hi all was looking for some help with this razor i just bought. its a trade mark gillette made in england the British pat number is 363892 it is 8cm in length very light. it is silver in colour but is changing to a copper/brass colour am looking for any info on this and how would i go abought cleaning it up/or should i get it replated.thanks for any info
What you have there is Gillette NEW Short Comb Razor, circa 1930's Although I have not seen a handle like that... might thus be a Frankenrazor... But the head is most certainly a NEW SC! Tis my favourite Razor!
I wouldn't bother replating it if I were you. I would just clean it real well with a little soap and water and start using it. Replating the razor would improve its looks, but it won't improve the quality of the shave.
I think that is a English Gillette #77, which mentioned is a NEW, and the handle may actually be original. I have seen others identical to that, and Gillette tended to mix and match with left over parts. I soak mine in hot water or "Scrubbing Bubbles" for a bit, then scrub them with a tooth brush. Should clean up nice.
There were 2 versions of the British No. 77 set that I am aware of: 1] 1933 silver British No. 77 NEW set; the rare two-piece; open comb; double-edge; brown bakelite case and two brown bakelite blade boxes (seen in the first advert below) 2] 1940s silver British No. 77 Tech set (seen in a December 1948 advertisement); three-piece; solid bar guard; double-edge; brown bakelite case and two brown bakelite blade boxes (seen in the second advert below) So it would appear you have a No. 77 set I've not seen or a miss-match with the wrong open comb guard head piece but the right handle and head cap. 1933 No. 77 advert: 1940s No. 77:
I still feel strongly that it is likely original. http://www.theshaveden.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11597 note that the handle looks slimmer than the normal fat handled tech, and I would be willing to bet that weighed side by side with a fat tech handle, it will actually weigh more.
The OP's pics have the tech thin handle, not the fat. I have a thin, it's a great, grippy handle, but it is a little lighter than the ball end. They were produced at the right time to be included in this set, so it might be another case of war-effected mix/match. At any rate, it should shave even better than a thin handle tech with that head!
Thin handle time a million! 77's and 44's were available with thin handles (i have a 44 set), and the 27 was a fatty. If you can't see that the OP's example is a thin handle, hold up one of your fat handles to the screen and compare. The gradient of the end-to-neck of the handle is too shallow to be a fat, there aren't enough visible vertical bars for it to be a fat, and the gap to the horizontal band would be too long.
