How come no one makes razors like those vintage Gillette TTO anymore?

[Slanterino]

Is there ANY modern razor out there built like a tank like those vintage Gillette TTO?

Everytime I hold any of my Gillette TTO in my hands, I'm fully confident it'll survive anything short of a nuclear attack. But everytime I hold my Merkur in my hands, I can't help but wonder when it's going to have its funeral. Although I must say the Merkur 37C is my favourite in shave quality. It's just not my favourite in build quality.

 

[jeffmudrick]

Is there ANY modern razor out there built like a tank like those vintage Gillette TTO?

Everytime I hold any of my Gillette TTO in my hands, I'm fully confident it'll survive anything short of a nuclear attack. But everytime I hold my Merkur in my hands, I can't help but wonder when it's going to have its funeral. Although I must say the Merkur 37C is my favourite in shave quality. It's just not my favourite in build quality.

Are you trolling? There are dozens of manufacturers regularly referenced here producing razors that will outlast you (and perhaps your Merkur). In my collection only a handful of these modern razors are of marginal quality Zamak.

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[santamariasteve]

The higher cost of labor-intensive manufacture of a traditional TTO razor, plus the ignorant public is brainwashed on the superiority of carts.

Also, there are much higher long-range profits in the super-expensive cart blades. When seeking the ultimate answer to a question of this nature, always follow the money trail. Always.

 

[romsitsa]

Manufacturing a new TTO made from stamped brass is simply not worth the effort, it requires many tools and brass aint cheap. Maybe if the old toolings were still available, but I think everything was scrapped.

 

[Scaramouche]

While there are many high quality razors made of relatively indestructible materials, as noted, there is a distinct lack of high quality TTOs. The new (rare, expensive, and unavailable) Janus Toggle comes to mind, but I'm not aware of any recent offerings of similar quality, although Parker, Viking and Weishi do make TTOs.

 

[borwish]

Are you trolling? There are dozens of manufacturers regularly referenced here producing razors that will outlast you (and perhaps your Merkur). In my collection only a handful of these modern razors are of marginal quality Zamak.

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I believe the OP is referencing TTO razors specifically which are obviously under represented in your photo.

I'm guessing that nickel plated brass is just too expensive now if they aren't being produced for the masses on a massive scale. To supply the limited number of people interested in them the cost per unit would probably make then less attractive than the vintage, and therefore cost prohibitive if aiming for the general population.

 

[Cracker]

Is there ANY modern razor out there built like a tank like those vintage Gillette TTO?

Nope.

Everytime I hold any of my Gillette TTO in my hands, I'm fully confident it'll survive anything short of a nuclear attack. But everytime I hold my Merkur in my hands, I can't help but wonder when it's going to have its funeral. Although I must say the Merkur 37C is my favourite in shave quality. It's just not my favourite in build quality.

It's a cheap chromed Zamac injection something razor, sold for around 30 EUR, and made by a small German company with only a handful of employees for a small niche market. The old Gilette TTO's were precisely machined stamped brass razors around the todays value of 20 EUR. I think that was only possible, because they were mass poduced for a mass market by a global company with thousands of employees worldwide.
It's like in medicine: a hospital can only afford using a high end MRI instead a "just ok it will do the job" one if that thing runs 24/7.

 

[Medivh]

Like others said, the tto razors require more attention and work to produce while 2-3 piece razors can be made much easy and on top of that they also (in general) have better blade support. Making a quality tto razor would be very expensive and it would also take more time to produce than most types of DE razor which is why I believe none is putting an effort to make such unnecessary and complicated razor that requires lots of testings prototypes before the final product is released.

Tto razors are also more prone to have issues if they are dropped or used improperly, since they have lots of parts and the company have to deal with repairing/replacing the razors and that just creates more problems than anything.

 

[bdehne]

One that is reasonable is the Weishi 9306. The build quality is ok and they are brass. They are also cheap. I have 3 in various finishes that I use for travel. They are no substitute for a vintage Gillette but they work well for me.

 

[jeffmudrick]

I believe the OP is referencing TTO razors specifically which are obviously under represented in your photo.

I'm guessing that nickel plated brass is just too expensive now if they aren't being produced for the masses on a massive scale. To supply the limited number of people interested in them the cost per unit would probably make then less attractive than the vintage, and therefore cost prohibitive if aiming for the general population.

Based upon the experience of Rockwell and Janus you'd be right.

Correct, I have no modern TTOs, nor would I want one. I can handle a simple 3 piece just fine. I have a drawer of Gillette TTOs that look splendid but don't do much for me.

