I have a couple bar handle Gillette NEWs. Up until today they have never been in the same room, one in the bathroom loaded with a blade, the other in my home office, with the others that are not currently in rotation. I was swapping the one in rotation out for an aristocrat and I noticed this: Up until now I thought a bar handle was a bar handle. They are so different, how did I not notice? Are these different models? Did they have different names, or is one just a fat handle? Anyone know more about the different types? THANKS!
There are at least a dozen variations of the NEW with teeth of different size and shape, with curved or flat bottom plates, with different grooves or notches to align the top and bottom, fat, thin and ball handles, etc. None have specific names that I've been able to find. Richard
Thank you Lionhearted and Iron Maiden for the information. From what I have seen, a NEW is not particularly worth much. They don't go for much anywhere, which I find surprising. I think they give an amazing shave. I wonder if the slim handled ones were produced at the same time as the thick ones, or if they were before or after. Thanks for the information on the combs too. I had not noticed that before. I have a few more on the way, I am interested to see how they are different. Do you happen to know if the different styles have the same patent #s?
I have no reference work and I've never found any "official" information on the NEWs. I was told certain things, mostly on the larger (and more inaccurate) shaving forums. I was told the fat handle came before the thin and that the ball handle was used only briefly just before the Tech came out. I was also told that the two ball handled NEWs I had were mismatches with Tech handles. I'm fairly certain that the short-tooth comb was the original design and the long-tooth version came later. On patent numbers, I think the original had the numbers. Some NEWs have the word "reissue" in front of one of the numbers while others leave off that number altogether. The numbers are arranged differently on various versions. The very last models had no patent numbers. I owned nine NEWs at one time but I sold all but one. All were good shavers and all were inexpensive. I paid $4 or $5 for most of them and I sold them anywhere from $8 to $19 for a pristine one in a case. Ever since I got my first NEW, one was always in my top three shavers. I've never run across a bad shaving NEW unlike Super Speeds where I've found one out of five to be rough, one out of five excellent and three out of five mediocre. (I had over 30 Super Speeds to make these comparisons.) The one I kept has the fat handle, long-toothed comb, the reissue number and a completely smooth curved top. Richard
Great pics folk. I get the BEST shave from my New. Even better than my birth year 52 SS and adjustables....go figure. Nice info too,
