28mm Italian Aluminum Handled Boar Brushes

[Feldgrun]

Between the Proraso Professional (Omega) & Zenith B02-A28, which is your favorite Italian aluminum-handled boar brush?

Both are 28mm boar brushes, made in Italy. The handles appear to be the same design.
The Proraso Pro has a loft of 65mm
The Zenith B02-A28 has a loft of 64mm

The Zenith is bleached, and the Proraso may be unbleached (Omega doesn't specify).

 

[Andris83]

I've got the Proraso pro and the Zenith 506 All bleached, both are 27mm knots afaik, but the Zenith has a shorter loft.
You have to keep in mind these are Italian brushes, so a couple of mm deviation from the specification absolutely might happen.

The Proraso is lightly bleached, nowhere near the level of my Zenith.

My favorite boar is the Proraso Pro. The Zenith bleached knot is also quite good. It is denser and shorter lofted (mine), it is the softer knot, but it has massive backbone. The proraso has a different feel, but also soft with good backbone.
The Zenith is huge lather pit. You'll use massive amount of soap with it. The Proraso is on the normal side.

Btw, isn't the Proraso's handle chromed plastic? The 506 All handle otoh is real aluminium, you can feel the difference in construction. I like the proraso handle, it fits my hand well, but construction wise it isn't in the same league as the Zenith.

Hope this helps.

p.s.:
in true B&B fashion, get both, they are both affordable and good

 

[BigJ]

Sorry I can’t help. 28 mm is just too big for my taste.

 

[dmshaver]

I just replied to your PM also, but here are some additional thoughts. I've got both brushes. Choosing just between those 2, I'll take the Pro Pro over the Zenith. But, in my opinion, there are quite a few other Zenith boar brushes I think are much better than the Pro Pro. The Pro Pro, with its unbleached bristles, is a nice brush. In the Zenith brushes, their unbleached bristles are the ones I prefer. And yes, there is a trend you're seeing - I like unbleached boars!

 

[Darth Scandalous]

Btw, isn't the Proraso's handle chromed plastic?

Yes.

 

[Multum in parvo]

Had both, prefer the shorter lofted Proraso 27/57 vs Zenith 28/64 (mostly for headshaves). As said above the dimensions on both are not set in stone…

 

[Cino]

The Proraso brush is made by Omega and it has a plastic handle. It has the classic Omega 28mm knot which is very nice. The Zenith has a nice hollow Al handle that feels nice in the hand. The Zenith has finer, softer bristle and a substantial glue bump to give it backbone lost from the treated finer bristle. The Zenith requires much less breakin than the Omega knot.

The two knots are very different but both are good, so one knot isn't inherently better than the other. Regarding the handle though, the Zenith wins hands down. If i were to get one, it would be the Zenith.

 

[loco95]

Never tried the Zenith, but my Proraso Pro brush have been going strong for 12 years. I love it, excellent facefeel, nice and springy backbone, and makes lathering a breeze.
As Cino above mentioned, the cheap quality plastic-handle is a downside, aluminium would be huge improvement.

The Omega 10098 just arrived in the mail, slightly smaller knot (27mm), looking forward to testing it