Giesen & Forsthoff

Giesen & Forsthoff is a German manufacturer of shaving tools and grooming hardware based in Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Trading as G&F Solingen, the firm was founded in 1920 by Paul Giesen and Eugen Forsthoff as a maker of cutting tools and grooming equipment [1]. It remains a family-run business, producing straight razors, safety razors, blades, brushes and manicure and pedicure instruments at its own Solingen workshop.

The company is still active. It operates a year-round online shop alongside on-site factory sales and maintains active social accounts, and it has launched new product lines in recent years. According to the firm, it is now in its fourth generation, led by managing director Katharina Kuhnke and her mother Christiane Giesen [2].

Giesen & Forsthoff was established in Solingen in 1920 by Paul Giesen and Eugen Forsthoff [1]. The city, long known in the trade as the "City of Blades", has been the centre of German edge-tool and razor making for centuries, and the firm has remained there throughout its history. According to a third-party brand history, products from the company were marketed across Europe and overseas not long after its founding.

In 1928 the two partners acquired the razor-making business Hoppe & Co. [8]. By 1939 the company was recorded at Baumstrasse 36-38 in Solingen, the address it still uses today.

After the Second World War, co-founder Eugen Forsthoff left the company in 1945. The firm kept its name and has since been run by the Giesen family [8]. Sources differ on how many generations have since held the business: the company's own account describes it as a fourth-generation family firm [2], while an older third-party write-up by Country Knives places it in the third generation [8] — a difference the packet attributes to the passage of time as ownership moved to the next generation.

In 2020 Giesen & Forsthoff marked its hundredth year. To coincide with the centenary it introduced "1920", a modern men's shaving line named after its founding date [5].

The company's signature product is the handmade Timor straight razor, fully hollow-ground and finished by hand at the Solingen workshop. Models are offered in carbon or stainless steel and in blade widths of 4/8, 5/8 and 6/8 of an inch, with handles in woods such as olive and marblewood, horn, carbon, titanium or stainless steel. Some are sold under the etched "Timor Blue Steel" and "Timor Löwe" (Timor Lion) designs with gilded detailing. The company describes the straight razor as its flagship and says it is one of only a few makers worldwide with the precision and expertise to produce them [3].

Alongside the straight razors, the modern range spans several lines. The "1920" series of safety razors is aimed at men and offered with interchangeable heads, grip lengths and materials, while ZÓE is a safety razor designed for women and marketed as "VEGAN.BIO.WEIBLICH" — vegan, organic and feminine [7]. The firm also makes Timor premium razor blades, individually wrapped in wax paper, and shaving brushes using synthetic hair the company describes as vegan and suitable for people with allergies. Timor, a registered trademark of Giesen & Forsthoff, covers the wider catalogue of shaving accessories, manicure and pedicure instruments, cosmetic tools and leather cases.

Giesen & Forsthoff presents itself as a traditional manufacturer that favours handcraft and selected materials over mass production, summarising its approach as "quality over quantity" [2]. It says it still trains apprentices and passes knife-making knowledge down through the generations. Its tagline, "Echte Tradition seit 1920" (Genuine Tradition Since 1920), draws on that century-long continuity.

The company places growing emphasis on sustainability. It says nearly all of its packaging is already plastic-free, and points to recycling, repair services and a circular-economy approach, including vegan cork cases. The ZÓE women's line and the "1920" care products are marketed as made in Germany, with an accompanying shaving oil described as organic and fully vegan [7]. The company does not list any formal third-party certification.

Among wet-shaving enthusiasts, the company's vintage razors are sought after by collectors, while opinion on the current range is more mixed. In one shaving forum, an experienced user advised against the modern Timor straight razors, writing that the only reason he had not sold his was that he did not want to pass on something he considered poor [10]. This is enthusiast opinion rather than a documented dispute.

Giesen & Forsthoff remains in operation. As of 2026 it runs a webshop open around the clock, holds regular factory-sales hours in Solingen, and keeps active social media accounts, with the "1920" and ZÓE lines on the market [1]. Its products are exported internationally and resold through a range of specialist shaving and knife retailers.