Vintage Gillette Convert - Good Golly These Razors ROCK!

[Kramerica]

A confession: for the longest time (well over a year) I more or less discounted all of the praise for vintage Gillettes and felt that my Merkur lineup was as good or better. I added a Tradere, and figured I had finished my razor acquisitions.

Then, in a trade I ended up with a user grade Aristocrat. I bought a Slim and Fatboy on a whim. Cleaned them all up with your help, and started using them.

Wow. The Aristocrat gives a terrific shave with minimal effort. The Slim and Fatboy I start on 8 for the first pass then dial it up to 9 for the 2nd and touch up pass. The angles are a little different than a modern Merkur, but once I got the hang of it I have gotten nothing less than a DFS+, and BBS is now pretty much the norm. No irritation to speak of, and no weepers for weeks now that I have the angle down.

Gillette had it completely dialed in (pun intended) when they hit this stretch. I am seriously contemplating selling the entire Merkur collection I have and using the proceeds to acquire more Gillettes.

Question: I am looking at a Red Tip, and a 1970s Super Adjustable. I want to eventually end up with a Rhodium Slim and Fatboy. Any others which are similar to a FB/Slim on 8-9 and the Aristocrat? Any must haves from the 20s and 30s which are similar in aggression?

THANKS FOR THE HELP AND ADVICE ALONG THE WAY!!!

 

[dcobranchi]

Any must haves from the 20s and 30s which are similar in aggression?

IMO a cased Bostonian in silver is one of the prettiest razors ever Gillette made. Wonderful shaves, too.

 

[Mojo88]

A confession: for the longest time (well over a year) I more or less discounted all of the praise for vintage Gillettes and felt that my Merkur lineup was as good or better. I added a Tradere, and figured I had finished my razor acquisitions.

Then, in a trade I ended up with a user grade Aristocrat. I bought a Slim and Fatboy on a whim. Cleaned them all up with your help, and started using them.

Wow. The Aristocrat gives a terrific shave with minimal effort. The Slim and Fatboy I start on 8 for the first pass then dial it up to 9 for the 2nd and touch up pass. The angles are a little different than a modern Merkur, but once I got the hang of it I have gotten nothing less than a DFS+, and BBS is now pretty much the norm. No irritation to speak of, and no weepers for weeks now that I have the angle down.

Gillette had it completely dialed in (pun intended) when they hit this stretch. I am seriously contemplating selling the entire Merkur collection I have and using the proceeds to acquire more Gillettes.

Question: I am looking at a Red Tip, and a 1970s Super Adjustable. I want to eventually end up with a Rhodium Slim and Fatboy. Any others which are similar to a FB/Slim on 8-9 and the Aristocrat? Any must haves from the 20s and 30s which are similar in aggression?

THANKS FOR THE HELP AND ADVICE ALONG THE WAY!!!

If you already have a Slim and a Fatboy in decent shape, I wouldn't worry about getting rhodium plated models at this time. They are nice to look at,but the extra cash could go to getting something like a New Standard or at the cost of those 2 replates, a Toggle would be close to that combination. Early on I passed on several open comb razors that I now wish I had bought. If you get the opportunity I would take a look at open combs.

 

[coolbus18]

IMO a cased Bostonian in silver is one of the prettiest razors ever Gillette made. Wonderful shaves, too.

+1+1+1 I have one also. Gosh, they really are pretty and the shave is fantastic for me. Enjoy!

 

[rxonmymind]

Seems to me you prefer aggressive razors so definitely stick to open combs. A Red tip will be a minimal improvement over something dialed at 9 on an adjustable. Even though I have one to sell you I think your money is better spent as others have suggested. So definitely look for open combs. Even the TTO o/c such as the Senator might be up your alley.
Cheers.

Peruse the thread "Brotherhood of the open combs". Some really good razors in there.

 

[Mick]

Face it....

You need to get all of the Gillette models so that you get over your Gillettest attitude

 

[Dalejr]

Gillettes are all I use. If you've got a good budget you owe it to yourself to try them all.

 

[Kilroy6644]

I love vintage Gillettes. I've got 10, and I've given away 4 others, 2 of which I'd like back (but I was winning converts, so it was for a good cause).

 

[facetime]

My first opinion of a "must have" would be a long combed New. A nice aggressive yet easy shave!
...

+1 I'm with KC on this one, the LC NEW is a must try. I really, really like my bar-handle version.

 

[Kramerica]

Good suggestions everyone. Clearly, I have a lot of ebay-ing to do. I don't mind paying the ebay premium for the convenience, and you can get decent deals if you are patient.

The Senator sounds like a good place to start, and I would like to have a Toggle some day.....just not sure I can shave with a $350 razor.

The only OC I have tried was the Tradere OC....I sold the head b/c it caused too much irritation. Kept the handle and SB head...though that may go on the BST pretty soon. Are the Gillette OCs a bit tamer than the Tradere?

 

[bosseb]

You need to get all of the Gillette models so that you get over your Gillettest attitude

Listen to da man ^^^^^^^!!

 

[chilliman64]

Gillette Senator

 

[Battou62]

What Merkur models do you have that you might be getting rid of?

 

[Bob Roberts]

Hey bosseb,
What is the razor second from the left?

 

[LoveThatBurn]

I did a few shaves with a de89 then got a red super speed, it was alright.
First shave with my aristocrat + an astra was amazing.

 

[bosseb]

Hey bosseb,
What is the razor second from the left?

It's my Cooncatbob old type Improved handle in bronze and chemically treated to look like it has been dug out of a WWI trench! Better picture of all my BRWs here:

​

 

[Kramerica]

Cooncatbob did good work, may he RIP.

 

[Kramerica]

Battou,

Still deciding, but probably a 38C, 39C and a Futur.

 

[fsturnz]

I don't have a lot, but I love each and every vintage Gillette that I have tried. Each has it's own feel, and they're all slightly different. Do your research and try as many as you can...it's all fun!