First of all, stay away from Violet Wand kits. I have never seen a Violet Wand kit offered by a kinky vendor, which was a good deal. Never! These kits are usually sold in aluminum cases, which you can buy for $34.99 (identical case offered by a kinky vendor for US$75.00) and include a foot switch (very useful, especially for the ETP Electro-Mechanical BD-10A wand mentioned below, which does not have an on-off switch) which you can get for $14.99 (or get it from your friendly kinky vendor for $50.00) and light bulbs costing $1.95 to $7.95 at a hardware store (better get them from a kinky vendor for up to $20). You might also find that either there is stuff in the kit you don’t want and/or that a different manufacturer/vendor offers a much nicer version of a certain toy. Build your own kit, it’s fun!
I have no qualms about buying things wholesale and selling them at a profit, but I will not buy things at retail price and sell them with a markup, which you can buy just as well going to the respective websites. Let’s have a look where you can find the Violet Wand you want for the best price.
SOLID STATE VIOLET WANDS
The best value for money are the solid-state (= electronic) devices, usually sold as “high frequency skin care units”. These can be bought on eBay, Amazon, Aliexpress and other websites for about US$ 25.00, but go up to US$ 50.00 or so, depending on the model and seller (search for “high frequency facial” and you will find them on those sites). The price usually includes four glass electrodes and shipping. You can get the exact same units also for $170.00 from the Reverend Donna Dove of “Zero Point Zap” fame. I’m sure they are blessed by the good Reverend.
If you spend a little bit of time going over those listings, you will find every single one of the solid-state units sold by kinky vendors. Some of those apparently modify the units while others just resell them with the considerable markup as mentioned. The version shown in the following picture for example, looks identical to the Zeus “Twilight Wand” and the Kinklab “Neon Wand” (minus the silicone sleeve, which you can buy for $2.00). The “Neon Wand” is probably the best-selling Violet Wand world wide due to Kinklab spending a lot on advertising. With profit margins of 500+% they can afford it…
My recommendation here is to get one of the units for +/- US$25.00 as there doesn’t seem to be a lot of difference between those and the more expensive ones for $40 or even more. I have had a couple of them for over three years and they haven’t failed yet, but even if they just last for six months it’s still a good deal. The glass electrodes included are usually fine for use on genitals and nipples. For other areas and stronger stimulation, just add a couple of high performance electrodes and I guarantee that those wands will be strong enough for play with almost everybody but heavy masochists. They are also fine for play at lower intensity, which some of the Wands in the next group we are going to talk about, can not offer.
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ELECTROMECHANICAL VIOLET WANDS
All other wands we are going to discuss here, are electro-mechanical wands. There are only two manufacturers of such wands and the one of interest is ETP (Electro-Technic Products Inc.) in Chicago, Illinois, USA . If you order from them, don’t mention the name “Violet Wand” and don’t tell them you want to use it on people, or they won’t sell to you! This said, they sell units to people who resell them as “healing devices”.
The other manufacturer is Holo Electron in Tremblay-en-France, France, which produces units for the alternative medical market, but those start at well over €600 and are reportedly a lot less powerful than the ETP units.
ETP’s BD-10A unit is what most people in the US think of, when they hear the term “Violet Wand”.
The disadvantage of this unit is, that it is quite heavy and has very limited run time according to the manufacturer. ETP recommends 10 minutes maximum continuous use at full power followed by a similar cool-down period. There are nevertheless many reports in the SM scene, where much longer use times have not had any evident negative effect. There might be an accumulative effect though, which may shorten a wand’s lifespan or require repairs earlier and more frequently than on wands with the recommended use/cool-down cycles). On the other hand, hardly anybody leaves the Wand on permanently when playing with electrodes (direct technique), so the short on/off cycles compared to industrial use, where continuous use is the rule, might indeed extend those 10 minutes considerably. At less than maximum power that time will most certainly also be longer.
For reverse and indirect play with a body contact device, the practically unlimited run times of the BD-50E and BD-20A (see further down) are a distinct advantage, as there the Wand is often not shut down ever for the length of the scene.
There is also the slightly more expensive BD-10AS, which has a “dead-man-switch”, a small button, which you have to press and hold to make the wand work. Release the knob and it shuts off.
If you release the switch, the wand is off. Some people swear by it, others say it’s not practical and still others say it’s the first thing to fail. I believe the foot switch is just as good or maybe even better than having this version with the “button”.
One can often get the BD-10A and BD-10AS in very good shape for $100.00 or less on eBay. eBay is very buyer-friendly, so if the item is sold as used without any warnings (“not working”, “repair/parts only”, etc.) you can return it at the sellers cost for a full refund, even if the seller does not offer returns!
AGE: There is an old version, which is called BD-10 and BD-10S respectively (without the “A” after the 10) and those units are quite old. If a unit is sold with the original ETP electrode and you see in the picture that the electrode has a red connector between base and tip as in the following picture, it’s a very old unit. This might not be a reason to not buy it. As the internals are the same, if it hasn’t been used a lot, a 20-year-old unit is better than a 2-year-old that has been used hundreds of times or been abused.
Newer units have an electrode with a white connector as in this picture:
The back of the old and new versions are also different:
PATENT PEND.
BD # 10
ELECTRO – TECHNIC
PRODUCTS
INC.
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ETP also makes what I consider the best new Violet Wand for general use on the market, their model BD-50E
Advantages of the BD-50E over the BD-10A/BD-10AS:
- The output circuit is electrically isolated from the input circuit, so 110V/220/240V line electricity (mains electricity) can never reach the electrode socket.
