French Safety Razor

[Dyn Rasel]

Does anyone know of a French-made safety razor similar to Gillette Tech?

I have a razor (somewhere!) which I could swear said "Fabriqué en France" on it. Now I'm confused because everything indicates that there never was such an animal. I may be hallucinating, and when I find it I may have egg all over my face (!), but is it possible I'm right? I.e. were there any post war Japanese knock-offs like there were for Ronson lighters and other "Western" desirables? Could it have possibly been a German wehrmacht French occupation production.

Your thoughts would be wonderful.

A newbie on the block!

Dyn Rasel

 

[LinuxMintyFresh]

I thought there were some French mad Gillettes at one point, but I'm not certain. Hopefully somebody here has some insight.

 

[Luc]

Welcome to B&B!

I saw some Gillette with French writing before but a "Fabriqué en France" (Made in France), I'm not sure... It's possible.

 

[eyeguy]

The only two French DE's I know off the top of my head are LeResche & either LaCoq or LeCoq, but I honestly can't recall what either looked like. I'm probably wrong, but I thought Gillette DE's were made in Canada, England, & the US.

 

[GentsInstinct]

Gibbs made several razors and are French. They made adjustables too. Unfortunately, their blades are proprietary. I've got 100 sealed Gibbs blades and used one today actually. Vintage but they were still sharp and gave a great shave.

 

[mr-razor]

I thought there were some French mad Gillettes at one point, but I'm not certain. Hopefully somebody here has some insight.

here it is:

 

[L. Martino]

Hiya,

Here's a few pics of my three piece French made Kirby DE razor. The handle seems to be silver plated, but the head shines even brighter and doesn't tarnish like the handle does.

This is my favorite change of pace razor and isn't nearly as aggressive as it looks.

Martin

 

[moshulu]

I thought there were some French mad Gillettes at one point, but I'm not certain. Hopefully somebody here has some insight.

There was a big Gillette plant in Faverges, near Annecy, in the foothills of the Alps. I think it was started in the early 50s.

I recently bought a Rocket HD in a beautiful velvet lined case, stamped Made in France. I'll try to post a picture as soon as my wife returns with the camera...

As others have pointed out, there are many French-made razors.

 

[johnmrson]

Leresch make a number of DE's that look like various Gillettes.

 

[DCRIII]

I just found this French Gillette Tech in the wild two days ago.
The base plate and handle are made of aluminum and the top cap is made of something heavier, might be nickle plated pot metal.
There is no date code either, but it does have the Gillette diamond logo and made in France stamped on the base plate.

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

The Leresche razors are different than the Tech - most are OC and the corner teeth sit higher than the rest of the comb which provides for a wicked blade gap. They are wonderful razors. The only SB Leresche is the Kirby Beard-ish #77.

Gibbs made a few razors that would accept a modern blade, most notably one that was issued to French military forces. It has a safety bar and looks kind of Tech-ish. The click-end Gibbs adjustable takes modern blades too but they are hard to find - I'm still looking.

There are French razors marked Unis France and VMA that resemble Gillette OLD types.

The French-made Wardonia Standard takes modern blades too, the only Wardonia that does (I think). Nothing like a Tech but it's not OC. I have one of these coming from France, if it shaves like the British Wardonias I may have found my desert island razor.