I have hopes that one day someone will come across this thread and go "Oh, yeah, that's a [insert name here] razor made during [insert year range here] and oh boy, those razors are mega-rare and sell for [insert insane amount here]"
Fun trivia: I sent over some photos to Robert Waits (of Waits' Compendium) and he couldn't identify it (but did call it "a great find" ) - and have requested some more photos to see what he can find. The patent number, under closer inspection turned out to be; Pat. No. A.62.939
Today completed the one-week shave with the razor. Overall it received a "rating" of 7/10 - decent shaves, not at efficient as some other razors I've tried but I love the look of it and those roller guards are quite enjoyable Next up to bat: The Swedish Swing "1935 CC"
While it's certainly unique, and kinda cool looking, it actually seems a little scary to shave with. I would be afraid of having too much glide with those rollers and the razor getting away from me...
So roller guard razors do come up now and then on the auction sites. I noticed one with a NIB price that he is willing to come down on. It appears to be a travel version and not sure if the roller guard coil moves or is fixed. Interesting look though. Me, I think one is enough for my experiment with this type of razors (that I must say I did enjoy)
Got this email from Robert Waits today: " Hello, I have sent your razor photos to five knowledgeable collectors, four in the US and one in Europe. None had seen it before. A US collector commented: "my money is on a French or German identification. I'm basing that on the absence of anything that looks like an American patent, and the box, and latch, are definitely European. The fact that there is no identification on the box itself does not change my opinion" So it seems to be a a rarity. My guess is that is circa early-to-mid 1920s after the original Gillette patents expired and three-hole blades were common.One thing that you could do is carefully example the purple lining inside of the case lid under ultraviolet light to see if the faded printing or label is legible. Antique dealers may have such a light.Also is the roller on the guard free to rotate? Where did you find the razor? Where did the previous owner get it? These may be clues. Sorry that I did not find out anything more. Please let me know if you find out anything new. Regards,Robert"
Greetings Darkbulb, I picked up a razor that is very similar to yours save for the handle style and patent number. I also have a box with a rather faithful drawing of the razor that I have. Here is the razor, And here is the box, which was obtained separately, On the underside of the bottom plate is this text, as well as Pat. 50368 at the other corner, My razor is not nearly as photogenic as yours but it shaves well. After a few months of daily service I'd rank it 8/10. Is it possible your razor is a later model from the same maker or distributor, Castilla? Maybe one day we'll find out.
Great find! I'd say it could very well be that mine is from that maker as well - I mean how many roller-guard razors were made in Argentina in those days? Are the rollers on your razor part of the baseplate or do they, like they do on mine. move freely? I've already taken the liberty to pass this link on to Robert Waits as we tried to figure out this razor some time ago
The rollers spin freely. Thanks for passing this on to Robert, will be interested in what he has to say.
Digging a bit I learned that Castilla in Argentina not only made razors..., but also; Razor blades - that they seem to have sourced from the US Honing/stropping paste
I found this reference to a roller guard razor on another website. Here is a screenshot of it- I hope this is of use to you all in solving this mystery.
Thanks, that's actually a neat little thing that does come up on the bay from time to time. It was just sold as a head to be matched with a Gillette handle. When they come up on the bay you can expect to pay about $25-40 for a nice one.
