l'histoire de LeGrelot

[muskokabrian]

I puchased a vintage LeGrelot from one of the members today and was wondering what the history of LeGrelot is. Until tonight I thought it was a model from TI so tells you what I know .

I've looked around and haven't found any info on the company or the history of these razors but I'd like to know more about them.

 

[Joe Edson]

They were a competitor of Thiers Issard. The reason for confusion is that TI bought a bunch of blanks from Le Grelot and released them as new blades branded Le Grelot with a TI stamp as well.

 

[altshaver]

Is the stamp on the Le Grelot's original? Or did TI stamp these razors? Or did TI possibly add to a stamp that was already there? I have to admit that I have been a little confused the the "Theirs" marking on these razors. Thanks for the help.

 

[Leon]

Is the stamp on the Le Grelot's original? Or did TI stamp these razors? Or did TI possibly add to a stamp that was already there? I have to admit that I have been a little confused the the "Theirs" marking on these razors. Thanks for the help.

I suppose the stamp was originally made by Le Grelot. After TI took over, they made a stamp on the back side of the shank on some razors.
I can't be precise, but this take over occurred probably in the 80's.

 

[dakotaev]

I assume its the one in johnmrsons BST post you purchased.

I also have a Vintage Hospital LeGrelot from John, a little bigger at 6/8 but its a damn fine shaver. I have a set of temorary scales on it now, but I will be re-scaling it in horn soon (I hope). You should really enjoy it!

As the others stated, the TI LeGrelots are old blanks bought, ground and finished by TI when LeGrelot went out of business.

 

[rockviper]

So when I buy a new TI Le Grelot (Santa, are you there?), is the blade considered "new" or based on the casting data of the blank? If the latter, approx how old would the TI Le Grelots be?

 

[dakotaev]

So when I buy a new TI Le Grelot (Santa, are you there?), is the blade considered "new" or based on the casting data of the blank? If the latter, approx how old would the TI Le Grelots be?

From the information I've read here and other sources, the TI LeGrelots could be considered brand new in every way, except it was made from a forged blank which was left over from production when LeGrelot closed down some time in the 80's. So its a LeGrelot manufactured razor which was ground and finished by TI.

So to answer the question it was born a LeGrelot not a replica. Assuming the blanks TI obtained are the "last batches" of production and they didn't keep random blanks around for decades you could assume the TI Grelots are around 20-30 years young. Of course all of this information is just pieced together using assumptions using what people know or have learned so it's validity could be off.

 

[rockviper]

Thanks, that mean my Wapi might soon (hopefully) have a high-class cousin of near the same age to double-date with.