IKon S3S

[kingfisher]

Am I the only one who has an iKon S3S? For the uninitiated, it is a Pils- and Tradere-like razor but it is a dual comb. It is polished stainless steel.
There was a time when iKon made several razors of this style. The Modern, the SK9, the H2O, and the S3S, sequentially. I had a chance to buy the SK9 at Pasteur's in NYC when I was visiting my brother, but passed on it because it was close to $200, which was a lot for a razor back then. Many times I look back and wish that I had purchased it.
Anyway, years later I acquired the S3S secondhand. I don't know how many of these were made, so I don't know how rare it is.
I pulled mine out recently and paired it with a long Wolfman handle. It shaves wonderfully, smooth and on the mild side of medium, with little blade feel but with decent efficiency. On the long handle, it is almost li? E stepping back in time and shaving with my original Tradere.
Does anybody else have the S3S, or did you have one at one time? Have you tried the Modern, the SK9, the H2O? Any idea about how rare the S3S is? Any thoughts about how these razors shave? I would love to hear your experiences.

 

[never-stop-learning]

Am I the only one who has an iKon S3S? For the uninitiated, it is a Pils- and Tradere-like razor but it is a dual comb. It is polished stainless steel.
There was a time when iKon made several razors of this style. The Modern, the SK9, the H2O, and the S3S, sequentially. I had a chance to buy the SK9 at Pasteur's in NYC when I was visiting my brother, but passed on it because it was close to $200, which was a lot for a razor back then. Many times I look back and wish that I had purchased it.
Anyway, years later I acquired the S3S secondhand. I don't know how many of these were made, so I don't know how rare it is.
I pulled mine out recently and paired it with a long Wolfman handle. It shaves wonderfully, smooth and on the mild side of medium, with little blade feel but with decent efficiency. On the long handle, it is almost li? E stepping back in time and shaving with my original Tradere.
Does anybody else have the S3S, or did you have one at one time? Have you tried the Modern, the SK9, the H2O? Any idea about how rare the S3S is? Any thoughts about how these razors shave? I would love to hear your experiences.

I've never shaved with the S3S, nor have I seen one live.

No idea how rare the S3S is or how many were made?

 

[Actor07]

Am I the only one who has an iKon S3S? For the uninitiated, it is a Pils- and Tradere-like razor but it is a dual comb. It is polished stainless steel.
There was a time when iKon made several razors of this style. The Modern, the SK9, the H2O, and the S3S, sequentially. I had a chance to buy the SK9 at Pasteur's in NYC when I was visiting my brother, but passed on it because it was close to $200, which was a lot for a razor back then. Many times I look back and wish that I had purchased it.
Anyway, years later I acquired the S3S secondhand. I don't know how many of these were made, so I don't know how rare it is.
I pulled mine out recently and paired it with a long Wolfman handle. It shaves wonderfully, smooth and on the mild side of medium, with little blade feel but with decent efficiency. On the long handle, it is almost li? E stepping back in time and shaving with my original Tradere.
Does anybody else have the S3S, or did you have one at one time? Have you tried the Modern, the SK9, the H2O? Any idea about how rare the S3S is? Any thoughts about how these razors shave? I would love to hear your experiences.

I have the Modern, the original brass SBS, the S3S, and the SK9. I also have an original long handled HP (open comb and solid bar) and an original OSS. I like the early model icons the best

 

[kingfisher]

I have the Modern, the original brass SBS, the S3S, and the SK9. I also have an original long handled HP (open comb and solid bar) and an original OSS. I like the early model icons the best

Nice collection.

I had the Modern and the original all-brass SBS, but I sold both of them. I like the S3S as well as any, although maybe the Modern was a tiny bit better.

I had and sold an original Tradere, as well.

Currently down to just the S3S and a Pils as far as this type of razor goes.

 

[Actor07]

Nice collection.

I had the Modern and the original all-brass SBS, but I sold both of them. I like the S3S as well as any, although maybe the Modern was a tiny bit better.

I had and sold an original Tradere, as well.

