Tondeo

Tondeo is a German manufacturer of professional hairdressing scissors and salon tools, based in Solingen, the town whose blade-making trade dates back centuries. The company was founded in 1928 by the merchant Adolf Noss, who set up a razorblade factory in the city [1]. It has operated continuously in Solingen ever since and remains active, selling through its own e-commerce sites, a North American storefront and professional retailers, and running factory tours, workshops and an academy.

The brand works almost entirely for the trade rather than the general public. It describes itself as "a manufacturer for professional hairdressers, with a focus on manufacturing quality, sharpness, and ergonomic design," and develops its scissors, clippers and salon supplies for commercial hairdressing use.

The TONDEO trademark was registered in 1931, three years after the factory opened. The name comes from the Latin tondere, meaning to cut or to shear. The TONDEO sales company took over the original factory in 1949, and the business gradually shifted away from razorblades: from 1959 it began producing specialised haircutting equipment, and in 1960 it started making Solingen hair scissors, the product line the brand is now known for [1]. In 1976 it produced its first hairstyling scissors manufactured in-house.

Tondeo has changed hands several times over its history. It became a subsidiary of Wella AG in 1980, and in 2007 was acquired by the cutlery group Zwilling J.A. Henckels AG [1]. In 2013 Tondeo was combined with the Solingen scissor maker Jaguar to form a single company, United Salon Technologies GmbH, which now operates the brand [2].

The most recent change came in May 2021, when Tondeo passed to Certina Holding AG [2]. Sources disagree on the current parent: the third-party industry site ScissorPedia still describes Tondeo as "part of the Zwilling AG group" [3], but that reflects the pre-2021 arrangement. United Salon Technologies' own corporate history records the 2021 transfer to Certina Holding AG, which is the more recent account. The company is headquartered at Ketzberger Str. 34 in Solingen.

Tondeo positions itself as a custodian of Solingen's traditional craftsmanship combined with modern CNC production, with every stage of manufacturing kept, as the company puts it, "under one roof." Its tagline is "Tradition of masterful craftsmanship," and it markets itself to the trade as "THE SOPHISTICATED BRAND FOR PROFESSIONALS" and a partner to "discerning hairdressers who need high-quality products for their creative work."

Ergonomics is central to how the brand talks about its tools. According to Tondeo, a pair of scissors works best when it fits perfectly in the hand, giving the feeling that the scissors are "an extension of your hand." The company frames the reduced effort of its designs in vivid terms, claiming that over a year its cutting technology spares a hairdresser's hand the work equivalent of moving roughly eight fully grown bull elephants.

The brand's range centres on professional hairdressing scissors, alongside straight razors and blades, electrical appliances such as clippers and dryers, and salon supplies. Its flagship products include the Damascus-steel scissors MYTHOS DAMAST and THOR DAMAST, the GERA line built with patented Niolox steel, and the SUPRA line, which the company presents as an entry point into its premium class. In electrical tools, trade retailer Friseurversand identifies the ECO XP as Tondeo's flagship hair clipper.

At the core of the scissors is CONBLADE, the company's proprietary cutting technology, which pairs a convex blade with a pronounced hollow grind to lower the tension between the cutting edges. Tondeo says this reduces friction, protects the material and extends the tool's service life. The design is paired with a ball-bearing screw system that ScissorPedia refers to as Ball-Gliding [3].

Manufacturing is presented as a point of pride. All Tondeo scissors are made in Solingen, where products carry the "Me fecit" mark — literally "I was made [in Solingen]," a phrase the company traces to the swords and daggers of medieval Solingen. The town's "Made in Solingen" designation carries legal protection under the local Solingen Regulation, which requires that production steps take place within the city. Tondeo says its flagship Damascus scissors pass through more than 150 production steps; a general baseline of over 120 steps is cited for its wider range [4].

Tondeo remains active as of 2026. It operates a fully stocked online shop, a separate North American site, factory tours and an academy, and it referenced 2025 trade-show appearances, including Hairconshow 2025, in its recent marketing. The brand is approaching its centenary in 2028 and often describes itself as having stood for precision "for almost a century."