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Gillette New Improved: underappreciated?

Gents,

So this morning I dusted off my sterling silver Tuckaway, which has been sitting in its case in a drawer for a long, long time. I'm not sure why I haven't used it more often, to be honest, but I think it's because I put almost all of my DE razor heads into a nice wooden box, but I kept the Tuckaway in its original case. So when I go to choose the razor for the next blade, I never see it. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say.

Anyway, so I fired it up this morning with a fresh Polsilver SI blade. I used to use it with an aftermarket handle (usually a UFO), but this morning I used it with its original tiny little handle.

Color me a bit surprised by what a fantastic shave I got with this tiny marvel.


It seems to me that the New Deluxe and the short-comb and long-comb New get a lot more praise and "forum press," if you will, than the New Improved. I don't know why, exactly, that is, but I suspect it's because a lot more of you have tried the other varieties than have tried the New Improved. It's a bit more aggressive than the New Deluxe and certainly than the long-comb New, but it's not a monster, and I had no problems and no irritation. The first pass was very efficient. After two simple passes I was done; no clean-up or touch-up was required.

Anyway, sorry this turned out to be so long. I just wanted to say that the New Improved is really a great razor head. It may be that this was the one and only time that a company called a product new and improved and it actually was both of those things.

Anybody else have and use a New Improved?
 
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Their are less than a handful of guys lately touting the superiority of their New Deluxes. I don't make much of it.

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Their are less than a handful of guys lately touting the superiority of their New Deluxes. I don't make much of it.

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That wasn’t nice.:(

There is something special about returning to using a tool that has long been ignored or forgotten.

Glad you had a nice reunion :a29:
 
That wasn’t nice.:(

There is something special about returning to using a tool that has long been ignored or forgotten.

Glad you had a nice reunion :a29:
I'm only suggesting a few opinions don't constitute an established consensus. I like my New Deluxe just fine too.

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Brother Kingfish,

The Gillette New Improved razor from the 1920's is a beautiful razor (mine is triple-plated in silver, whatever that means), and very aggressive and efficient. Use great care, or it will bite your face.
 
When you have tried all the possible NEW variations you don't really care for NI.
I know it for a fact. :a13:
 
There are fewer NI's that show up for sale or in the wild. If I were to guess it would have a lot to do with the relationship to how expensive they were, followed by the surprise of the Depression. They are cool looking and shave well. I do prefer my Short Comb and 102, but have never spent enough time with the NI to give a really fair assessment of the NI.
 
There are fewer NI's that show up for sale or in the wild. If I were to guess it would have a lot to do with the relationship to how expensive they were, followed by the surprise of the Depression. They are cool looking and shave well. I do prefer my Short Comb and 102, but have never spent enough time with the NI to give a really fair assessment of the NI.
I prefer the Short Comb as well, but i give the nod to the NI over the other New variants. You are right in case of a tie cool wins and the NI is certainly that.

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nemo

Lunatic Fringe
Staff member
I occasionally use one of mine ... for some reason I prefer this silver plated one I got for $10 years ago on the B.S.T.
Odd that it has a naked brass neck.

Always nice to be surprised when using a nice shaver again.

full
 
I prefer the long comb. The feel is superior against my skin as does

I gave my SC to my SIL.

Honestly, this was a great era for Gillette. Perhaps some are more sophisticated shavers than me, but for me they all work. Complaints and whining by some is much to do about nothing.
 
I occasionally use one of mine ... for some reason I prefer this silver plated one I got for $10 years ago on the B.S.T.
Odd that it has a naked brass neck.

Always nice to be surprised when using a nice shaver again.

full
Looks good. After selling most of mine, far too early in my DE shaving journey, I have acquired a tuckaway and a spare cap & comb combo.
 
This is one of my earliest razors, nice weight, capable of BBS shaves without any drama.
Still has a place in my rotation and never disappoints with a GSB.
 
R

romsitsa

Strictly imho:
New Improveds are quite rare, are no way cheap, so I suspect way less enthusiasts have one than for eg. a New or Old type.
Shave wise it’s somewhere between an Old and a New SC, there are other razors with better qualities.
It’s beautiful, but doesn’t have any “special” abilities, so I purged all from my den.

Adam
 
Strictly imho:
New Improveds are quite rare, are no way cheap, so I suspect way less enthusiasts have one than for eg. a New or Old type.
Shave wise it’s somewhere between an Old and a New SC, there are other razors with better qualities.
It’s beautiful, but doesn’t have any “special” abilities, so I purged all from my den.

Adam

Given that the Old Type and New SC are for me Gillette's best shaving razors that's not a bad place to be. I admit however that i have four of them mostly for their grand appearance and Gerald Murphy connection. None of them, including my minty Bostonian, were expensive by the way.

Gerald-Murphy-Razor-1924-1.jpg


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R

romsitsa

Exactly, not bad at all, but others can do the same job as good or better.
Prices vary heavily, if I only consider my purchases than Slims and Fatboys are today cheaper than they were originally.

Adam
 
The weight alone makes it a better razor for my use. Not as heavy as a Barbasol perhaps, but substantial non the less.
And balance. Perfect balance unlike the New series (excluding the New Deluxe). Engineers carried the day with the NI, accountants in 1930.

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