Customer Ratings:
List Price: $39.99
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I compared the following fabric shears, listed in order of how well I liked them:
1. The Kai 7250: 10 inch Professional Shears N7250 (7250) Professional Shears
2. The Gingher 10 Inch Knife Edge Bent Trimmers (Note: I list these here because I prefer this length, but I only tested the 8" and 12" models below.)
3. The Kai 7300: 12 inch Professional Shears N7300 (7300) Professional Shears
4. The Gingher Knife Edge Bent Trimmers 12
5. The Gingher G-8T KE Tailors Shears, 8-Inch
6. The Gingher G-8 8-Inch Knife-Edge Dressmaker's Shears
7. The "Kai 110: 11 inch Tailoring Shears S-110 (S-110) Professional Shears"
8. The "Kai 7240-AS: 10 inch Serrated Edge Shears N7240-AS (7240-AS) Professional Shears"
I bought all the Ginghers on Amazon, and all the Kais from their web site (Amazon doesn't sell them). I evaluated them by cutting eight 4" long layered sheets of lightweight cotton fabric at once. My criteria were:
smoothness of cutting
was the edge straight, or did it wave?
comfort of scissors (hand position, weight, tightness of grip)
how often did I have to open the scissors to cut the 4" fabric?
With all 8" shears I had to open them too often, resulting in more effort needed to get a straight cut. With all 12" shears I had to open them too wide, which was difficult even with my very large (size 10+) hands. I thus settled on a 10" pair.
The Ginghers are all excellent -better than any of those colored-handle shears I've tried. They are rumored to last 25 years, and they're not that expensive ($25). Of those, the tailoring shears were ever-so-slightly smoother than the dressmaker shears. Not sure why.
But the Kai 7000 series were simply better. They're smoother, lighter-weight, sharper, nicer engineering, and they offer a $14 sharpening service. Wow. Them's be some sharp scissors. Holy cow. Did the "let's gently run my thumb perpedicular to this blade" test and a minute later realized I was bleeding... Didn't even feel it. Must also say the customer service was top-notch. They sent me the 3 pair I wanted to test in advance, and didn't charge my card till I picked the one I liked best.
Yes, they're $70. But Gingher's 10" pair are $50, too. If you're looking for the best bang for your buck, I'd get the "Gingher G-8T KE Tailors Shears, 8-Inch" ($25). If you're looking for the best fabric shears period, I'd get the Kai 7000 series (the 10" ones for me).
Update (01/09/2013): A fellow reviewer pointed out to me that Amazon now carries some of the Kai shears. I have added links above to those they carry at this time. And I still recommend looking at the manufacturer's web site. They offered me super service -really above and beyond.
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