I've seen some Gibbs razors on the bay that are unmarked as neither no. 15 or 17. I wonder if Gibbs manufactured in several countries or were they centralized in France only? It's really strange.
Gibbs No 15/17 Brass head w/ Chrome coating (and rarer Personna Precision)
- Thread starter Sharp_Obsession
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Sorry, what's the strange part?
Far as I know France was where all Gibbs were manufactured.
I've said now about a hundred times the numbers 15/17 are not significant. They were catalog numbers . Gibbs only issued two models during this period (1934-50s), the Reglable (Adjustable) and Normal (+/-). Over this period there were variation in the cap, baseplate, sleeve, plating, and adjustment dials. At some points the Reglable carried the №15 catalog reference number , sometimes №17, and sometimes no number. Razors with the same catalog number could have different features as I noted above. In some years the Reglable was issued in choice of gold or chrome/nickel plating but both carried the same catalog number. Unlike Gillette or Leresche you would not find a Reglable sold with different model or set number offered in a given year.
Far as I know France was where all Gibbs were manufactured.
I've said now about a hundred times the numbers 15/17 are not significant. They were catalog numbers . Gibbs only issued two models during this period (1934-50s), the Reglable (Adjustable) and Normal (+/-). Over this period there were variation in the cap, baseplate, sleeve, plating, and adjustment dials. At some points the Reglable carried the №15 catalog reference number , sometimes №17, and sometimes no number. Razors with the same catalog number could have different features as I noted above. In some years the Reglable was issued in choice of gold or chrome/nickel plating but both carried the same catalog number. Unlike Gillette or Leresche you would not find a Reglable sold with different model or set number offered in a given year.
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It's strange from a consumer standpoint especially when they were in current production many years ago. The only commonality they shared were being adjustable razors.
It would also be confusing for the marketing person. Maybe it is not so confusing for the avid collector but the casual buyer would expect differentiation like any other razor on the market.
It would also be confusing for the marketing person. Maybe it is not so confusing for the avid collector but the casual buyer would expect differentiation like any other razor on the market.
I'm still not getting the source of the confusion or strangeness. Any piece of Gibbs advertising refers to one of two razors, the Reglable and the Normal, as those were the models the consumer had to choose from. They weren't choosing between a 15 and 17 because they weren't on offer simultaneously. The catalog reference number, if any, would have been irrelevant to the consumer whose only choice was between the Adjustable and +/- models, or in some years between gold and chrome versions of the Adjustable.
That's all that consumers cared about. Changes Gibbs made over the decades to save money were not aimed at selling consumers new razors. The only people who care to distinguish amongst the different variations of the Reglable are today's collectors.
That's all that consumers cared about. Changes Gibbs made over the decades to save money were not aimed at selling consumers new razors. The only people who care to distinguish amongst the different variations of the Reglable are today's collectors.
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- Thread starter
- #45
Personna Precision came in today. Here it is with some Gibbs.
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- Thread starter
- #46
Here's some additional pictures of just the Personna Precision.
Sweet. Congratulations.
- Thread starter
- #48
Initial impressions just taking the Personna apart and putting it back together, it felt better made than the Gibbs. Don't get me wrong the Gibbs is great. But the Personna felt more solid in tightening the cap down and in the adjustment dial. It was smooth and had a little bit of resistance.
@jmudrick - Thanks. I'm happy with the result and prefer the extra weight.
@Sharp_Obsession - Nice collection of the Gibbs'.
Is there any difference between the Gibbs and The Personna, other than the pieces that allow you to use standard DE blades?
Are the external dimensions all the same?
The second one from the bottom has different knurling - was that standard at one point?
Some other comments
That first picture was taken just after it was finished and it looks great there.
I had it Cerakoted because I didn't like the look of the brass after it had tarnished a bit. I tried polishing it but with the knurling it was a PITA.
I ended up borrowing the tap to do make the handle.
I considered both Stainless Steel and Aluminium for the handle.
Stainless Steel is hard and I was worried about breaking the tap. If it was my tap I probably would have gone this route.
I was looking for weight so I threw out the Aluminium idea.
