I was interested to see what the hype was about with these Filly’s and jumped at the chance to secure a NOS example. It’s fair to say that the legend had some very big boots to fill.
The much touted geometry on this example wasn’t exactly perfect. I had some work to do to get a sharp bevel across the whole edge. There is a very slight warp to the grind and the extra hollow blade leaves little room for manoeuvre. I did get there but have a slightly wavy bevel width. No big deal as far as I’m considered.
The gold leaf seems to be a temporary feature and is starting to wear thin already. I haven’t babied the gold leaf and a combination of acetone to remove the sharpie marks and wiping away diamond paste probably hasn’t helped the gold leaf much.
I measured the bevel angle at 18.8 degrees. This is kind of the upper limit for me but it does play nice with a super sharp diamond edge.
The fit and finish is ok. There is a little bit of play in the pivot. Not enough to be an issue but it’s there. The blade is finished nicely but the tang has some sharp 90 degree edges. The very tip of the tang has been ground asymmetrically. The blade closes nice and centrally and has a wedge spacer. Overall it’s pretty nice but not perfect.
The scales are probably the low light. They feel pretty cheap to be honest. There’s plastic and there’s plastic and this is not exactly the top shelf variety.
Still I have to admit that she’s an amazing shaver. The blade design is very slick with some nice features and sweeping lines. The raised hone wear section on the spine, double jimps and half shoulder are a nice touches. The grind I would say is extra hollow. The blade is well proportioned, balanced and sits nicely in the hand. There’s no disputing that the razor takes a great edge.
The impression I get is that these were really solid mass production razors from back in the day. They’ve been elevated to luxury status today but I don’t think that’s what they were ever intended to be at the time.
Happy to have one in the den? Absolutely!
Best shaver ever? Definitely up there with the best I’ve tried.
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