Limited Edition Vintage Brushes

Three french artisans

The shaving brushes in the “Mr Darcy” range are a very special project, bringing together three French craftsmen :

1 – We first unearthed a mysterious batch of ceramic shaving brush handles in England. These handles were about 100 years old, and they lived quite the life. Out of about thirty pieces, only one was whole! For all the others, only the base remained. The idea then came to us to complete them, but not in any way. We carefully cleaned and sterilised each thoroughly.

2 – They then passed through the expert hands of MRed, a professional turner from Clermont-Ferrand, who designed and turned the top parts in different woods or resins. He then consolidated  the bases, attached the tops to the bases, and marked them with our logo.

3 – Each handle thus completed was then sent to the last French workshop capable of making and assembling badger hair tufts by hand. A workshop that is more than a hundred years old, which has been a partner of many famous French brands… we won’t say more.

French handcrafted knots

The knots are all made of real badger hair, in “high mountain white” (HMW). This rare grade is beautiful to the eye, but also combines several important advantages for a quality lather and the most comfortable shave. The body of these hairs is very, very fine, and their natural tips are soft. We have chosen to mount them relatively dense, to gain some backbone. The result is more supple than our “Drake” shaving brush, and will be a treat of softness and finesse for a Deluxe shave.

These are not pre-made knots that are just placed in the handles. Each loft has been specially bundled, shaped and assembled by hand for each handle. Every loft from this batch have the same general dimensions, but they are not at all the same shape, the craftsman has really done his best to offer variety in his confections. Each knot adds a special touch to the uniqueness of each brush. We also took this opportunity to reknot a few 100% vintage handles!

Unique pieces, with a lot of character

The handles of these shaving brushes are truly unique pieces, first because each base has its own centennial history, second because each loft has a special shape, and thirdly because each wood essence reveals its own character and the resins allow for crazy shapes and colours. And no two shapes are the same! The base can have marks, dents, dings, gaps, fine cracks, traces, stains, which are signs of the past life of these hundred-year-old pieces. We have made sure to check them, to solidify them, to show you these defects on the many pictures so there are no bad surprises. You are buying more than a brush, you are buying a history and character, and keeping a tradition alive.

If you like the work we put in these brushes, please have a look at the rest of MRed’s work on his website, and show him some love ! And if you like our HMW knots, have a look at the other vintage brushes we had restored.

When this run of unique pieces will be sold out, we shall endeavour to develop a brush from one of the pieces that MRed designed for our Mr Darcy line.

Mr Darcy : a new scent

Mr Darcy will be our next range, revolving around a new fragrance. But it is far too early to talk about it, one thing at a time… To be continued!