I recently got a nice Rotbart Mond-extra with grey anodized handle and a machined head that looks like it is stainless steel. The top plate seems to be cast and only plated on the top. Pictures are from the seller, the handle is not as blue as these pictures suggest, it really is grey. Is there any information about what material is used for the handle? You might think it is aluminum, but the handle is way too heavy for that. Also I would like to know when these models were made. I believe Gillette took over Rotbart somewhere in the 20'ties but that's about all I know.
It took a while, but the handle turns out not to be magnetic, so presumably it is aluminium/aluminum (depending on where you live) . I am still puzzled about the weight though. It is not a real heavy weight razor but it sure is not as light as a blue tip SS for example.
Silver oxidizes in that colour. That's not to say that the handle is or isn't silver plated, but it's certainly a possibility. That would account for the weight (especially since aluminum oxidizes from light gray to white in colour usually) Silver plated brass/bronze would be my guess... i suppose
That's interesting, I didn't know that silver could turn to that. My earlier conclusion that it would be aluminum because it isn't magnetic is also faulty, as brass isn't magnetic either.
nickel turns black when it oxidizes too, but it would have to be nickel plated because nickel is magnetic ^_^ the reason i guessed plated bronze is that one of my Gillette razors was a plated bronze (the plating wore off a long time ago though)
Continuing on this thread as I too have received my very first Rotbart safety razor, it is also called "Rotbart Mond-Extra" but, interestingly, it is an open comb (instead of the 'usual' closed comb - at least the way they look in the first post above is how I actually know Rotbarts to be) and also with a different handle. According to a friend of mine who knows definitely a bit more than I do on the subject matter (which isn't hard), the OCs were from the 1920-1930s. I have not shaved with mine yet as I am waiting for my Rotbart razor blades to arrive which I want to pair with this razor for the first shave, so cannot comment on any shave performance. My first impression however is very positive - the razor feels quite solid and very well built, aside from quite a bit of wear of the plating, it does have no defects. All teeth are accounted for and straight, no cracks to be seen anywhere on the handle, the razor assembles and disassembles fine (it's a 3-piece with the bottom head plate attached to the handle, similar to Merkur's 2-piece razors). It shows different colour tones on different parts of the razor, not sure if this was intended to be or if the plating loss is particularly strong on those areas (although it looks a tad too 'uniform' to be plating loss' in my opinion). I will give it a very nice clean-up, hope for my Rotbart blades to arrive and also actually for my new Semogue 1305 which looks so nicely old-school and I want to pair them all up for a special shave at the end of the month when SWMBO and I celebrate our anniversary (a nice even 2-digit # this year ;-). I think that, should the shaves with this classy Classic please me as much as they please other Rotbart Owners, this razor will be a candidate for replating, maybe at Westcoast or so (time to try out a new replater) although I kind of like the razor head to be in brass. Not sure the embossing will look as nice once replated. But enough talk, here are some photographs:
Ooh, that's a nice one. I always passed over Rotbart-Mond razors because the heads were plated zinc, like old Merkurs. It looks as though if you go back far enough, you can find brass or bronze heads. I love the engraving on the bottom plate, it's very classy. The case is very nice too. Excellent score! By the way, here's what the razor would have looked like before all the plating wore or was polished off: EDIT: I don't own this Razor.
What a GREAT bunch of razors!! VERY NICE!! Now I can lust for two more razors or the same razor in two versions. Hope you both let us know how the different versions shave. Congradulations on your scores.
Here's my Rotbart Mond-Extra razor. Great grandfather found it inside his house after the war (ww2), and he didn't used it; but my grandfather did - and now I use it
Interesting. I just got one today, looks the same except that the main part of the handle appears to be shiny aluminum. Did you ever find out anything about dates?
