Thanks. Now I need to stock up on a few Merkur razors before they're gone.
Well, if they get bought over by gillette we all know how that's going to play out.Merkur/Dovo is in bankruptcy proceedings. It's possible they may survive, or be acquired.
With the current economic difficulties it looks likely that the entire DE business will be engulfed by China.
HD ordered! Arriving Saturday.I'll bute the bullet and buy another merkur, and maybe another sR. This will hurt some US vendors, too.
37C is great! Wonder if Muhle could buy Merkur?Well the 34c is supposedly the most popular safety razor in the world. The company's got to be worth something, right? My guess is that somebody or something will acquire them and continue to put out their product. Whether that means a decrease in quality, no one can say. But I find it hard to believe they're just gonna fade away.
Just in case, I ordered the 37c this morning. No sense in risking it. Now I'll have all the ones I'm interested in owning.
I've been lucky and haven't gotten any bad Merkurs or Dovo straight razors yet in the last seven years or so. However, I have shed some blood as a result of a misaligned Weishi that passed through a poor QC process, so I won't be buying any more of those or their ilk.I don't share the same sentiments with the majority of members across the forums and I hope you excuse my rant.
It's sad to see a company shutting down their business, but this is not final. They're looking for an investor. They have a good name and a long history in grooming supplies. They'll most probably find one as soon as this pandemic comes to an end. All products will remain the same as the labor with years of knowledge and expertise is there waiting.
Also, how many of us are using Merkur razors to shave with these days? Very few. Fewer than ever. Is this the end of traditional shaving? NO. Are there plenty of better performing razors available anytime? Certainly yes. So why all this panic? I'm sorry, I can't get it.
I've tried several Merkur razors, modern and vintage. If you compare a Merkur from the 1940s-1950s to a recent Merkur, you'd see a distinct difference in quality. Personally, I'm acutely aware of that as I've owned vintage Merkurs. If you have had the chance to own one, you'd have seen that too. Merkur does not live up to its reputation the last years.
Pot metal or zamak is a material that wears out easily and if you drop or hit your razor by accident, you're off to buy a new one. If you have the bad habit of screwing the handle tighter than usual, you'll soon end up with a bent thread on the top plate. I've been in the vintage hunt for a few years. If you ever find a vintage zamak razor in good condition, you have to consider yourself lucky and grab it. This happens once in a blue moon, you see such examples very rarely. It's more likely to find a Gillette from the early 1900s than a zamak made razor from the 1950s. Brass is a much more durable material. Stainless steel is even more durable and resistant to corrosion. I'll stick to these two materials for the rest of my shaving days. All the zamak razors I had had in my collection were sold when I understood how flimsy they are.
And do you know what I hate more about this situation? The fact that if no investor is interested to acquire them and they officially go bankrupt, Merkur razors will obtain a cult status, we will see Merkur razors popping up at premium prices, people will express their love about them more often than ever, they will say they're the "best ever" even though some of these are rubbish (my opinion).
If you're in hoarding mode, that's really good for the vendors who need money in these challenging times and bad for your pocket. You'll end up buying multiple razors you won't need in the foreseeable future and when you understand that you will want to get rid of them, but guess what. They're many people who think alike, so if you thought of selling them in the future for profit, you'd better be ready to wait many years.
I'm sure that none of the sad people has ever supported the Chinese knock-off industry and hasn't bought the Futur clone...
End of rant. Please continue with the sad reactions.