I must say, I had expected parker double edge razors to be a cheap imitation of what a de should be. I expected poor build quality, and poor shaves. Man was I mistaken. Weight... Firstly, these is a heavy razor. Let me put it in perspective... A 40's gillette superspeed weighs 1.9 ounces. My merkur hd, and slant both weigh in at 2.8 ounces. The parker 89R weights 2.9 ounces. It's a three piece razor in the nature of a merkur classic, and it's obvious the people that designed this razor liked merkur razors (a good choice in my book). Looks... I'll start with the cast. It's not of merkur quality, mine has a couple casting marks under the end of the handle, but certainly nothing serious. I believe the chrome plating to be of higher quality than merkur, as it's has more of a luster, and just in general feels smoother. I'm not the largest fan of the carvings on the handle, and I feel like they should have done something a bit more substantial to make those carvings stand out. From a distance, the handle looks very shiny, but plain. The head looks sort of like a merkur, but definitely not the same. I do wish the "nubs" on the upper most piece were a touch longer, as it would make it a touch easier to change the blade, but again, i'm nit picking here. Shave... Due to the high blade exposure, it felt a bit rough on my face, kind of like a slant. With a feeling like that, I knew I was gonna be in trouble... I knew this blade was gonna be harsh on my face, as I could just "feel" to much of the blade on my face. I was extremely surprised to find, it was actually VERY forgiving, while shaving extremely close. I've used a lot of double edge razors over the years, ranging from uber high end gillettes, to the rare "sticky", and all of the merkur razors (except a vision). Actually, this is the best shave I have ever gotten from a DE, regardless of price. It might not feel as smooth as my previous favorite (merkur HD) while shaving, but it's certainly not uncomfortable. Somehow, this razor manages to be ultra agressive, while not cutting my face to shreds. I certainly have to try out some of the other parkers... Discussion
Parker 89r Razor Recently recieved mine and have been giving it a workout. Compared to the Tech style razors I have been using recently, it is very heavy. That's not bad, just different. For all the weight, it is well balanced and handles very well. I have been using Crystal blades in it and the shave has been great! The exposure on the blade is, for me, perfect. Not to aggressive yet more so than, again, the Tech styles I have used. Easy to use, I can whip it around my face with no problems and not worry about nicking/cutting myself unless I get stupid with it. Any razor will do that though. I gave it a 9 since it is a 3 piece and some folks don't like the way to change the blade but that doesn't bother me. Grip only gets a 7 since the handle becomes quite slick when wet and I have to hold on tighter than I would like. Price gets a 10. For a relatively low price, you get a quality razor. Should something happen to this one, like my son stealing it, I would not hesitate to get another. It's becoming my favorite quickly
Avoid I borrowed an 89R. It looks nice and feels nice and heavy. It didn't shave me very tidily although my choice of blade may have more to do with it than the razor. I prefered the head and blade exposure of the Merkur HD. The most disturbing thing was the grip. There is very little and with soapy fingers I found it very difficult to hold. Shortly after giving it back my work colleague told me that the screw inside which holds the head on has since broken. He's only had it a few weeks. He's now looking towards a new Merkur. Personally, I would avoid this razor.
This razor is quite aggressive, so care is required to use it safely. It is however, an excellent razor. I received it as a gift from a very special friend of mine from this Group.
