Razor Burn
President of the TF Custom Brushes Fan Club
Grand Society
Da Menth Heads
2019 Charity Auction Winner
2020 Charity Auction Winner
Great comparison between the generations and glad to see you had a better experience.Muhle Rocca R96 – V1 (Germany)
It was not on the radar to be using my recently acquired Rocca R96 – V1 so soon. However, the less than flattering result I achieved with the R94 – V4 prompted me to trot this razor out after being advised that it can be a bit aggressive. This razor is the first version Rocca and sports a metal injected stainless steel head. Circular flow marks are visible on the underside of the top cap and the top side of the plate. Similar to the later version there is no lather channels in the plate and dispersal of lather is taken care of by a shallow channel under the blade. The handle post is hollow and the thread engagement to the handle is sloppy. Visually, most features of the V1 and V4 heads are very similar. A black coating has been applied to the working section of the handle and it is both visually appealing and pleasant to use. My scales indicate that the R96 is some 14g lighter than the R94; some of this weight reduction may be in the plate but the handle is where the majority of the weight loss has occurred.
With a blade fitted there were no visible alignment issues, a fault that plagued some examples of the V1 Rocca. During the shave the 14g weight loss between the V4 and the V1 was not noticeable and I don’t think contributed in any way to the performance of this razor. There was certainly an increase in efficiency though, up to around that of the Karve CB Level #C and an increase in blade feel. While the shave was maybe not as smooth as with the V4, it was still good and more importantly, close. The shave delivered by this version is far better than what I was able to achieve with the V4 Rocca and up to a level that I could use regularly if I had to.
Blades Used – Gillette 7 O’Clock Green and Personna Prep (now that’s a nice blade)
Material – Stainless Steel
Blade Tab – Slightly exposed
Weight – 79g
Head Width – 41.3mm
Handle Length – 95.75mm
Handle Diameter – 14mm
Availability – Out of Production
Final Word – Not Bad
Looking forward to next weeks review