What's the nicest piece of vintage you've owned?

pjgh

Joined
Thursday September 26, 2013
Location
Halifax, Republic of Yorkshire
I have bought (and used ... and sold) an absolute metric f-ton of vinatge over the decade or so that I've been traditional shaving. I have some lovely kit, be it the Zinn Gem, a minty sparkling Gem Junior Bar, a gleaming Hybrid Tech, many box-fresh shaving soaps going back to (I think) the 1930s and have had (and reknotted) many lovely vintage brushes.

But, flicking back through some older photographs to find a particular picture of an old Ever-Ready brush I once had, I also happened upon these pictures of an absolutely mint and gleaming crystal Ever-Ready T40 with original badger knot, which was of an exceptional quality at the time - true Rolls Royce stuff, this:









I'm not a badger brush person, so this brush went back out as a sale ... but I could happily have kept it as a beautiful ornament.

What's your nicest piece of vintage that you've owned?
 
I had a nice no. 66 English Aristocrat and a Rotbart years ago, but sold these on before I became a semi-collector.

I would probably rate my blades and soaps up there; I have a nice bunch of English Wilkinson Sword blades from the 1960s onwards, and some excellent Astra Keramik and Czech Tiger blades.
Soap-wise I have quite a few Imperial Leather and Goya soaps. I have a couple of interesting ones: a turtle oil Personality soap and a Prince Gourelli (married to the (in)famous Helena Rubenstein).
 
I think my boxed Fatboy is probably the pride of my razor collection. Near perfect for me in terms of performance and aesthetics.
 
Erm, hard one this but I gotta say my favourite vintage has to be Matron! Smashing set of headlights, great condition for age, only 246 previous owners, plush seating, large boot and a nice shagpile carpet.

Shaving you say? Still have my #58 which is as pretty as the Aristos I’ve owned but the heavyweight #15 was quite something.

@pjgh that brush is truly top shelf old bean. Lurvely.

Oh, oh, i did have a very sweet Rooney in butterscotch from the 70s. Keyhole shape and perfick colouring.

Matron wins by a long length. Talking about lengths….
 
This thread has caused me to look back on my old posts… 10+ years ago. I was rather shocked to find I seemed to know what I was talking about back then, holding forth on all kinds off stuff. I bought and sold a bit of stuff. A lot of modern Ss razors… Feather, ATT, and a Weber… I don’t even remember having a Weber… what’s a Weber?

I was looking for photos of my vintage Gillettes, but couldn’t find any photos. I had re-plated Fatboy, Slim and a Tech. The Fatboy was just for kudos… I preferred the Slim and would use it now if I still had it. The tech, if I remember rightly, was a bit out on its geometry in one corner, which put me off a bit.

But, to answer the question, my much-loved bit of vintage kit was the Merkur Progress… I’d say it counts as vintage because the design is so old. I also had a Digress, which was even better for balance and looks… but the lack of ugly plastic knob precludes the vintage bit. I obviously settled on Progress/Rapira combo as the pinnacle (for me). I haven’t considered buying another one as I have a peculiar thing about “going backwards”. Keep moving forwards, guys…
 
My favourite vintage razor has to be the wonderful Ever-Ready Streamline single edge razor, ( I have the stropper set )
It uses Gem single edge blades and never fails to produce a fantastic shave.
I have had a few of these razors over the years, quite a few in fact and have sold and brought every one I could get hold of in the hope of finding the near mint condition one I have now, I very much doubt I will be selling this one.

I also have a NOS Ever-Ready 1912 razor, boxed as new with the paper advertising of the time, I can't bring myself to be the first to use it as it will lose it's NOS appeal so I may well be selling this one.



Paul.
 
A Flare Tip Rocket, not mint, but excellent condition...has a bit of a back-story, former RAF pilot I think — judging by the home made leather case. Also have a NOS circa 1950's Old Spice Shulton gift set, with soap, aftershave and cologne. Shulton's Old Spice is the essence of wet shaving for me...the iconic ship, the smell, the adverts — all were seared into my consciousness as a nipper. Old Spice remains one of my favourite shaving soaps and I remember when it was in every supermarket and the default — I couldn't be arsed — festive present for old men along with Brut 33. Both superb both facilitate time travel.
 
Ye’re a grand bit o’ vintage yersel, ya hibby bar steward!
 
That's quite a question! There are so many that I like, but in the end I decided on my Star 7-Day set. It took some practice to use it, but I'm a sucker for a razor in a red morocco case with blue silk lining (the only one I've found and owned, so far). Apart from an Ikon Tech, this just happens to be the only razor I have ever sold (to someone in Denmark, 10 years ago) and I've regretted it ever since.
 

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