The Fine® DE5 safety razor has been meticulously designed for performance, leveraging insights derived from the testing of vintage razors from throughout the 120-year history of disposable blade shaving. Featuring a unique modified open-comb guard, all-metal construction around a stainless steel core, and an initial supply of world-renowned FEATHER® blades, the DE5 restores shaving to better-than-new condition.
SHAVING DOESN'T NEED TO BE REINVENTED.
Shaving was essentially perfected back in 1904 - with the invention of the disposable blade. However, rather than the shaving experience (and its affordability) improving over time, we've instead been treated to a case study on the shortcomings of the pure-profit motive. We built The Fine® DE5 Safety Razor to offer shavers a return to what works best. We scoured the entire global history of safety razor design to test and evaluate the performance of dozens of iterations of this seemingly simple device, and we learned a lot.
THEY GOT IT (MOSTLY) RIGHT THE FIRST TIME
We immediately noticed that the older the piece we tested, the more we liked it, and this trend continued almost right up to the first disposable blade razors ever produced. Perhaps we shouldn't have been so surprised, considering these early razors were genuine luxury products. Somewhat famously, their initial pricing (at $5 each) represented a cost equal to three weeks of the average salary, and they were built with quality to match.
THE DIVIDING LINE
But beyond general workmanship, the guard design proved to be the biggest differentiator in shaving performance between these early luxury pieces and their newer counterparts. We continuously got better results with the original open-comb style razors over the now much more common safety bar style. So why was it abandoned? One word: Cost. The more intricate designs of open-comb razors are simply more expensive to produce, and the rest is history.
INNOVATIONS THAT MATTERED
Despite this sad, overarching trend toward mediocrity in shaving from the early days, a few innovations did arise that genuinely improved the experience or the results. The most impactful being:
(1) Sharper, more corrosion-resistant blades. The importance of great blades cannot be overstated. It's simply not possible for a razor to get quality results without quality blades. That's why we include world-renowned FEATHER® blades with every DE5.
(2) A built-in blade alignment bar. Consistent blade alignment is necessary for consistent shaving results, and it takes more than just two alignment pegs to get there. The DE5 features elongated keyhole slots to ensure "always-true" alignment between the cap, blade, and guard.
(3) "Turned-Down" guard teeth for more comfortable skin contact. The outward-pointing teeth on traditional open-comb razors presented a decidedly uncomfortable leading edge during shaving. The elongated and concave teeth on the DE5 provide all the performance with comfort to match.
In one more nod to tradition, we also brought back the long, characteristic "bullet" pegs featured on the underside of the caps of the earliest safety razors, which we found especially convenient for blade loading.
MR. FINE VALUE-ADDED
But we didn't stop there! Despite preferring open-comb razors for performance, we found a tendency toward clogging that we could solve by connecting the backend of each tooth and opening a lather channel under the cap. Even better, this feature doubles as a long-term durability improvement, as bent teeth are a common problem with vintage open-comb razors.
To top it all off, we designed the entire razor around a solid stainless steel threaded post (with modern standard M5x0.8 sizing) built directly into the cap. As the most wear-heavy and drop-vulnerable feature of any safety razor, this thoughtful upgrade assures generational longevity.
Taken as a whole, the features of the Fine® DE5 Safety Razor offer a new apex for performance, comfort, and affordability in wet shaving. Experience shaving restored.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How aggressive is the DE5 Razor?
The DE5 is designed to provide an exceptionally comfortable, Baby-Butt-Smooth shave with no irritation when used for a traditional three-pass shave.
What is the blade gap or blade exposure on the DE5?
Over the course of the design and testing of this razor we found that the individual metrics popular for quantifying performance are not reliable out of context. As a result we have chosen not to release exact metrics for the DE5.
