While buying a product just because of the brand may seem shallow the best safety razor brands are worth considering.
Safety razors are a popular choice of product to manufacture overseas and import to sell online at a much higher price. Sure, that’s classic business sense, but is it a risk you’re willing to take with your razor?
If you have chosen to buy a safety razor then the chances are you are looking for a more luxurious shave – which also happens to be cheaper and better for the planet by not wasting plastic cartridges.
There’s also the question of heritage with historic shaving brands certainly seeming more appealing. So while Bailie and Weishi offer some pretty good cheap safety razors, what are the best safety razor brands to look our for which you know will deliver the best service for the longest time?
The Best Safety Razor Brands
Merkur – The Best Safety Razor Brand
Merkur is the go-to brand when it comes to safety razors. Based in Solingen, Germany, where the finest blades are made, Merkur is a historic brand that shares most of its history with Gillette. But while Gillette moved away from safety razors around the 1970s, Merkur has carried on and still stocks some of its oldest designs like the Merkur 34C.
Famously utilitarian, Merkur offers simple durable tools for a good price. All Merkur safety razors are made from Zamak – a nickel alloy then chrome plated – as opposed to stainless steel but in our experience stainless steel safety razors like the Feather AS-D2 and Rockwell 6C are expensive overkill.
But Merkur is by no means out of date. Their most innovative creation is the Merkur Futur, a sci-fi looking adjustable safety razor designed in the 1980s.
Edwin Jagger
Next on the list of the best safety razor brands has to be Edwin Jagger. But amazingly Edwin Jagger have only be going since 1988 despite their renowned reputation. Of course they had a bit of a headstart as they were founded by a master silversmith Neil Jagger – Edwin was his grandfather.
Nevertheless they carry the history of Sheffield metalworking which is much like Solingen in Germany. Edwin Jagger razors are actually assembled by hand as well. The DE89 is their most famous creation, offering a very smooth close shave that’s still relatively mild. What’s more is that the Edwin Jagger DE89 comes in a huge array of finishes and handles.
Read our full review of the Edwin Jagger DE89 here, and see how it compares with the Merkur 34C.
Feather
Often associated with the name of their North American distributor Seki, Feather are a very high-end Japanese brand of razors. Their straight razors are particularly special with the Feather SS and DX among the best options for straight razor shaving with disposable blades.
Feather safety razors are quite eccentric though. They offer the premium all stainless steel Feather AS-D2 and the very economical Feather Popular.
The AS-D2 is an absolutely splendid razor that represents all the precision of this best safety razor brand. However, it is very expensive.
The Popular on the other hand is very cheap with a plastic handle but does offer good service. Perhaps Feather’s best achievement though is its double edge razor blades which offer the sharpest shave whatever razor you put them in.
Parker
Rather like Edwin Jagger, Parker have carved themselves the appearance of a classic shaving brand when actually they date from 1973. What’s more is most of their products are manufactured abroad in India. However, they take great care and pride in their products.
Most recently that has been seen in the Parker Variant – a very high quality adjustable safety razor. All their products are therefore pretty cheap compared to other safety razor brands but they remain of an excellent standard.
Rockwell
One of the newest but also best safety razor brands, Rockwell began on Kickstarter and have taken the wet shaving world by storm.
They hold a number of patents and are most well-known for their system of offering three base plates with each safety razor, with each side offering a different level of aggression. That means a Rockwell safety razor has 6 levels of aggression. The Rockwell 6S is all stainless steel and made in the USA while the 6C is their most popular product.
They are expanding their range with the Rockwell model T which resembles one of the old Gillette adjustable safety razors like the Fatboy and Slim of the 1960s.
