"Must Have" vintage safety razors

[REV579]

Lots of great vintage razors out there. I think the true "must haves" are the ones that have personal meaning or significance to you. Your Grandpa's razor. Your birthyear razor (or your dad's). A Slim for the James Bond fan. A Fatboy for the Harley guy. Stuff like that.

This is where I have ended up. Starting with razors everyone else recommended left me with a stockpile of razors I won't use. After someone remarked that I must have a room that looks like a shave museum, I began to pair down the razors to:

• Parental Birth Razors('47-'48)
• Grandparent Birth Razors('10's)
• Goodwill-I settled on 162, 164, Try them all and decide
  
• Gillette Open Comb TTO-Aristocrat, Sheraton, and/or Senator
  
• Fatboy and/or Slim
• Safety Bar TTO-Be careful, the list is already getting out of hand...
  
• WWI Razor-Remember
  
• WWII Razor-Never Forget
• NEW-LC, SC, and/or DeLuxe
  
• New Improved-Those Art Deco Handles
• At Least One Premium Set
• Something Boxed that you particularly favor
  
• A Double Ring-This is where the shave world began
• Auto-Strop
• Lather Catcher
• MMOC
• MMCP

When do we ask the same question about brushes?

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Inherited razors, or razors of other emotional significance, and maybe a birthyear razor.

Only the birthyear applies here, plus a few things made in my home town which aren't produced anymore. I've steered clear of all the other vintage stuff. It just doesn't interest me.

 

[Red Rider]

Three Piece
I think everyone needs to try a pre-war Tech. Converted many with this easy to shave with razor.
Flat Bottom NEW, Raised Flat Bottom are all good.

As far as TTO razors.
Gillette Red-Tip C2-1957 (U.S.). Well balance aggression level.
Gillette flare tip Rocket late 50's (England). Young son's favourite shave.
F.B., Slim and Executive, Gillette Aristocrat Jr. 1949 (England) all good.

S.E. razors
1) Schick E1 My best performing injector. (U.S.)
2) Schick M2 adjustable in case (I call Tom) (U.S.) A smooth operator.
3) GEM Clog Pruf in case (U.S.) Just as name states. A smooth operator
4) GEM 1912 fancy handle nickel over brass (U.S.) A smooth operator
5) Gem Damaskeene in case with rare blade stropper (U.S.) A smooth operator
6) Ever-Ready 1924 a.k.a. shovelhead (U.S.) Like the unique front pivoting head.
7 Schick D type. (U.S.) My best looking injector. Aggressive performer.

 

[les24preludes]

The only vintage razors I'm tempted by are injectors, because new models are relatively rare.

For DE razors the new models are much better in my opinion - 6C and all the artisans.

For SE again, the Artist Club razors like ATT SE1, Blackland Vector, Colonial General etc. are all quite recent so no history there.

I know that shaving has a huge army of vintage collectors, but I'm not one of them.

 

[Saxonbowman]

Lots of great suggestions above. If I was advising somebody I would keep the list short:

Old Type
NEW, either short or long comb
Tech
Super Speed, all of the variants are good
Adjustable--Slim or Fat Boy
Injector, all of them are good
SE such as the MMOC

You could stop there but who would want to?

 

[Northstonehill]

Late entry:

Gillette HD 500 Rocket.

I used it about a year ago but wasn't getting very close shaves with it. I tried it last week with a Gillette Sharp Edge (yellow pack) and adjusted my angle a bit- made all the difference. Now I'm getting BBS shaves. I love the weight of it too. I've seen the Eclipse Red Ring on Ebay. Is it brass/nickel? How is the shave compared to some of the other vintage DEs mentioned above. Also, what were the years of production?

Thanks Much!

Congrats in re-finding the HD - it is indeed an awesome shaver. Perfect actually.

The Eclipse is a mild efficient shaver with a unique comb setup (kindda combined closed and open comb). I find it a perfect razor with perfect looks to boot. It is chromed brass (which makes replating impossible as no platers today will do chrome).

 

[CaerMooman]

The Red tip is a must for any collection ... even though it really doesn`t live up to its aggressive reputation.
The New SC is a razor I couldnt at first get on with; it took some getting used to before I could use it properly. Now its the one that gives the best shave .. its so manoeuvrable, and I`m convinced it gives a closer shave than the Red tip.

The Rocket HD is a good looking and good shave; the flair tips Rockets are quite mild .. I like to feel the blade, so they are pretty bland to use.

The Slim and Fatboy are faddy .. and quite bulky for under the nose.
The Super-adjustable just looks a bit gash!

Recently got a Brit Gillette Aristocrat #15 off ebay. Rhodium plated without a blemish on it and action so tight it feels brand new ... cant bring myself to use it yet! The Aristocrats are so pretty. Its easy to see why some of these 70+ year old razors look like new - they were simply too nice to use.

 

[Tester28]

what an awesome thread.

 

[Hannah's Dad]

The Red tip is a must for any collection ... even though it really doesn`t live up to its aggressive reputation.
The New SC is a razor I couldnt at first get on with; it took some getting used to before I could use it properly. Now its the one that gives the best shave .. its so manoeuvrable, and I`m convinced it gives a closer shave than the Red tip.

The Rocket HD is a good looking and good shave; the flair tips Rockets are quite mild .. I like to feel the blade, so they are pretty bland to use.

