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Who Makes Merkur Razors?

Looking to get a Merkur Progress and found the following information listed about it on Amazon:
  • Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Derby International LLC, dba KANAR
So who the heck actually makes Merkur razors? I thought Dovo makes them. Amazon does say the country of origin is Germany, but I just got burned trying to buy another "name" product from what I thought was a valid web site and found out it was probably counterfeit. Would someone be so bold to try and sell counterfeit Merkur razors on Amazon, or is the data listed just not accurate?
 

nemo

Lunatic Fringe
Staff member
Dovo Solingen.
Certainly not Derby

Amazon is full of mistakes.

DOVO Solingen, or DOVO Steelware, or DOVO, is an independent German company, based in Solingen. They are a manufacturer of scissors, shaving equipment such as straight razors and safety razors, as well as manicure tools. Shaving equipment and razors are produced by Merkur Solingen, a subsidiary of DOVO.
 

Iridian

Cool and slimy
Merkur/DOVO went bankrupt, were separated, saved, etc... they still exist. But not much more.
They are still made in Germany by DOVO, which was already mentioned above.

The company/companies stopped innovating several decades ago! They only recently updated their website. Merkur is a few people basically distributing the production of DOVO.

The quality and quality control is not better than what you can get from China and chinese copies. Beat me, but they are mass produced zamac. Made in Germany, umm.... well, they are made in Germany. They just aren't state of the art anymore and didn't get better.

Mühle is the only major German company left that is still slowly, very slowly introducing new safety razors, like the Rocca series or recently the Companion. Or, after people asking for it for a long time, a steel version of the R41. They also have very good customer service, I got a replacement head for my R41 when the thread broke. There is also Giessen & Forsthoff, but I haven't tried one of their razors yet.
 

rbscebu

Girls call me Makaluod
Derby International LLC are a NJ company who import shaving gear into the US wholesale market. They are not a manufacture.

KANAR are distributers of personal care products servicing north and south America. If place of manufacture concerns you, you could always contact Derby or Kanar.
 
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Merkur/DOVO went bankrupt, were separated, saved, etc... they still exist. But not much more.
They are still made in Germany by DOVO, which was already mentioned above.

The company/companies stopped innovating several decades ago! They only recently updated their website. Merkur is a few people basically distributing the production of DOVO.

The quality and quality control is not better than what you can get from China and chinese copies. Beat me, but they are mass produced zamac. Made in Germany, umm.... well, they are made in Germany. They just aren't state of the art anymore and didn't get better.

Mühle is the only major German company left that is still slowly, very slowly introducing new safety razors, like the Rocca series or recently the Companion. Or, after people asking for it for a long time, a steel version of the R41. They also have very good customer service, I got a replacement head for my R41 when the thread broke. There is also Giessen & Forsthoff, but I haven't tried one of their razors yet.
One could argue they already have the best heads in the market already, since decades, both the open and the closed one. How exactly should they innovate? Other than changing materials of course, but that would come at thrice the price (and yes, thrice the price would be a huge balancing minus, unless we forget we live in an economy...).
 
So who the heck actually makes Merkur razors?
According to
the manufacturer is "MERKUR Stahlwaren GmbH & Co. KG". Their parent company, DOVO, went bankrupt, but their SR are affected, not the Merkur safety razors branch. The CEO of Merkur confirms their razors are (mostly?) made by themselves, if you can read German here is a link for you:
That being said, DOVO have found an investor:
so both brands will definitely continue business. As for Amazon, ebay, Aliexpress and other similar vendors: just ignore their info. If you want original wares and correct, up-to-date product info, you are better off either ordering directly from the manufacturer or ordering some specialized shop which knows their stuff.
 
Dovo Solingen.
Certainly not Derby

Amazon is full of mistakes.

DOVO Solingen, or DOVO Steelware, or DOVO, is an independent German company, based in Solingen. They are a manufacturer of scissors, shaving equipment such as straight razors and safety razors, as well as manicure tools. Shaving equipment and razors are produced by Merkur Solingen, a subsidiary of DOVO.

+1! ‘Amazon is full of mistakes.’
 
Thanks everyone. I thought it was probably an Amazon mistake, but I wanted to check with the razor experts here to make sure.
 
I've been visiting Merkurs (and Dovos) factory, located in Solingen, some years ago and I can say for sure, that de-razors, straights, knives, scissors etc. are produced in Solingen, Germany.
 
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