Gillette Short Handled Heavy-Duty Model!!!!!

[blackgrass]

I have been prowling junk and antique stores the last few weeks trying to find razors. Not only has the whole shaving experience become a new hobby but hunting for old razors is kind of fun as well. Some days you find a couple and some days you look through several stores and find nothing. I had an afternoon to kill yesterday day so I headed down to a junk store and began the hunt.

I think I may have found my holy grail of razors! It is a short handled heavy-duty model and according to the date guide it is from 1958! I have never seen one like it before but have read about them a few times. It is unlike the other Gillette’s in the fact that the handle is shorter but thicker. It also has some type of collar/washer just below the adjustment collar. This little collar/washer is about the thickness of a quarter and a dark colored metal with the rest of the razor being chrome. I'm not sure if this collar is meant to add weight to the razor or not. Maybe somebody else will know?

Now.... I cleaned it up and boiled it for a while and then gave it an alcohol bath. I dropped a blade in it last night and went to bed thinking about my new razor! (This is becoming a sickness I tell you!) This morning I got a great shave. In fact it was one of my best shaves yet! I used the Omega/Proraso shaving soap (quickly becoming my favorite of all the creams and soaps I have tried....Can't beat the price either!) with the new razor and couldn't be happier! It felt very solid in my hand and the weight of the razor just made it glide over my face! I may end up selling my gold finished Gillette after this mornings shave with the short handled model! Now I MUST find a gold finished short handled model! Ahhhh....the sickness/hunt continues!

Anyone else have one of these models? I think they must have been pretty rare! One other interesting note: Most of the old Gillette's that I am finding have been made in the fourth quarter of the year. I wonder if they stepped up the razor production for X-mas each year?

[blackgrass]

I'm 6' and 195 pounds. Tip of middle finger to palm is about 7 1/2". I don't have any trouble with it but I tend to hold the razor with my fingertips as opposed to wrapping my hand completely around the razor. In fact the fat handle tends to offer a bit more to hold onto.

[jvan]

Blackgrass,

According to this website http://www.geocities.com/safetyrazors/gil_ser2.htm
the "short thick handle" was introduced in 1959, if yours is dated 1958 a correction may need to be made to this data base. Like you, I spent a couple of hours in an antique mall yesterday. Nothing that realy caught my eye but the hunt is the fun part. I found my 1961 gold Gillette Adjustable in pristine condition for $18.00. This razor is my daily shaver. The last "new" silver model sold on E-Bay for $103.00! The prices have gone through the roof on the web so keep haunting the stores and malls.

John

_________________
John V
"What one relishes, nourishes"

Benjamin Franklin

[blackgrass]

Do you have a link to that auction? I am curious what you mean by new model? I will have to double check my razor date but I'm pretty sure it is a "D" date code. According to the Gillette date site that would be 1958 but it was also the fourth quarter so maybe the start up was sooner than 1959? Interesting!

[jvan]

Here is the link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=35989&item=6522948917&rd=1&tc=photo

By "new" I meant that it was old stock but never used, or in this case opened. Forty year old Gillette Adjustables are selling for as much as new Merkur Adjustables.

John

_________________
John V
"What one relishes, nourishes"

Benjamin Franklin

[blackgrass]

[Hugo]

I have one of these as well. No difference in shave from my long handled one. Feel is slightly off, but I am so used to/familiar with the long handled Gillette that I just prefer this. I had it up in the trade/sale section but no one made me and offer. If anyone is interested PM me and we can work out a deal.

[Rich]

Well now,
after looking at the razor in question, my face is all smiles. I have two of them and one is NM. I paid 4.99 for each...lol. The prices are absurd.
Rich

[bernards66]

Evening, The one Gillette Adjustable that I currently own is that short handled HD model. Mine isn't cosmetically the best, but mechanically it's in excellent shape. I really use only two razors on any kind of regular basis. This is one of them, the other is my basic Schick Injector. I also, ultimately still prefer the long handled model ( same reason, used one for so very long ) but I've never been able to get into the e-bay thing, and now, $109! That's incredible. Regards, Gordon