinking of adding a really thin poly washer under the base, but never got to it... Maybe I can try it with the Darwin original blade..., I just never opened the only pack of those that I own...
