Was Gillette's zenith the Superspeed?

Does the Old or Tech represnt Gillette's zenith for you?' I would have loved to have been in on the design meetings for these razors and the discussions about where the best all round performance charachteristics lay. Gillette clearly kept moving the shaving charachteristics of their razors, and I wonder what was behind the changes, each time, once the marketing is discounted.
 

I've only got 3 Gillette TTO's. A Superspeed, Rocket HD, and Slim Twist. The latter, with it's plastic handle, is my favourite.

I'd never seen a metal one like the one you linked.

TobyC said:
I think it's a 162.

View attachment 109787

View attachment 109786

View attachment 109785

View attachment 109784
Click to expand...

Wow, that's an absolute beauty. Thanks for the pictures!
 

Someone may have tapped the corners of the razor on the sink and pushed the tabs in a bit, two of yours seem to be at a slight angle.
 
I think after WW2 their emphasis was on creating something to catch the attention of younger buyers, and stay ahead of the competition. They had already perfected razors designed around their standard blade, now they had to offer mechanical wonders to make them interesting.
 

...that makes sense and I suppose the same business model necessitated the move to carts. I suspect the weight, handle girth and handle length of Gillette razors benefited from extensive R&D to determine the sweet spot for the average guy. And whilst handle length and weight did vary, in the main, they seemed to shy away from longer, fatter handles and heavy weight razors. I remember reading, canot recall where at the moment, the inordinate testing Gillette put into the Fatboy, they really seemed to sweat over the minutaie. It seems like as soon as the engineering allowed, they wanted a slimmer handle on their adjustable. Interesting how the current vogue amongst razor manufacturers appears to be for heavier, beefier, longer razor handles. I am also suprised that plated, brass has not been embraced more by current razor manufacturers, as the glide is far superior to polished SS; I thought the process must be expensive, but then Fatip can produce their razors for pennies.
 
Gillette certainly made some very good razors ‘back in the day’. I do believe it’s also partly a myth that is created around them. I don’t want to spoil the party but sometimes I’m amazed at what people are willing to spend on a +40, 50, 60 year old dirty old razor from some unknown and long deceased grandpa. But that’s my opinion, no offence and YMMV and all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register