What's new

Grey handled Super Speed?

Picked up a flare tip, date code O3, with the main part of the handle, above the TTO knob, painted grey. What's the deal with this?
 
Here are a couple of pics of this grey handled SS next to a black handled. The paint is fairly shiny and I'm sure it was always the same shade of grey that you see here. So as this isn't a faded black handle, what's the story on the grey handled SS?

proxy.php


proxy.php
 
My guess...

the resin tank ran low during production of that razor-- or, more probable, it was faded by some household cleanser.

Looks to be in fine shape though. Very unique. :thumbup1:
 
I've never seen anything like this. I can't even find any information of one existing. Oh well. Whether it's a factory defect or a super secret model handed out only to a select few, you got yourself a truly unique piece.
 
IIRC, there was a post on B&B a while back about a black-handled SS that the owner soaked in Oxy-Clean for too long in an effort to clean it. The result: the black resin turned gray. I wonder if you're the new owner of this razor now, or perhaps someone else did the same thing?
 
The main reason I don't think this is a faded black handle is that there are just no signs of fading. Fading, in my experience, is never totally uniform, and the color of this handle is quite uniform. Not only that, but it's in very good to excellent condition. I wish my pics were sharper so you could see clearly what I'm describing. And lastly, I know this isn't the oxy-clean faded razor because I just got this along with two other razors from my father, who I believe has had them for many, many years. I'll check with him on that score, but in the meantime I'm still hoping that someone will recall some special, possibly limited, run that was done here in the USA in the 3rd quarter of 1969.
 
Maybe it's just those photos, but it doesn't look Grey to me, it just looks a little less black. It's possible the intensity of the black resin varied over the years.
 
It's clearly grey on my display, with a little blue in the grey. Let's all give Rick some credit for having eyes in his head, and gumption enough to stick to his story.

We all know that Gillette put out a lot of random variations. Look at the Q date code, or the varieties of 195. This looks like another variation. Maybe they ran out of the right resin and mixed the last of the black resin with some blue stuff intended for the Lady Gillette.
 
IIRC, there was a post on B&B a while back about a black-handled SS that the owner soaked in Oxy-Clean for too long in an effort to clean it. The result: the black resin turned gray. I wonder if you're the new owner of this razor now, or perhaps someone else did the same thing?

do you mean that one?
 
IIRC, there was a post on B&B a while back about a black-handled SS that the owner soaked in Oxy-Clean for too long in an effort to clean it. The result: the black resin turned gray. I wonder if you're the new owner of this razor now, or perhaps someone else did the same thing?

I soaked one overnight in Simple Green. The handle is now a lovely shade of light grey.
 
do you mean that one?

Nah, that's not it. I've asked my father to fill me in on how long he had it and where he got it. Maybe that will shed a little light, but Dad's not much of an email checker. It'll probably be a while before I hear back. At this point it seems to me that, unless my father has owned this razor pretty much since 1969, it may well be a black handle that has somehow been faded nice and evenly as a couple other members have had happen from various soakings. I hope not, of course, but mostly I'd just like to know.
 
Top Bottom