Currently down to just the S3S and a Pils as far as this type of razor goes.

On a related note, I have an Ikon that is a three piece design similar to the S3S but it has an aluminum top cap, is that the SK9? If not, what model is it?

 

[kingfisher]

On a related note, I have an Ikon that is a three piece design similar to the S3S but it has an aluminum top cap, is that the SK9? If not, what model is it?

Pretty sure that's the H2O. Very mild shaver, even milder than the S3S and the SK9.

 

[Actor07]

Pretty sure that's the H2O. Very mild shaver, even milder than the S3S and the SK9.

I thought that the H2O was a two piece. Mine is a 3 piece design with just an aluminum head cap.

 

[Actor07]

@kingfisher I got my Modern from you a while back. Thanks again

 

[kingfisher]

I thought that the H2O was a two piece. Mine is a 3 piece design with just an aluminum head cap.

You are correct. I don't know if the SK-9 came with an aluminum cap or not. I thought it was 100% stainless, but I could be wrong.

 

[kingfisher]

@kingfisher I got my Modern from you a while back. Thanks again

Ah-hah! I couldn't remember the username.

Yeah, that razor was a fantastic shaver for me. I hope it is working for you the way it worked for me. One of the very few razors I have sold that I miss. (I have plenty of razors, so I'm doing ok, but every once in a while I think about that razor.)

 

[Actor07]

Ah-hah! I couldn't remember the username.

Yeah, that razor was a fantastic shaver for me. I hope it is working for you the way it worked for me. One of the very few razors I have sold that I miss. (I have plenty of razors, so I'm doing ok, but every once in a while I think about that razor.)

The Modern is being well kept. I've been using it for the past week. Although these days, I'm concentrating on my Darwins and Traderes. For travel, I take a Weber though. The early Ikons were some of the best made IMHO

 

[Happy Jack]

Ikon has certainly made some interesting razors. I have the aggressive Tek and B1 Standard, which I love. I also have the OSS, which I find too mild. I also decided the dual head idea is a pointless gimmick after trying it.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I have this one, in a heavy aluminium alloy, with the reversible base plate. I bought is as an SBS not an S3S, so I am not sure if we are discussing the same razor or not.





It's usable, but certainly not a favourite. I haven't used it very often.

 

[kingfisher]

I have this one, in a heavy aluminium alloy, with the reversible base plate. I bought is as an SBS not an S3S, so I am not sure if we are discussing the same razor or not.

View attachment 1473807

View attachment 1473808

It's usable, but certainly not a favourite. I haven't used it very often.

Your razor is a later version of the original, elusive, brass SBS, but the geometry was changed considerably.

The first SBS was milled brass. There is some suspicion that it may have even used the same CNC programming as the original Tradere, although this has not been confirmed. It was dual comb and had a reversible baseplate, but the head was otherwise indistinguishable from a Tradere. There was a very limited number of these heads made, and they were sold at what was a pretty high price point for the time (around $225).

A long time later, they introduced the aluminum alloy version in your picture. For fun, I purchased one, because it was cheap. I expected it to be the same head but made in the aluminum alloy. I was very disappointed to find that it was completely changed. The baseplate has a much altered shape. The open comb side doesn't even remotely resemble the original.

I agree with you that the razor actually shaves decently, but I was so disappointed that it wasn't a "real SBS" that I sold it.

It also bothers me that he used the same name, which made people think it was the same head when it really wasn't.

 

[krusty]

When I moved out of what is now my wife’s house almost 2 years ago, I disposed of a lot of surplus stuff from the bathrooms. My house is a bit smaller, so I brought only the best of what I had. My Wolfman of course came with my, as did my Henson. 4 razors I simply disposed of were iKons. As I recall I had a slant (still have the handle), an S3S, the aluminum one with the reversible base plate, and one with the same head as the S3S, but with a stainless “bamboo” handle that was actually captive with the baseplate. Sort of wish I had kept them, but it would have been for nostalgia only. I never used them after I got my Wolfman WR1 from the very first production run.