New Brush to SMF: Zenith, made in Italy, sold in Australia

[brothers]

While searching for a brush I came across a fellow in Australia who sells barber and hairdressing supplies. He was (is?) selling a few Zenith boar brushes on ebay, but not the one I bought from him. I wanted the larger brush, and he emailed me to say he has 4 in stock, so I bought one. Shipping from Australia was only 7 days.

The loft measures 27mm by 65mm. The bristles have split marvelously, and it's a beauty. After a thorough breaking-in, I can say it is an excellent brush. Bristle loss during break-in was minimal. The brush now joins my Semogue 2000 and Omega 49 boars on the counter. The handle is a shiny chrome-like finished durable heavy plastic. The label is a thin black screened ink, that probably won't last very long.

Here's a link to the Italian manufacturer.

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[brothers]

Today's shave with the Zenith and a cake of Harris Marlborough soap was luxurious. Loaded on the soap for a full minute, and the brush made so much lather it was literally flying off the brush as I painted it on my face. Very impressive. Made more than enough lather for three passes and a big handful of lather left over.

[Johnny]

Gary,

That brush looks just like an Omega Pro 48. Could it be one in the same?

[brothers]

It has a similar shape, but not exactly the same. It's not an Omega. It's made by that other Italian company. The bristles are lighter in color than the Omegas, and finer.

[bernards66]

Altesse?
Gordon

[brothers]

The link to the manufacturer's website is in the first post. It's an Italian name, Pannellificio Pandolfo, they've been making brushes since 1902, apparently.

[bernards66]

Gary, Ah!...okay. That's a new one on me.
Regards,
Gordon

[brothers]

Since I bought my first Zenith brush a few years ago, I haven't seen them written about until just recently when a fellow on one of the forums announced he's importing them into USA. I was excited to see them again, and bought one quite similar to the one posted about above, except it has a red/orange handle similar to the Omega 10049. It's made of premium boar bristles, and is quite similar in look and performance to the Omega 20106. I have both of these in rotation nowadays, and today I used the Zenith B3. It's a fine lathering brush, not a leather hog, and very soft on the face when it's wet.

[mpols1968]

Joe at IB is selling a Zenith made Razorock brush which is a rebranded B3 (B06-80N/Nic).

[rsp1202]

He's also offering a barber-handle brush with a dense synthetic knot that looks like an STF, but he claims it's not. 27.5/51 specs, with a glue bump that drops effective loft to 47mm-ish. The price is right, but that's an awfully short loft for hair that in certain configurations exhibits pretty fierce spring tendencies.