7 O'clock Razor Collection
- Thread starter Cloobster
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I think (please correct me, folks) that Minora was a South African brand (Dutch? British? Colonial) and Nacet one of the French Colonial African nations.
I had a rough idea that Minora was Brazilian and Nacet Asian. But Permatek of Turkey was originally Scottish...
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Nacet now focussed on the Asian market makes sense as there were extensive French colonial interests im that part of the world - it's about brand familiarity. I know from the actual Nacet razors I've owned, they were British made for the French market.
Continuing that ...
"Gillette started manufacturing operations in South Africa in 1954. Minora was an old South African brand that Gillette acquired. For whatever reason, Minora blades were being produced in France in the 1950s."
Gillette Minora
Browsing WCS and saw this. Never seen this blade before. Only know about the Gillette colors. What exactly are these? Are they just a re-branding the Russian Greens?
www.badgerandblade.com
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Dave in KY
Monkeying Around
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I've got a couple too
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I have a 7 o’Clock NEW and the Minora version. The first is mild yet reasonably efficient and good for me so I’ll be keeping it but the second is significantly more aggressive and can therefore go to a more deserving home. The Minora has little T-bars to assist with blade locking/seating whereas the 7 is just the usual slotted design as can be seen above. The 7’s original handle is woeful but the Minora, or at least the one I have, has a decent ball-end effort. Of course, it not be the original. Interesting ‘badge engineering’.
That is quite interesting - I kind of wonder whether the GROM razor had any relations at all to the polish special forces going under the same name! Could be just a coincidence. I’m not sure how long they operated - I believe they got disbanded in 90s and then recreated at some point after 2000sWhat a labour of love! Super collection!
Now, just for fun ... here's a GROM!
Personally, I think when the British New came onto the market Gillette took the opportunity to not so much wipe out competition that they had bought out but embrace the brand names (and so the familiar name within those customer bases) but replace the razor with their own. I think it is highly possible that 7 O'Clock was a brand local to, say, Sheffield and coincidental that Gaisman owned that trademark elsewhere.
GROM was a Polish brand, from what scant information I've managed to find. We also saw these razors (and the bakelite type) under the Nacet brand, Minora, Rotbart and others (whose names escape me at this time of night).
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Super to see the collection growing!
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- #26
Not a lot left to go but, some of these are quite rare now and don't turn up often. Notable omissions are;
Three of the original single blade sets from the early 1900's. All the same razor but different packaging. I have the No. 22 Pocket set in the bottom of the picture.
No. 20 Standard set
No. 21 Nickel Set
No. 23 Tourist set (I know this exists but can't even find a picture of it)
7 o'clock Tech with bakelite handle
7 o'clock Tech with metal handle
Finally, a pack of the Gillette 7 o'clock Super Stainless blades in blue wrappers (Russian made). These have the same pack design as the current blades but were discontinued around 2010 for the black packet (Indian made) readily avaliable today.
There may be other items I haven't discovered yet. It's all part of the journey.
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More likely to be marketing related to the famous Grom class destroyers designed/built in England during the mid 30s for the Polish navy.
You can visit Groms sister, Błyskawica, in Gdynia. Amazing service history.
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That's what I felt like that a bit - I do have a reproduction patch of grom here, and it's been done in similiar 'curved' writing like on the razor. But I guess it could match both, be it the special forces GROM, or like creamgravy said, grom class destroyer. Not sure if those destroyers also had such lighting as part of their symbols.
Now I want one of these GROM razors... Need to find one to add to my collection!
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Grom translates to thunderbolt, Błyskawica is lightning.
Wonder if they were produced to commemorate Groms launch in 1937?
Expensive warships are big business and a source of national pride, even more so back then. The name would've been well known to Gillette employees at the time.
Use a 'the Fleet' DE blade with HMS Hood on wrapper for maximum effect
I'd jump at the chance to own a Grom too!
Wonder if they were produced to commemorate Groms launch in 1937?
Expensive warships are big business and a source of national pride, even more so back then. The name would've been well known to Gillette employees at the time.
Use a 'the Fleet' DE blade with HMS Hood on wrapper for maximum effect
I'd jump at the chance to own a Grom too!
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I'm just starting to restore a 7 o'clock case and it got me thinking that lovely Grom set again.
The case is a good way to help date the set.
From the pic there's no circular mold lines and integrated hinge, that means the set is post ~1936. A central support in the handle section would mean WW2 era (see pic)
If the case has a central section then the set would've been made to commemorate Groms sinking in may 1940, not commissioning in 1937 or a Polish market product.
The case is a good way to help date the set.
From the pic there's no circular mold lines and integrated hinge, that means the set is post ~1936. A central support in the handle section would mean WW2 era (see pic)
If the case has a central section then the set would've been made to commemorate Groms sinking in may 1940, not commissioning in 1937 or a Polish market product.