Description
“Handmade in France”
Made by hand (and uniquely so), the Thiers-Issard brand is, in this one opinion, the most hollow ground and flexible razor left in production today. They’ve produced straight razors for nearly 100 years in Thiers, France, with traditional methods confined to this most special of nations, such as lead tempering and the use of a single forging die and multiple hammer/reheat/hammer cycles versus the quicker method employed elsewhere where a progressive series of forging dies are used in sequence with just one heating cycle.
This listing is for the SUPER GNÔME EXTRA™, a smaller 3/8″ half-hollow ground model specialized for working around the mouth, sideburns, neckline, etc. This razor’s only produced with a round head and either a white or black plastic handle, in 2/8″ or 3/8″ size as here – this 3/8″ model weighs a scant twenty-four grams, with a 132mm-length blade, ~140mm overall length, ~113mm from the center of the pivot hole to furthest position upon toe, ~2.5mm thick blade, and ~1.8-2.3mm thick tang area. The razor’s ~12.6mm from the spine’s ~2.5mm-thickest point to the apex, for a ~15.5° effective cutting angle. The scales themselves, too, like the rest of the razor, are ‘scale-down’ in size, here just ~2.4mm thick. Anti-slip file jimps are present upon the underside of the tang for grip. Both sides of the razor are satin-matte polished (this is the “275” in Thiers-Issard speak).
“Shave Ready”?
If you elect for the factory edge, you’ll receive your razor exactly as its manufacturers intended…pretty simple!
If you elect for The Superior Shave to further hone your razor, your razor 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 shaped like larger wheels, thus honing from the spine toward the actual edge, leaving a *thin*, concave edge first and foremost. It is fair to say, in this opinion, that this manner of honing offers more advantages vs flat or concave abrasive references the more hollow ground and larger is the razor, so being as the “Super Gnome” is a 3/8″ wedge grind, it is not at all a critical factor. In fact, I would recommend that once you receive this particular razor, it is best to keep it running with a pasted paddle strop.
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. Their intention is certainly for you to only need to strop the new razor (after wiping off the factory oil) prior to shaving to receive a terrific shave. Thanks for reading this, and happy shaving!
