Please help id British Gillette Rocket

[romsitsa]

Hello,

it just arrived, didn't have time to clean it up. The handle looks like a TV special, but it has US endcaps and the lower profile head.
There is only a Gillette diamond on the bottom of the plate and Made in England, no other marking anywhere.

What exactly is this razor and what case should it go with?

Thank you

Adam

 

[BSAGuy]

Nice score. Congrats.

 

[Jacquers]

Google 'Gillette Rocket, the refined D.E.' Looks like #20 on that list

Edit: sorry... not the same handle. But Gillette had so many tiny variations that we shouldn't be too surprised to see something like this. Maybe they ran out of the correct end caps. All the photos I could find of a flare tip TV Rocket have British style end caps, so you have a pretty unique combination there.

Nice find, enjoy!

 

[romsitsa]

Hello,

thank you both. Jacquers, it looks like a TV Special handle mated with a US style head, but it has no patent stamp.

Adam

 

[Copierguy]

It seems Gillette gross pollinated across the Atlantic once in a while. I have a "Milord Rocket" made in the US with Rocket end caps and TTO knob.

 

[romsitsa]

It cleanded up pretty well, was full of heavy grease like my other Rocket. Tried to look for a similar "hybrid", no luck till now. Are there other Rockets with no patent stamp?

Adam

 

[Jacquers]

No patent stamp or info at all? Not even patent pending? Some #58 Rockets have patent pending.

Can you please post some more photos of the underside and inside of the blade tray? This anomaly needs to be documented

 

[romsitsa]

No patent stamp or info at all? Not even patent pending? Some #58 Rockets have patent pending.

Can you please post some more photos of the underside and inside of the blade tray? This anomaly needs to be documented

Hello,

inside of blade tray is empty, underside has a Gillette diamond and made in England, nothing else. Will document it .

Adam

 

[Useless shaver]

That's curious, really. Head looks US but it's made in England, handle is TV special...

Congrats anyway, Adam!

 

[Prince of Darkness]

The head is not unusual on Flare Tip Rockets; I have one. I believe the US style ones are later, probably to cut costs. The combination with the TV special type handle is something I haven't seen before.

 

[Heresy]

I have the same razor in very good condition and am also interested, what exactly it is.
Maybe it's the razor out of a Traveller set. The Traveler Deluxe Set also has the same razor as the TV-Special.

I also have my grandfathers TV-Special Rocket, which is brighter than the one we have (and has a higher profile head).
I'm pretty confident, that this razor has not a rhodium but nickel plated handle.

 

[Heresy]

Here's a pic of both with the TV-Special on the right.

 

[romsitsa]

Love this forum
Heresy, mine is exactly like the one to the left, mine is nickel coated, I'd say yours too. Does your have patent number or any marking except for made in... and Gillette diamond?

Edgar dated it to the 60ies (US style head mated with a TV Special left over), I'd also vote for the 1960ies, but all razors from this era have some kind of patent marking in the head.

Adam

 

[Useless shaver]

A true in-house frankenrazor? Can't wait to know!

 

[nuclearblast]

A true in-house frankenrazor? Can't wait to know!

Probably we'll never know for sure, Juan Manuel.

I told Adam that I think it was made in the '60s mostly because of the US-style end caps. Not exactly sure when they started using these end caps but on Achim's site all the examples are from the '60s.

That, and the fact that its handle isn't rhodium probably also indicates that it wasn't made in '58.

 

[romsitsa]

Besides the end caps the head is also the smaller type that was introduced in the 60ies (based on US razors), but correct me if I'm wrong. I'd like to know when Gillette deleted patent stamps, my guess would be 70ies, but it would be too late to use surplus stock from 1958?

Adam

 

[Heresy]

Love this forum
Heresy, mine is exactly like the one to the left, mine is nickel coated, I'd say yours too. Does your have patent number or any marking except for made in... and Gillette diamond?

Edgar dated it to the 60ies (US style head mated with a TV Special left over), I'd also vote for the 1960ies, but all razors from this era have some kind of patent marking in the head.

Adam

There is neither a patent number nor an aggression level ("II" or so) on the razor. Only "Made in England" and the Gillette Logo.

 

[Useless shaver]

Probably we'll never know for sure, Juan Manuel.

I told Adam that I think it was made in the '60s mostly because of the US-style end caps. Not exactly sure when they started using these end caps but on Achim's site all the examples are from the '60s.

That, and the fact that its handle isn't rhodium probably also indicates that it wasn't made in '58.

Thanks, Edgar.

 

[mr-razor]

I´ve the same Rocket without patent numbers, but I´ve no information about it.

 

[romsitsa]

Hello All,

digged a bit and here is a theory.
These Rockets have the one piece endcaps, that appeared with the Slim adjustable in 1961.
US Superspeeds retained the original two piece endcaps till around 1964, I suspect to ease manufacture.
In England the one piece endcaps appeared on Flair tip rockets around 1960-61 (based on that some cases advertise Extra Blue Blades as New). These razors had the patent stamped into the baseplate.
The first Slim twists also have this style of base plate with patent number stamped, later (maybe 1964) the base plate was changed to the rectangular type and the patent number dissapears.

My guess is that the nickle plated, "TV Rocket" style handle, no patent stamped Rockets were the last style/batch produced in England somewhen around 1966-68.

Adam