It's not Italian, but in addition to the Omega Premium and ABC Mondial I'd already ordered, I went ahead and ordered a Semogue 2000 last night. I had such a terrific lather with my 49 this morning. The two new 2-bands I recently bought are fine, but this morning's shave was superb, and I can't wait for these new brushes to arrive.
The Italian boar appreciation thread (Omega, Zenith, Mondial, Koh-I-Noor, ABC, etc)
- Thread starter "6"
- Start date
Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
They're all fantastic, but the Zenith B25 and the black palm are absolutely perfect IMO. How's the Stirling knot lather and feel? Closer to Omega or Semogue or something else?
Is that a boar brush? Looks more like a badger.
The Stirling's short loft gives it a lot of backbone and scrub. The tips aren't fully split yet, but I imagine it will always have the most scrub. Not that that's bad, it is similar to a new Pro. It lathers great. I use them all in rotation as well as a Vie Long horse.
I'll probably re-knot the Luxury at some point. It's loft is too high making it floppy, so I have to use a barbers grip to use it; Getting my hand messy, but I hate to change a vintage that works.
Thanks. I will look at the Stirling at some point. Sounds a bit like my 11137. I've had two, and both have stayed very firm and scrubby even when the tips split. It's funny because the knot is nominally so close to an O 10066 that I assumed they were the same, but my 10066 knots have all softened up with time and become very plush (in that boary way).
I hear you on the vintage Luxury. It's one reason I have steered clear of some vintage boars. The other thing is that the very long handles can get a little unwieldy. As a face-latherer who likes some swirling on the face, I sometimes feel like I'm fighting with a long handle that just wants to paint. The shape of the handles is great, but the scaled-down version I see represented in the rest of your "sty" is more my style.
I hear you on the vintage Luxury. It's one reason I have steered clear of some vintage boars. The other thing is that the very long handles can get a little unwieldy. As a face-latherer who likes some swirling on the face, I sometimes feel like I'm fighting with a long handle that just wants to paint. The shape of the handles is great, but the scaled-down version I see represented in the rest of your "sty" is more my style.
Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
You're right, of course, I missed that this isn't Italian but Italian Boar. Sorry.
Still, it's a great Italian brush. It's got a boar cousin.
IIRC @Chan Eil Whiskers had high praise for the Thater premium boar. Comments that come to mind are "i've never had a brush like this", "I can't believe they can sell these at this price" and "no brush would be better than this". Yes sir, that's my memory anyway.
Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
There's an awesome new Zenith brush, the "506CSE" with polished copper handle.
The knot size is 27mm with a 55mm loft and it is nicely priced at 21 euros (around $25). Unfortunately at the moment is only available through some authorized Italian resellers (none of which ships abroad).
The same handle is available with the two proprietary synthetic fibers, horse hair, mixed horse/badger and Best, Silvertip and Manchurian badger knots.
The knot size is 27mm with a 55mm loft and it is nicely priced at 21 euros (around $25). Unfortunately at the moment is only available through some authorized Italian resellers (none of which ships abroad).
The same handle is available with the two proprietary synthetic fibers, horse hair, mixed horse/badger and Best, Silvertip and Manchurian badger knots.
I like the copper look. It is more dramatic when offset with two-band badger, but the boar is pretty good-looking, too.
Both lookers.
The only thing putting me off of Zenith is the descriptions and numbers on effective loft. Why not just set the knots lower with such huge glue bumps?
I just got an omega 49 and compared to my Vie Long and Bruce this thing is huge lol.
I tried it the first time yesterday and its a lather hog. It just took so much soap to build lather but once it got started it filled the bowl!
It felt a bit skirtchy as it's new and being the impatient sort I really wanted to break it in ASAP.
Within 1 use I found that some of the hairs started splitting.
However, I really wanted to speed up the process so I got it from this:
To this in about 30-35 mins.
I'm not sure if it's ok but cos it's just £6.5 I thought it was worth the risk to try n accelerate the break-in process.
For the first 15 mins I had my forefinger and thumb around the base of the knot while I mashed the palm of my other hand on the head and just rubbed it like I was playing with my dog.
For the next 15 mins I soaked the tips and repeated the process.
For the last step I loaded the brush like I was going to shave but palm lathered for 5 mins.
It's so much better on the 2nd shave but its not pillow soft like my Bruce yet lol.
I'm going to repeat the process tomorrow evening to see if I can break it in even more
I tried it the first time yesterday and its a lather hog. It just took so much soap to build lather but once it got started it filled the bowl!
It felt a bit skirtchy as it's new and being the impatient sort I really wanted to break it in ASAP.
Within 1 use I found that some of the hairs started splitting.
However, I really wanted to speed up the process so I got it from this:
To this in about 30-35 mins.
I'm not sure if it's ok but cos it's just £6.5 I thought it was worth the risk to try n accelerate the break-in process.
For the first 15 mins I had my forefinger and thumb around the base of the knot while I mashed the palm of my other hand on the head and just rubbed it like I was playing with my dog.
For the next 15 mins I soaked the tips and repeated the process.
For the last step I loaded the brush like I was going to shave but palm lathered for 5 mins.
