First Use of the Essence by Tedalus Stirling Sheep Soap & High Mountain Badger Steampunk Bowl by Symmetrical Pottery Essence by Tedalus w/Feather Pro Super (1) Big Ole Bottle of Brut by @Hembree I love this piece. A unique edge forward shaving device in a class all it’s own.
Couple firsts for me today. First time using Cosmo by SV, and Feather AC pro blades. Went cautiously, as I've used Feathers before. Great one pass DFS, and I enjoyed the soap as well. Still on the fence regarding the scent. I don't detect either the coffee or citrus that is supposed to be in it. All it's given me thus far is a vague masculine cologne scent which makes itself known mostly in the post shave. I have some Feather guard blades coming from Bill, and I'm looking forward to giving those a try, as I've always wanted to be a bit reckless (or at least, less cautious) with a straight razor. Edit: I'm always surprised at how well the razor presents itself in photographs and on video. This was the first time using any sort of AC type blade. I like them.
Great shave. Did I ever say that I love this tool? I’m going to drop that last Feather Pro Light I have in the Essence and see how it shaves. Standard blade height on Artist Club blades is 8mm. The Lights are 7.4mm and the Supers are 8.2mm. With only 333 pieces made on the first run, a change on subsequent runs has the potential to cement the originals into the collector brackets similar to Toggles and Bottom Dials.
I have never heard of a collectors value, on shavettes. This one is pretty, but it is no Toggle or Bottom Dial. In the end, it is just a fancy blade holder. Not like the Gillette razors, which rely on weight, blade exposures, and head angles. . If it does catch on, expect the Chinese to make pretty good copies, and sell them for $10-$25, each. A $300 savings, that could put this razor manufacturer out of business. The Mercur Futur is one the Chinese copied well. I know, I bought about 7-8 at approx $10-$12 each, and gave them away to relatives.
I'm pretty sure the Essence does not work or is not recommended with lights. I'm sure I remember reading that somewhere.
You have made my point well on the potential collector value. If the Chinese successfully crush this self financed startup spawned by one man’s dream, with a $10 pot metal look alike for the ‘I saved $300 crowd’, imagine the value of one of the original real McCoy’s that are up in an absolute class by themselves. I also think if you could find one of Schick shavettes that the Schick Proline injector blades were made for, it would not be offered up for sale cheap. FWIW, when I went out for an Artist Club razor, I didn’t buy the $15 DX clone. I wanted the $200 Feather. I also have a couple of $15 shavettes.
Amazon, eBay, they are there. I never had enough interest to look very hard. I wanted machined stainless. You should get one though, they are probably fun.
As long as it shaves the same, I dont care if it is pot metal. I will probably only use it a couple of times. Straights are my thing, as well as certain Gillettes that are collectable.
The original owners of toggles and bottom dial fatboys would have probably thought that the idea that these would someday be collector's items ludicrous...after all, they are just fancy blade holders. But, I do agree with you. It probably annoys Manuel to think of someone copying his razor, but I don't see it as a bad thing. I expect that the Chinese will copy this razor, and probably sooner rather than later. The parts were made in different European owned factories, so you won't see copies in a month, but I expect there will be copies within a few years. If they are a very good copy, they might even be able to sell them at $50-100 each. As everyone knows, all the clones are not quite as good as a "real" Feather or Kai razor in the fit and finish department. The same will be true here. Some of the buyers will be people who would never spend $300+ for a razor, and so would never be customers. Some will be people like me, who will buy a clone to test it and then go out and buy the real thing because they absolutely love the clone. How many micro touch one shavers have you seen come into our hobby, only to later fall in love with vintage gillettes and modern DE razors? I've seen more than a few. Finally there will be those who only buy the originals. The real Rolex, the Wolfmans and the Timeless razors, etc. These will buy the original Essence. There will be a world of people exposed to the Essence if it is cloned. I'm pretty sure Tedalus will survive and evolve to meet the needs of a changing market.
Collectibles are exactly that. While the Toggles and Bottom Dials are cool, I have no need to have one.
I collected shavettes, at least until I had one of most every type. I was always looking for that one that gave a really good shave. I never went for the Feather/Kai type razors because of the cost of the blades. I still think almost a dollar a blade is ridiculously expensive when compared to DE blades. But I do think they are worth using in the Essence. Having finally tried the blades, I'm willing to concede that I should have given those razors more attention. I was still hung up on "the older the razor, the better," mindset. Still am, for the most part, though I am actively looking for a good Kai clone now. Probably a Mythus. It's a copy of the Kai Luffy, which was upcycled into the Kai Kasho Captain Woody. If I like it, then I will probably get a Captain Woody. No double meaning there. Don't go looking for it. Edit: Funny thing. I wonder if any of the people complaining about the price of the Essence have ever bothered to look at Kai's Kasho hair styling shears? They start at $100+ and rapidly increase from there, stopping at $1,500.
No person who wants to save money on shave gear should have shaving as a hobby. After starting a lifetime career in the medical field, my wife became a licensed barber because it was what she wanted. Exclusively, she has been my personal barber and cut my hair for 40 years. There is a huge difference in the performance of shears that falls into the ‘much more, better’ category to some point. I have done the homemade ‘popcicle stick’ DE razor shave and used industrial DE blades in a $15 shavette. Uh…. so what! When I had horses, I learned that good, clean fresh hay was $4 a bale. You could bargain all the way down to the stuff that had already been through the horse. I bought the Essence razor because it is a quality luxury tool.
If you do find one of those in excellent condition grab it! My second favourite shavette, unfortunately you'll probably pay way more for a good one then for a Essence or Feather DX I never tried to use a Guarded or light variant of the blades in the Essence as these give me shaves that are far less enjoyable or good then the normal blades (YMMV)
July 1 Shave • Stirling Stuff - Island Man flavored • JR 367 the tall majestic end of somebody’s baseball bat • Essence by Tedalus replaceable blade straight featuring 1/2 GSB, Feather ProGuard, Feather Pro Light A delightful shave any way I sliced it!
July 3 Shave Fun and A Tribute to the 30DC In the finest tradition ofCinco de Julio The Gillette Fatboy vs Essence by Tedalus
Tue 7/6 Eve - Quick Shave • Col Conk Bay Rum • Omega 10098 with a few black hairs for character • Essence razor by Tedalus • Feather ProGuard (2) • Lucky Tiger After Shave Face Tonic bom-bada-bing-bang-boom I’m happy.
