Clash of the Titans: Brit Crat #21 vs #66

[Dyllern]

I can only agree with Peter. Once you get going it's hard to stop again

The 1.gen 'Aristocrat' has a lot going for it. I love the combined barber pole/open comb look and rhodium is beautiful with a good polish

I haven't payed big time money for any of my copies and I only have a few that is close to being in somewhat "mint"-condition. Which is why I have had to put a whole lot of time and effort to get the razors you see on the picture.
I have fixed a lot of them mechanically and cleaned them thoroughly. To me that is part of the fun. Of course a "mint"-condition set or razor is nice for a collector like myself, but in general I'm more concerned about the razor and case being clean, shiny and working mechanically...

 

[Medivh]

I can only agree with Peter. Once you get going it's hard to stop again

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The 1.gen 'Aristocrat' has a lot going for it. I love the combined barber pole/open comb look and rhodium is beautiful with a good polish

I haven't payed big time money for any of my copies and I only have a few that is close to being in somewhat "mint"-condition. Which is why I have had to put a whole lot of time and effort to get the razors you see on the picture.
I have fixed a lot of them mechanically and cleaned them thoroughly. To me that is part of the fun. Of course a "mint"-condition set or razor is nice for a collector like myself, but in general I'm more concerned about the razor and case being clean, shiny and working mechanically...

I've seen many 1st gens going on the bay in the past year or so, but I've never seen any well preserved ones such as yours going below 150-200£ so I don't know from where you guys find these razors below their price, but i've been camping for months and months and i've never seen anything rare and well preserved going cheap.

 

[Dyllern]

I've seen many 1st gens going on the bay in the past year or so, but I've never seen any well preserved ones such as yours going below 150-200£ so I don't know from where you guys find these razors below their price, but i've been camping for months and months and i've never seen anything rare and well preserved going cheap.

I can only speak for myself, but as I said before it has taken me a whole lot of time and effort to secure these razors. Furthermore don't let one picture fool you

My razors are shiny and working but multiple of them has obvious plate loss. Hopefully these two examples can show you what kind of process I have gone through multiple times.

Razor 1




This razor was in pretty good condition and cleaned up quite nice after a wash and polish. It's by no means near "mint" since it has plate loss and scratches AND it had a loose head + drop-knob. I took a chance when buying it. Furthermore the case looked very dull on the outside and needed trimming on the inside. So yes I got this one more or less at 50% off, but I had to put in a lot of work to get a somewhat good result in the end.

 

[Dyllern]

Razor 2






This razor didn't have any severe mechanically problems and costed more, but again the razor especially needed a lot of love to get a good end result...

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you want a 1.gen 'Aristocrat' cheaper than "normal" you have to be willing to put in some work and have a little skill

 

[Medivh]

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you want a 1.gen 'Aristocrat' cheaper than "normal" you have to be willing to put in some work and have a little skill

Definitely, which is why I always ask the seller to send me a few pictures of the head to see if the teeth and the doors are ok as well as a photo with a DE blade inside the razor if he has one, because not everyone who sells such razors is a shaver. Then again I can't be 100% sure until I get in my hand. If I can get my hands on a non damaged first gen with mostly intact plating even if he has some slight misalignment I can always send it to the US for a fix and usually those services include a thural cleaning as well as polishing and they cost around 30$, so it's not that bad.

A good friend of mine have found someone who owns quite a few just like you and Peter and he might be willing to sell me one or two of those that are not in mint or near mint condition, which is still not bad, because i'm not willing to pay a lot. Hopefully, I will get one of these by Christmas.

 

[Dyllern]

Definitely, which is why I always ask the seller to send me a few pictures of the head to see if the teeth and the doors are ok as well as a photo with a DE blade inside the razor if he has one, because not everyone who sells such razors is a shaver. Then again I can't be 100% sure until I get in my hand.

That sounds like a good tactic. At least you can most likely avoid any major mechanical flaws that way

If I can get my hands on a non damaged first gen with mostly intact plating even if he has some slight misalignment I can always send it to the US for a fix and usually those services include a thural cleaning as well as polishing and they cost around 30$, so it's not that bad.

Where do you live? I have thought about that too multiple times, but shipping back and fourth plus eg. VAT/Customs can ruin such a plan quite fast

A good friend of mine have found someone who owns quite a few just like you and Peter and he might be willing to sell me one or two of those that are not in mint or near mint condition, which is still not bad, because i'm not willing to pay a lot. Hopefully, I will get one of these by Christmas.

It could be nice if you can get a little help acquire one of these 1.gen 'Aristocrat' razors. They are not magical in terms of shaving experience, but the 1.gen is just a little extra special and cool