Just curious what everyone's thoughts are on changing from the original plating used when restoring a razor. Would you say keep it original or who cares? The reason I ask is I have a '47 Aristocrat Gold in pretty bad shape. I'd love to send it out to replate it but can't justify the cost for the gold. The cost of nickel is more my speed. But would that totally ruin the "value" of the Aristocrat? These are the questions that come to mind at 1115pm after surfing TSD the last 3 hours.
If it's like other things, replating damages the value, but depending on the wear, it might be damaged already anyway. What's underneath the plating anyway?
Value can only be defined monetarily by the buyer. Intent is the key when deciding how to refinish/restore any vintage item. If the Aristocrat is intended to be a daily driver kind of razor, I would opt to,plate the quality all-brass construction in nickel or chrome. Gold is a bit soft for daily use, as is rhodium, versus nickel or chrome. Of course, if the gold finish has deteriorated, the value to any potential "collectibles" buyer will be reduced no matter. Gold is true to form, other metals however, may be a better solution. Just my virtual two cents.
I like'em all, but I do love me some rat rods. If it's brass underneath, I'd explore stripping it all down to brass and leaving it that way. Anyone know if my G2 Fatboy is all brass?
With very few exceptions, the Gillette TTOs are all brass. The Aristocrat is one of my favorite razors. I finally procured a near mint specimen of a '46 recently. I also have one with a missing end cap. I took a jewelers file to it to remove the solder and it's looking good. While a bare brass razor is ok, I'd prefer plating of some sort. That's a $60 project if you send it to Razor Emporium.
As Chris eluded to, you have to determine where the value is - as a collector's item intended as an investment or as a personal item intended to provide you with many shaves to come. If as a collector's item, restore as original, as a personal item, restore any way you want!
Rhodium is harder than nickel. In fact, it's right up there with chromium, which is also harder than nickel. It's a common misconception. Most people assume that since rhodium is a 'precious' metal, it will be softer than nickel. As for the whole 'value' argument...most of the time I find it a bit ludicrous. Most people get a razor replated for one of three reasons. 1. It's a favorite razor 2. It has sentimental value or 3. It's in shoddy condition and they want to increase it's value and improve it's appearance. Which means it's value was low to begin with, due to the razor's condition. In the first two cases, it's highly unlikely you'll ever sell it, so the 'value' added or lost by plating is meaningless. The third case is rather self explanatory. I guess I fall into the "who cares" category.
Excellent answer! I was trying to answer the question from the wrong POV. However, you sir have nailed it.
Since I only "collect" razors that I'm going to use, I'm not worried about "damaging" the value. I've had three razors replated, one in its original nickel, one on its original gold and one in a custom two-tone black/white rhodium. It's all a matter of what YOU want. Now if you're collecting for your own personal museum then replating is probably not the way to go.
Awesome, thanks guys. I like the idea of keeping stuff as original as possible, because that's what the manufacturer intended, but also don't want to break the bank if it doesn't matter at all. This Aristocrat just seems like it should be kept gold but I'm definitely partial to nickel, not just for cost but hardness for use. This is also my only gold razor, so I wouldn't mind keeping it gold. Ahhh, the struggle in my mind... Here's its current condition... Also, in my limited knowledge, it appears that the Aristocrat and the President model are the same, just one is gold and the other is nickel... Is this true. This is another reason I like to keep things original, so not to mislead others if I were to trade or sell eventually.
I'd replate it nickel and keep it, Aristocrat are great shavers. Being different is good. You'd be able to sell it as a nickel Aristocrat as long as you're upfront. Go 4 it.
A gold replate would probably be a lot more durable than the original gold "plate". The original finish seems more lime a gold "wash" to my novice eye. If you like the gold I say have at it. Really, how much more are you out? $25?
The original gold plating on those razors was super thin. A gold replated razor would be much more durable. However, if you prefer nickel or rhodium or even rose gold, it's your razor, go with what speaks to you.
That's a good point. The original gold plating was very thin on these. Gillette coated that plating with lacquer to protect it. Nowadays, we just skip the lacquer and put the gold on about four times as thick as the original plating. Edit: looks like I'm not the only one who agrees.
Nickel would like nice, especially if you're partial to it. Personally I like gold. Just for drooling purposes here's a gold Aristocrat replated in nickel on Chris Evatt's RazorPlate website. Before: After: Ta da! An Aristocrat becomes a President (sort of)!
If Gold is what you like than Gold it should be. The real question is how long will you last? Gold has always been desirable. Rhodium is for engineer types who are into that kind of thing? Will you wear out a gold re-plate? And, who cares after all, it is a razor used in the the bathroom for personal cleanup as you see fit. I think you would be the one that admires the razor in a solitary way? Pick a plating that you truly like & go for it. Value of a razor is in the eyes of the beholder/user IMHO.
Hello folks, I would like to comment on this topic as well. I have had several razors replated over the last three years. Of them all, were two in nickel, and one in gold. By far I am partial to the gold. The first two replates in nickel were beautiful and they were originally silver colored razors. However I love gold. Most of my favorite razors are plated in gold. And I also feel that if a razor was originally gold, it would look most natural replated in gold. The one razor that I have replated in gold was trashed before I had it done. The cost of the razor was about $35 shipped. I found a local plating company that would plate it in gold for $50 plus $4 tax. But I had to disassemble the razor first. It took awhile to learn how to disassemble the razor, but it didn't cost me anything. So in the end, I took a $35 razor and turned it into a $125 razor, by adding a $54 replate. Here's a look at the end result. - You tell me....Was it worth it?
i'm a fan of nickel myself. has a richer look than chrome in my opinion. for razors, cars, and bikes. i own a Gillette 'NEW' (brass/copper head) in gold and love it. as much as i'm not into "bling" if i were to re-plate mine i would do gold. if you like nickel, then go for it. i would find someone who can prep the razor for the plating. as a biker i used to know said. "the best plating isn't worth jack if the part isn't prepped for it."
I'm a collector so it's all about replating it back to original condition... That's my ultimate goal, to replate most of my razors that need it. Now if I had an original Toggle... I may leave that one alone.
I'm going to re-plate all three of my Red Tip's so I can pass them on (my legacy). Since Razor Emporium doesn't do mausoleums I'll go with rhodium.