Dawin DE - How well does it shave?

[nEver-Ready]

The Darwin DE is probably the last "grail" razor on my list, since I finally found an Eclipse Red Ring. The razor is, in my opinion, unusually beautiful, but I'm wondering how the shaving performance stacks up against other razors. Any current owners/users comments would be appreciated. Just looking to gauge how eagerly I should pursue my RAD for this razor.

Thanks

View attachment $Darwin.JPG

 

[Sledgehammer39]

That sure is a beautiful razor.. I gotta hunt one down. I am also interested in users feedback.

 

[Haiku]

I'm like you guys, I fell in love with the way the Darwin looks and I finally found one.

It's one of my best shavers. It's an aggressive razor I suppose one would say. My slant is generally my go-to razor, and I take the Darwin out once and a while for a spin. The shaves are comparable I find. Two pass DFS is standard with the Darwin no matter what blade I use.

I got really lucky with mine. I got one that looks for all the world like it was NOS. The box is in perfect shape and the razor really looks new. I don't think it was, but it looks it.

I also managed to snag a carton of Darwin blades of the same vintage, one of these days I'll post about them. They look to me like they are maybe the best made blades I've seen.

 

[nEver-Ready]

I'm like you guys, I fell in love with the way the Darwin looks and I finally found one.

It's one of my best shavers. It's an aggressive razor I suppose one would say. My slant is generally my go-to razor, and I take the Darwin out once and a while for a spin. The shaves are comparable I find. Two pass DFS is standard with the Darwin no matter what blade I use.

I got really lucky with mine. I got one that looks for all the world like it was NOS. The box is in perfect shape and the razor really looks new. I don't think it was, but it looks it.

I also managed to snag a carton of Darwin blades of the same vintage, one of these days I'll post about them. They look to me like they are maybe the best made blades I've seen.

Lucky you. Where did you find such a nice piece?

 

[Haiku]

Lucky you. Where did you find such a nice piece?

The 'bay. Had to have lots of patience.

One thing about these razors: from what I understand they're cobalt steel, not plated. And so even if one is scratched up, it can be polished up to a mirror finish. Now, that's assuming my information about them being cobalt is correct, and I think it is.

 

[Joe Edson]

The 'bay. Had to have lots of patience.

One thing about these razors: from what I understand they're cobalt steel, not plated. And so even if one is scratched up, it can be polished up to a mirror finish. Now, that's assuming my information about them being cobalt is correct, and I think it is.

There are 2 models, one is cobalt the other is stainless steel.

I think I've owned both, but sold one off recently and kept the cobalt one. I don't use DEs anymore, but when I did the darwin was my go to one. It is hands down the best I've tried, though I actually found it somewhat mild. Sharks and Iridiums were the best blades for me with it.

 

[Merkur25]

It shaves very freakin close with no effort. I would suggest not using this razor unless you have experience with DEs longer than 6 months

I have one as well.....awesome razor to own

 

[Haiku]

There are 2 models, one is cobalt the other is stainless steel.

I think I've owned both, but sold one off recently and kept the cobalt one. I don't use DEs anymore, but when I did the darwin was my go to one. It is hands down the best I've tried, though I actually found it somewhat mild. Sharks and Iridiums were the best blades for me with it.

Any idea which one is the cobalt and which the stainless? I assume that the Standard is the stainless and the Deluxe is the cobalt, but that's idle speculation on my part.

 

[RocketMan]

Here is one that recently sold on the bay:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220706940078&ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT

As an aside - I am not so sure about this cobalt/stainless issue. I have believed until now that these were produced primarily in the mid 1920's and were made of stainless steel. If someone can come up with something to substantiate the cobalt made razor idea, I will be pleased to change my thinking - till then I am sticking with my earlier research indicating that the Darwin D/Es were made exclusively of stainless steel.

And, this is just my opinion, I have one of these and while it is indeed attractive, I find it to be too heavy and the head rather too thick to be a good shaver. This of course is my experience - but I am afraid I can only give it high scores on looks.

 

[Intrigued]

Here is one that recently sold on the bay:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220706940078&ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT

As an aside - I am not so sure about this cobalt/stainless issue. I have believed until now that these were produced primarily in the mid 1920's and were made of stainless steel. If someone can come up with something to substantiate the cobalt made razor idea, I will be pleased to change my thinking - till then I am sticking with my earlier research indicating that the Darwin D/Es were made exclusively of stainless steel.

