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A review of the Filarmonica Doble Temple 13

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I was interested to see what the hype was about with these Filly’s and jumped at the chance to secure a NOS example. It’s fair to say that the legend had some very big boots to fill.

The much touted geometry on this example wasn’t exactly perfect. I had some work to do to get a sharp bevel across the whole edge. There is a very slight warp to the grind and the extra hollow blade leaves little room for manoeuvre. I did get there but have a slightly wavy bevel width. No big deal as far as I’m considered.

The gold leaf seems to be a temporary feature and is starting to wear thin already. I haven’t babied the gold leaf and a combination of acetone to remove the sharpie marks and wiping away diamond paste probably hasn’t helped the gold leaf much.

I measured the bevel angle at 18.8 degrees. This is kind of the upper limit for me but it does play nice with a super sharp diamond edge.

The fit and finish is ok. There is a little bit of play in the pivot. Not enough to be an issue but it’s there. The blade is finished nicely but the tang has some sharp 90 degree edges. The very tip of the tang has been ground asymmetrically. The blade closes nice and centrally and has a wedge spacer. Overall it’s pretty nice but not perfect.

The scales are probably the low light. They feel pretty cheap to be honest. There’s plastic and there’s plastic and this is not exactly the top shelf variety.

Still I have to admit that she’s an amazing shaver. The blade design is very slick with some nice features and sweeping lines. The raised hone wear section on the spine, double jimps and half shoulder are a nice touches. The grind I would say is extra hollow. The blade is well proportioned, balanced and sits nicely in the hand. There’s no disputing that the razor takes a great edge.

The impression I get is that these were really solid mass production razors from back in the day. They’ve been elevated to luxury status today but I don’t think that’s what they were ever intended to be at the time.

Happy to have one in the den? Absolutely!

Best shaver ever? Definitely up there with the best I’ve tried.
 
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surprised to hear that there were grind and/or geometry issues. the two used ones I have had zero issues.

camo
 
There are five generations of Filarmonica razors. The first generations are well made razors, but as stated not intended to be in the luxury segment. The fourth generation razors mostly are fine. The fifth generation is most likely made in Pakistan according to the local quality standard. When it comes to the No.13 I have no complaints whatsoever. I find it to be a fine razor that has my best recommendations.

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Mine came yesterday (same source). It will be a while before I hone it. But when I do, I will post a review. I believe those later generations with lower quality were made after JMP's death and do not carry his name on the tang. My understanding is that his son took over the company. Perhaps someone on this forum might have more information on that.
 
You are correct. Tomo's fili 13 is not a late generation since it has the JMP stamp. I will look up the link to the original post on how to date a fili and link it here.
 

Steve56

Ask me about shaving naked!
What @alex1921 said. They sell so fast that if you don’t look often they’ve come and gone before you ever see them and then you think that there’s a secret source. Griffith Shaving listed a restored Sub Cero today in non-original scales, it went in a couple of hours or less. You have to look for them often and not hesitate when you find a nice one.
 

Steve56

Ask me about shaving naked!
The scales aren’t cheap, though the colors might lead you to believe that if you don’t like them. For example, the Filarmonica wedge (at least the 14) has ‘knobs’ molded into it that fit into recesses in the scales - it’s an anti-rotation design that’s uncommon on razors though sometimes you see a double pin in the wedge end to do the same thing. So the wedge won’t rotate and allow the toe to hit it when closing the razor. I’ve never seen warped Filly scales that haven’t been noticeably abused.

They all have real tapered wedges, unlike the spacers that you see on modern production razors. The scales are nicely rounded, unlike the flat ‘popsicle stick’ scales of modern production razors and cheap hardware store razors from the early US 20th century.

Cheap? Far from it as far as mass produced scales go. If you want to see cheaply made scales, look at modern Dovo, Boker, and TI among other modern razors. Flat, unrounded, untapered scales with a spacer, not a wedge. That’s cheap.
 
What @alex1921 said. They sell so fast that if you don’t look often they’ve come and gone before you ever see them and then you think that there’s a secret source. Griffith Shaving listed a restored Sub Cero today in non-original scales, it went in a couple of hours or less. You have to look for them often and not hesitate when you find a nice one.
I would have jumped on that one, but those copper glitter scales were just too much for me!
 
Polarbeard, I see plenty of filis on Ebay this morning. But most without the Pou name. And one of them said "nos" but it sure doesn't look like it.

Having said that, if you find a nice pair and are only interested in buying one, feel free to pm me.
 
There are always a lot of Filis on ebay. The one that says NOS has some pitting, but that can be because of age and environmental exposure. It does not have JMP's name on it, so likely a much later generation. And there are always a bunch from Japan, which I believe may be later generation after JMP's passing.
 
Polarbeard, I see plenty of filis on Ebay this morning. But most without the Pou name. And one of them said "nos" but it sure doesn't look like it.

Having said that, if you find a nice pair and are only interested in buying one, feel free to pm me.

The sello de oro can be all over the place regarding quality . I’d stay away


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