Seki Edge Stainless Steel Haircutting Scissors (SS-703)

My wife cut my hair with these scissors recently. These scissors have a very sharp edge on them. Until now, my wife who cuts my hair, says the size of these scissors is also preferred over the lower-cost titanium scissors she has been using. I purchased the titanium coated scissors about a year ago were the sharpest we had until now. These Seki haircutting scissors are clearly the sharpest scissors we own for trimming my hair. My wife says my hair on the side or my head is very dense and tough. My beard is even tougher, so I use these Seki scissors to trim my goatee beard that grows rather fast. The other titanium coated scissors too long and she likes these because they fit her small hands better. She is 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 116 pounds to give you an idea of her hand size. She plans to use these Seki Edge scissors exclusively to cut her and my hair going forward. I'll give you a link to the longer titanium coated scissors, which are much less expensive, but not as good quality as the Seki Edge scissors.Seki Edge does have a superb rating with a very high number of reviews for their fingernail clippers listed below. SS-106 seems to equivalent to 439 steel which has superb hardness and corrosion resistance. I think they are probably using the same highly rated stainless steel as they use in their highly rated fingernail clippers. It would be very logical to do this.SEKI EDGE SS-106- Stainless Steel Fingernail ClipperBelow is a competitive brand of scissors. The Seki Edge fingernail clippers above are touted as the best nail clippers in the world. And that would imply their stainless steel is very hard and will keep a sharp edge indefinitely.Macs Professional Titanium Barber Razors Edge Hair Cutting Shears 5.5",6.5" & 7.5" Mac Brand -T213 (7.5")Of course, the titanium coating is extremely thin and it probably wears off after considerable usage. And if you sharpen the scissors, I think it is very likely you will lose all of the titanium whereupon they become ordinary scissors. I tested the three pairs of hair scissors and the titanium coated scissors were a fairly close second place winner. I used the plastic and paper that were part of the packaging for this test. When cutting the plastic, that is when it was most evident which scissors were sharpest - the Seki Edge scissors.This price seems rather expensive and they have so stiff competition with well-established scissors like the one below, which are comparably priced. These are probably more in the same category with professional scissors like the Seki scissors I just received. I don't own the scissors below, so I cannot make a direct comparison. It will take a long time for these Seki scissors to sell as many as the link below. But eventually, a trend will develop.I wish they specified exactly the alloy steel composition of the blades, such as 304 stainless steel instead of just Japanese Stainless Steel. There is only one other review at this time, so you can't say that is any kind of trend one way or the other. I could have just as easily given my rating of 4 stars to be 5 stars. I simply do not have any other comparison of high-end scissors to make a judgment. So I would suggest that if you know this brand well, then that should be your guiding light. I'm not familiar with any brand of hair scissors, so I can't give you any guidance other than to say they are indeed sharp and can cut better than any scissors I own by a considerable margin. Whether that warrants a 5-star rating, I do not know enough to tell you with any confidence.Or if they had given the Rockwell Hardness scale number, that would have been equally as useful - just not enough information is available to make an assessment of the hardness.Got Glamour Cobalt Molybdenum Right-Handed Hair Cutting Scissors, 5.25" Length (2.25" Blade Length)These scissors being reviewed are on the left of the photo in the black plastic container. The titanium coated scissors my wife has been using are in the center. You can see the very thin coating of titanium on them that creates a non-uniform discoloration. And the scissors on the right were the ones that she had been using until I purchased the ones in the middle. They are old and while they still work, they are outclassed by the other two scissors. It is very likely that these scissors use the same steel as their very highly rated fingernail clippers. And if that is correct, they probably rate 5 stars. They should mention which steel they are using in the featured description.

They don't last long.

These scissors have some nice design touches - they are almost entirely metal, but there is a little rubber bumper between the finger loops to keep them from knocking together, the points are very slightly rounded so they won't prick skin, but they are still sharp enough to lift up mustache hairs, there is a finger rest molded into the handle, and so on.The finger loops fit me well, though I'm relatively petite, and a person with much fatter fingers might have trouble. These are also for righties - you can use them left handed, but you'll need to pull your thumb away from your palm, instead of push toward it, and this will get tiring (lefties know what I'm talking about).Overall, however, these are very well made and designed. The package says "crafted in Japan." That's about right.

