Ever Ready 'Made in England' - a first-time vintage razor review

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First of all, this post begins with acknowledgement and thanks to @mpf9ret who kindly PIF'd me three GEM single-edge blades to allow me to try out the razor. My apologies that it has taken me a couple of weeks to get around to writing this review, which was made possible by your generosity!

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Onwards to a couple of pictures of the razor, a vintage Ever Ready 'Made in England' safety razor which I recently picked up on eBay for under £20. These razors crop up on eBay quite regularly, but what attracted me to this one was the fact that it looked to be in very good vintage condition as well as the fact it came with the original box and instruction sheet, which seemed like a nice touch. It also included a vintage 'new old stock' blade (which I certainly won't be trying!). If anyone is able to help with an approximate date for this razor I'd be very grateful. In any case I think it's safe to say that it's definitely older than me, almost certainly older than my father, and perhaps almost as old as my grandfather!

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This is my first time trying a razor which takes GEM style blades, so I was quite curious to find out how it all fitted together and how the thing works. The first challenge was getting the cardboard cover off the blades. Perhaps there's a knack to it, but I couldn't seem to do it without risking a nasty cut straight through the tip of my finger. I eventually eased it off with all digits intact, but I'm sure there's a better way than the way I did it. Loading the blade into the razor is easy enough, requiring you simply to flick back the top half of the head, place the blade against the blade guards, then snap the head back down. All of this is very straightforward and the blade was firmly fixed in place against the blade guards with a small gap to the open combs at the bottom of the head.

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I decided to try out the razor with a Goodfella's Smile soap, specifically the Pino Alpestre, along with the matching aftershave splash. Their soaps always give me a well-cushioned, comfortable shave so I thought this was a good choice to use with an unfamiliar razor. It also gave me a chance to try out my new Yaqi Timberwolf which was ordered on AliExpress a couple of months ago. Combined with the soft Italian soap this thing swirled up an absolute mass of nice creamy lather. After six weeks of shaving with a single soap (I've been away for work), it felt great to have a different scent to shave with, and this one is perfectly clean, fresh and delicious.

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So on to the most important part... How was the shave itself? With two passes this thing has given me a impressively comfortable BBS shave across most of my face. It's definitely a great razor when used properly. However, I have ended up with a couple of nicks along with some soreness and irritation on my neck. I think this is down to the combination of (a) not getting the correct blade angle, and (b) not noticing that I was using far too much pressure when shaving my neck. This is a solid, heavy razor so it really does require some conscious effort not to "press" when shaving. The blade angle also takes some getting used to, being different to both a DE blade and a SE artist's club style blade. I also had to do some touch-ups under the nose with my trusty Edwin Jagger DE89. The head on this thing really is big and you can also feel the blade guards against your skin when shaving those difficult areas, so I preferred to stick with something I knew rather than risk making a mistake.

Overall I'm very pleased to have tried my first GEM style razor. It wasn't a perfect shave by any means, but that's probably down to lack of technique rather than any fault of the razor. I think that vintage instruction sheet sums it up best when it says: "Don't press; one or two trials will make you expert" - great advice that rings true even today.
 
 
Good for you @danielb193 for trying it out, it took me a little while to pluck up the courage to use my 1st one, within 2 shaves I was smitten. No need to be put off by their looks.
I think they are among the best SE razors out there, flat to your face and negative pressure under your nose, no closer shave, deffo no positive pressure needed.
I will always have a few Gem style razors in the collection.
Got me into SE shaving for pennies rather than £Â£'s, that came later. ;)
Welcome to the toast scraping society.
T
 
A very nice review and perhaps more interesting as I have recently started using a 1912. And likewise I was very kindly gifted a number of Gem blades to get me on the road. What great members frequent this great site.

I think I probably hit it off from the start and found it an incredibly easy razor to come to terms with. A scary razor to look at but a smooth efficient razor in use.

A classic piece of kit which has really proven itself just in terms of longevity.

May you continue to enjoy as I think most other owners manage.
 
It's a nice set! The case came in all sorts of colours - I have green red, yellow (possibly cream), blue, black and brown. The brown ones always feel kinda classy and it's great that you have the instruction sheet with it, too.

Regarding the cardboard wrap on the blades ...

It's a safety feature. If you make it through the first test, you're worthy on shaving with it :D

Yeah, angle can feel a bit odd especially when coming from DE. The cap wants to be much flatter to the face than you think. Place it almost flat to the face and then just increase the angle. The guard should not come into play - if you're leading with the guard, you will need to press harder for the shave to work properly. Keeping the guard out of the way, you'll not only shave better but naturally shave lighter. The guard is only there to stop the blade beaching into your face - it doesn't want to be touching the skin much, certainly not leading the shave.

'36~'53 is the best answer I can do.

Late 1940s.

That style of case can be found on period adverts from that era.

By the 1950s, that style of case was still around but it started to gain a clear plastic lid and the razor getting lightweight handles - the Bathroom Set, Peerless, etc. Slight internal modification and that case was repurposed for the Featherweight.

Back to the 1912, in that case but in other colours, some got the alternative chainmail look handle rather than the more common chain link handle. Some even got that alternative handle as lightweight. The brown cased examples (that have come through my hands) have always had the heavy chain mail handle and felt classy.
 
It's a nice set! The case came in all sorts of colours - I have green red, yellow (possibly cream), blue, black and brown. The brown ones always feel kinda classy and it's great that you have the instruction sheet with it, too.

Regarding the cardboard wrap on the blades ...

It's a safety feature. If you make it through the first test, you're worthy on shaving with it :D

Yeah, angle can feel a bit odd especially when coming from DE. The cap wants to be much flatter to the face than you think. Place it almost flat to the face and then just increase the angle. The guard should not come into play - if you're leading with the guard, you will need to press harder for the shave to work properly. Keeping the guard out of the way, you'll not only shave better but naturally shave lighter. The guard is only there to stop the blade beaching into your face - it doesn't want to be touching the skin much, certainly not leading the shave.



Late 1940s.

That style of case can be found on period adverts from that era.

By the 1950s, that style of case was still around but it started to gain a clear plastic lid and the razor getting lightweight handles - the Bathroom Set, Peerless, etc. Slight internal modification and that case was repurposed for the Featherweight.

Back to the 1912, in that case but in other colours, some got the alternative chainmail look handle rather than the more common chain link handle. Some even got that alternative handle as lightweight. The brown cased examples (that have come through my hands) have always had the heavy chain mail handle and felt classy.
Is this the chain mail handle?


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English manufacture only I guess, I've not seen one over here.

As far as the blade wrapper goes, I lift the flap where it's glued down and open it out and off.


.
 
I just wanted to echo the OP's sentiments and comments. I too recently acquired a bargain 1912 Ever Ready on ebay and I too was a little nervous about my first shave with it. I did order a sample pack of blades from Tryablade but to date it's still not arrived. However, Paul @pjgh very kindly sent me 5 GEM blades to try out. Due to his generosity, I plucked up the courage to have my first shave. The blade was sharp and a bit unforgiving. However the razor was very smooth but close and the noise generated was unbelievable! Really is like scraping toast! I'm now 5 shaves in, the blade has really smoothed out and I'm having some of my finest and most enjoyable shaves yet. For me, its as smooth as the Rockwell 6c - which is high praise indeed. Under the nose is awkward sometimes but I've got DE's to hand to deal with any stragglers in this area. I find it easier to get BBS with this single edge than any of my DE's. Yet another rabbit hole to swan dive into, but one im relishing! I also wanted to acknowledge the generosity, help and support of members here too, very much appreciated and I hope I'm able to do the same in the future.
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