Gem Razor Models

[McKinneys]

Some of the razors that had script stamped on the top cap are oddities and rare and a lot of early brass colored razors had a gold wash to make them more appealing to the eye and finding ads for everything is hard to pin point exact dates would take extensive newspaper & magazine archive searching that I do not have locally and possible internet searching.
Have some great shaves!

I've dated most all of the cases at this point, I'll have to collect data in one place. I'm not aware of brass razors without gold wash (or Chrome). It's a very thin wash

Thank you very much for your replies. Something it is hard to judge just by relying on pictures of various quality.
My MMOC, MMCP and MMBT all are chrome models. My CP Peerless is brass. I guess this model made me believe that some earlier MMOCs were all brass too.

 

[McKinneys]

Here my gold MMOC for reference.

Thank you!

 

[jmudrick]

Thank you very much for your replies. Something it is hard to judge just by relying on pictures of various quality.
My MMOC, MMCP and MMBT all are chrome models. My CP Peerless is brass. I guess this model made me believe that some earlier MMOCs were all brass too.

Hmm I'm not sure about your Peerless being all brass. Again AFAIK all Micromatics are plated even if the gold wash is easily removed. Indeed I'm not aware of any vintage manufacturers using unplated brass which tarnishes so easily.

Here are my two Peerless sets. Compare the gold to my stripped MMOC. Not a huge difference.

 

[McKinneys]

Hmm I'm not sure about your Peerless being all brass. Again AFAIK all Micromatics are plated even if the gold wash is easily removed. Indeed I'm not aware of any vintage manufacturers using unplated brass which tarnishes so easily.

Here are my two Peerless sets. Compare the gold to my stripped MMOC. Not a huge difference.

Thank you very much! I have to check tomorrow again, but it looks like your Peerlesses are much more shiny!

 

[jmudrick]

Thank you very much! I have to check tomorrow again, but it looks like your Peerlesses are much more shiny!

One is completely NOS the other used once or twice from appearances.

 

[McKinneys]

I always assumed that the gold wash of the Gillette NEW really was thin, but it looks solid in comparison to the GEM. Here are some pictures for comparison. The Peerless isn't NOS, but I think in quite good shape for its age.

 

[Twelvefret]

I always assumed that the gold wash of the Gillette NEW really was thin, but it looks solid in comparison to the GEM. Here are some pictures for comparison. The Peerless isn't NOS, but I think in quite good shape for its age.

Do we have a price comparison. Seems like the GEM razors were less.

Thank you for posting the photos.

 

[Ron R]

I always assumed that the gold wash of the Gillette NEW really was thin, but it looks solid in comparison to the GEM. Here are some pictures for comparison. The Peerless isn't NOS, but I think in quite good shape for its age.

I have to agree that Gillette some times took a short cut to putting gold thinly on their razors, the British 1950's Rocket were well know for very fading weak wash of gold. Your Peerless looks almost chromed and maybe not even brass. I have My British Rocket beside my Peerless clog Pruf and I do not think it's gold washed anymore after the amount of cleanings I had to do to get it clean to my liking but the brass color is a lot different then yours for what ever reason (interesting pictures you took- that could be a rare Clog Pruf with a different alloy???). I'm curious what type of polishing compound you used because brass being soft could in-tombed some of the cleaning compound you used on the surface.

Have some great shaves!

 

[McKinneys]

Tomorrow I have to take some note pictures under different light or in daylight so the colors may be more natural. I did clean the razor with warm soapy water. Later used a brass polishing liquid (called "Sidol") which isn't abrasive. Today I used a gold polishing liquid from the same vendor.

 

[mata_66]

New updated table. It now includes Kampfe Bros/Star/Treet infos.
I corrected some dates, added more models and variations. Please keep in mind this is not the gospel, infos on vintage SE razors are quite scarce and dating is more of a "detective" work that may easily lead to false clues and wrong data.

Beta V1.1, there will probably be a V1.2 in the future


The image is LARGE. Please click on the thumbnail and then right-click on the image and choose "open image in a new tab" or save it on your computer for future offline visualization.

