Dovo 502006 & 504006

Dovo 502006 & 504006
The 502006 is to the left, the 504006 to the right.  These should be characterized as very 'springy' feeling clippers, which is never a bad thing.

Most would consider the 502006, at 60mm long and with a 12mm curved cutting jaw, the typical size for fingernails that you'll see in the USA.  It weighs 25 grams.

The 504006 is a bigger unit, right at home tackling that big toe or just for those whom have bigger hands.  It is 78mm long,16mm wide, and has a 15mm cutting jaw.  It weighs 43 grams.

Dovo 509006 & 510006

Dovo 509006 & 510006
These Dovo imports are Japanese, made by a firm called "Green Bell" and known as the 'Cutpia' models.

These cutting jaws are considerably more curved than the Dovos above.

No built in file or cool fragment-catcher here and they don't look the neatest, either, but there can't be any question in my mind; in terms of the cutting jaw's sharpness/power and in one's ability to control the jaws, these 5**006 models are the unequivocal star among the 3 lines we carry.  Best clipper I've ever used, bar none.

Most would consider the 509006, at 66mm long, an ideal all-around size.  It weighs 32 grams.

The 510006 is a big clipper, best suited to big toes or those with big hands.  It is 90mm long,16mm wide at the narrowest part, and has a 12mm cutting jaw.  It weighs 62 grams.

Made in Japan.

Feather "PaRaDa" Clipper

Feather "PaRaDa" Clipper
The Feather clipper's rather well established in Japan, and has the common device which catches the clippings as you make them.

Having used one of these for years, it can be safely said that the little clipper catch does indeed capture the vast majority of nail shards.

There's a built-in file, and these clippers have a definitive cutting action, unlike the cheap stuff which 'mushes' through the nail.

This is kind of a big clipper, best suited to big toes or those with big hands.  It is 80mm long, 18mm wide at the top, and has a 15mm cutting jaw.  It weighs 60 grams.

Made in Japan.

As so many of you are fond of picking these up all by their lonesome and supply's a constant problem, we've had to make two prices (as with some other items); one price for shipping in <$20 orders, and one for shipping in >$20 orders.  Sorry!

Dovo 370000 "Maya" Ear Cleaner

You can use this little tool to get wax out of the inner ear, as opposed to also jamming it on the sides of the canal as we Yanks love to do with our Q-Tips every day right out of the shower.  Nothing sharp on it; you can use it for the outer ear well, too.  The handle comes in assorted (random) colors.

Dovo 4663045 3" Narrow-Slanted Tweezer

Nothing like a good angled tweezer when you need it.  This thing will pluck and scrape with the best of them, in tight confines and right where you want it quite easily, too.  The jaws are 3mm across.
Polished stainless steel, with a little doorstop bump in between the two jaws so that you don't push the tips too hard at one another.  Made in Germany.

Dovo 4663016 3" Wide Tweezer

This one's got a broader and flatter tweezy part than the one above, ~4mm across this time 'round.  Go pluck and scrape them bigger landscapes with some reckless German aplomb.
Satin-finished stainless steel, with a little doorstop bump in between the two jaws so that you don't push the tips too hard at one another.  Made in Germany.

Dovo 357008 (the longer one) & 3600008 (the shorter one) Cuticule 'Double Instruments'

Definitely had some version of these things used upon my hands in nail salons a time or two; heck, I think I'd be pretty confident fiddling with it.  You use them to push around cuticles for cutting later with a scissor or, I assume, that thing above.  The ~pointy side's a bit sharp, the rounded part very smooth. #160;Both models are 100% satin-finished stainless steel, made in Germany.

-#357008  ~5" (127mm) long and weighs 12 grams, with the part you grab being flat on opposing sides.

-#360008  ~3.25" (83mm) long and weighs 8 grams, with the part you grab being a normal round cylinder.

Dovo 350005 Cuticule Planer

First you push and prod your cuticles with the "double instruments" you see just above this, then you line that little "V" shaped part on here and take off all that cuticle in one fell swoop like a perfectly-executed peeling of a pear or potato.  The blister packaging says it is a Nagelhautmesser, or a 'cuticle trimmer'.
Polished stainless steel with a plastic handle.  Weighs but 4 scant grams and is ~4" (100mm) long.  Made in Germany.

