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How much $$$ is too much for a straight razor???

Legion

Staff member
A razor would have to be pretty cool for me to pay more than $200 for it.

I can understand the desire to own a nice custom razor, but it's not really for me.
 
I'm willing to put more money into a straight razor than a DE razor.
I did not count on the variety as being PART of the enjoyment.

+1 both of these. Only the great enjoyment I get from sale prices and vintage hunting is protecting me from expensive new and NOS straights.

My backlog of restoration projects is protecting me from everything but the very best wild vintage SR finds.

Any SR over $200 is a high bar, but one I have proven I can clear.

One other protective factor: the choices on the Koraat website, and the photo gallery, are so overwhelming that I can paralyze my SR urges with a visit. Sometimes it takes hours to emerge, but my credit card is in a coma when I'm done window shopping.
 
Most of the high priced razors, say $750 and up, are for custom jobs by renowned makers. Fortunately for me, I like the historical (vintage) razors and they typically go for $300 and less. I also like well made razors from Ralf Aust and Wacker, again $300 or less. I can afford a high priced custom razor, but it does not attract me the way a vintage Tanifuji does.
 
I did buy a Damascus Blade and love it, yes I did make the scales as I wanted to see the blade when closed.

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I have a fairly realistic approach to when it comes to razors. Fist and foremost in my mind is that it is a tool that I use to shave with. Functionality is king. Initially I thought a mouldy-looking Filarmonica does not justify a price tag that compares to an entry-level new Theirs Issard, but I was wrong.
Am I willing to pay twice the price for a good-looking one? No! It shaves the same as the mouldy one.
 
I own quite a few straight razors, which I use from time to time and i'm by no means an expect to this topic, but what i've learn from people with lots years of experience with straight razors is that the edge is all that matters. If one really wants to own some very nicely made or very old, rare vintage blade in near mint condition, that's fine, but there's no magic here. At first I was planning to buy a shoulderless 6/8 Ralf Aust, but now I think I should get myself a few stones and learn how to hone the razors I already have instead of buying more razors and rely on others to hone my razors. Just take some time and think about it to see if that's what you really want and how much are you willing to spend.
 
When considering custom artisans or smiths. It would depend on the artist known quality/reputation, quantity of his or her work available, and whether or not he/she’s dead or alive.
 
I know this will have a lot of answers and opinions. the question in itself is highly subjective.

I was thinking the other evening that over time.......and with my learning about restoring, honing, fixing, collecting, etc. my perceptions and thoughts about this have changed.

just curious about other's thoughts and opinions about this. let's keep this gentlemanly discussion civil please.

camo
I think for me, probably anything over $250 is too much. Theres so many great vintage and new straight razors out there that are $225 or less, I just cant see going over that mark.
 
Sorta depends on the razor.
Thing is - nearly every single time I've said "I'll never spend more than $X on a.....(insert type of non-essential item here)..." I have wound up surpassing the X-limit significantly.
So I look at stuff like this as a 'case to case' type of thing.
Plus, if I say I'll never pay over $X for an ABC123 razor then it'll show up on Fleabay tomorrow with a BIN of $X+1 .
 
When I started, $125 was a real splurge on eBay. As I started to acquire more razors I ended up in the $150 - $300 range, but buying far fewer.

Today I'm actually considering selling off several of my earlier acquisitions and purchasing a select few customs. Those would be in the $400 - $800 range.
 
When I started, $125 was a real splurge on eBay. As I started to acquire more razors I ended up in the $150 - $300 range, but buying far fewer.

Today I'm actually considering selling off several of my earlier acquisitions and purchasing a select few customs. Those would be in the $400 - $800 range.

I was wondering what you would say, having admired the shaves you post.

I am suddenly feeling the need to inventory my SRs and perhaps even recall the approximate prices paid. I'll start with the shave ready herd.
 
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