 

[mata_66]

Some early history (unbearable wall of text!):

At the end of the 19th Century, in the lower Manhattan area east of Broadway, there were many cutlery shops, mainly owned and operated by German immigrants and their families. The Kampfe brothers owned one of these shops. In those times barbers and the so-called “self-shavers” were using straight razors; by the ’70s of the 19th century the Kampfe brothers had the idea to produce another kind of razor. In 1875 they founded the “Star Company” and a few years later, in 1880, they produced a hoe-type razor with a protection before the wedge blade. They baptized it the “Safety Razor”, the first ever produced in the US, preceding Gillette by more than twenty years.

Many years and many models after, in a day of 1898 Jeremiah “Jerry” Reichard, a former employee of the Kampfe, founded his own company: the “Gem Cutlery Company” with the company headquarters just a few doors down the Kampfe Bros Cutlery Shop in Reade Street.

In those days everybody knew everybody, more if they were of the same German heritage and if they shared the same profession. The Kampfe, Reichard, the Zinn family and another actor of this old tale, August W. Scheuber.


Scheuber filed seven patents between June 1898 and June 1901 and all these patents were assigned to Mary Zinn. Also, Reichard’s first two safety razor patents were filed to Mary Zinn. Zinn was a wealthy German lady in her fifties, the widow of the recently passed away Simon Zinn. She inherited a successful metal goods manufacturing enterprise in Manhattan so she had the money and she had the tools.

The Zinn family stood in the shadows although a couple of razors, the “Zinn Gem” and the “Z” were named after them. Everything suggests they financed the start-up of Reichard’s Gem Cutlery Co and probably they were the real stockholders of the company.

I imagine them meeting along Reade St: “Guten tag Herr Kampfe”, “Guten tag Frau Zinn, wie sind sie?” Maybe they were discussing their projects and their sales numbers sitting at a table, sharing some German delikatessen and drinking Bavarian beer.
It is plausible that after all the small talk and the laughs, in the back of their respective shops they were studying and trying to copy their rivals in business products.

In 1903 Jerry Reichard and August Scheuber decided to join forces and founded the R&S Manufacturing Co. R&S first acted as a contract manufacturer. Reichard 1898 patent appears on many razors: the “Daisy”, the “Wanamaker”, the “Wilbert” (sold by Sears in 1904), the “Winchester”.

R&S produced quite a few “wedge blade hoe type” safety razors under its own brand, notably the “Mohican”, the “Winner”, the “Yankee” and, in 1904, the “Ever Ready”. The company briefly changed its name in “Yankee Razor Co.” and finally, in 1905 the company became the “Ever-Ready Co.”

I still haven’t discovered if Reichard held his feet in two shoes owning Gem and Ever-Ready at the same time or if Gem Cutlery Co. had a new owner by 1903.

1906 was quite a pivotal year in the history of SE razors. Two main events made it such an important year: the introduction by Ever-Ready of the first single edge “rib-back” (spine) blade and Joseph Kaufmann (yet another German descendant) became the first president of the newly-founded American Safety Razor Company (ASR) According to some faded information, Reichard stayed with ASR while Scheuber returned to the Gem Cutlery Co.

ASR was first located in 34, Reade Street, Manhattan. 34, Reade St. was also the address of the Zinn Building. It all suggests that Ever-Ready Co. and Gem Cutlery Co. converged in American Safety Razor Co. still maintaining separated brand identities.

In March 1906 Reichard filed his first new patent in years regarding a “thin strip of sheet steel the opposite embraced by a substantially U-shaped metal strip which forms a stiffener and back of the blade”. The first single edge spined blade that we still use today.

Ever-Ready abandoned the wedge blade and started producing two new razors that made use of the new just patented “rib-backed” blade: the “ASR” and the “ER” (or at least this is how are known by modern collectors). They were practically identical razors that only differed by the letters pierced on the top lid. They came with either a two-piece tubular metal or black wood (“Ebonoid”) handle.