- Continuous use for 3 hours at full power is no problem (which is probably comparable to 5 or 6 hours of play, as usually electrodes and intensity settings are changed)
- a dedicated on-off switch
- a dial switch lets one adjust the output in 11 steps
- one can use the wand in any position (the BD-10A can only be used from horizontal to vertical pointing down, otherwise it starts to work erratically or doesn’t work at all at lower settings)
- the hand piece, while it looks the same as the BD-10A minus the adjustment knob at the end, weighs just 13 ounces (370 grams) compared to the BD-10A’s weight of 1 lb 7 oz (650 g).
It is sometimes said that the BD-50E is a stronger Wand than the BD-10A and BD-10AS. That’s not correct. All three models have output voltages from about 20kV minimum to about 55 kV maximum at 500 kHz.
Finally, their BD-20A is the absolute best Wand on the planet for sensual play.
The sensation is almost comparable to vibration, the reason being that it has an extremely high output frequency of 4.5 MHz compare to 500 kHz of the other models, so the frequency is 9 times higher. In edition to that, this Wand starts out at 10 kV while the other ETP Wands mentioned start out at about 20 kV, so even people very sensitive to electrical stimulation can enjoy this Wand. It is less powerful at the maximum setting than the other models, but as it isn’t a Wand one would buy to mainly “torture” people with it, that really doesn’t matter too much.
All other advantages* mentioned for the BD-50E , with the exception of the dial switch, (electrically isolated output circuit, practically unlimited run time, lighter weight of the hand piece, etc.), do also apply for the BD-20A.
This wand is nevertheless not well suited for reverse and indirect play due to the high frequency that will cause extreme capacitive losses between the Wand and the person connected to it.
*) EDIT (October 2021): ETP has once again restricted run time for the BD-20A from “continuous” to “Intermittent (maximum 20 minutes ON with similar time OFF for cooldown)”. They had that before, but then changed it to “continuous”.
The BD-20A is a specialized Wand, so for most people the BD-50E is the better choice. I have both, but still use the BD-50E a lot more.
If you go with the BD-10A, BD-10AS or BD-50E, the fact that their minimum output is, as just explained, about 20 kV (20.000 V) is another good reason to own at least one of the very cheap Chinese electronic units mentioned above.
Mostly, the manufacturer offers the best price for new units. Good used units (and sometimes new units) can often be found on eBay. I have bought most of the ones I own there. Remember that on eBay you can check the Wand and return it at the seller’s expense, if it isn’t working properly. That is of course unless listed as “not working”, “parts only”, etc.
Finally, if you decide to get a used unit, try to get the latest version, which is the BD-10A and 10AS instead of BD-10 and BD-10S, BD-50E instead of BD-50 and BD-20A instead of BD-20
Whenever I see a listing that looks like a good deal, I publish a link here.
NOTE: All 220/240V models of the ETP Wands have a “V” added to their model number, so the BD-10AS in the 220V/240V version is the BD-10ASV, the 220/240V version of the BD-50E is the BD-50EV and so on.
TIP FOR PEOPLE IN 220V/240V COUNTRIES WHO WANT TO SAVE: New ETP Wands are quite expensive and used 220/240V versions almost never come up for sale. You can nevertheless often find the 110V versions of ETP Wands used on eBay-US (eBay.com). A small 220V to 110V step-down transformer will make them usable in all 220V/240V countries.
BTW: ETP’s 220V/240V versions are not different to my solution. They have a built-in step-down transformer.
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ANTIQUE VIOLET RAY MACHINES
Finally, there are the antique Violet Ray machines, most of them restored and sold by restorers in the UK. You can find Violet Ray machines on eBay, often for very little money. Don’t buy one of those unless you have the knowledge to restore them yourself or the money to have them restored by an experienced professional.
There are many different models, mostly made in the first half of the 20th century in Germany, but also in France, the UK, the US and a few other countries.
The IFAS machines, which were manufactured by Uvral in England are often considered the Rolls-Royce of Violet Ray machines and can cost $2,000.00 and more.
Depending on the model, IFAS machines have maximum output voltages of about 100 kV to over 150 kV and are the strongest Violet Ray devices available. They were very popular in Australia, probably a good location to find one today.
Other professionally restored units can cost anywhere from $400 to well over $1,000. They are beautiful machines and many of them are stronger than the maximum of about 55 kV output of the units still in production today, i.e. those made by ETP (see above). They often have one or more features not available in today’s devices, e.g. output adjustment from zero to maximum, frequency adjustment (which makes the output feel different at the same strength), two hand pieces, adjustable to 110V and 220/240V and more.
On the other hand most can only run for a very limited time before they need to cool down. This can often be mitigated by limiting their output potential. If you decide to buy one of these devices, make sure you discuss run time versus maximum output and your other needs and wants with the restorer before deciding which unit to buy.
I haven’t bought a restored antique unit, but here are the websites of two UK restorers, whom I have only heard positive feedback about:
http://www.nickandmorphia.com/
https://violet-wand-by-bound2tease.com/
There are other UK restorers and by not mentioning them I don’t in any way intend to discredit them. I just have not heard enough about them to feel comfortable listing them here.
The only restorer in the US I have ever heard of is Steffan. I don’t know him and next to nothing about him, but here is his website:
Here is a restorer in Germany. Again I have no knowledge about the quality of his works:
http://radiotoy.de/10–violet-wand/
Restorer in France (whom also speaks English), recommended by somebody I trust:
https://www.facebook.com/SirOscarVW/
No personal experience with this restorer in Australia: