1926 New Standard Review

[ccpastork]

After selling off a bunch of razors I decided I would not be using, I purchase this razor from the popular auction site. At $44, it is my most expensive razor to date as most of have been found in the wild.

RAZOR: 1926 Gillette New Standard Silver
BLADE: Gillette Silver Blue blade
SOAP: Vintage Old Spice Shave Soap
SCUTTLE: Antique Staffordshire Burleigh Ironstone
BRUSH: Custom Gemsbok Finest Badger brush
AFTERSHAVE: Captain's Choice Bay Rum

Laid out the razor with blade, set the brush to soaking and added a teaspoon of water to the Old Spice puck, then off to the shower.

Nice hot shower complete, filled the scuttle with hot water and began loading the brush. Face lathered until I had a nice merengue covered face. Three pass shave (N-S, S-N and E-W) with some touch up along my jawline and neck. Warm water rinse, then cold water rinse, pat dry and a dash of the Captain. Result...near perfect BBS. Just a slight sting on my left neck when applying the aftershave.

The razor has slightly more "blade feel" than my Merkur 34C, yet very similar to an Old Type. The weight and balance is exceptional and the pierced patterned handle with the knurled tip has sufficient grip to prevent it from becoming slippery. Because of the excellent balance, I had no difficulty finding and maintaining the correct blade angle. Final thoughts...this is one smooth and efficient classic razor which can clearly withstand the test of time.

The 1926 Gillette New Standard might replace the '46-'47 Aristocrat as my Saturday Morning Devotions razor.

If you own or have shaved with a New Standard, what are your thoughts?

 

[KQY61]

Hi,

I bought one first week in January. I had it on my list for most of last year. I have only used it for two weeks of daily shaving. I find I like it better than either the Old that it replaced, or the New that replaced it.

I am also noticing that it appears that the New Deluxe uses the same baseplate as the New Improved, but do not have a ND to compare the NI to. Guess what is on the list for next January?

The one thing I can't tell on my New Standard is the year the made it. It is a Canadian made unit, and we have no serial number reference for them.....

Stan

 

[BSAGuy]

Nice razor.

 

[santamariasteve]

I have a 1921 Gillette New Improved Standard razor in triple plated silver. I have the identical box also, and my razor and box appear to be identical to yours. It retailed $5 in 1921, equal to about $65 nowadays.

I polish it twice a year with silver polish. When polished the gray silver becomes white. Very beautiful! It is a good comfortable shaver, and it is well balanced with a good feel in the hand. There is "wiggle room" with modern blades, so be sure the blade is lined up evenly on both sides.

Initially, I found the razor to be too aggressive, and it often would cut my face. But then I leaned the secret (for me). I lowered the angle of the handle slightly. And now it is a love affair. This razor for me requires a slight steeper angle than most of my razors.

 

[troy]

Beautiful razor, congrats!
That's one I still don't have. I'm also a wild hunter. I saw one once, but it was the same price as yours, and not nearly as nice. It's pics and prices like yours that make me think I need to start hunting online too.

 

[CamberwellCarrot]

Good deal!

 

[ccpastork]

I have a 1921 Gillette New Improved Standard razor in triple plated silver. I have the identical box also, and my razor and box appear to be identical to yours. It retailed $5 in 1921, equal to about $65 nowadays.

I polish it twice a year with silver polish. When polished the gray silver becomes white. Very beautiful! It is a good comfortable shaver, and it is well balanced with a good feel in the hand. There is "wiggle room" with modern blades, so be sure the blade is lined up evenly on both sides.

Initially, I found the razor to be too aggressive, and it often would cut my face. But then I leaned the secret (for me). I lowered the angle of the handle slightly. And now it is a love affair. This razor for me requires a slight steeper angle than most of my razors.

I also found that It required a tad more angle than my Merkur, but definitely love it.

