Gingher 8 inch Knife Edge Dressmaker's Shears Review

Overall 4.00 of 5 view all 3 reviews

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GBerry
Berkeley, CA

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Good but not great and far from the best.

neat freak, Mr. Fix-it

Pros

Better than plastic handled cheap shears

Cons

Not the best in their price point, Uneven cutting surface

MAR

2008

As a professional tailor/dressmaker, I've owned three pairs of bent dressmakers shears over the years: A pair of 8" Ginghers (3.5" cutting surface), a pair of 8" Mundials (3.5" cutting surface), and a pair of 12" Touro Tesoura Professional Tailor shears (6" cutting surface).

The Ginghers were the first pair of professional quality shears I ever owned and for over a decade now, they've been fussy and required constant tune-up and maintenance. The Mundial shears, on the other hand, have recieved more use and required no attention whatsoever. The Touro Tesoura shears, finally, are simply amazing.

A few years ago I got the chance to compare about ten pair of Ginghers and Mundials straight out of the box. The Ginghers consistantly had an uneven cutting surface; loose through some sections of the blade and tight in others, while the Mundials were all dead even along the length of the blade. Same for my Touro Tesoura's that, in addition to being perfectly forged, have a bit of spring steel in the pivot so tension is always ideal.

The Ginghers are far better than a pair of plastic handled cheapo's and, over the long run, worth the $25 more than a pair of plastic handled Fiskars. For the same price however, the Mundial shears are miles above. Of course, if you can find a pair, a professional model like the Tesoura's or one of the companies from Solengen Germany like Dovo, are the best.