Odd 40s Super Speed sighting

Spotted this tonight. Can't say that I'm familiar with this... The TTO knob in particular seems odd. Any ideas? I was thinking maybe it was some weird contraption someone cobbled together to fix a broken razor. Or maybe I'm missing something painfully obvious and it's actually common... Anyone? Second pic below is a close-up of the knob. It is definitely a Gillette. I saw a photo of the underside of the head and everything about this looks like a 40s SS... Except the knob.

 

It looks like a 1951-52 black tip super speed with the tip painted silver?

 

Could be -- and I seem to recall reading that a few black tips with metal knobs were made. But maybe I'm dreaming.

I'd paint that bad boy tan.

 

+1

 

Man, you guys are good. I believe that is exactly what that is.

 

It's really hard to tell from the photo, but I think paint would have filled in the grooves and rounded the corners on the knob's detail.

+1 for the dissenting opinion, but no better ideas to offer.

Uh... wasn't Gillette kinda famous for their mix-n-match practices? I can see an "Oops, we're out. Now what?" "Here, just use these."

 

I think @Shotwell should buy it so he can tell us if the knob is plastic or metal .

 

If it is metal, it's unlike any other knob Gillette ever used (afaik), so I vote plastic. No, make that paper, I wanna save the environment.

 

I remember seeing this variation on B&B a while back. I think the consensus was that the knob was aluminum and this razor was the precursor to the black tip with the plastic knob.

 

Well, we may never know... Someone else bought that thing for $65. (!)

 

Wow! They got a great deal. Case, Blade, Dispenser, and a rare Super Speed with the alt. knurling on the knob for $60.

 

Very interesting!

 

I also saw this item and I messaged the seller and asked if the TTO was metal or plastic , he said that it was metal and that I was not the only person asking . I had read a B&B thread about the black tip types, so I purchased the razor on the chance it was this rare variation of the black tip as the date code fit the time line . When I receive the razor I will update .


Glenn

 

What a small world it is

 

I bought one exactly like this a few weeks ago for 15$... the antique seller made a mistake with the price but since he already told me... didn't get the chance to do some research on it yet... cleaned it, tried it (great shave) but i still need some infos!

 

This was the subject of a thread on B&B a few months ago. All the ones seen like this had W2 date codes. There are definitely two different types, one with a black Bakelite tip and one with a hard steel or other strong alloy. I know from cleaning up mine the tip was definitely not painted and it was definitely not aluminum.

They seem more rare than the V3 Super Speed models.

Cheers,

Matt