Tech gone retro

[Jake]

These kissing cousin British Techs resemble something that might have been made last year to inspire nostalgia for the 50s or 60s. I know that's not the case, and wanted to share some photos of these little beauties -- the likes of which I had not previously seen. One came cased (in a bakelite case), the other on its own. They have plastic barrels with the traditional nickle-plated heads. I only have these 2 colors -- perhaps there are other colors as well.

Mr-Razor's site doesn't have any images of this Tech variant, so I ask our community of experts for further insight -- any idea when these were made and are there any advertisements for them? Or other comments?

Thanks.

 

[gaseousclay]

whoa, nice. I've never seen this kind before. i've got the British thin handle Tech which mr razor has listed as made in 1948 I think. judging from the head they look like they could've been made in the 60's.

 

[Hoos]

I don't think those are Gillette handles at all. The ball-tip does not resemble anything Gillette did.

And, AFAIK, they never made colored handles. You might have gotten a Tech razor head, but those don't appear to be Gillette Tech razors.

 

[tom myers]

I tend to agree with Hoos. I feel further suspicion that these are something that someone retrofitted with custom handles by the fact that the two heads, although both from Techs, are not the same as each other. There were, of course, many varients of the Tech heads over the years. I suspect whomever made these frankenrazors just used whatever Techs he happened to find and applied his handles.

Regards,
Tom

 

[RichGem]

+1 to Hoos & Tom.

Nevertheless, really nice looking razors.

 

[Jake]

Even though these two razors appear in the same photos, they were not purchased at the same time. It is certainly possible that there was some handle/barrel maker who was selling handles to use with a variety of Tech heads, but these 2 razors came from totally different sources -- both in the UK, but not from the same area or person.

Let's withhold judgment until our unofficial razor historians weigh in on this -- Achim & Guido -- any comments?

 

[kingfisher]

Authentic or not, I like the red one.

 

[gaseousclay]

were the 'stamped' logos only featured on Gillette heads during the 60's or did they make an appearance prior to that?

 

[Hoos]

This is one of the reasons I hate the modding of razors. It creates unnecessary confusion.

Still, those are not colors that Gillette would have used, IMHO, and the way the ball-tip appears to be connected to the plastic handle is also not a method Gillette used. Nothing like that handle appears in either Krumholz or Waits' Compendium of Razors - at least not in the Gillette sections.

The mixing of a plastic-handled razor with a Bakelite box suggests, to me, at an attempt to mislead the purchaser. The different Tech heads, while not a complete giveaway, are both different. The one with the red handle appears to have a travel Tech head.

It doesn't mean that they're not great shavers or that they don't look nice, but these are not complete razors (handle and head) manufactured by Gillette.

 

[Jake]

I'm not disappointed if they are not 100% Gillette-made, they were pretty inexpensive as purchases, but do you think that is the bottom line on these razors -- modified and customized by some former owner/user? Or is the jury still out?

 

[cooncatbob]

The head with the red handle isn't necessarily from a travel tech, but it's is late production, the embossed heads were made from plated zinc and are lighter then the plated brass heads.

 

[spinyeel]

The handles look suspiciously like they belong to a Chinese made Flying Eagle razor.

 

[newmikemac]

I think Spinyeel is right about the handles being Chinese-made Flying Eagle ones. Here are some photos showing a Flying Eagle DE in its original box. I suspect that the handle is compatible with the Tech heads.

Mike

 

[luvmysuper]

The handles look suspiciously like they belong to a Chinese made Flying Eagle razor.

"By Jove, Watson, I think you've got it!..."

 

[e sinker]

wow very interesting, I have never seen those before

 

[taffy]

I like them, they are rather cool!