Side by Side: EJ DE89L and Merkur 34C

Edwin Jagger DE89L

Merkur 34C Heavy Duty

The DE89L is elegant with meticulously smooth surfaces. It is appealing to men because of its classy and refined appearance. The lines on the handle add style rather than function, like pinstripes on a nice suit. The logo is prominently featured and is presented like a fashion statement.

Appearance

The 34C boasts an industrial look reflective of most of the traditional Merkur styles. It is appealing to men because of its utilitarian, rugged, and masculine appearance. The pronounced knurling on the handle is functional with a deep texture to provide a secure grip for wet and soapy hands.

Overall length: 95 mm
Cutting head width: 42 mm
Cutting head depth: 25 mm
Handle diameter: 12.5 mm
Knob diameter: 12.5 mm
Weight: 2.2 oz (62g)

Dimensions

Overall length: 84 mm
Cutting head width: 41 mm
Cutting head depth: 25 mm
Handle diameter: 12 mm
Knob diameter: 15 mm
Weight: 2.72 oz (77g)

This recently designed DE89L cutting head fits together very precisely with an even blade gap on both sides. The bottom piece is a thick and sturdy piece of steel. The alignment pins stop to be flush with the bottom plate to give the head a nice clean appearance.

Cutting Heads

The 34C is well-made, symmetrical, and solid. The cutting head fits together well and has an even blade gap on both sides. The alignment pins extend down from the top plate through the bottom plate to keep both pieces of the cutting head aligned perfectly.

The DE89L has flawless chrome plating, which is smooth and nicely polished to a mirror-like finish. The lines on the handle are very low profile and present an attractive but relatively smooth grip surface.

Plating

The plating on the 34C is durable and applied uniformly. With the industrial design, there are faint machine marks on some of the surfaces from the manufacturing process that show in the plating.

The DE89L is a typical three-piece razor with a cutting head comprising two pieces that unscrews from the handle.

Assembly

The 34C is a typical two-piece razor where the bottom plate of the cutting head is permanently affixed to the handle.

The DE89L is a medium aggressive razor that works well with sharper blades, including Feather. A wet shaver can be confident that the blade is centered.

Performance

The 34C is an medium aggressive razor that exposes a respectable amount of blade edge. It works well for both everyday beard growth and four-day beard growth.

The DE89L is a popular safety razor because of the obvious quality in manufacturing and design. The refined style is visually appealing and the razor is priced nearly 25% below its competitors.

Reputation

The 34C is a proven design that has been the standard to which other razors are compared. It has remained one of the best-selling and most recommended safety razors of the past decade.