Picked up a bargain on Ebay! Some id required please!

[Cornishman]

Hi All,
Just arrived a razor that I bought on Ebay last week for £7.50p including postage!!!
I think it's a Gillette Old Type? but there is no "Gillette" mark.
It's in great condition for its age. The color of it suggests silver plate rather than nickel IMO.
It says on the bottom plate "Made In England" and also "G/N"???
It weighs in at 49g
Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!! (I'm going to shave with it in the morning ).

 

[Maxime D.]

I've seen these head a couple times, always with a Old Type handle. I assume there are Gillette made but for some european market.

 

[Pedro Navaja]

What a beauty! I just picked up something similar in gold and US. No in that shape though. Interested in responses.

 

[Sled Dog]

Nice razor, my guess is that it is an English clone and not a Gillette

 

[MacDaddy]

Well, I can't help you with a specific manufacturer, but it's a clone of the Gillette ball-end Old Type. I've seen this "G/N" marking before, but the razor itself looks basically identical to ones I've seen marked "G.I. & Co.," which I believe would have been George Ibberson & Comapny. They were a cutlery company with a very long history, but were acquired by the Egginton Group in the early '80s. It's possible that they didn't actually make the razor themselves, and just commissioned some other whitelabel manufacturer to make them with their name on them, in the same way that Merkur made razors for Hoffritz, etc. Here's an example of one of these for comparison (source):





It's also more or the same as others that turn up stamped just "MADE IN ENGLAND" like this one:



SledDog also posted some nice side-by-side images like this one comparing that "MADE IN ENGLAND" razor with an actual Gillette ball-end Old Type over in the thread where I pulled the image above:



In all of these cases, note the fairly long cap studs that are almost as long as the threaded center post, and have almost a seam where their cylindrical body meets the hemispherical end rather than Gillette's smooth taper.

 

[Cornishman]

note the fairly long cap studs that are almost as long as the threaded center post, and have almost a seam where their cylindrical body meets the hemispherical end rather than Gillette's smooth taper.

I think you may be right about it being a clone. It looks too good to be that old. It's a shame, I thought I had a bargain. Now it might be a fake!
I will have to keep an eye out for a decent Gillette "old" type. I have never had the pleasure of shaving with one.

 

[Reevers]

Nice looking razor!

 

[zenless]

Don't write it off just because it's not a gillette!

 

[77TransAm]

Don't write it off just because it's not a gillette!

Yeah, it might still work just fine, even though it's not a gillette. Although, I know how you feel. I am a Gillette guy, that's all I own for razors and have no interest in anything else

 

[Ollie4ISU]

Give it a whirl. I have a Rotbart single ring clone that is basically indistinguishable from its Gillette inspiration. My guess is that will shave a lot like any ball handled type

 

[MacDaddy]

I think you may be right about it being a clone. It looks too good to be that old. It's a shame, I thought I had a bargain. Now it might be a fake!
I will have to keep an eye out for a decent Gillette "old" type. I have never had the pleasure of shaving with one.

Being a clone is not necessarily a bad thing. Also, I wouldn't necessarily think that it's a whole lot younger than the post-patent Old Types would have been either. After '21 (maybe earlier or later in various other jurisdictions depending on their patent laws) other manufacturers would have been free to copy the Old Type design since its patent protection had expired.

 

[zeeco]

Well, How does it shave???