Description
NO RETURN NO EXCHANGE ON THIS ITEM
The USFWS is *extremely* difficult to deal with in the 2020s, the policy at TSS is that you can return anything you wish as long as it is not hair scissors (if you’re in the biz, you know what’s goin’ on!) or anything governed by the USFWS. I don’t know why they’re so tough for this mammoth tusk stuff, didn’t that thing already pass away? Well, in any case, I suppose technically it is (long extinct) ivory in some sense, so there you go. There’s an annual limit for this thing, but I would imagine it is so rare, all North American vendors put together are moving less than that limit 🙂
Given the USFW headaches which you cannot possibly imagine, I’m only keeping the permit because of exotic straight razor handles like this one; you-know-where’s all but killed off the market of European shaving brushes, so we’ll still import those from Dovo and Thiers-Issard because they can ride along with parcels of much larger value, but the days of being able to import inexpensive and not-from-you-know-where shaving brushes are deceased – USFWS restricts the quantity (24 units of dead animals) and value (max $5000 in the parcel) of items so low, and assigns such a fees basis so high (after UPS/FedEx/DHL get their cut, ~$250-300 of bs just for the right to move that box), that the overhead of USFWS-and-shipping-company-related accounting creativity per unit of inventory is too high to hide to you in the retail cost.
In every case of these types of USFWS-governed items, we’ll sell the item with individual pictures of the stock; you get exactly the item you choose. If you have any further questions about an item you’re “considering”, contact us, we’ll make a video, stand on our head…whatever you want us to do to clarify better looks at the inventory, as if you were in our office. But no refunds for horn, shell, etc. [USFWS-governed] items; it just isn’t fair for someone to return this for simple buyer’s remorse given their now extreme exclusivity because of the outrageous USFWS muscle-flexing (note that you see no other vendors in North America offering these items!)
“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.
‘188’ is the designation Thiers-Issard gives to their finest razors of all, which are hand selected for the very best exhibited concavity and then given their special mirror polish on both sides of the razor. With some exceptions, “188”s also feature anti-slip file jimps on both the bottom and the top of the razor’s tang, for the best possible grip. But it is the exceptional concavity that is the star here, as well as that they offer some unique handle materials and face designs only reserved for the “188” stock.
This version of the 188 is a 7/8″ model with their “Le Chasseur” (‘the hunter’) trademark inlay upon the front of the razor. The handle’s made from genuine mammoth tusk, which are hunted for by crazy Siberian guys in what amounts to their summertime and then portioned off at high expense to various European cutlers for handles; they were readily available from the late 2000s until 2016 or so, but then they weren’t giving any to the cutlers for more than seven years. We’re only going to buy one of these because it is so expensive, so when we receive our stock, we will individually photograph the razor so that you receive the exact razor you see, rather than from a generic image (such as what is shown with this listing as we type it upon February 15th 2024). The approximate weight of this razor is ___ grams (we’ll update when we get it).
“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’ geometries are catered to performance of the razor and to no other concern.
