Detailed photos from the Amazon site are on Page 2. This is exactly what the razor looks like.
I did look in the box that I typically keep my razors and their boxes but I didn't see that one. May come across it later?
Seki Japan Butterfly Open Safety Razor - Amazon
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Detailed photos from the Amazon site are on Page 2. This is exactly what the razor looks like.
I did look in the box that I typically keep my razors and their boxes but I didn't see that one. May come across it later?
I tend to agree with your suspicion after doing some checking myself. There does not appear to be any definite presence of this manufacture elsewhere on the Web or even website.
Sort of me coming out with a Solingen City razor brand.
The quality does appear to be too good for an $18 dollar razor?
Still, the Wilkinson Sword TTO razor is typically sold for $14 and there is nothing at all wrong with its quality.
But, if you look at the typical Zamek three piece razors. They typically sell between $30 and $45. They are just cast metal heads that have been chrome plated. Not expensive to produce, once you make the molds. Labor is almost zero as compared to the complex hand assembly of the TTO razors, not to mention the parts and labor involved for the internal components.
Way different product.
If you watch the video. They melt down a pure zink bar. That process produces only three parts.
Afterward, they specifically state the other parts are made from hardened zink. Not the same thing.
Also, looking at the video, the doors are completely different in appearance than door of a typical TTO razor. If you look at them in the video, they are doors that don't even close the same way as regular TTO doors do.
Zamek is an alloy that takes the place of steel but is much less expensive. It is strong but is brittle. It is not a material that is bendable without breaking.
Butterfly doors are not typically cast but made of rolled materials that can be bent without breaking.
This US$11 Weishi from Aliexpress looks exactly like the Amazon $55 one.
I'm asking because I can read some Japanese, and can tell whether it's manufactured in Japan or China, assuming the info is disclosed on the box.
There's nothing wrong with buying a re-branded razor (I have one myself), but we have to avoid those resellers who mark up too much for the convenience of not having to wait for the item to ship from China.
We still know for a fact there are TTO razors made with zamak heads and parts. If a listing doesn't specify everything is made from brass, besides things like springs, then I assume parts are made from zamak.
We also understand that, from a metallurgical prospective, zamek is far from an ideal material to use in a typical TTO razor design. It would make little sense to make this assumption?
I feel it's reasonable to assume. YMMV
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