Identification help (Old Type?

[Alanon]

Just picked this Gillette Old Type, or what I think is a Gillette Old Type. It seems to be of the thinner head type variety, with a curved lower plate and hollow handle (cracked, of course). What puzzles me is almost a complete lack of grooves on a practically unused razor, and the lack of any serial number or Gillette logo imprint anywhere. Also, if you look at the lower plate, there seems to be something strange going on with the central hole based on mr-razor images (or am I imagining things?).
It looks as if it's going to be a beautiful shave, but I'm really curious as to what I've got here and approximately how old it is. Is it an Old Type at all? Any king knowledgeable person out there to solve this one?

Sorry for the bad pistures, they are from a mobile. :/

 

[Morman Bridge]

Hello Alanon, I have noticed two things from your pictures that lead me to believe that your razor may be an old clone or copy. First is the size of the center hole, it is much larger than my Old Type razors. Also tht comb base plate seem thinner than mine. Second is the collar above the upper band on the handle, on my Old Types the collar bulges out a little where the handle meets the collar, yours does not. However, there were a small number of early Ball End Old Types that were produced in order for Gillette to keep his patent rights in places like France and Germany. So you may have a very rare example of one from one of the early places of manufacture, but as I said, razors from those places are rare indeed. Plus given the fact that many copycat razors were "bootlegged" and put into circulation in your part of the world during the 1910's through the 1930's , I suspect you may have a cloned razor. But keep it, as it may be rare, and it may shave well too.

 

[Alanon]

Well, what I can say with fair certainty is that it's not a franken razor, because things fit together too well. It's either Gillette, or a clone, nothing "in between".

As for the bulge, I can confirm that it's negligible to the touch. Also, upon closer inspection of the bottom plate, I can see differences from comb to comb (this may not be visible from the photos). What I mean is, looking from the bottom side, not all combs are created equal. The "roots" of some combs, spawning from the base are simply closer to the holes, making the combs longer, while others are shorter, although they all level up to a straight line.

Could this kind of imperfection mean that it's old? On a side note, why would they make clones of these in the old days? Were they expensive? Could this be some sort of a modern replica? To be clear, I don't mind having an anonymous razor, I actually kind of like it, but I'd also like to get to the bottom of this.

 

[dcobranchi]

On a side note, why would they make clones of these in the old days? Were they expensive?

The Gillettes were popular and relatively expensive ($5 for the silver one, IIRC). And IP protection was not nearly as robust as it is today. Hence, clones.