Dovo 405606 6" File

This is just a nice 6" file from our favorite German cutlery maker.  Polished stainless steel, and I assume it will wear like a glacier.

Dovo 385006 "Klipette" Nose Hair Trimmer

An entirely mechanical and deliciously precise tool to stick up your nose to keep hairs short as they can be.  Twist the bottom-that causes something on the inside to spin around and do the cutting; to quote the packaging, "...for safe and gentle cutting of hair in nostril and outer ear.  Insert cutting head of the Klipette with thumb and index finger of one hand carefully.  Rotate lower cylinder back and forth with your other hand in short rapid movements, and thus the hair is cut cleanly without being pulled."

Made in Germany.

Dovo 9385006 "Klipette" Nose Hair Trimmer Set

While I'll still admit to preferring a highly-aggressive needle-point style cuticle scissor (such as the #361359 below) for daring to trim the very, very front of the insides of my nostrils, 1) I have a tiny nose and am fighting for tenths of millimeters and 2) I use two hands to do it and still feel that quite uncomfortable poke in the sensitive parts more often than I would if a surgeon friend did it.  I'm sure my wife could do a better job if I could just bring myself to ask her of it...we're just not that close :-)

And as the smiling chap to the left with the attractive olfactory party favor emerging can certainly attest, a specific scissor for cutting your nose (and ear) hair makes a ton more sense.

The dainty Dovo #44 scissors (3.5" or 4" lengths, straight or bent blades) have compact, straight sides and flared, bulbous scissoring tips, and come in 5 models; standard matte-finish 3.5" straight-bladed #44356, polished #44355 version of the same thing, curved-bladed 3.5" #44359 (which has bent scissor blades so that when you're going straight up main street your hand's off to the side of your face a bit), 4" straight-bladed #44406, & 4" curved-bladed #44409.  No matter which you choose, when they close they give wonderful control of a tiny cutting edge area with minimal 'scissoring' pressure needed to cut those nose/ear hairs.  That flared design also 'buys you some space' in there from the actual point of scissoring cut, pushing sensitive tissue out of the way to make safe room for the cutting's occurrence.  That's just what you'd want.

• 3.5" or 4" Lengths
• Always stainless steel
• #44356 = straight, 3.5" long, satin finish
• #44355 = straight, 3.5" long, polished finish
• #44359 = curved blades, 3.5" long, satin finish
• #44406 = straight, 4" long, satin finish
• #44409 = curved blades, 4" long, satin finish
• Body's profile designed to easily fit in nostrils
• Angled, curved tips to prevent lacerations
• Works for nose or ear hair
• Supplied with small plastic sheath
• Made in Germany

The Dovo 46400 (straight tips, above left) & 46409 (curved tips, above right) scissors shown above give you 0.5" additional working space from under your nose vs the 3.5" models...unlike any of the #44s shown above, however, these #46s have a nickel finish rather than stainless steel, and thus cannot withstand autoclave sterilization and are not for professional use.

• Nickel finish (lightly oil after use to prevent rust)
• 4" (100mm) Length
• No Finger Rest
• Fixed center screw
• Body's profile designed to easily fit in nostrils
• Rounded scissoring tips "buy space" and prevent lacerations
• #46400 = 4", nickel, straight blades
• #46409 = 4", nickel, curved blades
• Supplied w/ small plastic sheath
• Made in Germany

The Dovo 464016 (straight tips) gives you a bit of extra space, along with smaller rings, flat shanks, and the stainless steel finish for professional use.

• Stainless steel finish
• 4" (100mm) Length
• No Finger Rest
• Fixed center screw
• Body's profile designed to easily fit in nostrils
• Rounded scissoring tips "buy space" and prevent lacerations
• Supplied w/ small plastic sheath
• Made in Germany

• Nickel finish
• 4.5" (114mm) Length
• No Finger Rest
• Fixed center screw
• Corrugated edges
• Supplied w/ plastic sheath

• Nickel finish
• 4.5" (114mm) Length
• No Finger Rest
• Fixed center screw
• Corrugated edges
• Supplied w/ plastic combination brush/comb & leather pouch
• ~5.0 x 1.8 x 1.1" (127x48x30mm) in the pouch, and weighs 1.8 oz (52g) all together
• Made in Germany

Dovo 43454 (Oxidized Steel)
The 43454 is also a precision 4.5" scissor for grooming beards and mustaches, but made of oxidized steel.  Not for steaming in an autoclave, but highly resistant to rust, and it has a distinct look and rubber-grippy feel in the finger holes.  Spiffy.

