The Straight Razor Acquisition Thread

These are at a local Antique Mall. I don't know anything about them. Anyone have a clue and what might be a fair offering price?

 

That all depends on the Make, Model, and Condition of the razors. Those Scales, are beautiful. Try to get pics of the blades. People tend to frown on giving estimates around here.

 

Nothing like any of those, in my neck of the woods. I would be very interested in seeing the 7 day set. Well, who am I kidding, I want to see them all.

 

Fair enough.

 

Gorgeous find Joseph!
I can share my thoughts on pricing 7 day sets, as it’s sometimes tough to find comparable sets to value against.
I like to value a single blade, multiply that by 0.6 (call that the bulk discount ), and then multiply by 7. That is my value if all the blades are good - no spine wear and the scales are intact. Any issues come off that total.
So for a $50 single razor, I would ballpark my valuation of a set at $210 to start.

As far as the scales, I could swear I have seen a picture of these quite a while back. This one’s value may be much more about the scales than the blades... but I am not up on the rarity of these scales.

Good luck - I hope you take some home!

 

Well, I'm here reporting on the $11.95 Greaves & Sons razor that I bought on Ebay a few weeks ago. I cleaned it up a little and honed it. It's a beautiful shaver, but I feel that there is something that is not quite right about it. BTW, the blade is not black. It's just the result of side lighting. I think it looks kind of cool with the highlighted stamp on the blade.

The first reason for my skepticism is the name on the blade, "W.GRFAVES&SONS" with the final "s" in SONS looking like a "3". Number two is that nowhere on the razor does it say "Sheffield". Third, it only says "Sheaf Works" on the scales, not on the blade, which incidentally are made of horn. Fourth, is the length of the tail. Wm. Greaves & Sons ceased making razors in 1850. I don't think the tails at the time were quite as long as this one, although I have two B.J. Eyer straights with similar length tails. B.J. Eyer was a partner with Greaves and took over the business under his own name when Greaves closed shop.

So, I don't know if this is a replica, a counterfeit, or a real Greaves. The razor itself is of high-quality manufacture and takes a very keen edge. At any rate, for $11.95, I've got myself a very nice antiquey style razor.

 

He's asking $300 for the nice scales (snake, dragon). I got a look at the blades, but need to examine them more carefully. I THINK he's asking $1500 for the lot, not including the case. Not sure. Pretty pricey.

 

Yeah, have to agree they are pretty pricey. I would hope the scales were made of some exotic material at that price, but I don’t think that was the case with these. I have seen the snake scale design come up for auction... don’t remember it hitting the stratosphere.

 

Very pricey, keep in mind he has rent to pay. I would wait him out, put a value what you're willing to pay and don't go over it.

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Billy..

 

I think he's going to wait a long time to get his price...if ever.

 

Then you move on to something else, someone might buy it for $1500, if one does not value it at that cost, don't buy it.

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My Dubi Duck Gold Edge 6/8th Square Point Arrived in Scotland from the USA...This Razor is NOS I Reckon & its Mint..I Honed her to 12 K on My Naniwa Progression...She was Taking Hairs Midway from the 1 K Bevel Hone..

Now..What Natural Finisher Do I Use...MMMMmmmm...Decisions...Such a Hard Life..

Billy..

 

Well, Mates, having a touch of insomnia tonight (not related to the razor, btw ), I thought I would do a little more research on my W. Greaves & Sons acquisition. Much to my surprise and delight, I found the following information. This from Shavesmith and this from Strazors. So, it seems as though I might have an authentic W. Greaves & Sons razor, dated 1830! All for $11.95.

 

I suspected you might have the real McCoy, as earlier Sheffield razors were not required to have the word Sheffield on them. Not sure they're worth a lot, but to me, shaving with a razor that is approaching 200 years old is priceless! Congrats!

 

All I can say is WOW. Nice stuff, Primo. I'd like to sift through those. To me it's all about the blades not the scales.

 

I own several Greaves .The scales match my razor .The shape and some of the stampings on the blade match my Washington Works .Looks like the real deal to me .I do think it would be worth the time to try to fake a razor that usually does not sell over $150 .

 

Interesting article about Sheffield razors from a 1922 antiques mag. written by razor collector Henry T. Lummus. It starts on page 261. Scroll down to the photo of razor "O". It's the same razor.

Oops, forgot to add the link.

 

"Bancroft"
Bancroft Razor Co.
Worcester Mass

Looks as if it has never touched a stone.

 

Very Tasty SR Scotty Boy..

Billy..