Holy crap indeed ! I saw it and drooled, but the price tag stopped me right there. Didn't believe it would go so high !
Good question...now I can't find it either... Pretty sure I shaved with both of them on two separate days...either that or I'm getting senile. Update: Checked my razor-rating s/sheet and have no entries for the razors...oops...I must have thought I shaved with them but..uh forgot about it ... I'll rectify that
Finally got around to shaving with the Williams razor this morning. Opening it up and loading the blade was a breeze. You pinch the base of it..and the razor 'splits' open' as per below: ...then you just drop in the blade and pinch it to close it up. Actually a very clever design...kinda wish it would make a return But, more than anything I was curious as to how it would actually shave. Lathered up some Fitjar and had at it... Now, I must admit, whenever I use a relatively rare razor I am a little bit hesitant as I have very few reference points as to what to expect. Shaving away (WTG) it felt really, really good. I'd say it's a mid+ aggressive razor...not to the point where you are afraid of but it does command a bit of respect. The hollow handle really made the razor give a great audible feedback. Before I knew it I was clean shaven and no blood drawn. I put it down as an '8' in my 1-10 s/sheet and that felt like a very fair rating. It's the second 8/8+ razor out of the past five-six razors I've used Now I'm really looking forward to trying its cousin the O'Chelly (it's on deck for this Friday shave). @PLANofMAN
I have one of the Williams razors & it is actually a fine shaving little beast & super easy to rinse out.
Good point about the rinsing - it was indeed very easy to get every piece of soap out of there I truly did enjoy the shave as well. Will be interesting to see if the O'Chelly performs as well. Hm, would be awesome if someone would bring back this design.....maybe some MIM stainless steel casts....it should be possible....and it certainly would make for a razor that stands out in the competition.
With all the razor start-ups you'd think someone would look to the past for an extremely cool economical to build razor like this.
If I would ever go into the razor-making-business (which..won't really happen as I don't have a single useful skill in that area) - I think this is the design I'd go after.
My Williams appears to have had very little if any use & my only design concern is to the longevity of the spring clips to close the razor.......no signs of weakness after decades so I am probably concerned over a non issue
Yeah same here - the "pinch lock" on mine is very strong. I think they did a great job on that design. It's very different to how the O'Chelly locks down:
Finally got around to shave with the O'Chelly as well Although very similar, well kind of...it's a hollow razor that opens up completely, the shave was very different to the Williams. While the Williams was 'rather aggressive and very efficient' - the O'Chelly is VERY aggressive and very efficient Fantastic audible feeback but this is one razor that already as of the first stroke down your chin let's you know that it's not playing around. Now, I did get through my two passes without any blood letting..and my face was so smooth that I don't think I'll shave for another week.... So, in summary - two very, very efficient razors (the Williams is absolutely, to me, the 'winner' in that I could see this being used on a regular basis. I still would love to see this design brought back...loading the blade, cleaning the razor, the fantastic audible feedback...it could be a winner..
What do you think of the durability of these...for day to day use? Obviously they either didn't make many, or very few have survived over the years. I'm inclined to think that not many survived.
Not sure of course - but they seem very sturdy. They both have a very different locking mechanism at the base of the razor - with the O'Chelly being a bit more elaborate twist-and-push. I think part of these being scarce is that they were, in the case of Williams, issued as promotional items and people probably didn't place too much value on them back then - and they are most likely aluminum so I can see a lot of these getting 'squished' over the years. I don't know the history behind the O'Chelly razor though but I wouldn't be overly surprised to learn that they were also made in the Williams factory in the 30's Now I'm wondering how feasible it would be to have these pieces injection molded in stainless steel....that would be sweet...
On a completely unrelated note, if you want a bunch of razor porn, give darkbulb' Instagram follow. Just scrolled through almost every photo