Beautiful razor, congrats!
That's one I still don't have. I'm also a wild hunter. I saw one once, but it was the same price as yours, and not nearly as nice. It's pics and prices like yours that make me think I need to start hunting online too.

I have been resisting buying one online since about October. I bought a near mint one and on arrival discovered the threads were stripped just enough so it would not tighten with a blade in it. Fortunately the seller was great and I was able for return it with no problems.

Made me a bit gun shy until I saw this one. I then asked lots of questions, but I was still reluctant since I really preferred finding one in the wild at a lower price.

Bottom line, be patient and keep hunting, especially if you have time to hit estate sales and rural antique stores. Good luck with the hunt.

 

[BigJ]

Lovely razor! CONGRATULATIONS!!

 

[rudyt]

I find I like it better than either the Old that it replaced, or the New that replaced it.

Exact opposite here. To me, the Old Type and NEW are the two best razors Gillette ever made, but I can't get as comfortable a shave from my 1926 New Improved.

I am also noticing that it appears that the New Deluxe uses the same baseplate as the New Improved

It's only the 1928-29 NI that has a similar baseplate to the NEW Deluxe. Up until sometime in 1927, the baseplate had a noticeably wider flat top.

 

[KQY61]

Hi,

There is a discussion of where both the New Improved and the New Deluxe both sport wider and narrower flat tops. The photos look like they match up in this regard along with matching measurements on both widths on both models.

Stan

 

[rudyt]

There is a discussion of where both the New Improved and the New Deluxe both sport wider and narrower flat tops.

I have never seen a pic of a NEW Deluxe with the wide flat top like the early NI. Do you have a picture you could link?

 

[KQY61]

Hi,

No, I have no pics of my own to load, since I have never had a New Deluxe. Here is a link to a recent thread discussing that there were wide and narrow for the New Improved. The title is off a tad, saying Thicker v Thinner when Wider v Narrower was meant.

Gillette New Improved: thicker vs thinner base plate

I saw that and went, hmmmm. I recalled seeing discussions of the same thing with the New Deluxe. So, I wandered off and found some older threads the other day, but cannot readily find them again now.

What I noticed was that the shaping of the NI baseplate and the ND ones looked quite alike, except for the holes drilled in the NI v the slot milled into the ND. As if they were using the NI design for the ND. And, Gillette is known for using up bits like that.

But, it would require buying up several examples of each, something I am not up to at this point.

Maybe I can find those New Deluxe discussions again. I didn't bookmark them thinking I had satisfied my curiosity on the subject....

Stan

 

[KQY61]

Hi,

Well, I found this in the wiki:

Image:NEW De Luxe head variation.jpg

But, the other day I found a New Deluxe pic that showed both sides of both baseplates, and it was clear that the flat part of the tops were wider and narrower to go with the tooth cuts when seen from the bottom.

To make things more difficult, the New Deluxe measurements are made on the bottom of the baseplate and the New Improved ones on the top.

Measurements of my NI show 15.8mm across the top flat portion and 17.6mm across the bottom flat portion. But, then, mine is Canadian, so the slight difference is likely due to that.

Stan

 

[rudyt]

Stan, all of the NEW Deluxe heads I've ever seen look like the one on the right in the pic below. I've never seen a NEW Deluxe with a flat as wide as the 1921-27 New Improved on the left. The middle pic is a 1928-29 New Improved.

 

[KQY61]

Hi,

Well, I do not want to hijack this thread, but there are also narrow NIs out there to match your NDs. And, there are wider NDs as well. But, nothing I can find which show the tops and bottoms of the baseplates for all four.

Personally, I think there was a shift from the wider to the narrower at the time the NI was giving way to the ND. That would account for the rarity of both the narrow NI and the wide ND. This also fits in with many a changeover I have been part of during 35 years of being and R+D engineer supporting manufacturing. No one ever wants to waste anything because it all costs money.

Maybe one day I will collect up a pile of NIs and NDs and see for myself. If I do, I will document them. And, then, probably flood the BST right afterwards!

Stan