Thread: mint W&B the celebrated for barbers use

It never takes long for nit - pickers and nay sayers to come out. It's over 150 years old. Any of these that go on ebay with no rust have to have been cleaned up, it's simply not possible for one to have survived that long in the wild with no cosmetic flaws (at least highly unlikely). Say what you want, it's gorgeous and definitely in the 1 percentile of condition you'll ever see these in.

That's the problem with being attracted to the " shiny " stuff! Nothing like that could realistically survive 100+ years in that condition unless it was stored in a vacuum from the day it was purchased!
That's why I prefer them with a nice patina and minimum or no rust to remove. You know that it's survived the real world and shows its face to the world as is! No cosmetic surgery needed!

Originally Posted by NewellVW

That's the problem with being attracted to the " shiny " stuff! Nothing like that could realistically survive 100+ years in that condition unless it was stored in a vacuum from the day it was purchased!
That's why I prefer them with a nice patina and minimum or no rust to remove. You know that it's survived the real world and shows its face to the world as is! No cosmetic surgery needed!

I have several that survived that great condition, that appeared to be literally left in a box, some do exist, and while they may acquire "patina" , they will clean up most times by literally just rinsing them, it's a beautiful example, can't see it going that much higher, just glad I'm not shopping for those anymore.

Nice enough razor but seeing this makes me glad I am not into big blades especially W&Bs.

Bob

Originally Posted by prodigy

It never takes long for nit - pickers and nay sayers to come out

If it wasn't for the nit - pickers and nay sayers this site would not exist in any relevant form. Two of the members you called out have encyclopedic knowledge of straight razors and have made IMO, many contributions to this forum.
Their posts were educational as there seemed to be a discrepancy between what the seller was saying and what the trained eye can see.

I know, and I'm not calling anyone out. It's impossible to give a highly accurate synopsis of the condition without actually conducting a physical inspection. We all know how deceptive pictures can be. The fact that they can pick those minor details out just shows how much more experienced and trained their eyes are compared to mine and many others. The fact I was trying to get across was that compared to every other example of this razor I have ever seen, this one takes the prize. If that's not the case, please prove me wrong, I'd love to see one in better condition.

Edit: I just read phranks post, please share

Originally Posted by prodigy

I know, and I'm not calling anyone out. It's impossible to give a highly accurate synopsis of the condition without actually conducting a physical inspection. We all know how deceptive pictures can be. The fact that they can pick those minor details out just shows how much more experienced and trained their eyes are compared to mine and many others. The fact I was trying to get across was that compared to every other example of this razor I have ever seen, this one takes the prize. If that's not the case, please prove me wrong, I'd love to see one in better condition.

Edit: I just read phranks post, please share

Pics again may show or not show certain things but for 150 years old, some of them you can find in great shape. With intact scales, even harder.

edit: I should add, personally, it's the razor itself that means the most to me - while it's nice for some to have original scales, bakelite/pressed horn scales don't really hold a sentimental value for me unless they are perfect or close to perfect. As I mentioned, to me the blade condition is everything.

This one's all original (pins/washers may or may not have been changed, don't know), I have another like this one as well:



Not original scales but the blade is very clean:



Another one, blade is in excellent shape:

I've not seen a square point before, stunning!

Originally Posted by prodigy

The fact I was trying to get across was that compared to every other example of this razor I have ever seen, this one takes the prize. If that's not the case, please prove me wrong, I'd love to see one in better condition.

You might want to sift through all the posts here http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...cher-shop.html . Almost sure there are a few nice condition W&B in there.

Bob

This one is a 9/8 FBU, all original, from a guy in Ontario I ran across, this one really did sit in a box for about 100+ years: