While standard hair scissors cost less than $10, high-end professional hair shears can cost over $2,000. One of the main reasons is the attention paid to the point where the two blades meet. At Naruto in Japan, 12 skilled artisans spend hours perfecting the blades of scissors that can last decades.
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00:00 This pair of professional hair scissors costs almost $2,200.
00:07 When it's customized further, it can reach nearly $3,000.
00:13 Compare that to a standard pair of hair shears that costs under $10.
00:19 The main reason for this stark difference is a specialized design that ensures the blades don't wear down and can last decades.
00:29 Artisans spend hours shaping, hammering and adjusting two blades by hand to create shears that rarely need to be sharpened.
00:41 So how do they create a pair of scissors that stay so sharp for so long? And what makes them so expensive?
00:56 Hiromi Iida has been a professional hairdresser for 10 years.
01:01 During this time, she has invested thousands of dollars in high-end hair scissors.
01:07 But those made by Naruto Scissors in Japan's Hyogo Prefecture stand out.
01:13 Hiromi Iida
01:35 When selecting scissors, professional stylists look for three qualities - sharpness, longevity and ergonomic fit.
01:44 The scissors need precision to enable various techniques like feathering or blunt cuts, while making the experience comfortable for the stylist.
01:54 And they shouldn't require frequent maintenance.
01:58 High-end hair scissor producers like Naruto have solved all three problems by ensuring the blades have only one point of contact - the exact location where the user wants to make a cut.
02:11 When using a standard pair of scissors, the hinge connecting the two flat blades can wear down over time, throwing off the alignment.
02:22 That means the user sometimes has to grind the blades against each other to achieve a clean cut.
02:28 The consistent metal-to-metal contact wears the blade edge down over time.
02:33 A damaged edge has to be sharpened more often, thinning the blade further and eventually making the scissors unusable.
02:41 To avoid this kind of damage, high-end hair scissor producers ensure that the blades only ever touch where they need to make a cut.
02:49 One way they accomplish this precision is by warping the blades.
02:54 Constructing blades with the correct warp and twist requires careful shaping.
03:00 Artisans shape the outer blade at a fixed angle of 45 degrees from the base to the tip.
03:09 The angle is the same throughout the blade, allowing for consistent cuts without deviation or snagging.
03:19 Compared to standard scissors, the warp and twist of a single blade is much tighter.
03:27 The blades are not layered like this, but in this extreme way.
03:35 By tightening the warp and twist, it is easier to hold the hair, and the blades are closed with the same force.
03:45 As with the entire process of making these scissors, artisans judge when it's ready by eye.
03:52 After the first round of shaping, the blades are buffed and polished.
03:59 Then they're ready to be warped.
04:02 Adjusting the warp requires mathematical precision and undivided attention.
04:08 The warp is achieved by delicate hammer strikes to the inside of the blade.
04:14 The high-quality metal Naruto uses, a martensitic special alloy, is strong but elastic, allowing artisans to warp the blades as needed.
04:24 The curve of each blade is about 0.03 mm, small enough to catch a single hair.
04:31 But artisans don't use any measuring instruments. Instead, they rely solely on experience.
04:40 Next, the blade is sharpened in increments.
04:44 In the first round, artisans sharpen the edge to 70% and repeat it two or three times until the blade reaches its optimal sharpness.
04:54 But this may alter the warp of the blade, so they must continuously address any defects with careful hammer strikes between rounds of sharpening.
05:04 I will check the sharpness of the blade again to see if it has changed.
05:13 Shintaro has been working at Naruto for 19 years, 18 of which he has spent in the adjusting department, working on the warping of the blades.
05:24 Even with all this experience, Shintaro doesn't view himself as an expert. But his skill in warping the blades directly contributes to the high price of the scissors he produces.
05:37 In fact, the cost of labour accounts for up to 40% of Naruto's expenses.
05:44 This is where the mechanism connecting the blades is made. It's a crucial part of the scissors' design.
05:53 It also ensures a single contact point while cutting.
05:57 In Naruto's case, the mechanism is called the three-dimensional circular ride.
06:05 Inside, we put a bearing packing like this, and the center of the scissors, the screw,
06:13 allows the blades to rotate smoothly without touching each other.
06:20 This reduces the warp of the center part, so the balance of the scissors is less warped.
06:28 This keeps the scissors long-lasting.
06:30 When the ride is installed, artisans prepare to test the scissors.
06:35 All this meticulous attention pays off, not only in the cutting performance of the scissors, but also in their longevity.
06:57 Because Naruto's design places less force on the blades, the scissors don't need to be sharpened as often, and last longer compared to ordinary scissors.
07:07 Naruto says well-designed scissors last so long that some clients still bring in scissors for maintenance that are decades old.
07:23 Some people say that they've been using scissors for over 50 years because they still have them.
07:33 But for Hiromi, sharpness and longevity aren't the only reasons professional hair shears are worth the price.
07:41 If you don't choose the scissors that suit your hands, you'll be using them for a long time.
07:51 So when you buy them, you should decide on the right pair.
07:59 Stylists request scissor types and shapes tailored to their specific needs, and ergonomics are paramount.
08:09 Some producers even adjust the handles to the exact measurements of their clients' hands and their style of cutting.
08:17 While Naruto's most expensive base model costs around $2,000, Hiromi requested an arabesque pattern which takes longer to design.
08:27 That brought the price of her scissors to almost $3,000.
08:33 But there's no shortage of clients willing to pay the price.
08:37 Naruto sells about 6,000 of its scissors a year, and sales are increasing.
08:45 In fact, the global market for hair scissors is set to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 5.5% between now and 2030.
08:55 But the biggest threat to the professional hair shears industry is knock-offs.
09:01 Japanese scissors manufacturers are being copied by foreign ones.
09:11 I have a meeting with the president of a Japanese company next week, and that's one of the problems.
09:19 But these fakes don't perform nearly as well as the originals, and producers of professional hair scissors know their buyers appreciate the difference.
09:27 People who buy fake products know the difference.
09:33 But if the original is the same, the quality is not the same.
09:39 [MUSIC]