I was posting that when you edited yours.
If you look at the catalog closely you'll see that they call all their DE razors stainless steel except for the 'Popular' which they say is chromium plated. The reason we know about the Deluxe being cobalt steel is because it's on the blade guard. I'm not convinced that they all aren't cobalt steel. It would be nice if they were.
Agreed. I edited my post probably while you were composing yours. I'm pretty much convinced that they were all cobalt steel.
I believe that because my carton of Darwin blades says "cobalt" and it would make no sense to me that they would use cobalt steel for their blades, for one model of the art deco style handle and not use cobalt for the other art deco razor. I would think that using different types of steel would cause them all sorts of technical issues in the manufacture of their products and so it would have made more sense for them to use cobalt steel for everything.
I agree. As I said before and you can see in the pictures I posted of the Deluxe next to the Standard and the Bijou, the steel colors look the same.
Here's mine. There's some glare on the handle that hides some of the detail. But it seems to me that it's the same razor as pictured above.
The box is bakelite, the blue top flips open and it has a (barely visible from this angle) metal button that you press to allow the box to open.
Yours is really minty also. I envy your Standard case.
Like I said above, the razor was sold to me as NOS (or at least NOS quality) and I have no reason to doubt that. Both the case and the razor were absolutely mint. They still are.
The case is unique in that like the razor it's a quality item. It is made of bakelite and fitted with quality hinges and latch. While it's a quality item, I suspect it doesn't really compare to the Deluxe case. Am I right in assuming that the Deluxe case is leather?
Here are some pictures of the Deluxe and Standard to compare the two...
Could you please comment on the comparative shaving qualities of the two models?
I think they both give comparable shaves. My husband feels the same way. He said if he were blindfolded and handed the razors he probably would not be able to tell the difference in the shave between the two. Where he really thinks they both excel is when he has a couple, few days growth of beard. If he shaves every day he prefers to use his Feather AS. That being said we both like the Deluxe better. The blade is a little sloppy in the Standard and you have to be very careful to keep it straight when you tighten down the head. On the Deluxe the blade fits so tight that there is no way to put it in crooked (the downside is it's a little hard to remove the blade).
outstanding thread and these are truly the most beautiful razors that i have ever seen. Mori's pictures of the darwin in the mint case must be breath taking to see in your den. Thanks for the pictures and that bijou ladies or mustache darwin has to be extremely rare. Is there a "mr. Razor" or similar site where this information can be found? Doug
Thanks, these are incredible pictures which show the differences and the original cases of the Deluxe, Bijou, and mustache. The Bijou seems to small to shave anywhere other than the mustache area; definitely it would be hard to shave legs with IMHO but have never tried that.
I think the Bijou was meant for underarm shaving where it might have worked quite well. Unfortunately both the Bijou and the Mustache razor take the small blade that is pictured with them and there is no current source.
I wonder if a corn razor blade would fit? Here's an example at retail.