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[shavefan]

There's simply not enough market for a modern high quality TTO razor.

 

[Northstonehill]

I prefer TTO vintages. I love the mechanics and the ease of use; to me so much cooler than 3-piece models.

Even if some high-end modern TTO should come out I would not be a taker. YMMV.

 

[Cracker]

I had some modern ones (Parker, Weishi, Baili, Vikings etc.). They are all junk to crap IMHO. The handle is mainly brass, but the mechanics, doors etc. are of cheap metal sheet. They all make funny noises and they all are no comparison to vintage TTOs (some even cost more than vintage ones, which is a joke). The mostly nice plating can't cover up what they are and that they just belog into the garbage (IMHO of course). As long as you can get vintage TTOs in technical good condiition for around 20-30 EUR there is no need for buying that modern crap. Sadly, adjustables (esp. Slim and Fatboy) in good condition are no longer affordable .

 

[dotKomo]

First, I don't own one, so I have no first hand experience. Second, it's not a TTO. However, from what I've read here and viewed online, the Rex Ambassador might compete with vintage razors in terms of quality.

That said, it's also $250. Those with more familiarity with it can comment yea or nay.

 

[Medivh]

The other thing that find interesting is that the Tech series were Gillettes last 3 piece razors and also the fact that Gillette had over 50 years (from the early 30s to the late 80s) to improve and perfect their one piece tto razors. It seems that Gillette mostly cared about the one piece razors and the Tech was their budget and most inexpensive razor. Right now it's the opposite - 3 and even 2 piece razors are evolving above and beyound year after year while tto's are just left behind like some old relic from the past.

 

[jeffmudrick]

The other thing that find interesting is that the Tech series were Gillettes last 3 piece razors and also the fact that Gillette had over 50 years (from the early 30s to the late 80s) to improve and perfect their one piece tto razors. It seems that Gillette mostly cared about the one piece razors and the Tech was their budget and most inexpensive razor. Right now it's the opposite - 3 and even 2 piece razors are evolving above and beyound year after year while tto's are just left behind like some old relic from the past.

Gillette cared about profit margins. The Slim Twist was hardly an improvement over the earlier TTOs.

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[Medivh]

Gillette cared about profit margins. The Slim Twist was hardly an improvement over the earlier TTOs.

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Well neither were the Super Adjustables, black handle Super Speeds or the aluminum handle Tehcs in terms of construction even though compared to the Slim and Fatboy, the Super Adjustable it's a bit more efficient on setting 9, but at that time they didn't care that much, since Gillette was one of the very few companies making DE razors and pretty much everyone else was making only blades and besides the carts were already in production and maybe that's why they stopped investing too much in their razors.

The problem is that if anyone would try to make a quality modern tto razor, he would have to invest a lot and obviously the razor will cost a lot and the manufacturer also has to deal with the warranty issues. The good thing about brass, stainless steel, titanium (to name a few) made 3 piece razors is that they are basically bulletproof and the manufacturer doesn't have to worry that much unlike with 1-2 piece razors like we see with the Rex Ambassador, Pearl Flexi, Parker Variant, Merkur Progress etc.

The customer is always right, but we're living in a age where people complain for the smallest thing so if i'm ever going to make razors, I would stick to 3 piece razors and prevent any problems before they even occur in first place.

 

[bdehne]

I also have a Parker 87R that I am fond of. All brass tto that works well for me and didn't cost much. Still not the build quality of a vintage Gillette.

 

[BigJ]

Manufacturing a new TTO made from stamped brass is simply not worth the effort, it requires many tools and brass aint cheap. Maybe if the old toolings were still available, but I think everything was scrapped.

+1! Illustrating that newer is not necessarily better!!

 

[Cafebarian]

I had some modern ones (Parker, Weishi, Baili, Vikings etc.). They are all junk to crap IMHO. The handle is mainly brass, but the mechanics, doors etc. are of cheap metal sheet. They all make funny noises and they all are no comparison to vintage TTOs (some even cost more than vintage ones, which is a joke). The mostly nice plating can't cover up what they are and that they just belog into the garbage (IMHO of course). As long as you can get vintage TTOs in technical good condiition for around 20-30 EUR there is no need for buying that modern crap. Sadly, adjustables (esp. Slim and Fatboy) in good condition are no longer affordable .

Parker TTO are indeed made of Brass not just the handles (The three piece razor heads are zamak) was under the impression that Weishi was also all brass but have no proof...