Comments on my new Le Grelot

[Eastcoast30]

I recently purchased a Le Grelot with a factory honed edge. I did not have the blade honed by the seller, as it is my understanding that the Le Grelot often comes in shave ready from the factory. And in this case, I did come in perfectly shave ready. Using a cherry tomato, every bit of the edge from heel to toe sliced the tomato effortlessly. The razor passed the HHT and treetops as well. I was quite surprised, as I know that it takes some time to progress to a shave ready condition. And spine wear was minimal; scratches on the spine were very fine, indicating a fine finishing stone.

What surprises me most is the effort put in, compared to my Thiers Issard at twice the price. Thiers Issard purchased Le Grelot a while back, so they are sister companies - or something like that. But the Thiers Issard I purchased a while back was not shave ready and took a bit of work on my 1k before I got to a bevel. I will also add that the pivot pin on my LG was nice and tight, but the TI was quite loose and the blade swung freely. I had to tap the TI pin down a bit, but still not really tight.

So price and reputation do not mean as much as actual quality received. Any thoughts on this? Does anyone consider the TI a better razor? Why?

 

[Straight up]

I have 3 TIs and love them all. Two I 'restored' after buying them second hand as they had rust and blemishes and consequently needed to be sharpened. The other I bought 21 years ago and it hasn't missed a beat. I love the quality of the blades and the aesthetic qualities of them.

I have seen a Durandal on this site with a gold wash that doesn't look right and heard comments about quality control. But I have not experienced any problems. I don't own a Le Grelot, but TI calls some of its models a Le Grelot style (shoulder-less) which I have. So I can't say for certain how the two compare, I can only say from personal experience I love TI.

 

[Polarbeard]

I've got too many C135 steel TI razors and I love them all, and I've never had an issue with them, then again I might have been lucky. I own some Le Grelot razors too, but only older ones.

 

[Slash]

I can only comment on the TI’s (that I’ve received) I own 2 that I’ve bought brand new and they came perfect out the box in every way (3rd has been on way for months) hopefully soon


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[Frank Shaves]

It is my understanding that Le Grelot is now a trademark owned by TI. Is this a vintage Le Grelot or a new TI Le Grelot. Can you share a photo?

 

[Eastcoast30]

I have a vintage P. Hospital but the one I refer to in this thread is a brand new Le Grelot. It does not have the vintage P. Hospital mark.

 

[Frank Shaves]

I assume this is the 6/8 inch, half hollow with plastic scales. You paid less for this razor because it has plastic scales and comes in a cardboard box. Just add up the cost that TI charges for more expensive scales (like horn or wood) and a leather pouch. The rest of the difference seems to be the result of who grinds each razor and why TI allows razors with uneven grinds into the market. More on the latter later.

 

[Eastcoast30]

I assume this is the 6/8 inch, half hollow with plastic scales. You paid less for this razor because it has plastic scales and comes in a cardboard box. Just add up the cost that TI charges for more expensive scales (like horn or wood) and a leather pouch. The rest of the difference seems to be the result of who grinds each razor and why TI allows razors with uneven grinds into the market. More on the latter later.

5/8 full hollow with plastic scales. In addition to a poor bevel, the pivot pin was extremely loose on the TI. I tightened it somewhat but still not perfect. I did not want to smash the pin down too much as that would off-center the blade.

 

[Tomo]

I believe that TI and Le Grelot is one and the same these days. They just put a different stamp on the blade in the factory. Apart from the branding the blade blank is identical to many of the TI models.

 

[Eastcoast30]

I believe that is correct. Originally, TI bought up a certain amount of remaining LG blanks and those would have had the P. Hospital mark. Surely those are used up by now and the new blanks do not carry the P. Hospital mark. So the blanks must be the same as there would be no economic incentive to make two different blanks.

 

[Frank Shaves]

The whole Le Grelot thing is confusing. I think that you are right about TI originally using LG blanks and LG now just being a trademark. It also seems that sellers can specify which marks they want on the razors they order - see the bottom of this page:

Les Rasoirs

www.thiers-issard.fr

But you will notice that the LG mark on @Eastcoast30's LG is not listed. So the above explanation does not fully resolve the whole LG thing. Mysterioso!

 

[Eastcoast30]

Here are the tang marks on my old and new Le Grelot.

 

[Basil]

Here are the tang marks on my old and new Le Grelot.

View attachment 1215598

The top razor looks like the new TI razors. Made with a different steel than the old TI/ le grelot razors.

The new steel is much harder, and I found it less comfortable on a shave than the old metal.

Also the le grelot razors are a bit confusing. First le grelot was its own company. Then they were bought by TI, who used their blanks to grind out razors. Then I think they didn’t keep the copyright to the le grelot name because a Turkish guy started selling razors under the le grelot name. And now TI looks to be selling le grelot razors again. It’s all a bit muddy if you ask me.

I do love my le grelot razors. I have 5 of them and they are all I use, here’s a pic of afew of mine.

 

[Eastcoast30]

I'm jealous. Someone on this forum has a boatload of beautiful Le Grelot razors. I can never seem to find any.

 

[Basil]

Lol I’ve been collecting these for 10 years now. They come up eventually though. If I knew they would be so hard to find I would have bought more when they were easy to find in store.