Wald A1 Synthetic Brush

[Rocket 1]

That’s one of the most beautiful ones I’ve seen to date, @Rocket 1. Absolutely a jewel. And I agree the bulb knot is right for this one. Congrats on having fast enough fingers to secure it.

Thanks @Mr. Shavington ! I knew it would be a race for this model.

If I keep going down this path I may abandon some of my planned badger purchases. With Mozingo knots of interest now discontinued and Varlets seemingly difficult to acquire, I am not sure I see anything on the badger front that is really calling me. Although, I suspect additional forum browsing could alter that perspective

 

[Mr. Shavington]

Thanks @Mr. Shavington ! I knew it would be a race for this model.

If I keep going down this path I may abandon some of my planned badger purchases. With Mozingo knots of interest now discontinued and Varlets seemingly difficult to acquire, I am not sure I see anything on the badger front that is really calling me. Although, I suspect additional forum browsing could alter that perspective

The Wald A1 cured my badger pangs for a long time. Of course variety is nice but I really could live happily with only the Wald. I don’t think it lacks in any area as a premium shaving brush, unless you’re someone who definitely finds synthetics too soft.

The Wald J4 badger will come some day too, and I like my J3 a lot. It just seems that Jannik is doing very well with the A1s now and they may well be his main focus for the foreseeable future.

I’d love to try a Varlet some day but they don’t ship overseas even when their order book is open.

 

[Rudy Vey]

The Wald A1 cured my badger pangs for a long time. Of course variety is nice but I really could live happily with only the Wald. I don’t think it lacks in any area as a premium shaving brush, unless you’re someone who definitely finds synthetics too soft.

The Wald J4 badger will come some day too, and I like my J3 a lot. It just seems that Jannik is doing very well with the A1s now and they may well be his main focus for the foreseeable future.

I’d love to try a Varlet some day but they don’t ship overseas even when their order book is open.

You may want to find a friend here in the USA that may forward a brush to you.
It's easier for someone who is not in the brush business to ship them.

 

[BradWorld]

The second shave with the A1 wasn’t as wonderful as the first. First outing was perfect. Literally a perfect lather. This second shave was the same Omnibus Passiflora soap, and the same water from my home. But I changed up the technique. First shave I wet the brush before my shower. Didn’t soak it. Just wet it. Then went right to work on the lather after my shower. I left the brush wet. Didn’t shake it out.

This shave I wet it again, but I shook out a bunch of the water after my shower, like a normal synthetic. That didn’t work well. I loaded for the same 10 seconds. The omnibus soap was thin by the second pass. And the soap was running out by the middle of the third pass. Not bad. Just not perfect. So back to the wet brush next time.

The hairs on this brush are so different than anything else. They remind me of one of those thick round Artist paint brushes, especially when wet. Or a high end makeup brush. Similar fiber consistency. So the resulting face feel is like no other brush. I like it. But it’s going to take some time to get the best lathers consistently.

 

[Arsene_Wenger1]

@Arsene_Wenger1 and @T Bone Thanks for the note on the drop. By complete chance I had come to this thread earlier to say I was not successful on the Varlet drop today but that allowed for a future purchase of a Wald A1. And then I saw the note on the drop. The matte white, blue velvet, and blues vein were all interesting. But I decided to focus on this one and fortunately secured it:

View attachment 1652854

What's funny is that I generally favor the aesthetic of the fan on the Nimbus. But something about the bulb and this jewel tone seems fitting.

Good morning, I'm glad that you were able to pick up another brush in the latest drop. It was also my intention to try and buy either the Blues A1 Fan or the Dark Rose Quartz A1 Fan, but I missed the drop completely, due to a work commitment. I hope that Jannick offers either of these brushes again.

 

[Phoenixkh]

Hey @Phoenixkh, you mean something like the "blue velvet" one here?

Exactly like that. What a beautiful handle.

 

[Phoenixkh]

@Arsene_Wenger1 and @T Bone Thanks for the note on the drop. By complete chance I had come to this thread earlier to say I was not successful on the Varlet drop today but that allowed for a future purchase of a Wald A1. And then I saw the note on the drop. The matte white, blue velvet, and blues vein were all interesting. But I decided to focus on this one and fortunately secured it:

View attachment 1652854

What's funny is that I generally favor the aesthetic of the fan on the Nimbus. But something about the bulb and this jewel tone seems fitting.

