Gillette date code help

[Hoffritz]

Hi
I recently found a British Gillette tech from the 70’s with an unusual date code.
It has SE underneath the baseplate. I know that S stands for 1972 but what does the E stand for? There’s no number indicating the quarter.
Has anyone seen this before?
Please see the attached picture.

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[Flintstone65]

Hi
I recently found a British Gillette tech from the 70’s with an unusual date code.
It has SE underneath the baseplate. I know that S stands for 1972 but what does the E stand for? There’s no number indicating the quarter.
Has anyone seen this before?
Please see the attached picture.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

"E" is for England? I don't know....just guessing.

 

[Gryffindor]

Is there anything on the top side of the baseplate? That SE doesn’t look like a date code to me.

 

[Hoffritz]

The top side just has “ Made in England”
I have a few other British techs from the same era and they have proper date codes.
This one is just bizarre


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[Toothpick]

US Gillette Dating Information

This page documents what we know about Gillette safety razor serial numbers and date codes. Razors made in USA often left the factory with serial numbers or date codes, which can be used to establish their manufacturing dates. During certain periods so

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[Hoffritz]

The date codes page doesn’t help
This razor seems to have 2 year codes
Might be a manufacture error. I have no idea


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[Hannah's Dad]

I’ve never seen one like that before.

 

[Old School TSD]

Gillette skipped "S" I believe. My birth razor is U4, 1974. I've got friends with T date code for 1973 as well so I know I'm not alone in this belief.
I'm guessing it's a non Gillette base plate.

 

[Bobbers]

The "E" looks like the font I have seen on other made in England razors but the "S" looks to be a different size.

 

[Hoffritz]

Gillette skipped "S" I believe. My birth razor is U4, 1974. I've got friends with T date code for 1973 as well so I know I'm not alone in this belief.
I'm guessing it's a non Gillette base plate.

Gillette skipped the letter Q because it looked too much like an O and went straight to R for 1971. I have several American and English Techs with the S date code for 72 but this is the only one without a number for the Quarter. It's definately a Gillette made baseplate as i got it in a new old stock travel set and it's identical to my other english techs.

 

[Old School TSD]

Cool, I stand corrected. Funny when you don't know what you know lol. Glad they're still my birth razors

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[haiti222]

Here is someone who had an S F date coded 3 piece. Date Code Help Please - https://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/date-code-help-please.27127/ It is mentioned that the UK did not always consistently date code razors. There is also some speculation that it was done for tax or export reasons. This may make sense, because the 3 piece razors sold in the US in the 70's and 80's were sometimes a mix of US and British parts. Look at the link in this link above to see a picture of what was called the 3 piece razor, from Mr. Razor's site. The one shown says Made in USA, but I bought one a while back with the same packaging that was from 1980 but it said something like Handle Made in USA, Head Made in England (Aluminum handle). This makes sense, because look at this UK razor from 1979 for the UK market which came with a plastic handle. Vintage Shaving 1979 2Z Gillette 3 Piece Tech Safety Razor England Standard DE Blades White Handle - https://www.retonthenet.co.uk/vintage-shaving-1979-2z-gillette-3-piece-tech-safety-razor-england--standard-de-blades-white-handle-7158-p.asp Gillette was importing the heads, but still making a metal handle for the US market.

Note also that that UK 1979 razor has a proper Z2 date code. They may have run the batches of heads only with different date codes than normal full razors. This could have helped show they were for that purpose with regards to things like VAT. They may have been inconsistent as well, as I think my razor had a normal date code.