Its clear that there are lot of fans of both Omega and Semogue boar brushes and I think it would be interesting to see how gents who have brushes from both makers compare them.
One of the reasons I'm starting this thread is that I'm a fan of the boar brushes (although I'm not getting rid of my badgers!) and think they offer a great valueerformance ratio and that a nicely broken in boar is a thing of beauty.
The other reason is because I think that the Semogues are getting a lot of press lately because they have only relatively recently been made available in North America and they have hyped the notion of different grades of boar hair and a certain % of "tops".
Now call me a doubter, but I think that, as with some of the grading of badger hair, Semogue's attempt to distinguish between different grades and "tops" is a way to justify higher prices for its boar brushes.
I'm also interested in whether folks think that the Semogues are worth the price premium - by way of example, the cheapest Semogue sells for 8.95 Euro (or about US$11.50) when you can buy an Omega with similar specifications for abotu US$8 or 9 (I just bought an Omega 10018 at a local grocery store for $7!).
At the higher end, the difference is quite significant - the most expensive Omega sells for between $22 and $25, while the Semogue "Owners' Club" sells for over $33.
I'm not trying to start WWIII here or imply that Semogues are not good brushes (by all accounts they are), just wondering if folks feel that the price differential equates to a performance differential.
More generally, I think it would be useful to folks impression of whether there are any significant differences between the various types of boar bristle used by both Omega and Semogue, as well as whether there are any interesting differences between brands.
One of the reasons I'm starting this thread is that I'm a fan of the boar brushes (although I'm not getting rid of my badgers!) and think they offer a great valueerformance ratio and that a nicely broken in boar is a thing of beauty.
The other reason is because I think that the Semogues are getting a lot of press lately because they have only relatively recently been made available in North America and they have hyped the notion of different grades of boar hair and a certain % of "tops".
Now call me a doubter, but I think that, as with some of the grading of badger hair, Semogue's attempt to distinguish between different grades and "tops" is a way to justify higher prices for its boar brushes.
I'm also interested in whether folks think that the Semogues are worth the price premium - by way of example, the cheapest Semogue sells for 8.95 Euro (or about US$11.50) when you can buy an Omega with similar specifications for abotu US$8 or 9 (I just bought an Omega 10018 at a local grocery store for $7!).
At the higher end, the difference is quite significant - the most expensive Omega sells for between $22 and $25, while the Semogue "Owners' Club" sells for over $33.
I'm not trying to start WWIII here or imply that Semogues are not good brushes (by all accounts they are), just wondering if folks feel that the price differential equates to a performance differential.
More generally, I think it would be useful to folks impression of whether there are any significant differences between the various types of boar bristle used by both Omega and Semogue, as well as whether there are any interesting differences between brands.