Trio of gillettes

[Eric62]

I have just brought these 3 Gillette Razors the gold type one is quite heavy the first sliver one is very light indeed and the last one has got this round the bottom of the handle E266131 Hoping one of you experts can help on here please with date etc Many thanks & Happy Christmas to everybody

 

[Mick]

Two ball end tech razors and a old type.

The tech razors are slotted so post WWII

The old type looks like a mid to late 20's two piece model

The tech razors may have date codes on the bottom blade holder and the old type may have a serial number on the top/inside of the bottom plate

If they do you can look up the dates in the Wiki http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/US_Gillette_Dating_Information

 

[Eric62]

Here are the others

 

[Mick]

Yep, that is a 1920's two piece old type like the one I have. Look for a serial number on the top of the bottom razor plate. Not all will have a serial number but if you find one you can put the manufacture to a set year

They are great razors. Enjoy using it!!

 

[mistercitizen]

No crack in the handle on the Old Type? It looks like a beauty!! I personally love the heft of the ball end Tech handles. I stuff my Tech fat handles with tungsten putty to get the same kind of feel with those. Very nice looking razors!

Ben

 

[HoosierTrooper]

Gillette single ring and that date code means it was produced in 1917.

 

[Mick]

Gillette single ring and that date code means it was produced in 1917.

+!

Missed the date code in the OP

 

[MacDaddy]

If the serial number that you mentioned is stamped around the base of the handle tube below the knurling like the one below, then what you've almost certainly got there is a British-made Single Ring. I'm pretty sure that these serial numbers don't match up with the series from the Boston plant, and if that's true we don't really know for certain what year it would have been made. One possibility is that the ones made in England started with an "E" prefix initially to specify "England," much like the early Canadian razors seem to be prefixed with "C" or "PC," but that's entirely conjecture on my part.

Here's a thread that I started a while back about what I'm guessing is a razor similar to yours, and here's a photo of the serial number placement from that thread:

 

[MacDaddy]

Yep, that is a 1920's two piece old type like the one I have.

Wait a minute. The only two-piece Gillettes that I'm aware of are the NEW and NEW DeLuxe ones out of the British plant from the '30s. They did versions of the Criterion/Belmont and their Richwood that had a crimp in the handle to retain the inner barrel when it was unscrewed from the cap. Here are a couple of mine:

I vaguely recall seeing a Rotbart/Gillette crossover model that might have also been a two-piece, but I can't find a reference for that right now. Are you saying that you've got a post-patent Single Ring where the inner barrel doesn't come out of the handle tube?

Look for a serial number on the top of the bottom razor plate. Not all will have a serial number but if you find one you can put the manufacture to a set year

The Single-Ring-style Old Types that were made after the patent expiration in 1921 wouldn't have had a serial number stamped on them, but the ones before that would have always had one.

 

[Eric62]

Yes mine has the Number the same place as yours With the No E266131 here is a other photo of it in pieces cant find any other markings expect the word "Gillette" so would you say this was 1917 or 1930s I am getting a bit confused here what are the ball ended ones called and they more 1950s thank you for the advice given allready

 

[Mick]

I did not notice you were in the UK when I answered and hope that I have not confused you.

Your two other razors are Gillette Tech razors which were made after WWII because they have rectangular lather slots and the ones made before WWII have triangular shaped lather slots.

Under the head you "may" find a code date. This will be a letter on one side and a number on the other side. Code dates were started in 1950 so yours may or may not have the date. ALSO if your razors are British made and not US made they may or may not have a code date and it may or may not correspond with the same ones used on American made razors.

So there you have it... sort of... Maybe or maybe not

 

[Eric62]

Thanks very much

 

[HoosierTrooper]

Yeah I just saw the picture with the E serial number spelled out on the card, didn't see that it was stamped around the band. Porter is the man you need to listen too.

 

[celestino]

Great razors and enjoy them!

 

[MacDaddy]

Yes mine has the Number the same place as yours With the No E266131 here is a other photo of it in pieces cant find any other markings expect the word "Gillette" so would you say this was 1917 or 1930s

Just an educated guess, really, but I'd say it was earlier than 1917. For one thing, Gillette's first plant in England, which was in Leicester, seems to have been closed sometime during 1915, presumably because of WWI. And they didn't get a new factory up and running again until 1921, this time in Slough, and by then they wouldn't have been serial numbering any Old Types. The Leicester plant was running as early as 1909, so theoretically you could be looking at anytime between there and 1915.

Incidentally, where is the "Gillette" that you mentioned seeing on the razor?

what are the ball ended ones called and they more 1950s thank you for the advice given allready

As turtle mentioned, those are both Gillette Techs. The lighter of the two looks like it might be one similar to the one below, with an aluminum handle and guard plate. If either or both of them are English-made models then it'll be a little harder to pin them down to a date, since they didn't start date coding their razors until much, much later (i.e., almost not at all). You can at least narrow them down to after WWII, as turtle also mentioned, and before the early '60s when they changed the head design slightly. So the '50s plus a few years on either end is more or less what you're looking at there. The aluminum one is very likely early '50s, but not definitively.