Wed Oct 02 2024 – Victorian Stank

• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts Tabak Oridjinal, now with 28 mm Gelousy knot
• Razor: Victoria 4 (6/8″, half hollow, round tip, carbon steel)
• Lather: Mäurer & Wirtz – Tabac Original
• Post Shave: Mäurer & Wirtz – Tabac Original
• Fragrance: Mäurer & Wirtz – Tabac Original

En rechtige Giel het n Hegel em Sack.

Growing up in Switzerland, Victorinox Swiss army knives had a special significance, and ever since I was a cub scout over 30 years ago, I’ve been carrying one in my pocket. A habit so deeply ingrained that I’ve had to “donate” a dozen or so at airport security checks because I forgot to check them in.

Victoria was briefly (from 1909 on) the old name of Victorinox. In 1921, the company specialized in stainless steel so completely that they changed the company name to Victorinox (= Victoria + acier inoxydable), way before Friodur patented the cryogenic hardening process for knife steel, btw. This means that this pristine Victoria half-hollow with the pretty horn scales must have had very meticulous owner in the last 100+ years, because there is not a speck of rust on it. It looks like it was manufactured yesterday. The only give-away is the half-hollow grind without belly which completely fell out of favour sometime in the first half of the last century. I’ve only ever seen two Victoria straight razors for sale and the other one wasn’t anywhere near this well preserved.

A wonderful shaver, this, and it feels similar to my Heljestrand (unsurprisingly also a half-hollow). It has the weight of a hollow with the sound of a wedge, which sounds like exactly the wrong combination (i.e., the opposite of a big 14) but it’s just butter smooth unlike the tiny wedges like the Spike, which feel like a hard pencil on rough paper. And maybe I have a bit of a bias for sentimental reasons, too.