Mühle created quite some stir when they announced the stainless steel Rocca series, but after an extremely short time these razors disappeared from the market and became harder to come by than Hens’ teeth.
Apparently, Mühle felt that a redesign was necessary and had halted production.
I have no problems with Zamak safety razors when they are well made, but the idea of a stainless steel razor always appealed to me. I like a matte steel surface that provides a good grip and feel and the obvious durability of the material. I was immediately attracted to the model with birch bark handles, but my impression when I first saw a picture was ”cork”. The material feels very nice to touch, provides a firm no-slip grip and is a pleasure to handle. Mühle has a good reputation and I fully expect the handle material to live up to that reputation. To my eye, the matte steel surface combined with the birch bark handle makes for an aesthetically extremely pleasing design.
When Mühle notified me that they finally had resumed production, I ordered two razors, one for home and one for the travel kit that I regularly use. As I shave predominantly with straight razors, I brought out my Mühle open and closed comb razors in the meantime to have a better comparison when the Roccas arrived.
I have shaved now for about a week with my Roccas and here are my observations.
Compared to the my closed and open comb Traditional series (mine are the R89, R41 variants with black resin handles), the 73 gram Roccas with birch bark handle feel heavier than the difference to the 62 gram open and closed comb Mühles would suggest.
The handle is thicker and longer than the Mühle Traditional models and, being made from steel, makes for a slightly different weight distribution that I found easy to adjust to.
Unlike the R41 and R89 series, the base plate has no longitudinal slits for the lather to escape but this did not make any difference during my shave.
The Traditional models have holes in the base plate for the studs of the top plate to fit in. On the Rocca the base plate is solid except for the opening for screw for the handle, and small guide studs are under the top plate.
I have read one report that these studs were “glued” and had come off, but the “glue” part was soon identified as nonsense, and the studs on my two Roccas appear to be quite solid.
The head profile resembles the R89 open comb model and the profile is not quite as curved as on the R41 open comb model.
As I quite like the open comb Mühles, I had contemplated to wait for an open comb Rocca version, but that does not seem to be necessary since the Rocca is clearly more aggressive than the R89 and slightly less so than the R41. Keep in mind that I am quite comfortable with the (2013) R41 and find all that talk about its aggressiveness largely overblown. Today, I shaved one half of my face with the Rocca and the other half with the open comb, and now - 2 hours later - I cannot detect any difference.
With essentially the same technique and effort, both razors give me very nice, comfortable and close BBS shaves.
I enjoy using the Rocca and at this time it will be my go-to razor on those trips where a straight razor is not practical. Whether it will dethrone my straights at home is doubtful however, but the Rocca is a close contender to supplement or even replace my R41 at home.
B.
Apparently, Mühle felt that a redesign was necessary and had halted production.
I have no problems with Zamak safety razors when they are well made, but the idea of a stainless steel razor always appealed to me. I like a matte steel surface that provides a good grip and feel and the obvious durability of the material. I was immediately attracted to the model with birch bark handles, but my impression when I first saw a picture was ”cork”. The material feels very nice to touch, provides a firm no-slip grip and is a pleasure to handle. Mühle has a good reputation and I fully expect the handle material to live up to that reputation. To my eye, the matte steel surface combined with the birch bark handle makes for an aesthetically extremely pleasing design.
When Mühle notified me that they finally had resumed production, I ordered two razors, one for home and one for the travel kit that I regularly use. As I shave predominantly with straight razors, I brought out my Mühle open and closed comb razors in the meantime to have a better comparison when the Roccas arrived.
I have shaved now for about a week with my Roccas and here are my observations.
Compared to the my closed and open comb Traditional series (mine are the R89, R41 variants with black resin handles), the 73 gram Roccas with birch bark handle feel heavier than the difference to the 62 gram open and closed comb Mühles would suggest.
The handle is thicker and longer than the Mühle Traditional models and, being made from steel, makes for a slightly different weight distribution that I found easy to adjust to.
Unlike the R41 and R89 series, the base plate has no longitudinal slits for the lather to escape but this did not make any difference during my shave.
The Traditional models have holes in the base plate for the studs of the top plate to fit in. On the Rocca the base plate is solid except for the opening for screw for the handle, and small guide studs are under the top plate.
I have read one report that these studs were “glued” and had come off, but the “glue” part was soon identified as nonsense, and the studs on my two Roccas appear to be quite solid.
The head profile resembles the R89 open comb model and the profile is not quite as curved as on the R41 open comb model.
As I quite like the open comb Mühles, I had contemplated to wait for an open comb Rocca version, but that does not seem to be necessary since the Rocca is clearly more aggressive than the R89 and slightly less so than the R41. Keep in mind that I am quite comfortable with the (2013) R41 and find all that talk about its aggressiveness largely overblown. Today, I shaved one half of my face with the Rocca and the other half with the open comb, and now - 2 hours later - I cannot detect any difference.
With essentially the same technique and effort, both razors give me very nice, comfortable and close BBS shaves.
I enjoy using the Rocca and at this time it will be my go-to razor on those trips where a straight razor is not practical. Whether it will dethrone my straights at home is doubtful however, but the Rocca is a close contender to supplement or even replace my R41 at home.
B.
