What's new

Who won the Gillette 1903?..link

I thought it went a little high, considering condition. But, that's the 'bay.
Just depends on how bad you want something. Lord knows I've over-payed
for some items (in other people's eyes) but I just "had" to have it. :001_rolle
(I did not purchase this razor)
 
It's a Double Ring - first Gillette razor made. This one in particular is an early one, although lessened in value because of condition and lack of case.

http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Double_Ring

I paid around $250.00 for mine, with case, but was in much better shape. $192 isn't all that bad really given the general prices for DE's of late, but higher than I think I would have paid, given condition. That said, I already have one, so not sure I wouldn't have if it was my first :).

My noobiness is gonna come out here but why the high price? Rarity?
 
Without some sort of trustworthy documentation, I think 1903 seems unlikely. In the 1918 company newsletter Nickerson wrote that he had no record of commercial shipments until January 1904. He mentions pre-production razors that were handed out in 1902-1903 for trial purposes. But there would have been perhaps 100 of those, while they probably shipped over 90,000 razors in 1904. Probably the first half of them were not numbered, and the patent was not granted until November so they would be "Appl'd For" too. All else being equal, you ought to see 500 or more unnumbered 1904 double rings for every 1903 example.

See http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Gillette_Timeline for references: http://books.google.com/books?id=ECuyAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA75#v=onepage&q&f=false is the main one.
 
Without some sort of trustworthy documentation, I think 1903 seems unlikely. In the 1918 company newsletter Nickerson wrote that he had no record of commercial shipments until January 1904. He mentions pre-production razors that were handed out in 1902-1903 for trial purposes. But there would have been perhaps 100 of those, while they probably shipped over 90,000 razors in 1904. Probably the first half of them were not numbered, and the patent was not granted until November so they would be "Appl'd For" too. All else being equal, you ought to see 500 or more unnumbered 1904 double rings for every 1903 example.

See http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Gillette_Timeline for references: http://books.google.com/books?id=ECuyAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA75#v=onepage&q&f=false is the main one.

i love that Gillette timeline link....genius
 
I've always referred to the Pat App For ones as 1903/04, the early serial numbers as 1904 and then on from the wiki dates. Is that correct?
 
Ahh I knew it was the first razor :) I guess i should have stopped and thought about it before I posted it. Gained some other knowledge aswell so a win win :)
 

Intrigued

Bigfoot & Bagel aficionado.
I've always referred to the Pat App For ones as 1903/04, the early serial numbers as 1904 and then on from the wiki dates. Is that correct?

That's pretty much what I do. I refer to Pat. Appl'd For with no serial no. as 1903/04, Pat. Appl'd For with serial no. as mid. to late 1904.

According to "Krumholz" the first 55,000 or so razors were unnumbered and during the year of 1904, the changeover was made to serial numbers. The first 25,424 serial numbered razors still carried the Pat. Appl'd For.
 
I am not saying that there were no 1903 razors, just that an unnumbered double-ring with unknown provenance is roughly 500 times more likely to be 1904. The "1903/04" designation is reasonable enough. A 1903 claim would be plausible with a good paper trail, too. But this ebay listing asserted 1903 without providing any evidence, so I wanted to make folks aware of the odds against it.
 
Top Bottom