Description
The Dovo 985850 is a 5/8″ width carbon steel razor (~4.5mm thick, weighs ~51 grams) with classic rounded point and genuine buffalo horn handle (farmed in France). File jimps are upon the tang, and a “SOLINGEN” crest is given to the face. A laser-engraved pattern is additionally dressed atop its golden spine, and the razor itself (minus scales) is the same as the “Pearlex” piece.
This piece ceased production in 2019, and we have only the stock you see; FINAL SALE, NO RETURN NO EXCHANGE.
Truly Exclusive Due its Large Horn Scales and Deceased Status
The 985850 is likely Dovo’s modern razor of smallest production (excluding any customized-for-merchant limited editions such as our Sunday Shaver), using a large buffalo horn scale which is rarely produced by them. The horn handle ‘matches’ their #918-115 silvertip shaving brush. Be aware that conventional razor stands cannot accept this unique piece.
Classic 5/8″ Size in Full Hollow Grind and Rounded Point
The 5/8″ width fully hollow ground carbon steel razor with rounded tip is the defacto standard in German production the last ~40-50 years. It is “easier” to learn than thinner grinds (definitely a relative term here – mastery of straight razors takes dedication). It isn’t a limiting comfort factor like thicker ones (half-hollow grinds are often easier learning but ultimately not equally comfortable for many). Round points offer a safer experience at razor’s tip, and facilitate a toe-leading stroke. If you wish to maintain a goatee, however, do consider a Spanish point razor.
Select Yours From Images of Our Actual Stock!
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“Shave Ready”?
If you elect for the factory edge (= do nothing, no note needed @ checkout), you’ll receive your razor exactly as its manufacturers intended…pretty simple!
If you elect for The Superior Shave to further hone your razor [plz add “note to vendor” @ checkout], your Dovo 98 will be delivered to you Guaranteed Shave Ready! The Superior Shave hones via a method best coined (by the old Thiers-Issard director) as “the opposite of tape“, where the hones’ shapes cater to performance and little else; you begin with your coarsest stone that’s shaped as the smallest imaginary wheel, and you progress to finer abrasives that are shaped as larger wheels, thus sharpening the bevel from the spine toward the actual edge, and leaving a *thin*, concave edge first and foremost.
At one time, years ago, natural stones were used for the establishing and refining of a bevel. But the lapidaries necessary for such extremely refined stones no longer exist, to say nothing of sourcing the strata itself from Earth. So today, Dovo uses a pair of manmade, convex spinning discs to establish their bevels, and thereafter refines with bench stones hand shape to be mildly convex, before finishing on a pasted strop. The spinning discs are coarser, and have a shorter effective diameter, while the bench stones are finer, and have much longer effective diameters. Thus, the bevels are indeed concave, same as ever.
But the steel itself can withstand much more concaving than practical today at any factory, with no negative effects for the longevity of your razor, so long as you keep exclusively to shaving with it, keeping a low spine angle, and keeping skin well stretched and lathered; for its intended job, concaving a razor bevel toward its metallurgical limits only benefits the shaver. If you intend to use your razor at an angle outside of normal shaving work or upon a surface unlike a well lathered and stretched beard, however, a flat or even a convex bevel will better endure such odd usage of these tools.
There is no wrong or right choice for factory edge/further honed, but please do not believe all factory edges are never ‘Shave Ready’ – that is an absurd, yet common, belief. It is certainly the intention of Dovo when producing the razor that you to only need strop (after wiping off the factory oil!) just prior to shaving to receive a terrific shave. Thanks for reading this, and happy shaving!
