Le Grelot B&B LE

thebigspendur · 06-13-2008, 09:47 PM

Though there has already been a review of these razors I thought since these are so different I'd do one anyway.

The history behind these is Le grelot (the bell) was a razor maker in Thiers, France and when they went under TI bought the remaining blanks and apparently recently discovered them and started grinding these things and selling them. The standard version being sold by Martin at Rassurpur comes with a satin finish and with plastic scales. The B&B LE version has a mirror polish to it and has pink ivory wood scales. otherwise the blade configuration is the same.

Mine arrived late since the sorter at the fedex facility apparently has dyslexia and read N.M as M.N so my razor wound up somewhere in Northern Minn. At least fedex did the right thing and overnighted it down to New Mexico.

The razor itself has no mention of TI on it (except for the leather pouch and cardboard box) and if I didn't know it was made by them I would never have guessed because I have never seen a new TI with that high a degree of finishing (and I have about 10 of them). The scales were near perfect, the pinning was about perfect, the polish on the blade was perfect. The razor in contrast to the standard version is a real looker.

The razors were sold with a honing option which I didn't take however Joel at B&B had said when he got the razors the bevels were not great on them and they needed alot of work to get honed up. he also said he had honed many of them and though there is no indication on mine that he honed it I assumed he didn't. I didn't initially test shave with it. I did some armhair shaving and it did quite good. So I did about 30 passes on the coticule and about the same on my vintage Japanese finisher and the razor was remarkably sharp. The bevel on mine was very good, not perfect but not far off. I shaved with it this morning and it definitely is in the exceptional shaver category.It shaves as a typical wedge type razor with a heavy feel and the blade is very heavy however the razor itself is very well balanced.

As far as the scales go I am not a fan of the way TI does their wood treatments. It seems like they dip their scales in a tub of varnish which does nothing to enhance or beautify the wood. My stamina wood scales are like that and the Silverwing LE is the same. Happily they did not do that this time. I don't know what they used however its much better. The scales are hard to describe, kind of a warm light brown with a strong reddish hue to them. Photo #5 is probably the most accurate rendition of the color. The grain is muted but stronger than I expected for the type of wood.

So is this version worth about $70 over the standard. I would say yes.

On a scale of 1-10 I would rate this razor probably a solid 8 if I rated my Zowada as a 10 which I think is a high compliment even comparing a custom razor to a factory made razor.

So is TI turning over a new leaf and improving? Only time will tell. As I recall B&B still had a list going with some extras they had

CloseShave · 06-14-2008, 01:07 AM

Good, solid review. Mine is on the way, I hope it shaves as well as yours. There seems to be a bit of variance in the edges judging by the comments coming in at B&B. FYI, Martin has expanded his offering on this razor to include ram's horn and other choices. The high polish is still unique to B&B.

Regarding the TI finsh, I agree that my stamina scales could be richer. However, the snakewood I have is very attractive.

CloseShave · 06-20-2008, 06:51 PM

I had my first shave with this wonderful razor this morning. My razor came in virtually flawless condition with evenly matched pink scales. The blade has a high mirror polish with no blemishes. I usually hone my own razors but I had Joel do this one and it was ready to go out of the box. I gave it 50 passes on both the linen and leather sides of my DOVO strop.

The shave of this 1/4 hollow is smooth, extremely quiet and close. My other large razors are a 7/8's TI full hollow with stamina scales and a 6/8's full hollow with snakewood scales. The 6/8's is an hooked nose historcial with a thumb notch and is as large as the 7/8's. I found the heft of of the Grelot to be similiar and comfortable.

This razor is a keeperand was a good find by Joel.

iron maiden · 06-22-2008, 06:37 PM

I have really been enjoying mine. I got the honing option, and I have not regretted it one little bit. This razor is smoooooooth!

Like you guys have said...the scales are just something to drool over.

elbonator · 06-23-2008, 04:40 AM

This week I had the pleasure of honing one these up for a customer. It's everything thebigspendur has indicated it is. It's a very nice blade and very solid. The bevel on the gentleman's blade I honed was very good and the scales were perfect.

FWIW the finish on the scales is more like TI's older work with scales. I have an old frameback that's probably four or five years old and the red stamina scales are done the same was as these razors - they look like polished wood not wood dipped in lacquer. So to me it's like TI is going back to the way it used to do things.

I hope that they continue to up the quality on their products. These are just fabulous quality razors though IMHO.

Regards,
EL

Bruce · 07-31-2008, 02:07 PM

I gotta kick this one up to the top for another atta-boy-TI. I shaved with my pink-n-perfectly shiny B&B Le Grelot this morning and had just a wonderful, smooth, close, and comfortable shave. I even honed the razor myself and got a nice shave - taking off a day and a half worth of stubble. These are supberb razors; none of the other high buckers I have are better. While some seem to shave as smoothly, the shave of the Le Grelot half or quarter hollow is unmatched for comfort on my face.

On a related front I'd also like to put in a plug for Speick shaving cream. Again this is for my face, but the combination of Le Grelot and Speick rubbed in with a Shavemac brush is as close to heaven as I believe I'll ever get in my bathroom.

It was a good morning. Tens all around!

JimmyHAD · 07-31-2008, 03:25 PM

I love mine. There is a feel and balance to it that I cannot put into words but it is there. I didn't get the honing option either and mine needed a bit of work but it came around quite nicely. Fit and finish is flawless and I like the pink scales. There is one up for sale on the B&B forum at the moment if anyone is in the market.

TstebinsB · 10-29-2008, 03:13 AM

I have one that I wouldn't mind getting rid of, if someone can entice me..

Bruce · 10-29-2008, 03:37 AM

Tsteb,

And you want for it what?

Kees · 10-29-2008, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TstebinsB

I have one that I wouldn't mind getting rid of, if someone can entice me..

Telly, please tell us why. I love mine and will not sell it.

TstebinsB · 10-29-2008, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kees

Telly, please tell us why. I love mine and will not sell it.

The razor is fine but I have more than one and I need cash to get other rare razors.

KenS · 10-31-2008, 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TstebinsB

I have one that I wouldn't mind getting rid of, if someone can entice me..

That's almost a "me too". I haven't made up my mind. This is a great razor, but a little long for me. I have mole or something on my jawline that is easy to catch. My Dovo Special isn't anywhere as nice, but it does fit between my goatee and mole. I can't imagine anyone not liking these razors...
Ken.