My Silken Scalpel

Posted by Robert on 14th Mar 2010

While the 33 is probably the Merkur least surrounded by myth and folklore, it is my favorite razor. It is light and perfectly balanced, enabling incredible control and precision. It is literally an extension of your fingers. I have never used another razor which has permitted the kind of direct communication between hand and facial skin the way the 33 does. It is like a well designed automobile in which the true connoisseur understands that superior handling, the true joy of driving, is very much more a matter of balance, suspension, steering and tires than it is a matter of horsepower. By comparison, the much championed 34 in fact is bottom heavy, which certainly is of no help and the 23, because of its longer handle, has a feeling of shaving by remote control. Neither offer the directness, the intimacy of my beloved 33. It dances!