Questions about GEM jr.

Discussion in 'Safety Razors' started by spedbp, Sep 21, 2008.

  1. spedbp

    spedbp New Member

    Fri. I picked up a GEM jr. in gold NIB (box not the best of shape)

    1. It has pat 1912 is the GEM 1912 talked about in some post?
    2. I have never seen on in gold how rare is this?
    3. Paid $5.00 to much, about right or good buy?




    Thanks,
    Robert
     
  2. D.irving79

    D.irving79 Gemocrat

    1- yes
    2- not very
    3- excellent buy
     
  3. spinyeel

    spinyeel Member

    Welcome to the Gem club.;)Now go forth and get some blades and enjoy some excellent shaves.:D
     
  4. spedbp

    spedbp New Member

    I did just that this morning picked up a pack of Treet Super Single Edge at CVS and had my first shave. I think I am going to like it. WTG didn't feel as if it had a blade in it. Still need to work on tech and getting comfortable with it but first shave WTG XTG ATG as good as I get from my DE and less effort to get it.

    Robert
     
  5. D.irving79

    D.irving79 Gemocrat

    keep the wrist stiff and the head FLAT or just off the face. and pay attention to the contours of your jawline, chin, etc.

    youre off to a good start ;)
     
  6. Single Wedge

    Single Wedge New Member

    I have found that 2 passes down and two across seem to give me the best shave.

    Problem area is of course the neck. Keep it up. Welcome to the SE fold.
     
  7. spedbp

    spedbp New Member

    Dave/Single wedge:
    Thanks for the advice. day 4 and one of my top 10 shaves of all time.
    How did the DE take over and SE get left on the back shelf?

    Robert
     
  8. D.irving79

    D.irving79 Gemocrat

    glad to hear it.

    DE, sadly to say IMO, had an advantage almost from its get go. gillettes early marketing plus the WW1 contract pretty much solidified its place as the #1 contender. ever ready razors were heavy competition though because of their price (which was the whole idea, $1 for the razor and an entire yard of blades). this is not to say that gem/ER razors werent popular in their day; they were HUGE sellers and at one time gem razors were the #1 razor in the WORLD; not just the US.
     
  9. Single Wedge

    Single Wedge New Member

    And before you say it yes gem and er I think had military contracts.

    Gillettes I think made it because they were more a luxury item as the later models show, where as the gem/er was more utility and less looks.

    Also DEs had the option later of hones that you could use to resharpen, SEs, not so much unless it was a wedge.
     
  10. D.irving79

    D.irving79 Gemocrat

    youre totally right. star did too, and the valet auto strop also saw action.

    the SE blades could be sharpened in the kriss kross machine.
     
  11. Single Wedge

    Single Wedge New Member

    GEM started to get fancy with the TTO opening. To little to late.

    Great razor, just a poorly marketed product in the heyday.
     
  12. D.irving79

    D.irving79 Gemocrat

    gem cutlery had great marketing early on. it just seemed IMO that after a while they were "reaching" a bit (1930 and later).
     
  13. Single Wedge

    Single Wedge New Member

    I think if they had started with TTO and kept up with the fancy handles and the luxury of it they could have competed.

    They stuck to what they knew and that is what killed them.
     
  14. D.irving79

    D.irving79 Gemocrat

    i dunno. im convinced that sometimes less is more. they hit their stride around 1908-1912. they could have stopped upgrading there and had a shot, TTO or not.

    in principal, gillette stuck with what they new and thrived ;)
     
  15. ajsaxs

    ajsaxs Active Member

    Gem jr.

    I agree, the older Gems put the TTO razors to shame.
     
  16. tom myers

    tom myers Member

    Nothing new here; just to throw another log on the fire . . . I rather like the G-bar, especially it's handle, but, aside from that, I like the older Gems better. At some point D.Irving convinced me to try the 1912 and older Gems. I must agree with his recommendation.

    My "rotation" now is a G-Bar, a 1912 with the heavy handle and a 1900/1901 patent with the metal handle. Actually, I don't often even "rotate" . . . I'm kind of hung up on the oldest one of the bunch and shave with that one most of the time.

    My opinion is that any redesign or newly designed razor after 1900/1901 was rather superfluous design effort and retooling costs. Gem should have cut back on product engineering and concentrated their managed costs on marketing and promotion at that point in time and beyond. :rolleyes:

    Regards,
    Tom
     

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