Rooney Beauties: "Special" Faux Tortoise Handle

[cfriend]

These gorgeous ladies arrived today after a short delay due to the holiday weekend. Tortoise is one of my favorite materials; these brushes are here to join several pairs of sunglasses and reading glasses in my expanding tortoise collection. Jim and Erin are fantastic, super helpful, and a dream to work with. Jim hand picked my brushes for me with the shortest lofts possible at the time to feed my facelather obsession.

Below is the Rooney Special 3/1 Pure Badger with a 46.4mm loft, and it's sisterbrush, the Rooney Special 3/1 Super Silvertip with a 45.8mm loft. They're currently taking a dip in the sink, so while they're soaking up lets post some glamor shots!




Rooney Beauties, fresh out of the box.

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Why hello there, you two.
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I like to see them come, and I love to watch them go.
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Another angle, drip stands in the back.
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Gorgeous.
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Pure on the left, Super on the right.
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Lastly, comparative sizing with Merkur HD, ST-301 blades and Speick shave cream.
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Thanks again to Jim and Erin at Vintage Blades LLC. I will definitely be returning for future purchases

 

[cfriend]

Updated with bloom pics. Not a huge bloom (yet) but even softer than when they arrived (hard to believe in itself, they were soft from the get-go) and all the more luxurious for it.

Rooney Beauties, chillin' at the breakfast table.

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Hey girls.

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Backsides.

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Lush.

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Top down.

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Comparison.
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Super in the bowl
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Wet super on a puck of Mama Bears
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Meant to take pics mid-lather, got carried away in the shave and forgot to pick up the camera again Here's my SOTD instead, which gives some idea of the postlather look.
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[Greyfox]

Pretty brushes.

 

[johnniegold]

Definitely a handsome brush.

 

[Austin]

Tortoise handles are my favorite in brushes.

 

[LawLess]

Very fine looking brushes! Comparing the knot on the pure vs. the Super Silvertip is no comparison - the Super just looks so much better up top.

 

[napoleon]

*Reserved for post-bloom pics*

It's like waiting for a girl to take her clothes off

 

[BEAR DEN]

It's like waiting for a girl to take her clothes off

+1

 

[whitebar]

Wow! Nice pair.

 

[dwestenk]

Tortoise handles are my favorite in brushes.

Imagine that in a 3/2 Rooney Super or Emillion!!

 

[mdunn]

holy moly.

ive never wanted a rooney....


....until now

 

[burnwood]

great brush pron you got there.

 

[sapito318]

Those are very nice looking brushes. I recently ordered the coral handled one, but after seeing your pictures of the tortoise (which, admittedly I did not care for at first) I think I like.

 

[cfriend]

Those are very nice looking brushes. I recently ordered the coral handled one, but after seeing your pictures of the tortoise (which, admittedly I did not care for at first) I think I like.

When I first looked at the new handles the coral spoke to me immediately. After seeing additional pictures in different lighting I realized that while indeed pretty, the coral simply didn't tug on my heartstrings like the tortoise I know and love in so many other "accessories."

 

[Cuttingboard]

The super is a beautiful brush!!

 

[BobS]

Is that the new 3/1 that has been discussed in several posts? Those look fantastic.

 

[cfriend]

Is that the new 3/1 that has been discussed in several posts? Those look fantastic.

They are the new handled Rooney Specials available at Vintage Blades, but they're arguably short-loft 3/1's in alternative handles. In short, yes.

 

[Cuttingboard]

they're arguably short-loft 3/1's in alternative handles.

What does this mean?

 

[cfriend]

What does this mean?

The brush loft on the 3/1 is normally 50mm, the loft on my super in the picture is 45.8mm. The answer to your question is yes, these are the "new" 3/1 brushes everyone talks about, but they're called "Rooney Special" on the Vintage Blades website. Sorry if that wasn't immediately clear.

 

[kingasia]

wow.. those are some slick lookin handles