Today I shaved with my Sonnal 172 straight razor and it brought to mind comments on this site when I posted it in the Straight Razor Acquisition thread. I bought this razor from a reputable seller that I've made several purchases from. He posted it as a Japanese razor and I repeated that claim in my post. A B&B member commented that Sonnal razors are German and included info on the German company by that name.
I took some time and tried to research the origin of this straight razor. There was indeed a company manufacturing razors in Germany called Sonnal. But all I can find are safety razors. They also made DE blades. No mention of straight razors. I'm skeptical about this being the maker of my straight razor. I don't think I've seen any German straight razors that don't have a made in stamp of Germany, Solingen or Wald-Solingen. I think there are some that may say Berlin Ring or something similar. My razor has no such stamp.
The hollow ground blade profile with a single shoulder looks like a Japanese razor to me. Does anyone have information on Sonnal straight razors? It doesn't really matter, the razor is a fine performer regardless of point of origin, but I'm curious.
I took some time and tried to research the origin of this straight razor. There was indeed a company manufacturing razors in Germany called Sonnal. But all I can find are safety razors. They also made DE blades. No mention of straight razors. I'm skeptical about this being the maker of my straight razor. I don't think I've seen any German straight razors that don't have a made in stamp of Germany, Solingen or Wald-Solingen. I think there are some that may say Berlin Ring or something similar. My razor has no such stamp.
The hollow ground blade profile with a single shoulder looks like a Japanese razor to me. Does anyone have information on Sonnal straight razors? It doesn't really matter, the razor is a fine performer regardless of point of origin, but I'm curious.