My latest find: Cost $6 and looked terrible but has cleaned up fantastic! C/w 5 blue blades and 2silver blades. Wt=47g I have seen these sets before (there are two in that auction site) but i can't find the exact one on @mr-razor site. It seems to be an early Tech #77 set? (I say early because the diamond baseplates seem to be earlier than the flat bottoms). Either way, it is quite a thing and i doubt it has had much use. I wonder if those blue blades are original? The silver blades are I4 1963.
Thanks. I love getting these old razor sets. There is always a surprise in them and they really do scrub up well. For $6 its a no brainer.
looks great! The flat bottom Tech is from the 40s, the diamond baseplates is from the 50s. If your match is right (I´ve never seen before a #77 from the 50s), the Blue Blades from 1963 are wrong.
The silver blades are 1963. I've no idea what year the blue blades are. Perhaps there lies the answer? I would'nt discount this being a mis matched set except that i see a few of them floating around and in this instance, the condition of all the parts are super and consistent. Hmm.
Sounds right. There is an advert and price list from 1948 showing this set as a No. 77 but with a flat bottom. If this a early diamond/late No.77 set then the lack of cap etching fits. Something else, like my thin handled tech, i suspect this set was part of a grooming set. I am sure i have seen these smooth domed cases bundeled with the grooming kits popular in that era. This might explain why they were not sold separately by Gillette. It would fit that to clear an end of line product, Gillette sold these on contract to the grooming industry. If it is a grooming set, this would also explain why it is in such good condition. Somebody bought it as a present and it was sat in a cupboard for a few decades until somebody else used it for a few weeks (there are 2 of the silver blades left in the packet of 5 with 1 still in the razor). The set then went back in the cupboard until that person passed away. Perhaps this was bought by Grandma for Grandad in '49/50. Never used, until Dad appeared 23 years later and borrowed it for a few weeks holiday. On return, dad put it in his cupboard and continued to use his razor for a few more years until cartridges came along and this set and wet shaving were forgotten. Dad recently passed away in his 70's and grandson or granddaughter has found this set for a clear out. Who knows. I love the potential of history these things have. It makes them so interesting.
1st shave & report: I unpacked & looked at two of the blue blades but unfortunately they were too badly rusted to get a date code off them. I did notice that one of the blades had a brit.pat. on the bottom though. This razor shaves like a FB/Rocket hybrid and given its likely date of manufacture, the hat fits. It is more aggressive than the late 30's FB tech i have, but not quite as aggressive as the mid 50's Rockets. Similarly, the blade is a little more forward than the FB Tech but not so much as the Rockets. The balance point is different to the thin handled FB Tech as well and i think, suits the diamond baseplate better. This razor asks a little more of your input from the shave and pushes the balance point a little further away from the head. The handle is great with nice clean and well defined knurling. Genuinly, a lovely razor to use. Well designed and well built. On first use, I think i prefer the shave characteristics of this diamond baseplate than either the FB Tech or my Rockets as its a bit keener than the former but not quite so much as the latter.
definitely works and more than true in many cases..a lot of men like my grandad used their service razor after they came home from the war ..he was a gillette man through out his time here but sadly i didn't get to ask him a lot about it..i scored a late 40s brit grooming set a while back.it came with a bake lite cased flat bottom tech set ,barely used if at all..
went looking through the archives and found these.i think a 49 set and a 50/51 ball end set.casa could be wrong though on the ball end..
