Hello Andreles,

The letters stamped on top of the case are usually the initials of a previous (most likely the original) owner.

The biscuit-coloured one one the left looks like a man-made hone (eg norton india) at first glance, but really needs a good clean-up and lapping to be sure. It may turn out to be a novaculite of sorts, but as the other hone is a finishing stone I would think that the left one is probably much coarser and more abrasive.

The greenish one is certainly like a Llyn Idwal, of the speckled/banded type that is sometimes called 'grecian hone' - the chemical analysis of both is virtually the same, the only difference being made by trace elements in both types being slightly different, with the plainer type being called LI or welsh oilstone and the speckled one 'grecian' in the old woodworkers catalogues. Both perform about the same, some say the grecian type performs slightly better, but there is not much in it (apart from the fact that the plainer LI/welsh oilstone is prone to delamination and bulb-like impact flaking). You would finish the razor on this one.

As far as cutlers greenstones are concerned, no-one living has ever seen one - we have just one or two descriptions in old literature, so nobody can say what is or what is not a cutlers greenstone. They are reputed to come from the same area as the LI/wesh oilstone/grecian hone, so the chemical make-up and performance should be on a par. The fact that a couple of (long dead) people have said that they were the most excellent hones is also debatable - different people have different expectations. If they were so famous and beloved of cutlers, you would have thought that a good number of authenticated ones would have survived - but they have not. In all the old catalogues I have seen (with scythestones, carpenters hones, sandstones, oilstones, waterstones etc) I have never even seen the cutlers greenstone mentioned, although mention of welsh oilstone, charnley (sometimes called 'charley') forest, german waterstone, fine belgian hones, german ratisbon hones, tam o'shanters, water of Ayr, etc, etc, are all freely mentioned.

Regards,
Neil