I have been eyeing the French Bohin razor for a while. Gorgeous art deco look, a reversable baseplate allowing for 2 settings in aggressiveness, based on a patent I believe from 1936.
Getting your hands on one however is not easy as many folks desire it, biddings go high and I too have been sniped many a time when trying to obtain a specimen.
But last week I got lucky. Right after loosing another Bohin bay bidding war I trawled the whole internet and stumbled upon another one - a fine condition example offered for sale by our honorable French B&B member @Cha-wing!! - a connosieur and expert of French vintage razors. I am really in this hobby for the shaving, and thus not looking for sets, but this one was offered with the cool bakelite round case, a bit battered but still usable.
On a sidenote @Cha-wing!! right now is very busy working to start up the famed Darwin shaving/razor brand again - I wish him all the best with this, it would be really cool to see Darwin out there again!
The razor
In real life this razor is even more pretty, the engravings/cut-outs in the handle are really deep, the thick teeth look like nothing I ever saw before. The razor is plated brass and weighs in at 63 grams, mainly because of the heavy baseplate (23 grams) which also makes the razor slightly top heavy. Overall, it feels sturdy and built like a tank.
The baseplate itself is a work of engineering art and very cool looking with the engraved French text for each side’s level of aggressiveness: Do you want your shave ‘pret’ (close) or ‘tres pres’ (very close). The handle look is a lot like the British Shavex Zeekol (pic below) - just wonderful art deco art.
The loading of the blade was a bit tricky, at least the first time, I fumbled a bit to get it settled and aligned before tightning it up. But loaded up with my beloved Feather blade it feels ready to go, the blade gap is very small and inviting.
The shave
Suffice to say, this is a fine mild razor. I chose the mild side for this first shave, as I prefer milder razors and wanted to start up easy, this being a brand new razor to me.
I am always anxious during the first strokes with a new razor but this one felt safe and easy from the very first go. I just shaved away, the thick teeth actually makes it feel a lot like a solid bar razor (which I prefer) and it quickly dawned on me that this razor’s feel on the skin really feels a lot like the Eclipse Red Ring!
The Eclipse also has a kind of dual solid bar/open comb setup which makes the razor feel on the skin very unique (pic below). But I guess, not more unique than sharing it’s caractericstics with this gorgeous French cousin from the same era.
This puppy is a definite keeper.
Eclipse Red Ring for comparison - solid bar/open comb ‘combo’:
Shavex Zeekol. Handle is kind of the same art deco style:
Getting your hands on one however is not easy as many folks desire it, biddings go high and I too have been sniped many a time when trying to obtain a specimen.
But last week I got lucky. Right after loosing another Bohin bay bidding war I trawled the whole internet and stumbled upon another one - a fine condition example offered for sale by our honorable French B&B member @Cha-wing!! - a connosieur and expert of French vintage razors. I am really in this hobby for the shaving, and thus not looking for sets, but this one was offered with the cool bakelite round case, a bit battered but still usable.
On a sidenote @Cha-wing!! right now is very busy working to start up the famed Darwin shaving/razor brand again - I wish him all the best with this, it would be really cool to see Darwin out there again!
The razor
In real life this razor is even more pretty, the engravings/cut-outs in the handle are really deep, the thick teeth look like nothing I ever saw before. The razor is plated brass and weighs in at 63 grams, mainly because of the heavy baseplate (23 grams) which also makes the razor slightly top heavy. Overall, it feels sturdy and built like a tank.
The baseplate itself is a work of engineering art and very cool looking with the engraved French text for each side’s level of aggressiveness: Do you want your shave ‘pret’ (close) or ‘tres pres’ (very close). The handle look is a lot like the British Shavex Zeekol (pic below) - just wonderful art deco art.
The loading of the blade was a bit tricky, at least the first time, I fumbled a bit to get it settled and aligned before tightning it up. But loaded up with my beloved Feather blade it feels ready to go, the blade gap is very small and inviting.
The shave
Suffice to say, this is a fine mild razor. I chose the mild side for this first shave, as I prefer milder razors and wanted to start up easy, this being a brand new razor to me.
I am always anxious during the first strokes with a new razor but this one felt safe and easy from the very first go. I just shaved away, the thick teeth actually makes it feel a lot like a solid bar razor (which I prefer) and it quickly dawned on me that this razor’s feel on the skin really feels a lot like the Eclipse Red Ring!
The Eclipse also has a kind of dual solid bar/open comb setup which makes the razor feel on the skin very unique (pic below). But I guess, not more unique than sharing it’s caractericstics with this gorgeous French cousin from the same era.
This puppy is a definite keeper.
Eclipse Red Ring for comparison - solid bar/open comb ‘combo’:
Shavex Zeekol. Handle is kind of the same art deco style:
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