So Who Made This “AB” Open Comb

[mjclark]

This snazzy British open comb arrived today - probably not the original box since the handle is too short to fit in the case snugly but very pretty eh?

On the baseplate it says “British Made” with a stylised “AB” logo where the A and B are merged into a single symbol with the right leg of the A and the back of the B being formed from the same line.
Any ideas who “AB” may be?

 

[Bondage007]

Hello,

Sorry don’t know but I love the razor. Very unique pattern on handle. Congrats on a nice find.

Cheers
John

 

[mjclark]

Hello,

Sorry don’t know but I love the razor. Very unique pattern on handle. Congrats on a nice find.

Cheers
John

Thanks - I’m interested to see how it shaves and I’m also trying to think of British razor makers with initials AB.

 

[Slapo]

I don't know who made it, but it's a nice looking razor. The handle look pretty fancy. Reminds me of the handle The Paradigm Titanium razor has, although that one has the arrow head shapes embossed.

When is the first shave scheduled for? ;-)

 

[nemo]

Same razor in this thread from yesterday ... OP didn't mention the AB but now I can almost make it out.
Does anyone recognise this razor Please?

August Bain, or Bain? That's French, though.

 

[GearNoir]

Best me to it @nemo!

Really appealing design, looks sturdy too!

 

[mjclark]

Same razor in this thread from yesterday ... OP didn't mention the AB but now I can almost make it out.
Does anyone recognise this razor Please?

August Bain, or Bain? That's French, though.

How weird is that - there’s some kind of convergence going on here eh?

And just to make it even weirder an antiques dealer just offered me another razor identical to this one an hour ago!

 

[ajkel64]

They seem to be popping up everywhere. I have seen a couple pop up on this forum and a couple popping up on a popular selling/buying website. Interesting indeed.

 

[mjclark]

They seem to be popping up everywhere. I have seen a couple pop up on this forum and a couple popping up on a popular selling/buying website. Interesting indeed.

Weird isn’t it?
“Everything which rises must converge”
(and bonus points for identifying the origin of that quote)

I remember something similar happened with the extremely rare Wilkinson Sword Master prototpe razors.
Nobody here had ever seen one in the wild and then two popped up on eBay in the same week from different sellers!

And I’m very pleased to say that the AB is just my kind of razor.
It has a lot of blade feel and allows for steep angle shaving but it’s also extremely smooth.
With a Light Brigade in it this razor just gave me a spectacular shave.
And that chevron handle has an excellent feel to it with really good grip.

It’s hard to know how any of these open combs are going to perform - they all look so similar but some are very mild while others are just unremarkable.
But some, like the Wardonia Open Comb, are superb.
The AB definitely falls into this category - on its first shave it’s an aggressive masterpiece!

 

[fasa]

Could be initials of the owner... the fact that the font is different may suggest it wasn’t original.

Just a theory ...

Anyhow looks very nice ! Good find !


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mjclark]

So my second razor like this arrived.
This one has no stamp on the badeplete and, although the teeth are identical in shape there are less of them.
And the chevrons on the handle point the other way!
Will this be the same amazing shaver?

 

[GearNoir]

So my second razor like this arrived.
This one has no stamp on the badeplete and, although the teeth are identical in shape there are less of them.
And the chevrons on the handle point the other way!
Will this be the same amazing shaver?
View attachment 875047

I’ve seen some Gillette’s pieced out as spare parts. I believe the threaded receiver for the head and also the ball end are “removable”. This could explain the reversed chevrons.

 

[Haiku]

So my second razor like this arrived.


And the chevrons on the handle point the other way!


View attachment 875047

Congrats on a great looking razor, I hope it shaves as well as it looks.

I would guess that the handle is hollow and the ball end and the threaded end are press-fit on. In other words, the chevrons could be pointing either way from razor to razor and that may not mean anything other than a former owner liked a particular look and decided to change the ends around.

Either way they point, it's fine looking. Very fine.

 

[BigJ]

Great looking (especially the handles)!

 

[mjclark]

Yes it turns out that the razor with the unstamped baseplate has a cast handle (thanks to @romsitsa for pointing that out) as well as fewer teeth.
It’s also a bit harsher than the “AB” but also even more aggressive and efficient making it a very serious shaver indeed!

 

[Peter's coin]

Those razors may be unidirectional—you may have to follow the chevrons: the one razor works WTG only, the other ATG only!

 

[Visage77]

And this one appeared on a well known selling site

 

[bdehne]

Another one I have never seen. Nice looking razor.