The Gem Cutlery Co. did the same and started producing the new style of blades and a new line of razors, the “Junior”. The Gem Junior was very similar to the Ever-Ready razor maybe because both were modeled after a 1901 patent filed by August Scheuber.

 

[Ron R]

Some early history (unbearable wall of text!):

At the end of the 19th Century, in the lower Manhattan area east of Broadway, there were many cutlery shops, mainly owned and operated by German immigrants and their families. The Kampfe brothers owned one of these shops. In those times barbers and the so-called “self-shavers” were using straight razors; by the ’70s of the 19th century the Kampfe brothers had the idea to produce another kind of razor. In 1875 they founded the “Star Company” and a few years later, in 1880, they produced a hoe-type razor with a protection before the wedge blade. They baptized it the “Safety Razor”, the first ever produced in the US, preceding Gillette by more than twenty years.

Many years and many models after, in a day of 1898 Jeremiah “Jerry” Reichard, a former employee of the Kampfe, founded his own company: the “Gem Cutlery Company” with the company headquarters just a few doors down the Kampfe Bros Cutlery Shop in Reade Street.

In those days everybody knew everybody, more if they were of the same German heritage and if they shared the same profession. The Kampfe, Reichard, the Zinn family and another actor of this old tale, August W. Scheuber.


Scheuber filed seven patents between June 1898 and June 1901 and all these patents were assigned to Mary Zinn. Also, Reichard’s first two safety razor patents were filed to Mary Zinn. Zinn was a wealthy German lady in her fifties, the widow of the recently passed away Simon Zinn. She inherited a successful metal goods manufacturing enterprise in Manhattan so she had the money and she had the tools.

The Zinn family stood in the shadows although a couple of razors, the “Zinn Gem” and the “Z” were named after them. Everything suggests they financed the start-up of Reichard’s Gem Cutlery Co and probably they were the real stockholders of the company.

I imagine them meeting along Reade St: “Guten tag Herr Kampfe”, “Guten tag Frau Zinn, wie sind sie?” Maybe they were discussing their projects and their sales numbers sitting at a table, sharing some German delikatessen and drinking Bavarian beer.
It is plausible that after all the small talk and the laughs, in the back of their respective shops they were studying and trying to copy their rivals in business products.

In 1903 Jerry Reichard and August Scheuber decided to join forces and founded the R&S Manufacturing Co. R&S first acted as a contract manufacturer. Reichard 1898 patent appears on many razors: the “Daisy”, the “Wanamaker”, the “Wilbert” (sold by Sears in 1904), the “Winchester”.

R&S produced quite a few “wedge blade hoe type” safety razors under its own brand, notably the “Mohican”, the “Winner”, the “Yankee” and, in 1904, the “Ever Ready”. The company briefly changed its name in “Yankee Razor Co.” and finally, in 1905 the company became the “Ever-Ready Co.”

I still haven’t discovered if Reichard held his feet in two shoes owning Gem and Ever-Ready at the same time or if Gem Cutlery Co. had a new owner by 1903.

1906 was quite a pivotal year in the history of SE razors. Two main events made it such an important year: the introduction by Ever-Ready of the first single edge “rib-back” (spine) blade and Joseph Kaufmann (yet another German descendant) became the first president of the newly-founded American Safety Razor Company (ASR) According to some faded information, Reichard stayed with ASR while Scheuber returned to the Gem Cutlery Co.

ASR was first located in 34, Reade Street, Manhattan. 34, Reade St. was also the address of the Zinn Building. It all suggests that Ever-Ready Co. and Gem Cutlery Co. converged in American Safety Razor Co. still maintaining separated brand identities.

In March 1906 Reichard filed his first new patent in years regarding a “thin strip of sheet steel the opposite embraced by a substantially U-shaped metal strip which forms a stiffener and back of the blade”. The first single edge spined blade that we still use today.

Ever-Ready abandoned the wedge blade and started producing two new razors that made use of the new just patented “rib-backed” blade: the “ASR” and the “ER” (or at least this is how are known by modern collectors). They were practically identical razors that only differed by the letters pierced on the top lid. They came with either a two-piece tubular metal or black wood (“Ebonoid”) handle.

