Gem 1900/1901 first shave

[Slivovitz]

First shave this morning with my Gem Junior Bar. There's a picture up in SOTD, and I'd put up earlier photos in this thread. I was told there that mine probably came from around 1906, making it my oldest razor, older than my 1910 single ring.

How's it shave? I wouldn't want to draw lasting conclusions from one shave, but I got a 3 pass DFS using a Walgreens Gem blade. No revelatory "this is the razor I've been looking for" moment, but another good razor at least. May get a bit better as I get used to maneuvering that enormous head, but I did pretty well anyway. I was pleased with how easy it was to maneuver around the chin, and under the nose was easier than I expected. There's also the satisfaction, for me, of using really old technology. Definitely a keeper.

 

[tom myers]

If you got any kind of a good shave the first time out with this razor, I suspect if you stay with it for a while, you may find that this is "the razor you've been looking for".

It seems unlikely that any razor would give you the best shave it is capable of the first time you use it. I takes a little getting used to the angle and other subtleties of a different razor before you and your razor adjust to each other.

I find the 1900/1901 patent Gem Jr. Bar Razor to provide the best and most comfortable shaves I've ever had with any safety razor.

Regards,
Tom

 

[Slivovitz]

If you got any kind of a good shave the first time out with this razor, I suspect if you stay with it for a while, you may find that this is "the razor you've been looking for".

It seems unlikely that any razor would give you the best shave it is capable of the first time you use it. I takes a little getting used to the angle and other subtleties of a different razor before you and your razor adjust to each other.

I find the 1900/1901 patent Gem Jr. Bar Razor to provide the best and most comfortable shaves I've ever had with any safety razor.

Regards,
Tom

Three shaves in, yes it's very, very good. Smooth close shaves, no nicks so far. Just not ready to set all other razors aside. This will be part of a rotation.

Apart from getting a good shave, it's just amazing to be shaving with something like this. The shave is the important thing of course, but there is an undeniable coolness factor. I'm shaving with something made more than 100 years ago, and it looks it. I love the way most of the blade is visible when installed, and I love the sound that this razor makes, the loudest SE I've tried so far.

When I bought a Weishi and a Merkur a year ago, I didn't know where it would lead me. When I joined B&B only five months ago, I barely knew that single edge razors existed.

 

[tom myers]

I'm sure that not everyone will find this to be their all time favorite razor as I did, but I haven't found many who don't agree that it is a great shaver. I'm glad you've gone ahead and used it for further shaves and given it a fair trial.

The thing I find fascinating about a razor from the turn of the last century is that no one, in a hundred plus years, has really improved on it from the standpoint of performance and comfort.

Perhaps I shouldn't find this so hard to accept since, other types of tools such as the woodworking hand tools from that era, usually will perform as well or better than their modern counterparts.

Regards,
Tom

 

[Dave Deluxe]

This is a very interesting thread to me, since I am considering exploring the world of “Single Edge” shaving.

DD