By any measure of application, essentially you use the very last centimeter or so of scissoring motion to make the cuts.  This is where these kinds of scissor really shine.

• Oxidized steel
• 4.5" (114mm) Length
• No Finger Rest
• Fixed center screw
• Corrugated edges
• Supplied w/ plastic sheath

Dovo 43456 (Stainless Steel)
The 43456 is also a precision 4.5" scissor for grooming beards and mustaches, but made of stainless steel, and thus can also be used by professional stylists (the above #43450 is only intended for personal use) as it will withstand autoclave sterilization.

By any measure of application, essentially you use the very last centimeter or so of scissoring motion to make the cuts.  This is where these kinds of scissor really shine.

• Satin-finished stainless steel finish
• 4.5" (114mm) Length
• No Finger Rest
• Fixed center screw
• Corrugated edges
• Supplied w/ plastic sheath

Dovo 361359 3.5" Cuticle Scissor

Now we're talking!  This 3.5" bad boy's ground by hand and "pointed" at the end, as you can plainly see in the 2nd image above.  This finely sharpened scissor is intended only for cuticles; it won't stand up to cutting nails, but will cut cuticles far more precisely than a nail-specific scissor.

I didn't know the name of it (doesn't even have the same number), but I've used an exact copy of this thing, made by a Solingen 'no-name' outfit, for almost 20 years now.  Its greatest capacity in my life's always been something it certainly isn't intended to do; trimming the hair inside the very, very front of my nostrils.  You're walking a tightrope if you dare, but I'll attest in court that nothing I've tried can clean up that one spot of the nose like these, even those tools made just for the job.

No way on earth you can take this in carry-on luggage upon a commercial aircraft.  Forget it; you'll just lose 'em.

• 3.5" Length
• Nickel finish
• Extremely sharp throughout length
• Sharp, dangerous, and fragile highly-pointed tips which can reward the skilled user like no other
• Delivered in plastic case
• Made in Germany

Dovo 56359 3.5" Nail Scissor

A prototype of the European style nail scissor.  They use them over there like we "Yanks" use the nail clippers.

Took me a bit of time to get the hang of cutting new nail edges like one would turn a corner on some construction paper in kindergarten.

This works MUCH better than clippers, though, because there aren't any funny abrupt edges.

If only you could still take them in carry-on luggage...sigh.  Always taking a little guy like this back before things changed in 2001, I recall checking in for a puddle jumper within India and handing over my fine scissor or nipper or whatever it was to the flight crew, whom sealed it in some special plastic bag before my eyes and then handed it to me at wingtip when departing.  How civilized!  But sadly, no more.

• 3.5" Length
• Nickel finish
• Sharp throughout its length
• Ground by hand
• Sharp tips with broadly-curved shouldering
• Supplied with plastic sheath case
• Made in Germany

Dovo 325356 3.5" 'Pica' Cuticle Scissor

A new kid on the block, this one.  Won the 'Red Dot Award' for being of great design, whatever that means.

The tips on this scissor are ideally conceived for cutting cuticles, but can probably handle some light nail duty, too; nonetheless, if what you want is to cut your nails with scissors regularly, get the 'Lanza' #525356 model just below.

Pica has extra-big finger rings and a raised bump around the pivot mechanism.

You can't take this in carry-on luggage unless you're lucky enough to fly private.

• 3.5" Length
• Stainless steel with satin finish
• Sharp throughout its length
• Delivered in plastic case
• Made in Germany

Dovo 525356 3.5" 'Lanza' Nail Scissor

This piece is the nail-cutting sibling to 'Pica' above.  Together they won the 'Red Dot Award' for being of great design, whatever that means.

This scissor's broad 'tip shoulders' and finely serrated cutting edges makes it an ideal nail trimmer.  It is very easy to get a cut going right at the side of the nail, easy to make gradual turns throughout the cut as to leave a smooth and gradual leading nail edge, and easy to cut very slowly.  The serrated edge communicates well to your brain all along, like a baseball card in a bicycle spoke.