The Gem Cutlery Co. did the same and started producing the new style of blades and a new line of razors, the “Junior”. The Gem Junior was very similar to the Ever-Ready razor maybe because both were modeled after a 1901 patent filed by August Scheuber.

Now that is some fabulous research and a very interesting read also, I really enjoyed this article you compiled for us all to enjoy.

 

[Ron R]

GEM 1911> Junior Bar Lather catcher (my model year). The GEM Junior bar came out in 1907

Weight : 44 grams (1.5 oz)
Blade Gap: .017 thousands of a inch Averaged out- the safety bar was not perfect from over 101 years of service and bumps along it's journey to my possession.
Blade exposure: Positive
Blade : GEM Personna SS PTFE (8)
Material : Base metal brass with a excellent coating of chrome that has endured well.
Handling: This is just a joy to use, light weight and no problems under the nose area.
When this razor was patented in 1900 & 1901, the Wright brothers had not made their first successful solo air flight yet(1903). The workmanship of this razor for it's era was spot on.
You can find yourself adding a touch to much pressure when first testing if no care is taken, new blade -new razor can lead to a little razor burn if technique not dialed in.
The shaves this razor delivers is some of the best you can expect IMO.
You have to be gentle with this old razor when installing blades because the blade stops could be weakened over time from 10's of thousands of uses. You should avoid letting the back clasp that is spring loaded slap the back of the blade, there is no need to do that and possibly prematurely damage the blade stops and your razor becomes scrap.
-Shave #4 and this razor becomes one of my favorites of the Gem Family models with great audio feedback, results CCS,DFS,BBS.
-Shave #6 was one of my better shaves because pre-shave with a shower and every thing just went great CCS,DFS,BBs.
The Gem junior bar lather catcher with this skin tension bar possibly works , I thought it could be a gimmick but maybe there is merit there and more than likely lead to putting top caps on the newer razors that were to be introduced years later the 1911 & 1912 deluxe and Damaskeene razors that looked newer for eye appeal and of course you got to have the latest greatest razor for that time(some things do not change).
The nice part with this razor you are getting minimal irritation with not a lot of aggression but with high efficiency with the Alum block indicating a nice shave most of the time.(does not get better usually IMO).
This razor could easily be a daily driver for those who shave every day like myself.
-Shave #7 was very outstanding and will bring a smile for folks who have some Gem experience & if possible a nice razor for a change up and experience what it was to shave back in 1907>.
-Shave #8 just a easy going shave with no issues & that is what folks want. End results were CCS,DFS,BBS and that is the sweet spot for most of us.
Conclusion: Great vintage razor that for Gem owners and Collectors & is a must, just a razor that hits my sweet spot for a irritation free shave.

Here is some literature that was sent with this razor if curious.
Stropping attachment threaded inside of handle.
I like to add these references for folks who are thinking of using a Gem or a Everready razor.

Have some great shaves!

 

[jmudrick]

Mail call. Later production gold MMOC with bumps. Just don't see too many of these.[

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[Theodore]

Mail call. Later production gold MMOC with bumps. Just don't see too many of these.

Very nice!

 

[Ron R]

Mail call. Later production gold MMOC with bumps. Just don't see too many of these.[View attachment 971161View attachment 971162

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Looks like a nice case to match that razor also, Would that model be around 1932 when they started going to the blade bumps?

 

[jmudrick]

Looks like a nice case to match that razor also, Would that model be around 1932 when they started going to the blade bumps?

No i believe it to be after 1936. They were offering this set at discount in 1938. I don't believe gold razors were issued with bumps until later than 1932 (my 32 gold sets are bumpless)

Greetings from Asbury Park 1938

 

[Twelvefret]

Looks like mine. Congratulations

 

[jmudrick]

Looks like mine. Congratulations

Gold with bumps in same case?

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[Twelvefret]

Gold with bumps in same case?

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

No case, but with bumbs. I think you had explained before it was after ‘32.