Coming soon - Timeless and Charcoal Goods test drive!

[rms]

After months of deliberation and research (mostly on adjustable razors) I have placed orders for two new razors. And yeah, neither of them are adjustable...sometimes impulse > research. So in appreciation for all the info others have shared, I plan to post my observations on these in hope they may be helpful to others. Timeless SS95SC was delivered today and Charcoal brass gen2/level2 hopefully delivered tomorrow. More to come!

 

[Leverspro]

You'll enjoy those!

 

[Shavemd]

Congrats both are excellent choices

 

[Calm_Shaver]

Congratulations, great razor choices.

 

[McNutt]

Wow, what a weekend!

I remember getting a Timeless and ATT on the same day. I was like a kid at Christmas.

 

[rms]

Thanks for the well-wishes! Appreciate it.

Yes I will have to let my beard grow back between shaves. I probably should not have ordered them at the same time...lol

 

[RobDoffrey]

I have the CG Lv.2 and considering Timeless. You got my full attention. Good luck and make it quick

 

[Graydog]

Thanks for the well-wishes! Appreciate it.

Yes I will have to let my beard grow back between shaves. I probably should not have ordered them at the same time...lol

How often do you normally shave ?
I really Love my Timeless Ti Scalloped .95
and have always wanted to try the CG , He has some beautiful looking Razors. So I will be watching this thread. Here's hoping for great Shaves to you

 

[Hannah's Dad]

Wow ... that’s like having a blind date with Raquel Welch in 1966. You went right to the top!!

 

[Graydog]

Raquel who? Lol

Wow ... that’s like having a blind date with Raquel Welch in 1966. You went right to the top!!

 

[dmshaver]

Terrific razors, I’ll be reading your thoughts as you compare the two. Congratulations on selecting two top shelf razors!

 

[matwho]

How often do you normally shave ?
I really Love my Timeless Ti Scalloped .95
and have always wanted to try the CG , He has some beautiful looking Razors. So I will be watching this thread. Here's hoping for great Shaves to you

@Graydog, Steve I sent you a pm.

 

[BigJ]

...sometimes impulse > research.

+1! Research can only take you so far!! In the end, it is experience that counts.

Two great choices IMO! Will look forward to your comparison.

 

[muzichead]

Congrats to @rms on your recent purchases and may you have many enjoyable shaves in your future...

Though I have no experience with Charcoal Goods razors I do with Timeless razors and if your on the fence about a Timeless I would suggest the following thread as it is very informational on everything Timeless, .68, .95, SS, Ti, Matte, Polished, SB, OC, SC, and otherwise...
Timeless Razor Review: Stainless Steel .95, Titanium .95, Titanium .68 Head to Head

 

[rms]

Thanks all! Yeah this should be fun. Timeless arrived yesterday and CG this morning and both have been unboxed and look great. One thing I like (and which contributed to the purchase decision) is their uniqueness. The timeless mostly for the head design and the CG for the cool look of the hammered handle and antique brass. For those that care about packaging the nod goes to CG. It's comes in a nice box that is space efficient and would work as a travel container for the razor and includes a notch for packing blades (an Astra 5-pack came with the razor). I got the brushed steel Timeless and maybe should have gone for polished. It's almost a light gray color and for those that have a Feather AS-D2 is darker than that razor. I like razors on the hefty side, but my first reaction was wow the CG is very heavy. I got the magnum handle but the regular handle probably would have been plenty. Did a weight check to see for sure:
- Feather AS-D2 91.5 gm
- Timeless SS95SC 115 gm
- Rocnel Elite 122 gm
- Charcoal 136.5 gm

I have only had time to shave with the Timeless and will post notes as soon as I can. CG will happen tonight or tomorrow morning. More to come!

 

[rms]

@muzichead, +1 thanks for sharing that thread. I did find and read that one before purchasing the Timeless. Lot of great info in there!

@Graydog - Steve, good question and I will provide some background before posting the shaving notes on the razors. I found it very helpful when others provided that context, especially when trying to interpret people's opinions on subjective things like a razor's mildness or aggressiveness.

I shave 4-5 time per week typically. So there are often several (3-4) days in a row I need to shave. I have a tough beard (which I'm pretty sure came from the Italian side of the family)! I used to think I had sensitive skin, but I suspect my skin is average in that regard and that it was reacting to the combo of tough beard and frequent shaving. This is what led me to wet shaving; cartridge shaving was rough and I needed to either find a solution or find a new career! Luckily the first idea worked.

Lastly, here are a few razors I have experience with and where I classify them in the mild/medium/aggressive scale:
Mild - Feather AS-D2, Rocnel Elite "mid"
Medium - Asylum Evolution
Aggressive - Asylum RX, Muhle R41

 

[Fedsbackhand]

I like razors on the hefty side, but my first reaction was wow the CG is very heavy. I got the magnum handle but the regular handle probably would have been plenty. Did a weight check to see for sure:
- Feather AS-D2 91.5 gm
- Timeless SS95SC 115 gm
- Rocnel Elite 122 gm
- Charcoal 136.5 gm

That is some serious weight to the CG. I'm planning on picking up a lvl1 OC... probably not with the magnum handle now. Thanks. Looking forward to your reviews.

