Shocked and surprised!

S

smithismund

Messages
67
Hi All,

Rekindled my interest in wet shaving last year with a new DE and a few straights and felt it was time to dip a toe (chin?) into the world of SE. Picked up a lovely condition Ever Ready cheap on fleabay a few weeks ago and ordered some Gem blades from Connaught which arrived a couple of days ago.
What a shave these things give! Even allowing for my questionable competence with all things sharp, this gives as close a shave as I can get with my beast of a Thiers Issard straight which I've previously considered my benchmark. I'll still use my straights for the excitement factor, but this razor is likely to be my go to for a quick pre-work clean up, as a single pass is enough.
A couple of questions you may be able to help me with:
How many shaves do you expect from the Gem blades? I realise everyone's experience will be different, but as the blades aren't cheap I'm looking at running costs. Beard wise, think Desperate Dan.
Why on earth are these so overlooked? Cheap, give a great shave, look totally insane. What more could you ask?

I feel another branch to my RAD developing...

Andy.
 
Hi, yes great little shavers and much overlooked and underestimated. The Connaught blades are not long lasting at all, but I get 2 or maybe 3 good shaves each blade then it's bin time.
 
4 or 5 shaves for me using two passes with an Ever Ready Streamline. Only reason I can suggest for their relative "unpopularity" is not so much that people (like me) don't like them as that we didn't even know there were such desireable items until joining this Forum, or one like it.

JohnnyO. \:icon_razz:
 
Thanks for the advice chaps. Have managed three shaves off a blade so far by rinsing, drying and careful storage. This technique works well with Feathers and I can get a good number of shaves out of one blade if I am careful. At the price of these Gem blades I need to maximise my mileage!
 
Yup!

... and yes, collecting them can get addictive :D

DSC05352.JPG
 
And probably all for significantly less than my shockingly expensive (but desperately pretty) 7/8 Bijou de France. I can feel the collecting bug starting to bite again! Thanks for sharing.
 
Greetings

They are very nice shavers; I get the same number of shaves as JohnnyO ie from the stainless coated blades generally four sometimes five, but I nearly always bin them after four. Treet and Gem Blue star carbon blades are, for me, shorter lived, three shaves maximum.

Regards
Dick.
 
You are missing a 1912 though Paul...

One of these :icon_cheesygrin:

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Sorry going off topic a bit, I, like the others before me have said, get a maximum of 4 shaves from a blade then I have to bin them.
 
pjgh said:
... sweet dreams to the chosen :D

Now, I know you're an injector man and this is a little off topic, but this one is for you:

... oh, and just so you don't sleep too easy ...
Click to expand...

I get that your offhand injector homage was used as a diversion to set up any unsuspecting members for the next pic. Yeah, that last one is brutal.

I thank God something stopped me from looking at the thing head on. Even quick sideways glances are too much. Whew boy, I will not be looking at that Wheel of the Grotesque ever again I hope.
 
Oh, you will ... when there's a couple of Damaskeenes and a ray cap 1912 in due course ... it will be re-published ... and you will look at it in awe :D

Yeah, Ronnie - that ray cap is a catch! I'm sure when I started proper shaving, I saw a Damaskeene ray cap, but I'm blowed if I can find the detail now.

So, a big word of warning ... or a word of encouragement to smithismund. I said they get addictive ...
 
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