Pros: Gold finish, neutral balance, efficient, smooth, good price.
Cons: Blade alignment fiddling, slight imperfections on finish,
An eyeful of bling. My first shave with the Grande. The handle smooth with vertical lines can be slippery, I use a little alum on my hands. Smooth, efficient with a neutral balance. A steep blade angle is where the efficiency is at its best. Smooth strokes are accompanied with good audio feedback.The Grande is a comfortable buffer. The smoothness can not be taken for granted. An Adam’s apple weeper and a nick behind the right ear were operator errors. I face and head shave. The head shave was a tad uncomfortable, maintaining the good angle. I am not use to a neutral balance, practice will eliminate little mishaps. GD Eucalyptus and Spearmint preshave, Wholly Kaw King of Oud, Zenith Pro Aluminum Horse Hair and a Voshkod (1) delivered a DFS+.
Upon receiving the razor I loaded a blade and couldn’t understand why so many complaints about blade alignment. Cleaning the razor after the shave I found the threads to be too rough and tight. I lubricated the post threads with some Dow Molykote 111 problem solved. Loading the blade the second time was a four try effort the protruding razor tabs were necessary to get things straight.
I like this razor a lot. It’s like my Italian espresso maker a little temperamental but it always gets the job done.