Gillette Single Ring

[TristanLudlow]

Hey fellas,
I wanted to share some pics of a Single Ring, Serial number: F259841, so that makes it from 1918 if I'm correct.

The razor comes in a box, with instructions. I have yet to clean the razor and the box.

The serial is stamped on the handle itself, and there's the Gillette diamond logo on the comb part of the razor and on the head cap. Which I haven't seen too often.
It has the D in G logo, as I've been told or read somewhere that it means the razor has been send back and repaired by Gillette, but I'm not entirely sure about this, if anyone could enlighten me.

The razor came with two blades, one of the wrappers is still glued together.

As I will try to show, the teeth are not perfectly straight, some are bent, but they're bent downwards, however I don't see this posing as a big problem whilst shaving, I'm not expecting any trouble at all tbh.

If someone would like to take a look at the teeth and let me know if I should be worried or not about it.

More pictures (taken with my phone, so mediocre quality): http://imgur.com/a/gk0Bk

Anyway, that's it
Kind regards!

 

[BSAGuy]

Very nice. Where did you find this gem?

I would not mess with the teeth. The razor will shave just fine and trying to straighten the teeth could result in breaking them.

 

[nuclearblast]

The G in D was a requirement of the French government. Silver and gold plated razors that were imported to France had that mark.

I don't think your razor is from 1918, I think it was made earlier than that, in Europe.

Probably England but there's a theory that the F series were produced in France.

Very nice score, congrats.

Btw, it should have the patent info stamped on the inner barrel, can you see something like this : PAT.NOV.15.04.N

 

[Morman Bridge]

He's got a rare one I think. There were very few Single Rings produced in France if I'm not mistaken. Is that correct Edgar?

 

[nuclearblast]

He's got a rare one I think. There were very few Single Rings produced in France if I'm not mistaken. Is that correct Edgar?

There's no solid evidence that they were really produced in France, Alan. The F=France, E=England and H=Germany theory perhaps is as good as any other theory, but lacks solid evidence. Besides, that theory doesn't seem to convince Porter and Mike.

Here's the thread:

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/396922-Gillette-Single-Rings-with-British-Patent-Numbers

And the Wiki page with all the info collected:

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Gillette_England_Dating_Information

 

[Morman Bridge]

Thank you Edgar, I'll do some reading on it. I appreciate your help all the time, you are an asset to our community.

 

[TristanLudlow]

Very nice. Where did you find this gem?

I would not mess with the teeth. The razor will shave just fine and trying to straighten the teeth could result in breaking them.

I've got it from a friendly lady in Germany. But who knows how it ended up there
I'm definitely not going to mess with the teeth.

The G in D was a requirement of the French government. Silver and gold plated razors that were imported to France had that mark.

I don't think your razor is from 1918, I think it was made much earlier than that, in Europe.

Probably England but there's a theory that the F series were produced in France.

Very nice score, congrats.

Btw, it should have the patent info stamped on the inner barrel, can you see something like this : PAT.NOV.15.04.N

That's the first thing I did when I got it, I looked at the barrel because I wanted to figure out the serial number, but I saw nothing on it; then I looked at the handle and noticed that the serial number was written on there, whereas I assumed it would say the PAT number.
I'll attach a picture of the barrel, though not much to see there, it's the same all around, unless the pat number was on the part that's worn from use, but I don't see any indentation anywhere.

Wow, thanks for the links, very interesting reads!

Thanks for the replies!

 

[nuclearblast]

The picture isn't clear enough, but I think it might be there, like this:

All the F series that have the same double logo and serial number placement have the patent info stamped on the inner barrel as the picture above.
Doesn't mean yours can't be different, but I think if you take a closer look it will be there.

 

[TristanLudlow]

Roger that, Ima take a look

I'll be damned it does, barely visible, thanks! I wouldn't have noticed otherwise

Gimme a sec to upload the pic, it's better visible in the imgur album, but it definitely says PAT.NOV.15.04.N

 

[nuclearblast]

Cool.

That's a very nice find, congrats and enjoy!

 

[TristanLudlow]

Thanks for all the info and feedback, greatly appreciated!

Definitely will get good use out of this one, I've got some cleaning up to do and will then be adding it to the rotation.

