After one year of safety razor shaving, I have become a bit of a collector. I have 8 safety razors, including 3 vintage Gillettes: 1910 single ring; 1930s ball end; and 1960 Super Speed. I use all my razors, not just collect them. I like open combs and find them easy shaving if you pay attention, so I'm thinking of buying a Gillette Aristocrat open comb, which also is TTO. Any other suggestions? Many thanks.
Next vintage Gillette razor to try?
- Thread starter JimmyCB
- Start date
These are 4 I immediately recommend:
NEW, Short Comb
Sheraton or Senator
Diplomat
New Improved
NEW, Short Comb
Sheraton or Senator
Diplomat
New Improved
Keep an eye out for a Made in Canada 'pocket edition' Old type. Smoothest Old Type I've ever used.
Gillette NEW SC
Gillette NEW LC
Gillette Sheraton
Gillette Aristocrat, 1934 or 1936 model
Barbasol Floating Head, from 1930's
Gillette New Improved from 1920's
Gillette NEW LC
Gillette Sheraton
Gillette Aristocrat, 1934 or 1936 model
Barbasol Floating Head, from 1930's
Gillette New Improved from 1920's
Several open comb razors come to mind:
RFB (2 piece is my preference)
RFB 3 piece
1934 Aristocrat
Goodwill #160
New Criterion DeLuxe
New LC
Canadian New LC
New SC
Enjoy the journey!
RFB (2 piece is my preference)
RFB 3 piece
1934 Aristocrat
Goodwill #160
New Criterion DeLuxe
New LC
Canadian New LC
New SC
Enjoy the journey!
Top suggestion so far!
As has been suggested already, a Gillette New would be a great pick.
Everyone has their favorites, and I'm no different. I'd suggest a New Deluxe of any type, a British Raised Flat Bottom (hard to find), or any British Flat Bottom in fact. These are all the "cream of the crop", so to speak. The BST forum here sometimes has a few gems for sale.
If you are having trouble locating one of these, a Gillette New either Long or Short comb are both nice shavers, easy to find and reasonably priced.
Whatever razor you find we'd all like to hear about it. Good luck with your hunt and Happy Shaves!
Everyone has their favorites, and I'm no different. I'd suggest a New Deluxe of any type, a British Raised Flat Bottom (hard to find), or any British Flat Bottom in fact. These are all the "cream of the crop", so to speak. The BST forum here sometimes has a few gems for sale.
If you are having trouble locating one of these, a Gillette New either Long or Short comb are both nice shavers, easy to find and reasonably priced.
Whatever razor you find we'd all like to hear about it. Good luck with your hunt and Happy Shaves!
Once you start you won’t stop. RAD will take over. I would start with a Gillette New but you will need both a Long Comb and a Short Comb and go from there.
- Thread starter
- #10
Many thanks for all the suggestions. I'm intrigued by a TTO open comb, so I'm going to start looking for a Gillette Aristocrat at thrift shops, etc. You never know where you will find a vintage razor. My nephew recently found for me a Gillette ball end at an auto swap meet. The ball end is in great shape, with no missing teeth or handle cracks, which I understand are common.
You have to try a NEW SC. Very smooth and one of Gillette's best...
It depends whether you want a quality shaving tool or a collector’s item to gather dust on a shelf. The good thing about vintage Gillettes is that they all shave very well.
Fatboys are highly collectible and pricy, but in my opinion don’t shave as well as a Slim. Techs are unglamorous but shave very well. The Fat Handle in gold is beautiful, but a post war Ball-End will likely shave better. The RedTip SuperSpeed shaves very well, as does a Ball-End Old Type. For me, a Slim set on 9 shaves better than any DE razor I’ve ever tried. Then there’s those wonderful E-type Schicks....hmmmm.
Fatboys are highly collectible and pricy, but in my opinion don’t shave as well as a Slim. Techs are unglamorous but shave very well. The Fat Handle in gold is beautiful, but a post war Ball-End will likely shave better. The RedTip SuperSpeed shaves very well, as does a Ball-End Old Type. For me, a Slim set on 9 shaves better than any DE razor I’ve ever tried. Then there’s those wonderful E-type Schicks....hmmmm.
Like others here, I suggest a NEW SC but keep a close eye out for an RFB as well.
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