Thread: Razor identification -abalone solingen anitque

I inherited my great-grandfather's straight razor from my grandfather 8 years ago when my grandfather died. At the time, I stuck the shaving kit (razor, strop, brush, mug) in a box and never thought about it again. Until Halloween weekend, when a friend and I dressed up as Sweeny Todd (demon barber of Fleet St. and Ms. Lovett), and I used the razor as a prop for my costume. I got several comments on it, and that led me to try and find out it's value. This search led me to your forum. It is a solingen 7 and the other side says KLIHASO in an elipse of triangles. There was writing on the blade, but it is very faded and I can't make it out. The top of the blade is about 1/8" thick, rounded, and with diagonal lines with circled dots along the surface. The handle is 4 sections of 1" mother of pearl pieces separated by 1/4" abalone pieces, on both sides. I have the box for it, it is red and says weitzer cutlery Co., Milwaukee, WIS. Made in Germany, and the other side says cutlery, grinding and barber supplies. I have no idea on it's age except for that my great grandfather was born in 1900 and my grandpa said he got from his father (my great-great-grandfather) when he began shaving, about 1915 or -16 (?) Any help or insight would be much appreciated!

Sounds like a beautiful razor. But for identification purposes (and because we all like seeing razors) you should post some pictures. One expensive prop though for sure...

Welcome.

Unfortunately we can't appraise razors here and such an attempt would be difficult given the many factors involved today in setting the price of a given razor.

I would guess that you're planning on keeping such a fine sounding razor given its importance to you and your family as an heirloom. Suffice it to say few razors in the world are literally priceless or anything close to it.

If you want to research current prices of similar razors, if you have an Ebay account you can log into Ebay and check completed listings. Keyword examples I'd use would be things like: Mother of Pearl straight razor, MOP straight razor, etc.

I hope that helps. Hopefully no one damaged that razor or were cut by it when you used it as a Halloween prop?

Chris L

I wasn't looking for an appraisal per se, I was just looking to get a general idea, out of curiosity. I wouldn't expect an online appraisal, and I assume no one here is an expert, but I can tell you one thing for sure, and that is that you know more than I do about the subject. I tried the Ebay thing and it has prices for Solingen straight razors anywhere from $130 to $.99, and nothing abalone or mother of pearl. Yes, I would like to keep it for sentimental value, as this is the only thing I have of my mother's-mother's father. He died, unfortunately, when I was 3. That, and the memory of pipe smoke, because he always smoked a pipe and whenever I smell pipe tobacco I remember him. Anyway, back to the subject at hand. I am uploading pics as we speak. They are not very high quality, I just used my webcam (only camera I have access to). I also want to note that the handle is missing one chunk of abalone, nearest the blade. I assume that could be replaced easily by a jeweler, though. No, no one got hurt when I used it as a prop because I was smart enough to dip the edge of the blade in candle wax (red, of course), which had the benefits of protection from the sharp blade, kept the blade from getting damaged, and came off easily. Looked like blood on the blade, though, which was extra awesome!

http://i813.photobucket.com/albums/z...20091110_5.jpg

http://i813.photobucket.com/albums/zz54/BeckasBucket/Snapshot_20091110_4.jpg

http://i813.photobucket.com/albums/z...20091110_2.jpg

http://i813.photobucket.com/albums/z...20091110_1.jpg

Wow. That is a beautiful razor. Keep it. Forever. Get married. Make your husband learn how to use it. Have kids. Pass it on.

LOL!

I thought it was a pretty neat artifact.

It is absolutely incredible. It almost makes me wish there were more people my age (20) that do the straight razor thing just so it has a chance of seeing some use.

Ya, that's lovely.