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Help me date my grandfathers vintage gillette

Hello chaps,

This is my first post on the forum. Surprised to find a community like this on the internet in 2015. Keep it up.
I took up wet shaving two weeks ago, got myself a Merkur33 and some blades and getting good saves and it keeps getting better. No need to post about that though.


My mother just handed me her fathers razor. Since he passed away in the 60ties we know next to nothing about this razor.
A vintage gillette, made in England, with a bakelite stand. The handle is in two pieces, so it's effectively a four piece razor :)

Could you guys help me date and name this razor and it's stand please?
I got as far as finding out it is probably a "Tech"
On the back it says "Gillette" and "Made in England" it was most likely purchased in Belgium. Anything else you might know about this razor and the stand would be interesting.

Since I am in to safety razors now and it is a family piece (saved from the bin, and the only thing I have from my grandfather) I have no interest in selling this, however out of interest how much could this be worth approximately?


thank you in advance!
and thanks everyone for compiling the huge amounts of information on shaving that is this forum.
I'm going to clean this razor and give it a try now :thumbup:
 

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Since I am in to safety razors now and it is a family piece (saved from the bin, and the only thing I have from my grandfather) I have no interest in selling this, however out of interest how much could this be worth approximately?

Welcome to B&B!

Per the rules of the forum, we are not allowed to give a price on the razor. You can take the name of the razor though, and look at sold eBay auctions to get an idea on the price.
 
Hello chaps,

This is my first post on the forum. Surprised to find a community like this on the internet in 2015. Keep it up.
I took up wet shaving two weeks ago, got myself a Merkur33 and some blades and getting good saves and it keeps getting better. No need to post about that though.


My mother just handed me her fathers razor. Since he passed away in the 60ties we know next to nothing about this razor.
A vintage gillette, made in England, with a bakelite stand. The handle is in two pieces, so it's effectively a four piece razor :)

Could you guys help me date and name this razor and it's stand please?
I got as far as finding out it is probably a "Tech"
On the back it says "Gillette" and "Made in England" it was most likely purchased in Belgium. Anything else you might know about this razor and the stand would be interesting.

Since I am in to safety razors now and it is a family piece (saved from the bin, and the only thing I have from my grandfather) I have no interest in selling this, however out of interest how much could this be worth approximately?


thank you in advance!
and thanks everyone for compiling the huge amounts of information on shaving that is this forum.
I'm going to clean this razor and give it a try now :thumbup:
Welcome to B&B!
The razor is not worth much, but keep the stand!
It's quite rare :thumbup1:
 
cool!

Thanks a lot guys.
price was the least important part so no worries.

Lets see how it shaves...
 
cool!

Thanks a lot guys.
price was the least important part so no worries.

Lets see how it shaves...
This head design is one of the best ever made, so you'll not regret and will probably return to it no matter how expensive razor you'll buy in the future :)
 
Nice heirloom - priceless to family, but the razor itself doesn't command a high price on the market so no need to insure it seperately

To me the slots in the top of the stand look to be a blade bank - somewhere to dispose of used blades

Does it rattle? Could be a few of your grandfathers manky old blades in there. If it does rattle I suggest not opening it up to see what's in it because you have the risk of cutting yourself on old blades as well as the risk of the stuff that was used as the filler in Bakelite, in stabilised form it's safe but if it's turns into a dust while cutting, say with a rotary tool, it's seriously risky to your health.
 
...eh...
I seem not get that response.
I'm wildly guessing someone once said dinner and movie is nice too because it is about the same price as their families razor, an opinion not shared by the majority of this board. Somewhere in the right direction?

Anyway, I just asked about the price because I had absolutely no clue whatsoever. I not selling this, and there is no one else interested in this. Like I said, saved from the bin more or less. I'm keeping this!

This head design is one of the best ever made, so you'll not regret and will probably return to it no matter how expensive razor you'll buy in the future :)

So I tried the razor.
In combination with a new wilkinson blade. I found it to glide very smoothly over my 2 day beard, maybe prompting me to press a little harder then I have learned from shaving with my merkur33 and a persona/derby blade, which in turn led to a couple of weepers.
But I have to say, apart from that, I got a smoother 2 pass shave then in my previous shaves. This could also be a result of the wilkinson blade instead of a persona blade. I am guessing this razor head is "mild" even though I have not been shaving for long and have little to compare it with.

The conclusion after one use is that I am very happy with the shave this razor is giving so it is actually useful. Not only is it a cool 70 year old heirloom, it will also see regular use. A nice discovered treasure for me :)



Hi,
Absolutely!!
Please come post your story:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/396818-Heirloom-Users-Club
These individual threads are good, but all too quickly buried.
Stan

Thanks for the invite, however I seem to need 50 post first because I can open that link. Not sure if I will ever make that many posts about shaving, no disrespect to all you guys here of course. :lol:



Nice heirloom - priceless to family, but the razor itself doesn't command a high price on the market so no need to insure it seperately

To me the slots in the top of the stand look to be a blade bank - somewhere to dispose of used blades

Does it rattle? Could be a few of your grandfathers manky old blades in there. If it does rattle I suggest not opening it up to see what's in it because you have the risk of cutting yourself on old blades as well as the risk of the stuff that was used as the filler in Bakelite, in stabilised form it's safe but if it's turns into a dust while cutting, say with a rotary tool, it's seriously risky to your health.

Thank you for the info.

The back is indeed what seems to be a blade bank. There are no blades or anything else inside except some dust. At the bottom of the stand there is a loose piece of bakelite which is kept in place by a few clips. I am not sure whether it is made to be opened and emptied or if it is just a separate piece because there is no other way to manufacture such an enclosed shape in bakelite.
I'm guessing the bank can hold up to or more than 80 blades.

Obviously I'm not planning to ever slide a blade in there. Modern day blade packages have other solutions for that.
 
Hello and welcome. Great to have you here. Congrats on the cool heirloom razor and stand. That's a great connection to your grandfather.
 
Congratulations on the Heirloom. It is wonderful to have a connection to the men of our past.
Glad you found the razor a great shaver and that stand is just awesome.
 
Thanks for the kind words everybody.

I did another shave with the gillette today, using my first derby blade which I already used a few times in the merkur. Still an easy shave, but some more tugging and less close as with the fresh wilkinson blade. So I suppose it comes down to the blades.

Maybe a stupid question, but do you guys have a way to keep track how many times you've used a blade. Especially for those people using a large number of razors and blades.
 
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