1st shave with the Rocca V4. I have the R96 I think with the black handle. I'm going to compare it against the Edwin Jagger 3ONE6 throughout because they are similar, plenty folks have asked on Forums how they compare, and there's few if any direct comparisons. I must point out right here that I have used the 3ONE6 a lot, and this is my first impression of the Rocca V4, so my findings can be considered tentative and subject to change.
First off the two razors feel quite different in the hand. Regardless of specs (I believe both heads weigh 30g but don't have scales to confirm that), the 3ONE6 feels lighter and more nimble. It feels sports car like. Not that the Rocca is heavy or cumbersome. It is not. Build quality is very nice on both. The Rocca handle feels very nice on the 3ONE6 head so I will shave with that combo at some point. The 3ONE6 handle is thin and although fit for purpose, just feels wrong. Visually at least, the Rocca has less blade gap. Visually blade exposure is hard to compare.
The shave. I found the Rocca easy to shave with right out the box. No problems with weight of shave angles. With only 1 shave in, I found the razor felt best at the neutral angle, and had no dramas experimenting either side of that, shallow or steep. The 3ONE6 requires more attention. It is capable of smooth shaves but come off the 'just right' and it either losses efficiency, gets rough as hell, or it can bite big time. Get skin in that big gap and puckering of anus will occur rapido. Get it right and the 3ONE6 can shave smooth and comfortable against the grain.The Rocca had no such drama. It also felt that it would not shave as smooth as the 3ONE6 against the grain, although it's not painfully rough at all. I'd say for smooth and comfortable ATG the 3ONE6 has the edge, with the caveats mentioned above.
The Rocca is plenty efficient sitting between the R89 and R41, but closer to the R41. It feels like it has more blade exposure than the 3ONE6 but to me the 3ONE6 is more efficient. The Rocca feels more aggressive though. This smooth/rough thing, which is very subjective...The Rocca sounds rougher than it feels, if that makes sense. The 3ONE6 sounds smoother, and to me feels it when the stars align.
I'm sitting here thinking the 3ONE6 is the one I will keep. It has some strange character that I wouldn't normally tolerate, but somehow find the 3ONE6 rather charming because of them. The Rocca feels more generic and less interesting but not a bad razor. It is efficient, a fairly big step up from the R89, well made and fairly smooth. I'd say anyone who loves the end result using a R41 but couldn't handle the roughness, may well like this razor.
I acknowledge once more that this is my first use of the Rocca and my findings might change over time. One more thing, again tentatively. Muhle claim the V4 is CNC produced. I'm not disputing that but it looks and feels to me very much like a MIM stainless head. I'm wondering if the head is MIM made and then ''trimmed'' to spec on a CNC machine. Is that even possible or financially viable? I have no idea.
First off the two razors feel quite different in the hand. Regardless of specs (I believe both heads weigh 30g but don't have scales to confirm that), the 3ONE6 feels lighter and more nimble. It feels sports car like. Not that the Rocca is heavy or cumbersome. It is not. Build quality is very nice on both. The Rocca handle feels very nice on the 3ONE6 head so I will shave with that combo at some point. The 3ONE6 handle is thin and although fit for purpose, just feels wrong. Visually at least, the Rocca has less blade gap. Visually blade exposure is hard to compare.
The shave. I found the Rocca easy to shave with right out the box. No problems with weight of shave angles. With only 1 shave in, I found the razor felt best at the neutral angle, and had no dramas experimenting either side of that, shallow or steep. The 3ONE6 requires more attention. It is capable of smooth shaves but come off the 'just right' and it either losses efficiency, gets rough as hell, or it can bite big time. Get skin in that big gap and puckering of anus will occur rapido. Get it right and the 3ONE6 can shave smooth and comfortable against the grain.The Rocca had no such drama. It also felt that it would not shave as smooth as the 3ONE6 against the grain, although it's not painfully rough at all. I'd say for smooth and comfortable ATG the 3ONE6 has the edge, with the caveats mentioned above.
The Rocca is plenty efficient sitting between the R89 and R41, but closer to the R41. It feels like it has more blade exposure than the 3ONE6 but to me the 3ONE6 is more efficient. The Rocca feels more aggressive though. This smooth/rough thing, which is very subjective...The Rocca sounds rougher than it feels, if that makes sense. The 3ONE6 sounds smoother, and to me feels it when the stars align.
I'm sitting here thinking the 3ONE6 is the one I will keep. It has some strange character that I wouldn't normally tolerate, but somehow find the 3ONE6 rather charming because of them. The Rocca feels more generic and less interesting but not a bad razor. It is efficient, a fairly big step up from the R89, well made and fairly smooth. I'd say anyone who loves the end result using a R41 but couldn't handle the roughness, may well like this razor.
I acknowledge once more that this is my first use of the Rocca and my findings might change over time. One more thing, again tentatively. Muhle claim the V4 is CNC produced. I'm not disputing that but it looks and feels to me very much like a MIM stainless head. I'm wondering if the head is MIM made and then ''trimmed'' to spec on a CNC machine. Is that even possible or financially viable? I have no idea.
