One of the razors in the small lot that I bought and received today - was actually the only reason I bought that lot. I've been wanting a French Apollo razor for quite some time and when this showed up I 'had' to have it... I paid $60 for the whole lot here, which to be quite honest is more than I normally would spend on some razors..but, well, it was so purty...and hey, maybe the other two razors can be good for something as well! The lot: A little bit about the French Apollo: Straight out of Mr Waits' Compendium we can learn the following; Anyroad, on to my razor I really like the design of the head and luckily the head is in near-mint condition - not a scratch or plate loss anywhere on it The top and base plate 'locks' together with notches that fits into the baseplate to, I assume, ensure that the blade doesn't move. The SGDG on the razor means, I believe, "Sans Garantie du Government" which roughly translates to "Without government guarantees" which released the government from any legal liabilities after the patent had been approved. SGDG was used from 1844 up until 1968. The handle that the head came with was less interesting and for some reason in rather worn condition. But, luckily, the head accepts a number of replacement handles. Here it is with a Gillette NEW common bar handle looking rather, dare I say it, menacing? (You can also here see the notches previously mentioned that 'locks' the head plates together) It will be great fun to try out this razor in a few weeks. One more to add to the s/sheet
I love watching your threads...you always have something interesting to show. As usual, another well done.
Neat little razor! Please let us know how she performs! Two questions: 1) Does she take standard DE blades? In my razors the blade sticks out at the sides. The notches in the Apollo may be in the way. B) From the pics it seems the head seems kinda curved. Or is that the lens of the camera?
very nice and unique. I was looking at the Phoenix double OC for a similar aesthetic. Looks great with the New handle. I need to find me a couple of good handles like that.
The Apollo is in excellent condition and is a good item to have in the collection, but there is a "sleeper" in this bunch that you might not want to part with ...
I believe they are proprietary blades. I'm looking into possibilities of mods to modern blades and/or picking up some NOS blades. We shall see
We have a winner. The Personna is the same razor as the Star. ASR branded that razor as a Personna in the UK. The nickel Star branded razor in the US were not made in large numbers but in the UK there were many produced. This one is a hard one to find in the US and usually the prices tend to be higher than the more common Gold/Brass Star if both are in excellent condition. This razor in my opinion is better than the Tech series from Gillette for both the handle and the head.
Oh very neat - thanks for that info. Lucky for me the Personna is almost mint. It is incredibly shiny and I would guess, by looking at it, that it has not been in use. Now I kinda want to try it out sooner than later Also, thanks for now making me think that $60 maybe wasn't too much to pay for the lot.
Mark, I think the Star is consistently undervalued on the bay. It is a very nice shaver if you like them mild.
Ha...ha...ha I do like the occasional mild shave (love my Blue Tip for instance) so this will be interesting to try out..sometimes this year..
