Rooney Stubby 1 Finest

[texaninkc]

I just picked up this beauty off the BST, thanks Nick! During my search for more info on this brush, I kept reading about how rare this brush was. According to a few of you, only 12 or less brushes were made. I couldn't find any info confirming this so thought I'd put together this thread as a "here's hoping we can identify the owners of this fantastic brush."

I'm loving this brush. I owned a Rooney 1/1 Finest and really liked it. My only problem was that it was too small. I was concerned that this brush being only slightly larger would still be too small. It's on the smaller side for sure but I love the control I get. The brush absolutely shines when it comes to performance. Great at loading, lather building, and lather release. Truly a great brush and one that I'm happy to own in my stable. So to my Stubby 1 Finest brothers, come out, come out wherever you are.

I thought I'd throw in some comparison shots as well.

 

[xillion]

You're correct that there were only a few Heritage Stubby Finest brushes made.
I had a chance to try out that brush back in July and it was fantastic.
Congrats on the brush enjoy it.

From left: Finest 1/2 faux ivory, Heritage Stubby 1 Finest, Finest 1/1 faux horn.

 

[malocchio]

I'm in !!...and happy to say so...only 2 shaves,not broken in yet,a special occasion brush for me.Now the mystery deepens,are all 12 owners members of our forum ?? time will tell...

 

[texaninkc]

You're correct that there were only a few Heritage Stubby Finest brushes made.
I had a chance to try out that brush back in July and it was fantastic.
Congrats on the brush enjoy it.

From left: Finest 1/2 faux ivory, Heritage Stubby 1 Finest, Finest 1/1 faux horn.
View attachment 284399

It looks like the Stubby 1 and the Finest 1/1 are almost identical. The handle on the Stubby looks slightly taller but thinner. The total height is also higher. The differences are so minute. That's a beautiful fan on the 1/1 though. I'm happy to have the Stubby but now wondering why I let go of my 1/1. Nick is the happy owner of it though so we pretty much traded one for the other.

 

[texaninkc]

I'm in !!...and happy to say so...only 2 shaves,not broken in yet,a special occasion brush for me.Now the mystery deepens,are all 12 owners members of our forum ?? time will tell...

2 down.. 10 more to go? If I recall correctly, Jim might have one. Not sure who else.

 

[xillion]

On my face the Heritage Stubby 1 felt the same as my 1/1. If I closed my eyes I couldn't tell the difference. Rooney Finest is such wonderful hair.

 

[ChiefBroom]

Is Rooney "Heritage" the same as "Finest"? I'd got in my head -- but have no idea from where -- that Finest came (and went?) first.

 

[xillion]

Is Rooney "Heritage" the same as "Finest"? I'd got in my head -- but have no idea from where -- that Finest came (and went?) first.

They still make the Heritage line, just not with Finest hair anymore. They only made a very small number of Heritage handles with Finest knots. But a few years back many Rooney brushes such as the style 1, 2, 3, and perhaps a few other handles were available with Finest grade hair as an option.

The Heritage Stubby 1 in Finest has nearly the same knot as the Finest 1/1 plus or minus a mm or two due to the handmade nature of the knot.
Only the handles are different. Both are wonderfully dense and have great backbone.

Here is some info from Vintage Blades regarding the current Heritage Brushes.

R.A. Rooney shaving brushes: Rooney Heritage

This is a line of shaving brushes from R.A. Rooney that looks back to the company's earlier days. The designs chosen for the handles are much like early Rooney brushes and others found in factory archives.

All brushes in this line are completely handmade from the finest materials available to the brush maker today. The lathe turned handles are of an Imitation Bone material that is of an "off-white" color much like natural bone.

The badger hair used for the Heritage brushes is a special grade of two-band Silvertip badger hair, used exclusively in this range of brushes, the so called "3rd Generation Heritage Silvertip". Many feel that the quality of this hair is much closer to that of the Rooney Finest than it is to the “standard” Rooney Super. One thing that all agree on, however, these brushes are some of the most densely filled brushes on the market.

 

[celestino]

Great photos!