And, this is just my opinion, I have one of these and while it is indeed attractive, I find it to be too heavy and the head rather too thick to be a good shaver. This of course is my experience - but I am afraid I can only give it high scores on looks.

The Deluxe Darwin has "patent cobalt steel" stamped on it.

View attachment 136784
View attachment $Darwin D.jpg
View attachment $Darwin, cobalt steel.jpg

 

[nEver-Ready]

Here is one that recently sold on the bay:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220706940078&ssPageName=STRK:MESINDXX:IT

I know...I was runner up on this one...

 

[moshulu]

There are two very different Darwin head designs, as can be seen in the photos above. I have the simpler, flatter one. It doesn't say anything about cobalt, though. Shaves like a dream, medium aggressive. Lovely Art Deco object.

 

[Haiku]

Here's a copy of an advertisement for Darwin razors. The text says "stainless steel" for the art deco handled razors. It seems to me however that it's as clear as can be that the Deluxe was made of colbalt steel. It could be that the ad simply doesn't cover the cobalt steel model.

I tried to resize the ad so that it's legible, but it got too big to upload to the Gallery. I'm sure it can be downloaded and resized on your computer and I hope it's legible.

If someone knows how I can resize and keep the text legible please send me a PM.

If you can't read the ad, try downloading it by clicking the link here.

http://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/media/23661/full

 

[moshulu]

Here's a copy of an advertisement for Darwin razors.

Thanks for this, but the file is just too small - illegible. Could you break it up into smaller high-resolution bits? Where is it from? Is there a date?

 

[Haiku]

Thanks for this, but the file is just too small - illegible. Could you break it up into smaller high-resolution bits? Where is it from? Is there a date?

Looks like the answer to your question is yes. I can't recall where I found this nor do I know the date. Sorry. I thought it was an ad that I copied it from a web sale, but it looks like it came out of a book given that there are page numbers.

 

[RocketMan]

Thanx for posting info on this razor folks. I hadn't got back to this thread until now and I certainly learned something here.

The Deluxe and Standard - two of em! I didn't notice before the differences between these two. Certainly as well the cobalt steel piece - very interesting. I guess my Darwin is a Standard. Sheesh - I thought I was done on this one! Quite a noticeable difference in the cap as well that I had not picked up on. The Deluxe has holes where the guide posts come through - resulting in three holes in the cap. The Standard only has the thread hole which comes through - the guide posts do not come through the cap. Totally obvious now that I know to look for it! Looking at the one I put the link to on eBay, then you can quickly tell that it is a Standard as there aren't holes where the posts are. Huh!

So much for the quality of my earlier research! ha!

I keep learning - unfortunatley it is the forgetting that keeps biting me in the *ss!

 

[nEver-Ready]

Looks like the answer to your question is yes. I can't recall where I found this nor do I know the date. Sorry. I thought it was an ad that I copied it from a web sale, but it looks like it came out of a book given that there are page numbers.

Anybody shaved with both the Deluxe and Standard design Darwin DE and care to compare the shave? I may be getting a Standard and was wondering if the shave of the Deluxe is much better/different.

 

[Intrigued]

Anybody shaved with both the Deluxe and Standard design Darwin DE and care to compare the shave? I may be getting a Standard and was wondering if the shave of the Deluxe is much better/different.

I posted this in another thread. Link here

I think they both give comparable shaves. My husband feels the same way. He said if he were blindfolded and handed the razors he probably would not be able to tell the difference in the shave between the two. Where he really thinks they both excel is when he has a couple, few days growth of beard. If he shaves every day he prefers to use his Feather AS. That being said we both like the Deluxe better. The blade is a little sloppy in the Standard and you have to be very careful to keep it straight when you tighten down the head. On the Deluxe the blade fits so tight that there is no way to put it in crooked (the downside is it's a little hard to remove the blade).

 

[nEver-Ready]

I posted this in another thread. Link here

Thanks.

 

[Intrigued]

The link is going to the end of the thread. If you go back into the thread you can see some nice Darwin razor porn. Haiku has a beautiful Standard.