Unknown Gillette?

[quailrunner]

Hi,

I was very fortunate to be able to buy a razor and blade collection from the widow of a man who worked for Gillette about 30-35 years, mainly in England but then in the US. I am trying to find more information about the two razors pictured below. The name is “Gilletin.” My guess is that they were made by Gillette for a foreign market, but I am not sure. They both open by turning the top of the handle. The second one says “Good Morning” on it. Perhaps they are prototypes.

 

[tominabox1]

I'd highly doubt this is a genuine gillette. The finish just isnt there, even for a prototype. If the name isnt a dead giveaway, the fit and finish is, the materials are much thinner and cheaper looking than any of the vintage gillettes.

 

[Blue-EyedSon]

Very interesting finds. I don't have any information for you, but I'm curious to know wether those are adjustables.

 

[johnmrson]

Just a copy by the looks of it.

 

[quailrunner]

Hi,

This collector worked for Gillette. He would not have had any forgeries. I checked the price designation in the photo. The price is in Indian rupees. I suspect the razor was made for India and marketed as "Gilletin." Perhaps a B&B member from India could shed some light on this.

These razors are not adjustable.

 

[LinuxMintyFresh]

I've seen photos of modern razors that have either that, or a similar name on them, from what I thought was China. I think they are rip-offs, but I honestly have no reason above what's been mentioned already in this thread.

 

[Go West Young Man]

Looks like you have the "Rolax watch" or "Channal bag" of the razor world!
I wouldn't call that a forgery, more a knock-off or copy. It's not inconceivable that a Gillette employee would have been interested in collecting such items.

 

[quailrunner]

Oh, but you're so wrong. This Gillette associate collected razors that Gillette made for many of the foreign markets; Germany, Phillipines, India, to name just a few.

 

[ambuco]

If the "original owner" worked for gillette and these were made for the foreign markets,have you tried contacting gillette? I tried once about 4 months ago and am still waiting for a response...I am still new and do not know too much about the many different gillette razors,but,some of the more longtime members,have the collectors/code books on razors..are there any #s on them?

 

[quailrunner]

Hi,

There are no numbers on the razors. Gillette is not very hospitable to collectors. It appears to have no interest in maintaining archives of the razors produced since its beginning.

 

[Hoos]

I'm leaning toward either knockoff or . Even if the original owner was a collector, collectors get taken from time to time.

A Google search turns up nothing. A search of the USPTO trademark database turns up nothing (and Gillette would have trademarked "Gillettin" if they used it). Gillette would not have put anything like "Good Morning" on the butterfly doors. You can see rough spots on the metal - unfinished looking, and Gillette wouldn't have sold razors that looked unmilled. The baseplate design isn't anything they did, either.

DE shaving is popular in Asia and India, and they still make new razors. So, it may not be a knockoff, per se. But it's not a razor that Gillette made and sold.

 

[mirrorimij]

A search of "Gillettin" on eBay turns up some new razors being sold out of India. Those don't look like they have any affiliation with the Gillette company. However, none look the the one pictured above.

 

[fidjit]

There are a number of Gillettin references on the web.

Ebay has some Gillettin razors for sale currently

The closest I can find from a manufacture point of view is here

But the link is dead now. See Left Hand Side Nav Bar ( this is from a cached page ).

Possible he worked in patents and was checking out the "clones" ???

 

[Copierguy]

I'm guessing that the wife did not take notes when her husband used to talk about his collection.....

I would love to see pics of other razors he had....

 

[texbilly]

I would love to see pics of other razors he had....

Same thought, Tom. Might shed some needed light on this mystery.

quailrunner - thanks for sharing!

 

[quailrunner]

Hi,

In the collection were about 9 prototype razors that were used in the Gillette/AutoStrop trial of 1931. Each razor is tagged with the name of the court, date, and other info. I will try to post some of them in the next few days.

You've all shed some good light on the Gilletin razor. The handle design looks very similar to a Gillette, but your remarks about the rest of the razor and no evidence of Gillette's hand in this one are very well taken.

Jerry

 

[Barbarian]

If he had stuff from the earlier trial, it could be a possiblility he researched patent infringement, misuse of trademarks, or something similar. This could easily lead to having knock off razors in his possession.

They are very interesing in any case.

The razors from the trial would be a real piece of Gillette history.

 

[wazazzle]

ditto... That's made in india. Believe it's made by Romer (http://www.romer-7.com/default.htm), the harbor freight tool of razors. They've made razors titled Gillettin and most recently changed the name to Rillette. You can tell the casting looks poor, but then again you never know. What's important is how does it shave ???

 

[Radar O\'Reilly]

I doubt Gillette would change their name/trademark spelling in a foreign country. Many companies choose names that don't mean something in a different language so if they sell it there, it won't be a joke. Things named by a company may change, as something Chevrolet calls a Nova in the US, would mean "NoGo" in Spanish speaking country.

 

[ShaveAddict]

Rillette
i doubt that it's possible to rip off a name badder than that.