The Slim and Fatboy are faddy .. and quite bulky for under the nose.
The Super-adjustable just looks a bit gash!

Recently got a Brit Gillette Aristocrat #15 off ebay. Rhodium plated without a blemish on it and action so tight it feels brand new ... cant bring myself to use it yet! The Aristocrats are so pretty. Its easy to see why some of these 70+ year old razors look like new - they were simply too nice to use.

I received a #15 today as well. It’s remarkable in that it is in pristine condition, with the exception that the doors are completely devoid of rhodium. They are worn down to brass. It almost appears like rose gold. It’s just too beautiful to spoil with a replate.

 

[Twelvefret]

I received a #15 today as well. It’s remarkable in that it is in pristine condition, with the exception that the doors are completely devoid of rhodium. They are worn down to brass. It almost appears like rose gold. It’s just too beautiful to spoil with a replate.

Congratulations.

 

[Clouds]

Gibbs Adjustable

 

[Hannah's Dad]

Congratulations.

Thanks, Charles!

 

[mata_66]

Through the years I discovered I enjoy SE razors more than DE but, as this is the DE section, I thought I could give my 2 cents based entirely on the old golden YMMV rule.

I don't love TTO razors. I owned/own several: 1949 Executive, 1960 Toggle, 1960 Fatboy, 1966 Slim (Birth Year), 1952 and 1955 Super Speeds, Schick Krona. No one gives me the same enjoyable quality shaves I get from three-piece razors.
Amongst vintage Gillettes my favorites are The New SC and the Pre-War Tech.
Yesterday I got a stellar shave from a 1956 British Tech. I don't like the short, ultra-light aluminum ball end handle but with a longer and slightly heavier handle borrowed from the RR Hawk V1, the old British Tech upgraded to a superb performing razor.

 

[Sharp_Obsession]

British Aristocrat Jr.
Rocket HD500

Which British Aristocrat Jr? I've been looking into these and I'm curious which one you love. Designs changed a few times. It is my understanding that the earliest is most medium aggressive and they got less aggressive with time.

 

[Sharp_Obsession]

I no longer collect or use vintage, but the must haves (safety bar), in terms of shaving performance, are:

Aristocrat Jr.
Aristocrat #58 and #16
Schick Krona
Ranger Tech.

Open combs are another story.

Well sure, I'll keep this 7 year old thread alive.

In order of preference:

British Fat Handle Tech
Aristocrat Jr.
Prewar Fat Handle Tech
Rocket HD
Slim

Again which British Aristocrat Jr. do you have? mr-razor.com shows the different models over the years.

There is:

1947 USA
1948 British
1949-1952 British
1953-1954 British

I haven't found much on the first USA one. But the 1948 is rumored to be the most aggressive and efficient. Found in #48 and #49 sets and had the same head as the #21 Aristocrat.

The 1949-1952 was more mild and shared the head from the #16 Aristocrat. The Jr were #51 and #53 depending the case.

The 1953-1954 switched to the diamond Gillette baseplate while the earlier models had flat baseplates. Some were aluminum and some were brass. They also went to Nickel coating instead of rhodium. This generation is identical to a Rocket and only the case distinguishes it. They were sold in #53 case. Not known officially as an Aristocrat Jr the same razor could be found in a #58 for celebration of Her Majesty's coronation. The #58 set remained until is was discontinued in 1958. The razor shared the same head with #22/#66 Aristocrats.

 

[Sharp_Obsession]

I love my

British Aristocrat #21 (2nd gen)
60's Fatboy
Gibbs Adjustable

I also have

50's Superspeed
Slim

They are probably must haves. The Superspeed is more mild and was great early in my wet shaving journey, but I have moved to more medium aggressive razors. The adjustables help with that transition. The Slim is fine, but I just prefer the Fatboy.

I am no vintage expert and have only dabbled. I am sure there are more I need to explore

 

[mawashi]

My must haves are razors that would help anyone understand what a great razor of its type would be.

Mild 3 piece: A prewar Tech or English Tech
OC 3 piece: New SC or LC
TTO: Super Speed or Rocket
Adjustable: Slim or Fat boy

Like a set of kitchen knives these are all a guy needs to get the job done without these razors you'll be missing on a piece of the puzzle.

 

[Tester28]

Again which British Aristocrat Jr. do you have? mr-razor.com shows the different models over the years.

There is:

1947 USA
1948 British
1949-1952 British
1953-1954 British

I haven't found much on the first USA one. But the 1948 is rumored to be the most aggressive and efficient. Found in #48 and #49 sets and had the same head as the #21 Aristocrat.

I have owned the 1948 Aristocrat Jr....I got it right after I started liking the shave my #21 provided.
I figured the same head would provide the same shave.

Two things I learned were:

1. That head looks best in rhodium and with the heft the #21 or #15 SB provide.

2. The shave was not the same because the rest of the razor was kinds light and relatively flimsy.

I could not get rid of mine fast enough....of course the YMMV rule always applies.

 

[BBS-1]

If one existed everyone would have one and there would be an almost 100% consensus that it is the best.

 

[Northstonehill]

I received a #15 today as well. It’s remarkable in that it is in pristine condition, with the exception that the doors are completely devoid of rhodium. They are worn down to brass. It almost appears like rose gold. It’s just too beautiful to spoil with a replate.

Just wonderful, Dan