I am a newbie with a couple of very cheap but effective DE's I got from AMAZON in June. They both work very well for me. But, in a fit of "Gotta Have It"....I bought a birth year '69 Gillette Adjustable Black Handle TTO razor from Ebay (Date code 0-4). I paid $29 for it plus shipping. To say this razor is a beauty is an understatement. It feels and looks brand new. It also feels great in my hand. What I did not realize was that it was a short-handle razor...I guess there is long handle version out there also. My question is this: Is there a short handle and long handle for each year? Or did they not start making long handled versions of this until a certain year? (and where can i pick up a long handle version of this black beauty?)
As far as I know, there is the short and long for each year it was made. Best place to for sure find them is eBay. Other than that, it's a patient search of flea markets, junk stores, yard sales, etc.
Black Beauty is the the common name for the long handled version. They are identical except for the length of the handles. The long handled one is popular with lady shavers because it is the longest handled adjustable Gillette made. When you do an eBay search, use the terms "Gillette black beauty" and Gillette black handle razor" in addition to "Gillette super adjustable" Other than that, ditto what Jody said. Edit: As a side note, do not ever boil one of these razors to clean it. Boiling it will cause the black anodizing on the aluminum handle to permanently turn grey.
I didn't know that the handle of these razors was anodized aluminum! I have a pair of Black Beauties, one gold & one nickel. You never know what you will learn.