It really bothers me when a company tries to mislead you as to where a product is made. These go on and on about Japan...and yes, they do look good enough at first to be made in Japan - and they have some interesting design features like the stopper between the handle sides and the finger hook - that are smart enough to be made in Japan. But they are actually made in China. I completely realize that China can make very decent products with proper foreign quality assurance, but up to Japan's standards...eh. The Japanese wouldn't buy this. Not for $50, at least. Pretty sure I can find a scissors in Japan made in Japan for that price or less.They're totally fine. The design is good. They are sharp enough to cut hair. I'm not super impressed with the price for something that was probably thrown together without great care. Just say what you are and I will respect you more.

Let me start by saying that these shears are just fine if you're looking for a good pair to do your spouse or child's haircut every 6 weeks or so and that's it. They're just great for that sort of occasional use, even one of the better choices for at-home haircuts, sure. As a licensed cosmetologist {hairstylist} who did about 6,000 haircuts during my career before I had kids and left to raise them, I can say that these are *NOT* professional grade shears.Even if you're in beauty school or intend to enroll, better save just another fifty bucks and invest in something much better. For hairstylists, these shears won't cut it. For at-home occasional use, they're perfect, and I think that's what they're aiming at, which is why I give them 4 stars instead of 3. If I were reviewing these as professional shears, if that's what I thought theses were being marketed as, I'd probably give them a 2.So let me tell you what sticks out to me as a professional:- No tension knob. A professional will want a tension knob to adjust the tightness of the shears. These shears aren't easily taken apart, it looks like you need a special tool to take them apart. You NEED shears that can be taken apart as a professional, this is so that they can be cleaned, oiled, and sharpened on a regular basis. Professionals must have their shears sharpened every several weeks or every few months at most. You can see the tension knob on my "professional" Roc-It Dog shears in the photos I'm attaching.- No removable tang. The tang is that curved part that stick out of the hand-end of the static blade for your pinky to rest on It is helpful for controlling your shears, but most professional shears have removable tangs. I never removed mine, but stylists might like the versatility when using certain cutting techniques.- No sizing rings are included. Sizing rings help a lot with controlling the blade and cut as well. These are usually included with professional shears and can be popped in or out of the finger loops to fit your fingers for better control. I'm surprised these shears don't include them, as it's a cheap, simple plastic bit to include and helps a LOT. You can see the sizing ring in my Roc-It Dogs in the pictures, it's orange and helps my ring finger fit better. These shears are uncomfortably wobbly in my hand because the loop is too big for my ring finger. I don't like the lack of control when I'm using blades near peoples faces.Those are the main things that stick out. To test the cutting quality, I used both my regular old Roc-It Dogs on my daughter's trim as well as these Seki Edge shears. The cut quality was pretty much the same. The Seki's are nice and sharp and did cut just fine. That said, they didn't do any better than my regular shears...which I've owned and used for 10+ years and haven't had sharpened lately as I should have. So, they cut fine, but didn't blow me out of the water.So while I wanted this review to be a warning to professionals {who should already know better themselves, honestly} but more so PRE-professionals who might not yet know better: These are not professional shears that you'll want to invest in and can use for years. I wouldn't even recommend these as beginner shears for professionals, since their cost is so high. You can expect professional shears of good quality to start around $100, and they can go up to the several thousands. A celebrity hairstylist will likely own a pair of shears that costs more than most people's first car.Now, for the at-home user who does their own haircuts on family and friends, these shears are higher quality than the cheapest of the cheap ones I've found at places like Sally's. I can absolutely recommend these for basic, occasional use. Just know you're missing out on some of the comforts like the sizing ring and tension knob. Shears should be oiled regularly, and if ever dropped you need to pick them up carefully and check the blades for damage before closing them again. If they do get damaged, I'd recommend seeing a professional sharpener, but these shears can't necessarily be sharpened so you may just have to buy another pair if that were the case. My Roc-It Dog shears are lower-end professional shears, but they've lasted me a long time and have been very good to me.I'm just surprised, at this price, they couldn't be bothered to include finger sizers. But oh well! This is, overall, a nice set of shears to invest in for the at-home occasional hairstylist who isn't too picky. While I can't say how long the blades will hold up, brand new they cut nicely and should last a decent amount of time if they're well cared for.