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After I shaveblogged recently about Simpson's itsy-bitsy Wee Scot shaving brush, the famed Flying Dutchman, the infamous Netherlander brush collector, taunted me from afar by posting a photo on a shavegeek forum of his Wee Scots, one current and one vintage:



To my utter dismay, the Dutch Boy's vintage Wee Scot is even smaller than my new Wee Scot -- a full half-inch smaller. Doesn't sound like a big deal, but when you're talking about a brush onloy 2-1/2" tall, it's huge.

Tulip Boy's got 600+ shaving brushes, most of them high-dollar jobs well beyond the budget of most shavegeeks proles, but his mania never bothered me till now. That photo of the even-smaller Wee Scot hurt. Hurt deep. Here I was, thinking I had the world's smallest shaving brush, and he smokes me like a joint at the Bulldog.

As luck would have it, though, I just got the vintage Simpson Wee Scot I recently scored on eBay, and though it isn't the smaller version Delft Boy's got, it's even better than that -- because unlike my new Wee Scot, or Dutchie's new Wee Scot, or his old Wee Scot, my old Wee Scot has silvertip badger bristles!

Look at the photo of my two brushes. On the left is my new Wee Scot, and on the right, wearing the yellowed trunks and standing at a slight angle, is the vintage Wee Scot I scored for the princely sum of $24 including shipping. And though the original box says "best badger", this brush clearly has what would now be classified as genuine silvertip.

I keep hearing old-timers say that modern silvertip isn't nearly as soft on the face as older silvertip brushes, and this vintage Wee Scot follows that line. While its bristles are stiffer and springier than the best badger grade hair on my new Wee Scot, they feel very, very soft on my skin, with none of the prickliness I feel when using a modern silvertip brush like my Vulfix #2235S.

Though the handle is nicely yellowed with age, I've got no idea how old my vintage Simpson is -- I've sent the pics to Simpson in the UK to see if they can date it. You can see that the older brush has a slightly different handle shape than the current version, and the shape of the bristle bunch is more rounded and less fan-like than the new Scot. I can tell you that whatever the vintage brush's age, it's in excellent shape, holds an amazing amount of water, and lathers just as fantastically as my new Wee Scot. It's only "flaw" is a slight bump on the bottom of the handle, which makes the brush lean to one side when you set it down on a flat surface, but who gives an amsterdamn. If anything, it adds to the brush's off-kilter charm.

So we're at a stand-off, the Dutchman and me. He has a Nano Scot, and I have a Silver Sliver. The only way to win this is to find a Silver Nano. Did one ever exist? Must find it. Must defeat the Dutchman.