 

[Sueto]

I still enjoy using mine. There were more than 12 made for sure. I got rid of most of my other brushes after getting this little unicorn of a brush.

 

[hedonist222]

Nice!

Where can one find a brand new Finest Rooney?

 

[ChiefBroom]

I have one. As someone else here remarked: "It's a pip." My hunch is more than 12 were made; but I certainly don't know. I hope there were, because I'd like eventually to have another Rooney in Finest.

 

[ChiefBroom]

They still make the Heritage line, just not with Finest hair anymore. They only made a very small number of Heritage handles with Finest knots. But a few years back many Rooney brushes such as the style 1, 2, 3, and perhaps a few other handles were available with Finest grade hair as an option.

The Heritage Stubby 1 in Finest has nearly the same knot as the Finest 1/1 plus or minus a mm or two due to the handmade nature of the knot.
Only the handles are different. Both are wonderfully dense and have great backbone.

Here is some info from Vintage Blades regarding the current Heritage Brushes.

Thanks much. What styles, sizes, and materials were uses with Rooney Finest Badger? The quote from Vintage Blades states Heritage handles "are of an Imitation Bone material;" however, I've seen a photo of a Rooney Finest in horn, presumably imitation.

 

[jpakstis]

Thanks much. What styles, sizes, and materials were uses with Rooney Finest Badger? The quote from Vintage Blades states Heritage handles "are of an Imitation Bone material;" however, I've seen a photo of a Rooney Finest in horn, presumably imitation.

My understanding is the the "heritage" line is an attempt by Rooney to resurrect classic Rooney handles, like the urn or Emilion. As a result, it seems they picked a premium hair grade to go along with it. These are the ones made in imitation bone.

I think back when they were available, "finest" was a type of grade of hair; they were were filled with pure, best, super, and finest. Similar to the Simpson "Manchurian" grade now. I've seen Rooney Finest hair in just about every type of handle Rooney had on offer back then. Recently, I've become very intrigued by Rooney; I just got a M&F blonde badger in style 1/1 and I have one of the Rooney 2XL's coming. I had a Finest (in 1/3), but it was too unwieldy for me; the dimensions of the knot were 26mm knot, and 62mm loft.

 

[ChiefBroom]

My understanding is the the "heritage" line is an attempt by Rooney to resurrect classic Rooney handles, like the urn or Emilion. As a result, it seems they picked a premium hair grade to go along with it. These are the ones made in imitation bone.

I think back when they were available, "finest" was a type of grade of hair; they were were filled with pure, best, super, and finest. Similar to the Simpson "Manchurian" grade now. I've seen Rooney Finest hair in just about every type of handle Rooney had on offer back then. Recently, I've become very intrigued by Rooney; I just got a M&F blonde badger in style 1/1 and I have one of the Rooney 2XL's coming. I had a Finest (in 1/3), but it was too unwieldy for me; the dimensions of the knot were 26mm knot, and 62mm loft.

Thanks for the reply. 26mm/62mm in Finest is hard for me to imagine extrapolating from my little Stubby 1, which is an absolute butt-kicker.

 

[xillion]

Thanks much. What styles, sizes, and materials were uses with Rooney Finest Badger? The quote from Vintage Blades states Heritage handles "are of an Imitation Bone material;" however, I've seen a photo of a Rooney Finest in horn, presumably imitation.

Jpakstis pretty much covered it. I've seen Rooney Finest knots is faux ivory, faux horn, faux ebony handles, the heritage imitation bone handles. I've also seen it in M&F Stubby XL handles and a few others.

 

[malocchio]

I still enjoy using mine. There were more than 12 made for sure. I got rid of most of my other brushes after getting this little unicorn of a brush.

I think the "12" number pertains only to the "stubby" in finest ,not to the output in finest.

 

[texaninkc]

So it looks like we have 4 identified. We're getting there.

 

[jpakstis]

If someone wants to give up one of those twelve, I can dispose of it properly for you. I will even pay for shipping.

 

[ChiefBroom]

Here's mine. And I LOVE it. It's a very soft and sweet little monster of a brush