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Was Gillette's zenith the Superspeed?
- Thread starter Missoni
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Your viewpoint is understandable and I suspect shared by others, indeed I held a somewhat similar attitude when I first started out many moon's ago. Having purchased many "new" razors, I subsequently ventured into the world of vintage razors; my experience now tells me that the quality of Gillette's razors (certainly from the 40's, 50's and 60's), both in build and the shave they give, remains top tier. If you believe a used razor can not be cleaned sufficiently to be hygenic for a new owner or a razor's patina scunner's you, then new razors are for you. However, if you want a great shave, appreciate quality, and can see the talent and moment in time that produced products that could only be manufactured today at immense cost to the consumer, then consider challenging yourself, and give a vintage razor a run, you maybe pleasantly suprised. Think of it like going on holiday and not ordering egg and chips but giving the local fare a try
.There’s no denial that the quality of old Gillette razors is extremely good compared to what you can buy new these days without going totally overboard. That said, to me, there will always be this ‘dirty old guy’ aspect that I personally can’t overcome. YMMV as usualYour viewpoint is understandable and I suspect shared by others, indeed I held a somewhat similar attitude when I first started out many moon's ago. Having purchased many "new" razors, I subsequently ventured into the world of vintage razors; my experience now tells me that the quality of Gillette's razors (certainly from the 40's, 50's and 60's), both in build and the shave they give, remains top tier. If you believe a used razor can not be cleaned sufficiently to be hygenic for a new owner or a razor's patina scunner's you, then new razors are for you. However, if you want a great shave, appreciate quality, and can see the talent and moment in time that produced products that could only be manufactured today at immense cost to the consumer, then consider challenging yourself, and give a vintage razor a run, you maybe pleasantly suprised. Think of it like going on holiday and not ordering egg and chips but giving the local fare a try
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I'm the proud owner, and user, of dead men's razors, they shouldn't be thrown away. You don't crush a car, or burn down a house etc., just because a previous owner died.
They certainly shouldn’t be thrown away. It’s just that I would never use them because I’m not comfortable with using a grooming product that was used for many years by some other guy. But to each his own and I’m certainly not judging anyone.
I get it the used razor thing. I really do. However, I celebrate the fact that someone else had it. I love history. Here's a great (and only one example) but all my vintage razors are in very good to excellent condition w/cases. I got this NOS #70 beauty (with factory pamphlets) from your side of the world. Now I admit not all my razors are NOS, but I often wonder what the man was like that bought many of my old razors. BTW my oldest is a 1904 Double Ring. Anyway. This British #70 Set (1958-60) was owned by Roger a British WW II Vet. His grandson Mike (from the UK) told me that Roger received the razor in 1965 as a retirement gift from his employer. Mike said Roger was eccentric and never used this razor (or other gifts) for fear of damaging them. Roger passed at 92. I was so lucky to be able to get this baby. I will pass down to my grandson. I can only imagine what else Mike found in Roger's house. Cheers Pat from Missouri...There’s no denial that the quality of old Gillette razors is extremely good compared to what you can buy new these days without going totally overboard. That said, to me, there will always be this ‘dirty old guy’ aspect that I personally can’t overcome. YMMV as usual
Oh BTW. Although my collection of razors consists of about 99.5% vintage, I do own (and love) a newfangled one. I picked up in 2017 a Copper ATT Windsor. A real beauty that sparkles like a star and is a stellar shaver to boot. This YOUNGIN is a keeper for me, made by the old ATT plus it (copper model only) was discontinued in 2019. 