Gillette Rocket, the refined DE.

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by MTgrayling, Dec 1, 2008.

  1. Roderick

    Roderick Well-Known Member

    Welcome to the Den Scott. Can you show is some photos. It is time to start your adventure.
     
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  2. Scottw

    Scottw New Member

    Thx Rod ......

    Hopefully these pics will do it justice ...... I wish I had a Macro L lens for my Canon, but my 17-55 2.8 will have to do. I am a "People and Cars" photographer - so this is NOT an easy task. LOL.


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    Thanks again with any help anyone can provide with this. Of course in the back of my mind I am wondering if first generations didn't yet have the Patent # engraved which might help to explain why this one doesn't.

    Scott
     
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  3. TitanTTB

    TitanTTB Well-Known Member

    Welcome to The Shave Den :)
    Congratulations that is a nice looking Rocket.
    It looks like this one from Mr. Razor:
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  4. Scottw

    Scottw New Member

    Thank you :)

    Mystery Solved!
     
  5. Roderick

    Roderick Well-Known Member

    There you go. There are a lot of knowledgeable Gentlemen in the Den. I have the same razor. Good pics. The blade is a Y2, manufactured in the second quarter of 1953
     
  6. Chef Bill

    Chef Bill Member

    Rocket Parat that I recently acquired in an eBay lot. I don't think the seller knew what he really had...

    Rocket-1.jpg

    Rocket-2.jpg
     
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  7. Admiral Beez

    Admiral Beez Active Member

    As a Canadian working for a US company, I am often reminded that Canadian patents are not that sought after. The thinking being if a potential copycat can't make it big in the USA or other large markets, they're not going to bother knocking you off for the tiny Canadian market. Thus, I wonder if Gillette made the same decision for their Canadian Rockets or Super Speeds, i.e. just omit the patent application for Canada.
     
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  8. Darkbulb

    Darkbulb Cookie Hoarder

    Loved the OP with some great information about rockets!
     
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  9. eaterofdog

    eaterofdog Member

    Been looking out for a rocket for a while and I was finally able to score these two beauties recently. Got the first one and went searching for an original case and found another razor. Now I got TWO razors without cases. Good problem to have, I guess.

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  10. Darkbulb

    Darkbulb Cookie Hoarder

    Wow, they look amazing. How do they shave?
     
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  11. eaterofdog

    eaterofdog Member

    Definitely one of the better TTOs I've used. I'm normally not a fan of shaving with them but this model is agreeable.
     
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  12. Stubbl E

    Stubbl E Well-Known Member

    I'm not much of a TTO advocate either but the Rocket HD 500/59/double ring is a favourite of mine as well. Very smooth lil' shavers those, Congratulations!
     
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  13. Captain Bb

    Captain Bb Member

    I have a few Rockets in my collection and have recently acquired a flaretip rocket from France with the squared-off end caps just like No 20 in the OP's photos.

    It has Made in England, Brit Pat. 694093 and the code S stamped on it.

    Do we know any more about this model? Although a Made in England razor, did they perhaps use the American Superspeed head design towards the end of production? Does the S code mean Superspeed perhaps?
     
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  14. Captain Bb

    Captain Bb Member

    Looking at this razor more closely I can now see the squared-off side plates are not quite like those on the American razors I have (Slim & Fatboy). The points of the side plates on this Rocket are bent inwards and used to form the hinge pins for the doors. On American side plates (and indeed the pointed side plates of other Rockets) they have dedicated pins attached for the hinge instead. This bending-in of the side plates is clearly an easier and cheaper method of forming the door hinge pins, so I guess this design was adopted as a cost saver in the late production of these English Rockets.

    I've also just had my first shave with this razor and did a back-to-back comparison with another Flaretip Rocket and this one is definitely a little milder, which sorta backs-up my theory about this possibly being an American Superspeed head design (sadly, I don't own a Superspeed to compare the two and be sure).

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    Last edited: Feb 26, 2015
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  15. Darkbulb

    Darkbulb Cookie Hoarder

    Just received what I believe is a HD Rocket razor in really nice condition.
    Great weight and feel to it!

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  16. Captain Bb

    Captain Bb Member

    Congratulations! I have a couple of those and they are geat razors. They have much smoother mechanisms than most other Rockets.
     
    Last edited: Feb 26, 2015
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  17. GDCarrington

    GDCarrington Burma Shave

    There was a Super Speed made in England for the French market.

    The problem is I cannot get a side view from Achim's photo set.

    http://www.mr-razor.com/Rasierer/One-Piece solid guard bar/solid guard bar.htm



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  18. Captain Bb

    Captain Bb Member

    Hard to tell but it might be. The case is not the same though. I've got another on the way (pretty sure that one was originally from England), so I'll compare when it arrives.
     
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  19. Douglas Carey

    Douglas Carey Wildman

    Beauty!!! Was the razor made in Montreal or just the blade?
     
  20. Douglas Carey

    Douglas Carey Wildman

    Looks like a really clean Flaire Tip.
    Until the late 1980s, Gillette Canada's headquarters were in the Montreal suburb of Mont-Royal, Quebec until they moved west to another Montreal suburb in Kirkland. The Kirkland offices were closed in 1999 and Gillette Canada moved to Mississauga, Ontario, a Toronto suburb following the Gillette acquisition of Duracell. The Mississauga offices were closed in 2005-06 after Procter & Gamble acquired Gillette, and Gillette's Canadian headquarters are located in downtown Toronto with parent Procter & Gamble on Yonge St.[citation needed]


    At the same time, Gillette was expanding abroad. He opened his first foreign office, a London sales branch, in 1905. By 1909 he had established manufacturing plants in Paris, Montreal, Berlin, and Leicester, England, and offices in France and Hamburg, Germany. By 1923, foreign business accounted for about 30 percent of Gillette's sales.
     
    Last edited: Feb 28, 2015
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