Absolutely beautiful. A hardy congratulations.

 

[Latherati]

The Wald 1 Deep Sea Fan Stratos brush has arrived. First shave tomorrow. Extremely excited!! Love the deep sea colorway against the white, reminds me of a mountain range against a midnight blue sky.

Seen here with my 2 Muhle STF brushes.

 

[Elliot]

Just recieved the email that my A1 is on the way.

 

[Hannah's Dad]

The Wald 1 Deep Sea Fan Stratos brush has arrived. First shave tomorrow. Extremely excited!! Love the deep sea colorway against the white, reminds me of a mountain range against a midnight blue sky.

Seen here with my 2 Muhle STF brushes.

View attachment 1653855

How’s the brush, Kirk?

 

[Latherati]

@Hannah's Dad Dan,
The Wald is even more soft than I expected…it’s like a soft, plush cloud of density!! I thought the STF was soft, but the A1 ups the softness a good bit with backbone…after one shave it’ll be hard to pick up my STF brushes.

 

[Hannah's Dad]

@Hannah's Dad Dan,
The Wald is even more soft than I expected…it’s like a soft, plush cloud of density!! I thought the STF was soft, but the A1 ups the softness a good bit with backbone…after one shave it’ll be hard to pick up my STF brushes.

Congrats!

 

[Rocket 1]

Brush watch 2023: My Blue Velvet Nimbus has been scanned in for customs processing. Current delivery estimate shows Thursday, although I will have higher confidence in that once the brush is through customs. Just recording that here as another data point on ship time to US. This delivery is following the same route as previous but moving much more quickly. Brush shipped out on 5/13/2023.

Last time my brush status went dark after landing at SFO until a week and a half later when scanned in to LA customs processing. This time it went from SFO to LA customs processing scan in 3 days.

Looking forward to another A1, which should allow for daily shaves with one. My current A1 takes appreciably more time to dry to touch than any other knot I have owned. While I have occassionally used it for back to back daily shaves, I would prefer to let it fully dry between sessions.

 

[FloridaCreekIndian]

couple new additions added to the brush “pile”.

 

[Latherati]

@FloridaCreekIndian Those are some sweet A1 brushes !! Love your A1 brush collection. Enjoy!!

P.S. If any of those brushes need a good home, please send to me ASAP!!

 

[Rocket 1]

Blue Velvet arrived on Thursday, and I have conducted one shave with it. The handle color ranges from tones of sapphire blue to a slightly more magenta note, depending on lighting and angle of incidence. I tried to capture the lively iridescent shimmer of this handle but could never quite achieve it with a still image. I did notice a few small differences between the fan and the bulb knot but want to get a few more shaves in to confirm. None of that is a negative but differentiated enough to be noticed. I am elated to have another A1 in the shave den and look forward to enjoying this beautiful brush.

 

[GNR]

View attachment 1661401

Blue Velvet arrived on Thursday, and I have conducted one shave with it. The handle color ranges from tones of sapphire blue to a slightly more magenta note, depending on lighting and angle of incidence. I tried to capture the lively iridescent shimmer of this handle but could never quite achieve it with a still image. I did notice a few small differences between the fan and the bulb knot but want to get a few more shaves in to confirm. None of that is a negative but differentiated enough to be noticed. I am elated to have another A1 in the shave den and look forward to enjoying this beautiful brush.

Absolutely stunning. Enjoy your Wald A1 Bulb & Fan rotation.

 

[IanG153]

I have 2 Wald A1s - both Nimbus handles - a Haunter and a full Bloodline. The A1 is unlike any other synthetic I've used - I think I still prefer badger, but that preference is not as strong as I thought it would be before trying Jannik's A1 knot - SO soft and just the right amount of backbone!

 

[SgtCrppls]

 

[Dtownvino]

Probably one of my crazier moves. Sold the exact same brush in April, only to buy it from the April 26 drop.