I've been happy to have it in the home a few weeks now, and can offer a meaningful observation...if you will wait until your nails extend beyond the 'plane' of the furthest of finger flesh underneath to trim them (so that you'd see some nail peeking above if you stared at the insides of your hands) and will only trim them as to not expose that more pink/red flesh just under the ends of the nails, I'd easily declare mister Lanza far better than any clipper/scissor/nipper I've handled.  In particular, Lanza makes it easy to trim your dominant hand with you stupid hand-an excellent arbiter of a hand grooming tool.

If you wouldn't wait to trim your nails as described above, however, or prefer to trim short enough to expose that pinker/redder stuff, get a good clipper-we sell those, too.

You can't take this in carry-on luggage unless you're lucky enough to fly private.

• 3.5" Length
• Stainless steel with satin finish
• Corrugated edges throughout its length
• Delivered in plastic case
• Made in Germany

Dovo 402041 Cuticle Nipper

The classic small-jawed cuticle nipper is a staple of any vacation holiday I've ever taken, for as a photog repetitively jamming hands into camera bags again and again I'll always have hangnails and cuticle problems springing up.

This nipper can easily get that scrap of hangnail outta there, as well as trim cuticles when needed.

• Nickel finish
• 4" Length
• Smallest cutting jaw, just 1/4" (~6.3mm) long
• Single leaf spring provides tension
• Delivered in plastic case
• Made in Germany

Dovo 19000426 Cuticle Nipper

A classic small-jawed cuticle nipper, but a step above in refinement versus the 'standard' model above, as this one features the double leaf spring for tension control, instead of a single leaf spring.

A small-jawed cuticle nipper is a staple of any vacation holiday I've ever taken, for as a photog repetitively jamming hands into camera bags again and again I'll always have hangnails and cuticle problems springing up.

This nipper can easily get that scrap of hangnail outta there, as well as trim cuticles when needed.

As always I'll be forthright; I can distinguish blindfolded, just from the action of the double-spring, this model versus its cheaper sibling.  Likely anyone could.  And the satin finish is a bit more sticky to the hand than the smoother nickel finish.

The cutting edge, however, seems to be exactly the same.  Only you can decide if those two things are worth double the cost; it is your money.

Bang this fine tip into something hard just once and it'll never work right again.  Carry with great care.

• Satin-finished stainless steel
• 4" Length
• Smallest cutting jaw, just 1/4" (~6.3mm) long
• Double leaf spring provides tension with superior control
• Delivered in plastic case
• Made in Germany

Dovo 126556 'HAPTIKOS' Nail Nipper

Nearly 6" long and weighing it at 4.5 ounces (127g), the 'HAPTIKOS' ("fit to be touched") is a beautiful oversized nail nipper that's won awards for the beauty of its design.

It is an ambidextrous tool, as fit to the left hand as it is to the right.  It is easy to get a good grip, and the transfer of force to the cutting jaws is, because of the fulcrum being so close to the blade, at a huge advantage.  You'll hardly feel like you're putting any tension in your hand when you squeeze it, both because of the high fulcrum ratio as well as because the broad surfaces of the metal in your palm so well distribute the pressure.

• Stainless steel
• Satin finished
• 5.8" Length
• Contoured 0.65" (15mm) cutting jaw with fine tip
• Single leaf spring
• Delivered with leather sheath
• Made in Germany

Dovo 10630007 Head Contour Pedicure Nail Nipper

At 5.5 (139mm) long and weighing a whopping 3.4 ounces (95g), this thing's a beast.

"Nipper" in this case really just means big handles and a small cutting jaw.  It will easily trim your toenails, with a double leaf spring design that really gives you pinpoint control of its contoured 0.65" (~15mm) long cutting jaw.

The indent on the sides of the handles, shown in the third image above, are for your thumb and index finger.

Sensibly designed with a locking mechanism at the rear, so that when you're not using it it doesn't have its extremely expensive edge exposed to damage.

• Stainless steel
• Satin finished
• 5.5" Length
• Contoured 0.65" (15mm) cutting jaw with fine tip
• Double leaf spring provides tension with superior control
• Delivered in plastic case
• Made in Germany