Darwin comparison pics: Connie's Darwin Standard versus my "weirdo" Darwin

[kingfisher]

As promised, I am now posting some comparison pics for interested parties.

Some of you may know that I came across a cased Darwin at an antique store about a month or so ago. I was very excited to find a Darwin in the wild. Imagine my surprise when I got home to find that there was no possible way to put a blade into the razor. This led to my asking Connie and others about my apparently unique or at least very rare Darwin. There seemed to be some interest, so when Connie's Darwin got to my house (on the Darwin pass-around), I took the opportunity to take some photos of them side by side.
Mine is on the left in the first photo, and on the right in the second two photos. Notice the differences in the top cap and in the baseplate. Connie's has bullets like an Old Type, whereas the bottom of my Darwin is completely flat.

 

[kingfisher]

Three more photos, showing the differences in the top plate and baseplates. The handle is very similar, although in person you can see and feel that mine is a little bit chunkier at the base.
Any and all comments and questions are welcome. I hope you enjoy the photos.
My razor is on the right in the first two photos, and on the left in the bottom photo. As you can see from the side view, there is a deep channel all the way through the baseplate, into which a protrusion from the top plate fits. This is designed to hold a cut-out, proprietary Darwin blade. In the second photo, where the razors are disassembled, you can clearly see both the channel and the protrusion. On the final photo, you can see that the engraving on the top of my razor matches that of a Darwin Deluxe rather than a Darwin Standard, but my razor is not a typical Darwin Deluxe, either.

 

[LiveOak]

Why would they make a Darwin like that? Forgive me if I'm not understanding, but did the cap of yours once have old type pegs to hold the blade and were ground off for some reason? Was a strange proprietary blade made for your razor, or are the base and cap mismatched? In any case, I would have a heart attack finding that in the wild.

 

[kirk 988]

that is strange ive yet to see a darwin on this forum like that one but im sure the experts will chime in

 

[kingfisher]

Why would they make a Darwin like that? Forgive me if I'm not understanding, but did the cap of yours once have old type pegs to hold the blade and were ground off for some reason? Was a strange proprietary blade made for your razor, or are the base and cap mismatched? In any case, I would have a heart attack finding that in the wild.

They made a proprietary blade, for sure. I have one. Apparently they wanted to get into the blade business, but I don't think it lasted very long; thus the rarity of my razor. It is NOT a modification.

 

[alex2363]

They made a proprietary blade, for sure. I have one. Apparently they wanted to get into the blade business, but I don't think it lasted very long; thus the rarity of my razor. It is NOT a modification.

Randall, could it been a build error, like maybe the machine didnt punch the holes in it or pegs due to technical difficulties or mechanical failure.

 

[ricardo9505]

is it a show model? wow, just weird...

 

[MacDaddy]

Randall, could it been a build error, like maybe the machine didnt punch the holes in it or pegs due to technical difficulties or mechanical failure.

No, it's definitely not a mistake. It's an alternate design that uses something like the Gillette NEW's blade positioning bar, only the bar is wider and has a keyed shape so that only their blades would work with the razor. This is the most important shot there:

Very cool, Randall, though I'm sure somewhat disappointing.

 

[Cal1961]

I have just taken delivery of a pack Darwin blades that have three holes in the blade. So they obviously they tried many versions.

 

[celestino]

Wow, Randall, that is bizarre. So, is there no way to shave with it? What are you going to do with it?

 

[chongo gordo]

If you ever wanted to make you razor serviceable it seems to me you could find a top cap from another razor of reasonable match, drill out the center-hole and then tap with threading matched to the Darwin's handle.

I realize it's not a perfect solution, but it wouldn't harm the Darwin, and you'd be able to use it. Hand taps a relatively inexpensive.

 

[Intrigued]

Three more photos, showing the differences in the top plate and baseplates. The handle is very similar, although in person you can see and feel that mine is a little bit chunkier at the base.
Any and all comments and questions are welcome. I hope you enjoy the photos.
My razor is on the right in the first two photos, and on the left in the bottom photo. As you can see from the side view, there is a deep channel all the way through the baseplate, into which a protrusion from the top plate fits. This is designed to hold a cut-out, proprietary Darwin blade. In the second photo, where the razors are disassembled, you can clearly see both the channel and the protrusion. On the final photo, you can see that the engraving on the top of my razor matches that of a Darwin Deluxe rather than a Darwin Standard, but my razor is not a typical Darwin Deluxe, either.

Your Darwin also came in a Deluxe case. My vote is we call yours a "Darwin Deluxe Weird" or "Darwin Deluxe New" (if my suspicion is correct).

They made a proprietary blade, for sure. I have one. Apparently they wanted to get into the blade business, but I don't think it lasted very long; thus the rarity of my razor. It is NOT a modification.

They already were in the blade business. I've seen quite a few old advertisements for their blades. What just occurred to me is that they may have been trying to stay in the blade business. Randall, could you check the blade that came with yours and see if it would fit a Gillette New? Also, does your blade have any dates on it?

 

[kingfisher]

I can check the blade when I get home. I haven't been able to log onto B&B all morning; I think the server is having some problems.

Anyway, guys, the Darwin was definitely purposefully made this way, and Darwin made a blade that fits the razor perfectly.

As for using it now, I am not going to modify the razor in any way. I don't need the Darwin to shave; I have plenty of razors that shave me just fine. It is practically a museum piece, as you can see. Beautiful as a display razor. Plus, the fact that it is obviously a rare variant will only make it MORE valuable rather than less valuable, despite the fact that it can't be used with a modern DE. I would think a collector who was trying to gather all the variants out there would love to get their hands on this beautiful razor.

So, for now I am just going to admire it.

 

[kingfisher]

No, it's definitely not a mistake. It's an alternate design that uses something like the Gillette NEW's blade positioning bar, only the bar is wider and has a keyed shape so that only their blades would work with the razor. This is the most important shot there:

Very cool, Randall, though I'm sure somewhat disappointing.

Not really disappointing to me. It was a little bit when I first got it home, because I wanted to fire it up right away. But then I thought it was pretty intriguing.

You also have to remember that I found this thing IN THE WILD!! I mean, what are the chances of finding a regular Darwin just sitting on the shelf at a local antique store, let alone finding this really interesting model? I was completely stoked when I found it, and I still think it was an incredible find.

 

[chongo gordo]

Another thing, check your local phone book for custom jeweler that does investment or lost wax casting. They'd be able to make a mold of the head and cast a modified version that would work with regular blades. And it woud be a direct replica of the exiting head. It may be pricey, but given Darwins are fetching upwards of $600 it'd be worth looking into.