Erbe Solingen

Erbe Solingen is a German manufacturer of precision bodycare instruments — manicure and pedicure tools, cosmetic implements such as tweezers and eyelash curlers, and traditional wet-shaving accessories. It was founded in 1930 by Erich Becker in Solingen, the western German city long associated with blade and steelware production [3]. The brand name is drawn directly from the founder's initials: ERich BEcker. The company remains family-owned and active, run today by the founder's grandson.

The brand belongs to BECKER Solingen (BECKER Manicure GmbH & Co. KG), which also publishes the PEDI and YES lines and the shaving labels Taylor of Old Bond Street and Mondial / Antica Barberia [4]. Of the products carried under the name, the sapphire-coated nail files developed in the 1950s are the most widely recognised.

Erich Becker (1901–1968) set up a small Solingen workshop in 1930 and concentrated on manicure products, a focus the company describes as an early reading of a growing market for bodycare [3]. According to the firm, his initials supplied the brand name, and that naming has been repeated since by the independent association Verein Deutsche Manufakturen, which records the founding the same way [5].

Becker served as managing director from the founding until his death in 1968. The business has since passed through the family across three generations.

In the 1950s, the founder's son, Siegfried Becker, was closely involved in developing a sapphire coating for the company's nail files, refined in an in-house electroplating department; these files are described as sought after internationally [5]. Siegfried (1935–2016) took over as managing director in 1968 and led the company until 2006, when his son Michael Becker assumed the role as the third generation of family ownership [3].

The company has operated its own leather manufactory since 1960, used for manicure cases and related goods; that operation was formally integrated into the business in 2021 [5]. Solingen steelware carries the protected "Made in Solingen" trademark, in place since 1938 to guard the city's products against imitation [3].

Erbe Solingen is owned and produced by BECKER Solingen, the trading name of BECKER Manicure GmbH & Co. KG, based in Solingen. The same parent operates several sibling brands, including PEDI, YES, Taylor of Old Bond Street, and the Mondial / Antica Barberia shaving lines [4]. Leadership has remained within the Becker family throughout, with Michael Becker (born 1971) serving as managing director since 2006.

A separate consumer storefront at erbe-solingen.com — operated by MARKEMENT GmbH as the "Becker-Online-Shop" — retails genuine Erbe Solingen items but is not the manufacturer's own site; the authoritative brand owner is BECKER Solingen.

The company presents Erbe Solingen as a premium line built on Solingen craftsmanship handed down through three generations, emphasising precision and durability over trend-led products. Verein Deutsche Manufakturen summarises the positioning with the brand's own line, "Quality one can feel — and craftsmanship that lasts" [5]. BECKER Solingen states four guiding values — passion, quality, sustainability and innovation — and describes its aim as "producing the best Solingen quality under resource-saving and sustainable conditions" [3]. The brand also points to traditional Solingen sharpening techniques and to inspection of instruments individually before shipment.

The Erbe Solingen range centres on hand instruments: skin and nail scissors, cuticle nippers, nail clippers, tweezers and files for manicure and pedicure, alongside cosmetic tools such as beard scissors and eyelash curlers. The line extends to wet-shaving equipment — straight razors, safety razors, shaving brushes and blade sharpeners — and to leather manicure cases, toilet bags and cosmetic mirrors.

The sapphire-coated nail file is the brand's signature technical product, originating from the 1950s electroplating work and still cited as a globally sought-after item [5]. The company says its instruments are made in Solingen from selected, recyclable materials, and reports certification to the DIN EN ISO 9001 quality and ISO 14001 environmental management standards [3].

Erbe Solingen is active. The business continues to operate from Solingen under BECKER Manicure GmbH & Co. KG and is recognised by Verein Deutsche Manufakturen as a genuine German manufactory. Its most recent recorded public activity is an appearance at Beautyworld Middle East 2024, in the German Pavilion, under the BECKER Manicure name [6].