 

[rms]

OK, finally able to report on my first shave with the Timeless matte SS .95 SC yesterday. A couple of caveats:
- Obviously these are first impressions based on one shave. I won't be making any life decisions on just one shave, will see how it goes from here.
- Secondly, my shave Friday morning was on 1.5 days growth. Absolutely not an ideal test case. Not sure if others have the same issue, but I rarely shave on 1.5 days growth because it consistently gives me the worst results in terms of shave quality and comfort. The beard is not short enough to make it an easy shave and not long enough to respond well to a razor that can mow down longer hair. But, I was eager to try the razor so I did!

Other details:
- Blade: Feather (third use)
- Brush Vie-Long badger
- Pre: ABC almond oil & aloe pre-shave cream
- Soap: SV beta 4.3 "Flying Mango"
- Post: Asylum Frankincense & Myrrh (splash), Hemingway Accoutrements Balsam

Observations:
- I like the overall weight and grip of the razor. The weight is right in the sweet spot of what I like and with good balance. Grip is very good and I noticed no issues when wet. The Rocnel Elite has the grippiest handle I own but this was nearly as good. Similar and probably better than AS-D2.
- The shave feel is excellent. Others have described the razor as being efficient yet smooth and I concur based on this test shave. Especially considering the scenario with 1.5 days growth was not ideal. There is something slightly different about how this shaves compared to my other razors and I am optimistic it will be a positive thing over time. As others have noted, the blade gap (which seems large) does not lead to excessive blade feel. Seems to provide efficiency without aggression. I think the other aspects of the head design like the curvature contribute to this. Will need more experience with it of course but good start.
- Speaking of head design, maneuverability was also good. Once concern I had was that the larger head would make it tough to get to tricky areas like the upper lip. The curve of the head and angle of the blade seem to offset the overall head thickness to enable the blade to get where it needs to go.
- I didn't notice a lot of audible feedback on Pass 1 but plenty on Pass 2 for whatever reason. It was easy to tell the razor was mowing down some whiskers.
- Although the shave feel (blade on skin) was very smooth, I did feel some resistance from the cap I think. This meant I could not slide the razor over my face as easily. I am wondering if this might be a difference resulting from my choice of matte steel vs. polished. The matte steel cap is not a completely smooth surface and I think that impacted the glide. Not necessarily a big problem but something to report.
- Resulting shave quality was very good considering the challenging test case. I didn't get too ambitious and try to go for perfection on my trouble spots (corners of lips, lower jaw on right side). That said, the resulting shave was still quite good. And zero blood loss.
- Immediate post shave feel was good. I got a normal level of sting with the alcohol-based splash. Nothing extreme that would indicate I got a rough shave.
- Even better, late-day skin irritation did not occur. Sometimes this happens when the shave is not ideal. I keep aftershave balm in my office just in case it's needed later in the day if have some issues. Didn't need it.

So there you have it for first impressions. I plan to shave with the CG tomorrow and will report back.

 

[rms]

Shaved this morning with the CG antique brass Gen2/Level2. As I mentioned this a beauty and a beast. Let’s see how things went with my heaviest razor...

A few preliminary notes:
- As before, these are first impressions based on one shave. It will be the longer term results that will be more important and if there’s any interest I may do a follow-up.
- The CG razor test drive benefited from some advantages compared to the Timeless first shave. I had two days of growth to work with and did a much better job on prep.
- Products used were the same as before, even the blade - Feather (on its fourth and final shave)

Observations:
- I definitely noticed the heft of the razor during the shave. The incremental weight difference over other razors I own stands out at the moment (at least for now on Shave 1). Don’t think it’s a significant issue, but it is possible the regular handle would have been a better call for me over the magnum. Grip was very good - never noted any slippage which I guess, given the weight, is a good sign!
- The shave feel is very good. There is blade feel, but not excessive or overly aggressive. There is a difference in the shave feel vs. the Timeless - there is a “softness” to the Timeless that I found unique and the feel of the CG was more "typical” in that it was similar to other razors. This is hard to describe and also, importantly, is not a quality judgement it’s just a difference I observed. My conclusion from this one-shave test drive is that this probably will make the CG easy for me to adjust to but the Timeless has me curious to see how its different design will work out for me over the longer term.
- Maneuverability was also good, despite the weight. The head design is slim and it is was easy to navigate the tricky areas like the upper lip.
- Resulting shave quality was excellent. Easily a DFS and even good results on my trouble spots. I did draw a little blood and got some post-shave sting from the alcohol splash but this was minor. I got a little ambitious in a tricky spot near the jaw line. Didn't even need alum though, so very good result given the closeness of the shave.
- End of day results also good. Smooth skin throughout the day and minimal irritation. I got some of that minor “I shaved today” feel but not enough to need a mid-day application of balm so this is good for me.

Hope this was helpful. Cheers all!

 

[rms]

@RobDoffrey Hope this was quick enough! Good luck with your decisions. Curious to hear how your initial experience with the CG compares to mine. I look forward to getting to use them both more.