Thread: Escher Barber's Delight. Worth the price difference?

What is your take on the Escher Barber's Delight? I am considering purchasing one but am not sure it is worth the extra money. Please share your thoughts. Thanks.

Just my findings....the stones were "handpicked" and especially useful and high quality layers were picked...
Peter (Hatzicho) already wrote some nice details down here:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...al-combos.html

here are some shots of the BD where you can see how homgenious and fine grained the stone is...

Is it worth the price ? The questions is what you have to pay for :-)
talking as a collector yeah its worth the price! Its really nice to own one and iam shure prices wont fall!

talking as a user who wants to finish razors i can get the same result with a less priced thuringian stone...




here are some detail shots of the surface, you can see a very homogenious structure and very fine particles...

I have several labeled Eschers, and the truth is as far as I am concerned that your face will never know the difference between a 'Blue' and a 'Yellow' stone. Having said that...my 'Go To Escher' is my banded two color 'Blue /Green Barber's Gem'. Every Sheffield I have gets it's edge from this stone. The Barber's Delight and the Barber's Gem were supposed to be the 'cream of the crop' as far as grading goes back in the day and if you look at the price chart of the old Pike advertisement the price bears this out.

Are they worth today's prices?

Yeah, those were price PER DOZEN !!!! Arrrrggghhhh !!!! End of rant, I feel better now.

I've had 3 Barber's Delight, 1 Barber's Gem, and a couple 8x2, and 7& 1/2 x 1& 7/16 IIRC. The BD is very cool, especially if it comes with the box and slurry stone. Is it worth the north of a thousand $ a guy is showing for on the bay ? Not to me. I've gotten them for half of that, or less than half. I've seen the prices of Eschers ebb and flow since I've been around SRP.

I saw a beautiful labeled B/G go for less than $300.00 a few weeks ago (on the bay). Next week the same stone might bring six or eight hundred. Depends on who is looking, how much disposable income they have, and how bad they want it. If you have to have one, and you have to have it now .......

I've had a gang of them and sold them all but one. It is not a BD, but is as good as any of the three BDs I have had. An old stone, a yellow/green 5x2 & 1/2 in the red box ;

Thanks for sharing your pics, gentlemen. It is always a treat to see the vintage hones from your collections.

Originally Posted by dcaven

What is your take on the Escher Barber's Delight? I am considering purchasing one but am not sure it is worth the extra money. Please share your thoughts. Thanks.

Worth the money as opposed to what other stone(s)?

What do these go for now? They are at a price level that doesn't make any sense to me for someone using a stone, but everyones' opinion is different.

800-1000usd

There is one on ebay right now for $1300. That is $500 more than a pristine Escher that is not a Barber's Delight. I think they are both a high but wonder if there is really $500 difference in quality between the two or if it is more for collectors who won't be honing.

The difference is likely in looks if the escher is a good one. the finest thuri I've tried was not visually as good as a perfectly even looking Y/G escher that I had, but it made a better edge every time on every razor.

I just inflated $9 from 1915, and that goes to $210 in today's dollars. Even at that, I'm out. At $800 to $1000, I'm way out.