The beautiful 1959 Flare tip Rocket in gold -- with its distinctive white leatherette case. Remarkable beauty, never used, quite rarely seen. They really don't make them like they used to. The late 1930s, before WWII broke out, so many creative designs in the safety razor world. Who could compete with Gillette, Apollo, Rotbart, and the many other companies that were getting into the market. One stood out from the rest: Eclipse! Check out the ad, see for yourself, hard to find a more creatively designed safety razor. And classy. And beautiful. And who ever saw one in this metal/chromed case before? I have a real attraction to the German Apollo razors. Here is a selection of a few, including the elusive Mikron. They pioneered the adjustable design. Cool and creative. The Ben Hur is a heavy Apollo slanted head razor. Aggressive is an understatement. Makes the Gillette Big Boy seems like a welter weight. But it's also quite effective and provides an extremely close shave in only 2 passes. Slant, heft, blade exposure -- perfect for the heavy beard or the macho among us.
I recently acquired this stunning razor, very well made and feels substantial in that hand as it weighs 65 grams, its an Aggressive shaver, maybe too much so me.
Another gold plated razor that has stood the test of time. The incomparable British #19 Aristocrat, like the #16 but gold plated. Like the Aristocrat Jr., but heavier and in gold. Usually the cases don't hold up so well, this is an exceptional exception. I've used it a few times and it shaves like a dream. Really. But in the interest of preserving the beauty, I more often use my Jr.
Not that difficult in terms of getting it in, but aligning needs some gentle tweaking to make sure the blade rests even on both sides. No, that one is US made. Like the Aristocrat one of the Gillette razors that shared a name on both the US and British sides. Excellent!
If your other half ever makes you have a cleanup and you want to get rid of "that old thing" I'll help by taking it off your hands That is seriously beautiful in an engineering/presentation sense. I'd love to see how it shaves !!
Wow, I've been gone for a while, so I hadn't seen this thread, but it is fantastic! Thanks to all who shared! I may have to photograph a few.
Rodd, welcome back. Yes, do post a few. We can always use some more photos. For more information on this razor ... http://theshaveden.com/forums/threads/the-rise-of-the-russian-bear.24462/
Thanks! Here are a couple to ease me back into things. Light, TV, Regular, and Heavy Flare Tip Rockets New Improved and New Deluxe Milady sets 4 Piece Techs It felt great to bust these out again. I have been mostly sticking with a small rotation, so most of my collection has been collecting dust unfortunately. I need to do this more often!
The Durham SE razors don't get enough love, until now at least. Getting the right blades to fit is a challenge, unless you want to use the originals. I think the modern Cobra was a copy of this excellent design.
Cool. Didn't know it came in black and gold. I have the silver model. Not crazy about the size of the handle so I swap it out with a Fat Handle Tech handle when I want to shave with it - fantastic razor. For me, the vibrating feature doesn't do a thing. Your thoughts?
There is an all brass version and a black and chrome version out there for the men also. I am on the look out for a those on the bay. There is a chrome and beige plastic/rubber covered version for the ladies. I have only seen one of the lady versions on ebay and that was earlier this spring. I am neutral on the vibration feature. It works well, but I cannot feel the blade while it is vibrating. It does give a close shave in that mode. Shaving without the vibration is like shaving with my Fat Boy set on 3, mild and smooth. The handle does change the weight to the bottom and not the head. It does make you adjust your angle a bit to compensate for the bottom weighting. All in all, I like using Stahly.
Had to show off this gorgeous Gillette Aristocrat that I recently plated in 24k Rose Gold. Very pleased with how it turned out. I also want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.
Never thought about rose gold....where did you get that done? I have a vintage Merkur Slant that needs to get replated and seeing this piece of magnificence I now know what I must do. Would you mind PM'ing me with who you went with and the cost of the rose gold replate please?
I had my jeweler do it for me. It could probably have been done cheaper then what I paid, but I wanted to make sure it was done properly with enough thickness to last.