Happy shaving y'all.

 

[TexLaw]

Wonderful find! I look forward to hearing more about it!

 

[davidsilva]

Very nice single ring Tristan! Enjoy!

 

[GBinOZ]

I don't think your razor is from 1918, I think it was made earlier than that, in Europe.

Probably England but there's a theory that the F series were produced in France.

He's got a rare one I think. There were very few Single Rings produced in France if I'm not mistaken. Is that correct Edgar?

There's no solid evidence that they were really produced in France, Alan. The F=France, E=England and H=Germany theory perhaps is as good as any other theory, but lacks solid evidence. Besides, that theory doesn't seem to convince Porter and Mike.

Much as it pains me to do so 001_rolle), I have to disagree with Edgar on several points. I am the chief proponent of the theory to which Edgar refers. My theory is not that the F series were produced in France, but that SOME of the F series were produced in France, with Alan's comment being accurate (IMHO) in this regard. Porter introduced the theory that F was made in England FOR the French market and H was made in England FOR the German market, and I agree with that theory with a small exception. My theory is that in 1908 and early 1909 there were Gillette factories producing razors in Leicester, Paris and Berlin under the control of the English Office. The latter two, which were subsidiaries of the English Company, were closed by the English Office in 1909 and their machinery sent to Leicester.

Congratulations on your razor find Tristan. I have taken the liberty of adding it to the Wiki, so please check that my entry is correct. In my opinion it was definately NOT made in France as the serial number is too high. However it is very unique in that it establishes a new high count for the F series, and was probably near the end of production at Leicester. I think Porter, Mike and I would agree that production had ended at Leicester by late 1914/early 1915, but I am again out of step with a possible end around the end of 1912.

I also respectfully disagree with Edgar's contention that there is "no solid evidence" for production on the continent. The court case in Berlin in 1910 decided that there was genuine production of razors and blades in Berlin in 1909. This represents primary solid evidence to me, if not to others. Evidence for Paris production is not not as solid, but does consist of reports from multiple sources.

Enjoy you Single Ring Tristan. You will be shaving with a piece of history.

Cheers, George

 

[nuclearblast]

I actually mixed up things a little bit.

It's been a while since I read the thread. I should have confirmed but was too lazy. [emoji12]

But I still think they were all produced in England, perhaps in parallel runs for the different European markets. Porter and Mike's theory makes more sense, IMHO.

 

[GBinOZ]

I actually mixed up things a little bit.

It's been a while since I read the thread. I should have confirmed but was too lazy. [emoji12]

But I still think they were all produced in England, perhaps in parallel runs for the different European markets. Porter and Mike's theory makes more sense, IMHO.

So what "solid" evidence do you have that the German Court got it wrong in 1910?

Cheers, George

 

[nuclearblast]

So what "solid" evidence do you have that the German Court got it wrong in 1910?

Cheers, George

I don't need solid evidence to back up my "opinion", do I?

Based on what I've read in the other thread I choose to give more credit to the theory that the razors were all made in England.

People can read the thread, the different theories and the "evidence". Then they can choose what to believe.

But what do I know.

 

[nuclearblast]

I'm also not sure which several of my points you disagree with.
Basically I said that it is thought that F=France, E=England and H=Germany, that the OP's razor might have been produced in France, but there's no solid evidence that they produced razors there at all, and also Porter and Mike don't seem convinced either.

So apart from choosing not to believe your theory, what was my mistake?

 

[GBinOZ]

I don't need solid evidence to back up my "opinion", do I?

Based on what I've read in the other thread I choose to give more credit to the theory that the razors were all made in England.

People can read the thread, the different theories and the "evidence". Then they can choose what to believe.

But what do I know.

Oh come on - you know plenty. It's just that in your earlier post you seemed to advocate an opinion on the basis of "lack of solid evidence" for the alternate opinion. The defence rests.

Cheers, George

 

[nuclearblast]

Regarding the German lawsuit, if anyone's interested here's a comment from one of our experts

http://www.badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?p=6549033

George, even if I had the info or the knowledge to claim that the German court "got it wrong", I couldn't, because a journalist translating a 94 yo text is not exactly what I'd call evidence. At least not solid evidence.

Just my opinion anyway.