I'm also happy that there were no mods done to the actual razor itself, so it can go back to "original" at any time.
I'm at the other end of the world to you guys. I was not going to wait for a punch to cut the notches so I ended up making a jig to use in conjunction with a Dremel. When I open a new tuck of blades, I put the 5 or 10 blades on it and cut the notches regardless of what razor I am using it in.
I'll post an image of that if anyone is interested.
@Sharp_Obsession - Nice collection of the Gibbs'.
Is there any difference between the Gibbs and The Personna, other than the pieces that allow you to use standard DE blades?
Are the external dimensions all the same?
The second one from the bottom has different knurling - was that standard at one point?
Some other comments
That first picture was taken just after it was finished and it looks great there.
I had it Cerakoted because I didn't like the look of the brass after it had tarnished a bit. I tried polishing it but with the knurling it was a PITA.
I ended up borrowing the tap to do make the handle.
I considered both Stainless Steel and Aluminium for the handle.
Stainless Steel is hard and I was worried about breaking the tap. If it was my tap I probably would have gone this route.
I was looking for weight so I threw out the Aluminium idea.
I'm also happy that there were no mods done to the actual razor itself, so it can go back to "original" at any time.
I'm at the other end of the world to you guys. I was not going to wait for a punch to cut the notches so I ended up making a jig to use in conjunction with a Dremel. When I open a new tuck of blades, I put the 5 or 10 blades on it and cut the notches regardless of what razor I am using it in.
I'll post an image of that if anyone is interested.
Yes, there were two different types of knurling which appear on adjustment dials, the less common one is kind of a checkered rather then lined pattern. There are also differences in the threading.
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Thats unusual because tooling up for something like that could be expensive. Does anyone know why they would do that?
What were the differences in the threads?
When I started thinking about the heavier handle, I cursed them for having a "strange" thread but it actually makes sense. I full turn increases the gap by exactly 1mm - and that makes sense.
Also having a different thread on the rod that holds the top also makes sense because if they were the same they would not lock up.
The person who designed it gave it a lot of thought.
Comments on the French board indicated that the two adjustment dials couldn't be swapped because the threading was different. I don't have the checkered version so cannot offer more than that.
- Thread starter
- #53
I just tried it and it must be the same threading, as I was easily able to switch the dials between razors
Cool. Must be a difference in production other than simply the dials appearance. I'd search the French forum but it doesn't seem urgently relevant 
Here you have a couple of pictures of mines. Two of them marked as model 15, the other one without number.
It’s interesting to notice the different knurling of the middle one.
Cheers!
Enviado desde mi iPhone utilizando Tapatalk
It’s interesting to notice the different knurling of the middle one.
Cheers!
Enviado desde mi iPhone utilizando Tapatalk
Yes, it is a number 15. Here you have the picture of mine:
Cheers!
Enviado desde mi iPhone utilizando Tapatalk
There we go again with the catalog reference numbers.....old habits die hard I guess.
I ordered my first Gibbs adjustable. It shipped out today from France. I look forward to giving it a spin in a few weeks.
Because they don't reflect differences between the razors as we've seen. Thus a 15 can look like a 17, and two 15s can be completely different, even in the same year (brass/aluminum). And I don't know who decided an unmarked one is really a 17. Gibbs referred to them as catalog reference numbers not model numbers (there was no catalog 1938-48), the models were simply Gibbs Reglable and Modele Normal.
Nothing "wrong" in a moral sense in using the catalog reference numbers it's just misleading. Telling someone you have a 15 tells us nothing about what the razor actually looks like.
Nothing "wrong" in a moral sense in using the catalog reference numbers it's just misleading. Telling someone you have a 15 tells us nothing about what the razor actually looks like.
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Hehe I know I get abnoxious about this stuff, thanks for your understanding.
Now cataloguing the actual differences would be useful exercise as no reliable dating of the razors appears anywhere that I've seen, even on the French forum where you would expect that. The only catalog excerpts I've seen were from 1951 and 1956.
Now cataloguing the actual differences would be useful exercise as no reliable dating of the razors appears anywhere that I've seen, even on the French forum where you would expect that. The only catalog excerpts I've seen were from 1951 and 1956.
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