I have been using the G bar as my first gem for a few weeks now and bought this Brass Gem Junior 1912 for $5 last Saturday. Just gave this thing a shot and I have to say there may be razors as good, but I highly doubt any can get you this smooth that easily. Compared to this, the G Bar is like a sports car with the turbo not running at full boost, and the g bar is a great great razor. It even got the annoying spots on my neck..... Mega razor....
First Shave with Gem Junior 1912
- Thread starter kcb5150
- Start date
Started with the 1912 Damaskeene a few weeks ago. Right then and there decided that for me, SE beats out DE.
Shaving with the MM Clog Pruf the last week or so. Haven't been able to pick a favorite yet.
I really like how each successive SE shave is just a little bit better than the last.
Shaving with the MM Clog Pruf the last week or so. Haven't been able to pick a favorite yet.
I really like how each successive SE shave is just a little bit better than the last.
Started using a GEM 1912 this week and have decided that SE is going to be the way to go for me. I see some DE razors going up for sale in the near future ! 
And I agree, the second shave will be better than the first. What a great razor and $5!
Funny how a razor designed 100 years ago can still outshave the competition.
Funny how a razor designed 100 years ago can still outshave the competition.
I finally got to use that little 1912 Gem I bought.
Fist shave thoughts:
Pluses:
DFS. A three pass BBS, no irritation & no nicks on a two day beard growth.
Break down will make it a great little travel razor and I belief that was Gem's intent.
Cool, as coined elsewhere, steam punk look. All I could find readily in blades were some Treet blades from Walgreens. They shaved well, I thought.
Minuses but verdict still out:
Lot of metal on that head. I generally rinse the razor with hot water while shaving. If you are not careful you will brand yourself with all the hot metal, whew !
A little tricky shaving under the nose at first but with a little extra effort did a nice job.
Summation: Will it knock My '53 President or Pomco slant out of the top spots in my rotation ? Nope.
Will it be in my rotation extension ? Definitely and probably go on most of my traveling trips.
I liked it.
The GEM 1912 is an awesome razor..
I love my Junior. I especially like the name because no razor named "Junior" will command premiums on ebay 
- Thread starter
- #9
Picked up an ER 1924 today for cheap ($10). Looks to be more aggressive than the 1912. Getting the blade loaded is much more of a pita vs the other gems I've tried. You really have to make sure it is seated in the stops when you close it and when you pop it open it wants to leap out.
P
Pjotr
It is more aggressive than the 1912 and I also agree with the blade loading. As it hinges at the bottom I keep trying to load the blade upside down. For some reason which I haven't worked out yet I don't like using it. I think the head which is slightly bigger than the 1912 is just that little bit too unwieldy for my liking.
- Thread starter
- #11
I'm really enjoying trying all these gems, they all have very different personalities. You are right on the head, but I think the balance may be a bit better on this than the 12. You kind of have to hold he head almost upside down and put a nail on top of the exposed blade for it to load right.
P
Pjotr
I know what you mean. I've got five other ones I'm rotating. They're all different.
- Thread starter
- #13
Gave it a shot. I find the 1924 genuinely horrible. It may or may not have similar geometry to the 1912, but while the 1912 feels nimble and controllable, the 1924 feels extremely big which I think translates to it being hard to maintain your angle. This one is destined to be unloaded I think.
Interesting. I can't tell any difference between the 1912 and 1924 other than the '24 tends to hold a little more water and is a bit trickier to load and unload.
I don't have any trouble loading my 1924. With the razor right-side-up, I pop the top and slide in the blade, then close the top. No drama, no blade slippage, no worries. It provides a great shave, for me, and is my current go-to razor. I simply give the razor an extra shake after rinsing so that it doesn't hold extra water. This razor consistently gives me DFS and BBS shaves.
As with everything else around here, I feel I should throw in the YMMV tag.
As with everything else around here, I feel I should throw in the YMMV tag.
- Thread starter
- #16
The tendency to hold water is another issue. It made my fresh treet look like it was pulled up from the titanic.
I love my Junior. I especially like the name because no razor named "Junior" will command premiums on ebay
Check out the little red handle Treet version of this, it has a very early version of the "clog pruf" cutouts going on. I dig it, and shaves just like a 1912 with less rinsing needed.
- Thread starter
- #18
I'll give it another crack in a couple of days. Shaved some inconspicuous areas with it today to get a better feel for the thing
SE razors, the 1912 in particular are awesome.
If I didn't love playing with straights, strops, hones, etc. so much I could be perfectly happy with my 1912 as my only razor.
If I didn't love playing with straights, strops, hones, etc. so much I could be perfectly happy with my 1912 as my only razor.
I also find the 1924 (the one I have at least) to be very, very light. I'd have no problem with the razor except I tend to use a bit of pressure to make up for the lightweight razor, which gives me a bit of razorburn. If I were to invest in a BRW handle for it, giving it extra weight and handle length, I'd love it.
