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I recently purchased what I thought to be a Rocket, it looks similar to a HD 500 although I am far from gemmed-up on these razors, so may be mistaken.
The razor has Patent Pending stamped on the inside of the blade tray but no Patent # and "Gillette Made In England" on the underside of the blade tray. I initially thought the silo doors had been polished to a micron of their life as there is a lustre to their shine, the familiar circular polish marks on the swan neck and it does not have the "white" shine of Rhodium, but I may be mistaken. One Silo door has a small stain, like a darkening or shaded spot, which I also suspect is the result of over polishing. The TTO knob has a wonderful, weighty, damped action, akin to a tuner knob on Japanese Hi-Fi of yesteryear. The razor weighs in at 72g on my kitchen scales. I have read some of the great threads on Rockets but still not certain about the ID as there appear to be differences on the swan neck between different models which does not correspond with the blade tray markings.
The razor is a good shaver but does not quite have the sweetness of my Flare Tip Rockets, maybe a tad more efficient at the expense of smoothness, but this could be due to the increased weight or the gaps could be out. Feels great in the hand but not as ergonomic as the Flare Tip, if that is not a contradiction.
Any ideas on the ID the razor and date?
The razor has Patent Pending stamped on the inside of the blade tray but no Patent # and "Gillette Made In England" on the underside of the blade tray. I initially thought the silo doors had been polished to a micron of their life as there is a lustre to their shine, the familiar circular polish marks on the swan neck and it does not have the "white" shine of Rhodium, but I may be mistaken. One Silo door has a small stain, like a darkening or shaded spot, which I also suspect is the result of over polishing. The TTO knob has a wonderful, weighty, damped action, akin to a tuner knob on Japanese Hi-Fi of yesteryear. The razor weighs in at 72g on my kitchen scales. I have read some of the great threads on Rockets but still not certain about the ID as there appear to be differences on the swan neck between different models which does not correspond with the blade tray markings.
The razor is a good shaver but does not quite have the sweetness of my Flare Tip Rockets, maybe a tad more efficient at the expense of smoothness, but this could be due to the increased weight or the gaps could be out. Feels great in the hand but not as ergonomic as the Flare Tip, if that is not a contradiction.
Any ideas on the ID the razor and date?
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