Above, is a picture of my custom Elephant Ivory handled 7/8th's TI, with the exact same blade as reviewed here (just the stamina scales taken out, and the Ivory scales put on).
Standard crap TI build quality, but lordy do these things shave like a dream. Really the SHAVERS choice of razor. They don't look all that great (usually) they aren't built all that great (usually) and the gold wash is pathetic (nearly always), but once you tune 'em up, you'll be really hard pressed to find a razor in the same category (size/grind/etc) that'll shave as well... at any cost. It is my personal opinion, that from a pure shave quality standpoint, TI's can go toe to toe with razor costing 4-5X their price.
With the cost of large W&B's, Puma's and Dubl Ducks in the 7/8th's size range being as much, or more than a similarly size TI - I say go with a TI, as it'll shave every bit as good... possibly better.
I'll even take a good TI over a henckels friodur, and they are about the same $. If you REALLY want to do it right, get a TI (bottom of the line handle) expect it to show up with crap quality gold leafing/logo's, etc - and send it out to get some custom scales put on it (could be as low as $30). You'd be hard pressed to find a nicer looking/shaving razor for the $.
One word of caution... if you are not experienced in honing TI's in particular, I would suggest sending it to someone who is, as they are be incredibly tricky.
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