NOS ( New Old Stock) Leresche 901 Open Comb

[GustavoUlate25]

Greetings

Some days ago I bought a New Old Stock Leresche 901 Open Comb safety razor from Etsy for about 12$ + 7$ shipping :

Vintage NOS Leresche 901 Safety Razor Made in France

The seller in particular has a lot of these on stock:

I heard that Leresche made some good stuff ! Has anybody shaved with this particular razor model. ? Is it Aggresive, Mild, Efficient?

Also.... if possible. I have two other razors : A merkur 34c (too mild and inefficient) and a fatip zebrano open comb (too aggressive and rough on your face). How does the leresche compare to these two ?

Thanks !

 

[patten1969]

Nice catch! Leresche razors are excellent. I don't recall it being very aggressive, but I'm in the camp that thinks technique trumps aggressiveness. Enjoy it!

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

The seller states that the 901 was not marked Leresche as it was intended for wholesalers (probably went into a lot of travel kits). If the design is otherwise the same as the other Leresche razors, this is a great buy.

I have a short-screw 3 piece Leresche, which is similar to the one the Etsy seller has. I love mine, it's the best OC razor in my rotation and is one of the three best DEs I own ( the Wardonia Standard and the Schotz slant being the others). It's very close, extremely comfortable, bbs every time for me. I might grab one of these just for grins.

 

[Peter's coin]

I bought a similar razor from the same seller. It has no markings, as well. It came in a metal case with an ugly yellow liner. I decided to reline the case and when I removed the lining, found the backing was partly composed of French newspaper. I even found a date(!): 1934 (bottom panel, lower right above the upper case “PARIS”), but it is not a masthead and I can’t read French. The three pieces don’t match in color, so I was thinking it was a Frankenrazor, but I guess this is just how they were made. And agree, it is a great shaver! I use it as a travel razor.

 

[tonich]

That seller has many Leresche and some Gillette too.
One to watch for sure.

 

[BigJ]

Congratulations! Nice razor!

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

Mine arrived yesterday, will take it for a spin today. The handle is thinner than my other Leresche razors, and the comb geometry is different too. On my others, the teeth at the four corners of the head sit a little higher than the rest of the teeth, producing a noticeable gap. On this one, all the teeth are flush with each other. Also, the baseplate is made of a thinner metal.

 

[dangerousdon]

I have a Leresche that looks similar to the OP's but is in a bakelite box. I will say that mine is on par if not more aggressive that the Fatip Grande.

 

[mretrain]

Hi guys, new here. I ordered one from the same seller (too cool-looking and cheap to pass up), but it hasn’t arrived yet. Am I mistaken in thinking that it would force a pretty shallow blade angle due to its flat profile and relatively straight teeth? I’m looking forward to seeing what it shaves like. Salty O’Rourke, you were going to try yours out, do you have any impressions for us?

 

[Rhody]

Very cool. I hope they sell out by tomorrow when I'm at work and my rad kicks back in

 

[Salty O'Rourke]

Hi guys, new here. I ordered one from the same seller (too cool-looking and cheap to pass up), but it hasn’t arrived yet. Am I mistaken in thinking that it would force a pretty shallow blade angle due to its flat profile and relatively straight teeth? I’m looking forward to seeing what it shaves like. Salty O’Rourke, you were going to try yours out, do you have any impressions for us?

I tried it - it is not nearly as smooth as my other Leresche-marked razors. To me it shaved more like an old New Improved Gillette that I have. It was a decent shave but a little on the rough side.

 

[GustavoUlate25]

I tried it..... it is a good shaver with some literally.... rough edges. The open comb has some pointy edges that nick you while shaving. However after about 3 hours of sanding off the rough edges, I obtained what felt like a decent razor. Another solution which accidentally presented itself and gives the best shave of all my razors, is combining the top cap and handle of the leresche 901 with the fatip open comb. This frankenrazor had all of the virtues of the leresche, the efficient shave, the closeness of the fatip, an amazing lack of irritation ( no razor had ever done this before), no alignment problems (unlike the fatip), good handling, both on lereshce and fatip handles, all brass razor (if you use fatip's handle), BBS on a 2 pass shave ! It is smooth, forgiving, yet gives a super close shave ! The slightly wider pins of the leresche head prevent any misalignment of the blade, and the shape of the head, combined with the fatip open comb make it a smooth yet extremely efficient shaver! Also interesting to note is the fact that the leresche head is compatible with fatip handles, just in case...... Amazing combo !

PS: Would love to post photos of the combo..... can someone please explain to me how to do so..... thanks !

 

[GustavoUlate25]

Thank you all for your responses !

 

[shoshani]

I grabbed one of these, and when it arrived yesterday I told the seller that its light weight and fairly delicate appearance reminded me of a fine watch. He responded "don't let that fool you, it's a fairly aggressive shaver". He wasn't kidding. I tried it this morning with my workhorse blade (green Astra) and soap (Cella from the large block, lathered with an Omega 48 in a 1 cup Pyrex bowl) and I could feel as well as hear the feedback as I did the first pass. No nicks or cuts or weepers or anything like that, but a really smooth shave WTG, XTG and ATG in a few trouble spots.

It's almost as though the thinness of the top cap and bottom plate give less dampening or resistance to the blade. I'm not sure whether that'a a thing, but those parts are noticeably thinner and lighter than many modern day old type open comb razors, at least the ones with pot metal heads.

Two things I will observe right off the bat: the teeth of the open comb are beveled on the ends, and if you aren't careful they will catch on your skin. (This doesn't do much beyond get the user's attention - it doesn't hurt or anything.) The other thing is that I found blade alignment to be somewhat tricky; you can't just pop in a blade and close the razor up, because it will tend to sit at somewhat of a slanted angle. You have to position it carefully before locking the handle down. I suspect this is due to modern blade thinness plus the Probak style slit-and-punch, which can cause a tiny bit of "give" when the blade is curved under pressure; vintage Leresche blades seem to be of the original Gillette three hole punch variety, and undoubtedly were an easier fit for the pins on an old type razor.

Overall I was quite impressed with this razor. I'll probably be looking to add another Leresche or two in the future.