Razor ID - re-mounted Le Grelot?

[djktrumpet]

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I bought this razor last year on ebay, and would welcome any comments on what it is. It came in a "Bismarck Solingen" box, and the white (plastic?) scales are inlaid with that name. The blade is a Le Grelot with a decorated spine and etched "High Class" decoration on the blade. AFAIK Bismarck razors are usually associated with German blades, not the French Le Grelot. I suspect the blade's been re-mounted at some point, but does anyone have any ideas on this?
Also, there's a little pitted area on the front of the blade, and some very light tarnishing - almost like a watermark - on the back. I've tried gently polishing at these with Maas, but to little effect. Truth is, it shaves so damn beautifully, I'm unwilling to do anything more agressive to it, for fear it'll mess up the blade!
All advice gratefully received - I'm a complete novice at any sort of restoration.

Cheers,

David

 

[curtis909]

dont know much but that is one pretty razor

 

[gugi]

yes somebody put new scales on the legrelot (i consider the blade most of the razor and the scales more or less a functional accessory).
you have to decide how shiny you want it and how much you're willing to invest in that. sanding off light pitting won't change the grind dramatically.
if you don't want to experiment on this razor you can try another blade and you'll find out how slow process hand sanding is.
or you can do it on the thick part of the blade near the spine as that has plenty of metal so it won't make any difference to the razor performance.
or if you want to be completely safe try removing the pitting on the shank.

 

[scottish steve]

To be honest, I'd leave it alone. As long as there's nothing which will affect the structure of the blade, I wouldn't worry. It looks great- a very fortunate mis-sale courtesy of ebay.