It's so much better on the 2nd shave but its not pillow soft like my Bruce yet lol.
I'm going to repeat the process tomorrow evening to see if I can break it in even more
Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
A very nice brush by any measure.
I've just started collecting boar brushes and went a bit mad on the acquisitions. Here they are L to R in photo as measured by me:
Omega 10083 - 27/63 handle 63/41mm, 67g
Omega 49 - 26/62 handle 63/41mm, 70g
Semogue SOC - 24/57 handle 57/35mm, 82g
Semogue SOC Taj boar/badger - 24/51 handle 60/39mm, 81g
Omega 81230 - 24/57 handle 53/37mm, 50g
Zenith 506A - 27/55 handle 56/36mm, 72g
Vulfix 2024A - 23/48 handle 58/40mm, 82g
49 and 10083 are big and efficient, good brushes if you like that size. Zenith is the stiffest - plenty of backbone, and I'm encouraged to see how it breaks in. SOC Taj is softer and already broken in (off BST) - more of a badger feel coming through since it's mixed. Omega 81230 is smooth and soft right out of the box, and I suspect it could go a bit floppy on me. Vulfix (vintage) has nice face feel and handle but unfortunately not very dense, which is the problem with all these older Vulfix models. Nevertheless, it produces a decent lather with backbone and soft hairs. I've had one shave with each of these brushes. Early days, but initial hand lathering suggests this rank order for speed and amount of lather:
1. Omega 49=Omega 10083 - quickly produced a good amount of lather
2. SOC Taj - not far behind, made a good lather
3. Zenith 506A - quite a good lather but took longer
4. Vulfix 2024A - moderate amount of lather and took longer
5. Omega 8123 - very similar to the Vulfix
6. SOC - a real lather hog, reluctant to release lather
Omega 10083 - 27/63 handle 63/41mm, 67g
Omega 49 - 26/62 handle 63/41mm, 70g
Semogue SOC - 24/57 handle 57/35mm, 82g
Semogue SOC Taj boar/badger - 24/51 handle 60/39mm, 81g
Omega 81230 - 24/57 handle 53/37mm, 50g
Zenith 506A - 27/55 handle 56/36mm, 72g
Vulfix 2024A - 23/48 handle 58/40mm, 82g
49 and 10083 are big and efficient, good brushes if you like that size. Zenith is the stiffest - plenty of backbone, and I'm encouraged to see how it breaks in. SOC Taj is softer and already broken in (off BST) - more of a badger feel coming through since it's mixed. Omega 81230 is smooth and soft right out of the box, and I suspect it could go a bit floppy on me. Vulfix (vintage) has nice face feel and handle but unfortunately not very dense, which is the problem with all these older Vulfix models. Nevertheless, it produces a decent lather with backbone and soft hairs. I've had one shave with each of these brushes. Early days, but initial hand lathering suggests this rank order for speed and amount of lather:
1. Omega 49=Omega 10083 - quickly produced a good amount of lather
2. SOC Taj - not far behind, made a good lather
3. Zenith 506A - quite a good lather but took longer
4. Vulfix 2024A - moderate amount of lather and took longer
5. Omega 8123 - very similar to the Vulfix
6. SOC - a real lather hog, reluctant to release lather
Chan Eil Whiskers
Fumbling about.
Ah, now the thread is contaminated with a couple of Portuguese brushes. Probably not the first time (I may have already done the same thing).
Which do you think will end up being your favorite of this nice group?
Happy shaves,
Jim
@les24preludes that is some of the top rated boars there. Which one of these handles here you feel are most natural and ergonomic in handling. I have a feeling, Semogue could be top contender but I don't care for any semogue knot and have stayed away from SOC and Taj.
Sorry for the contamination - I was expecting it to be the Vulfix and forgot about the Portuguese ones!
Handles - My order of preference:
1. Zenith 72g = Vulfix 82g. I like this kind of weight, and both are comfortable in the hand.
2. SOC 82g = SOC Taj 81g. Also very good and comfortable.
3. Omega 49 70g = 10083 67g. Too big and clumsy really, but OK for the size of knot
4. Omega 81230 50g. Too light and not a fan of the ribbed style. Felt cheap.
The four handles I liked were 56-60mm high and 35-40mm wide, and 72-82g. Seems like the sweet spot. Over 60mm high and over 40mm wide is getting too big. I could easily have gone smaller as long as the weight was there. In synthetics I like Yaqi Moka 91g and Sagrada 75g handles, for instance, and they're quite compact.
Handles - My order of preference:
1. Zenith 72g = Vulfix 82g. I like this kind of weight, and both are comfortable in the hand.
2. SOC 82g = SOC Taj 81g. Also very good and comfortable.
3. Omega 49 70g = 10083 67g. Too big and clumsy really, but OK for the size of knot
4. Omega 81230 50g. Too light and not a fan of the ribbed style. Felt cheap.
The four handles I liked were 56-60mm high and 35-40mm wide, and 72-82g. Seems like the sweet spot. Over 60mm high and over 40mm wide is getting too big. I could easily have gone smaller as long as the weight was there. In synthetics I like Yaqi Moka 91g and Sagrada 75g handles, for instance, and they're quite compact.
