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Tell Me About Zenith

I'm thinking of getting a Zenith Boar Brush. Are they worth the money or would it be more prudent to just stick with Omega or Semogue?

Thank you in advance for all your answers and sharing your opinions.
 
Zenith brushes are good brushes. I don't have experience with Semogue, from what I have read, the Omegas are more suited to my tastes. The Zenith B25 I own has very slightly less backbone than my Omega Pro 10098. It began to split bristles immediately, and within 2 weeks had about 75% splitage from my visual guesstimate. The handles are a definite upgrade.
 

Chan Eil Whiskers

Fumbling about.
I'm thinking of getting a Zenith Boar Brush. Are they worth the money or would it be more prudent to just stick with Omega or Semogue?

Thank you in advance for all your answers and sharing your opinions.

Absolutely worth the money! The knots are all great. Get the handle you want and you're set.

Zenith.Boars.640.4-18.JPG


I have none with a loft over 57 mm, but at 57 mm and lower, the brushes are great. I like all of mine. None have done me wrong.

Mondial.Zenith.Aluminum.640.4-18.JPG


The Mondial (eBay vendor) is my favorite boar, but the Zeniths (eBay vendor) are all very, very close.

Zenith and Mondial boar are great right out of the box and get better as they develop the split ends, but they're fine from the get go.

Zenith.Copper.boar.Manchurian.2.640.7-14-18.JPG


The copper handled boar is my favorite Zenith boar. It's new in the photo.

Its brother in Manchurian is a great brush, one of my two favorite brushes.

Jade.Damp.OnceUsed.Nice.640.4-18.JPG


For good measure, this is a great Omega brush. Connaught has it. Premium brush it is. It's damp in the photo I think.

By all means. Zenith boars are absolutely the bee's knees.

Happy shaves,

Jim
 
i got a Razorock olivewood boar which i think is a rebranded Zenith 506. It feels great and lathers really nicely . I like that the Razorock version has the logo etched into the bottom of the handle instead of the side. so when the brush is standing or hanging you just see the wood grain, not any company name lettering.
 
I have tried all three. In my experience Omega has more backbone and scritch. Zenith is comfortably right out of the box with minimal scritch and good backbone. The Semogues have less scritch and backbone. I like the Omegas and Zenith.
 
Zenith boar is excellent!
From my experience of all the semogue brushes, about 10 omega and 3 zenith...I'd say the zenith knot feels in between the other two brands.

I believe zenith boar bristles are treated and so they are softer right out of the box but unlike disgusting treated/gel tip badger knots, the treated boars are just as excellent as non-treated but break in much faster.

My favorite of the zenith was their 24mm knot with 55mm loft. I wasn't a fan of the huge lofted pro brush nor did I ever like the omega pro range.

I'd say definitely give one a try and compare to semo and omega otherwise you'll always be left wondering.
 
I have all three brands in boar: 3 Omegas, 5 Semogues and 2 Zeniths. I've found each of the brands very good but among all my brushes, one of the Zeniths annoys me the most. It's very soft and broken in. It looks great with an aluminum handle. The knot is packed with bristle but almost every time I use it, I get a lot of shedding. I'm talking about 4-8 hairs almost every time. I cleaned it last night with vinegar and Dawn. During the hand washing, I lost 5 hairs. Fortunately, I have enough brushes that I don't get it into the rotation that much. If you get lucky enough to get a non-shedder, the Zenith would be worth it. For now, I'm happy with the Omegas and Semogues as my most used brushes. Like all things YMMV.
 
I haven't used a boar brush in several years but it would seem to me if I were to get one that shed every shave I had, one of two things would happen. I would contact the vendor to replace the brush or it would be thrown out with the trash... There are too many good brushes out there that don't shed and certainly there are those brushes within a run that slip through and every mfg'r knows about it and will usually work with you to do something about it.
 

Chan Eil Whiskers

Fumbling about.
I have had hardly any shedding. It must vary a good bit.

I have a good selection of Zeniths, Omegas, Semoques (only use the SOC), and a couple of Mondials.

Happy shaves,

Jim
 
I found the original makers in Italy and contacted them via email a couple of times months ago about it. Nothing in response. I may be one of the unlucky ones that just got a so-so product. I'm not losing any sleep over it. Like I said, it's a minor annoyance and I don't reach for the brush as much as the others. It has soft and thin bristles, a nice heft and looks pretty. I really wanted to like the brush but the shedding has turned me off. Eventually, once the brush has stopped being usable it will be trashed. It will give me an excuse to get another one (like we need that - lol).
 
Just made my purchase of an All Metal Chromed Zenith Big Boar Shave Brush 26x64mm. I like my brushes like I like my shoes, big. Seems to be made of copper that has a chrome plating.
 
Absolutely worth the money! The knots are all great. Get the handle you want and you're set.

View attachment 944029

I have none with a loft over 57 mm, but at 57 mm and lower, the brushes are great. I like all of mine. None have done me wrong.

View attachment 944030

The Mondial (eBay vendor) is my favorite boar, but the Zeniths (eBay vendor) are all very, very close.

Zenith and Mondial boar are great right out of the box and get better as they develop the split ends, but they're fine from the get go.

View attachment 944031

The copper handled boar is my favorite Zenith boar. It's new in the photo.

Its brother in Manchurian is a great brush, one of my two favorite brushes.

View attachment 944032

For good measure, this is a great Omega brush. Connaught has it. Premium brush it is. It's damp in the photo I think.

By all means. Zenith boars are absolutely the bee's knees.

Happy shaves,

Jim

Looks as if the bristles of the mondial are finer than those of the omega?

And uhh, if you absolutely had to get one, mondial vs zenith?
 

Chan Eil Whiskers

Fumbling about.
Looks as if the bristles of the mondial are finer than those of the omega?

And uhh, if you absolutely had to get one, mondial vs zenith?

Mondial, but I have to qualify that answer.

I have only two Mondials.

1-8-19.Mondial.Ivory.Boar.640.New.JPG


This Mondial is brand new. I've not used it or even wet it yet. It looks great, but how it performs is a guess. I'd guess great, but it's a guess.

11-13-18.Mondial.E-2.640.JPG


This Mondial is my favorite boar.

Zenith.Copper.Boar.New.7-7-18.640.JPG


This is I think my favorite Zenith boar (it's new in the photo, but I've used it a good bit now). I have a good many Zenith boars.

To answer your question I'd say if I had to keep just one I'd shoot myself I'd be hard pressed but it would probably be the Mondial.

Jade.Damp.OnceUsed.Nice.640.4-18.JPG


This Omega Jade (damp in photo) is also a contender. From Connaught only I think. Premium brush for sure.

Enablers Buy them all for science.jpg


What a hard question.

Happy shaves,

Jim
 
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