Thread: NOS Use and Lose

I also understand the concept of having a beautiful piece of history, and having some trepidation/hesitation around actually using it. For me, there was some fear in potentially damaging the blade, and for some strange reason, which I now realize, for me, was unfounded, in reducing it's potential worth, let me phrase that better, diminishing something that was in a better state / condition before it came to me.

Now I realize, if it lasted in that condition since the 1900's, if I take care of it the way I do my other blades, it will last long after the time I've bought the farm....

If you have expendable cash,Is great to collect things,to have nice things.But if your mindset is to make a profit down the road,9 times out of 10 you will lose money unless you can hold them for a very long time.
I have collected many things in my life,never made a dime collecting razors,cars or boats.
Only things I have actually collected that turned Profits were Guns, Dunhill O.D.A.s and some watches.Only reason I profited was because I held them,some for 30 years +.

I have no problem using the NOS razors I have picked up, after all, they were made to shave with.

It depends to an extent how one uses his razors. I have razors that were either restored or custom made that I use regularly and yet they still look exactly like they did when I got them. Any required touch-ups are done with tape on the spine and I do only as many laps, always on a high grit stone, as are required to regain shave-readiness. No water ever gets near the pinned area, storage is in a dry, secure place and no rust or water-spotting ever occurs. I feel like I could take a NOS razor, use it regularly, and it would look just the same for years, maybe decades. Usage, if done poorly or not carefully, can change the condition of a razor, but it doesn't have to. I like mine to look perfect, and they do.

Originally Posted by WW243

Affirmative Bob, got that part. The question is for those keeping a NOS razor with no intentions of selling it, ever.

That would be a true collector intent upon some future gain possibly or passing it on to family eventually. I really don't know other than that. I have some near NOS razors that have been honed up and I use in rotation so I really can't grasp not using them.

Bob

I drive a 1987 Carrera every day, rain or shine. I take care of it but I make it work. Then there are the people who can afford preservation of industrial art for its own sake. I honor them for accepting the responsibility of keeping something original, preserving it, for the next generation. If not for them, no "Seducing Speed" exhibit at the Raleigh Art Museum this month. There is joy in either pursuit.

Porsche by Design: Seducing Speed | North Carolina Museum of Art

Ah, MisterMoo, if I had my druthers and a lot of cash, it would be the 1949 Porsche for me. The simplicity of, and yet complexity of, design sets my blood racing, my blood pressure rising and in general all the effects that a younger man would still have. I'd even propose marriage if it had a heartbeat.

If I can't use it then I don't really want it. I love a great shave, that's it. Recently a good friend told me that a great razor is about the quality of the steel. He also said that an inexpensive razor that is honed great is always going to shave better than one expensive razor that is honed poorly. NOS and Pretty were not necessarily on his description. I see a NOS as a razor that's waiting for me to break in.

Luis

You have to be careful with this term NOS; when I married my wife, she looked & claimed to be NOS,,,turned out to be "B.A.T.B.S.",,,Been Around The Block Stock.

Most of if not all the razors I have were NOS and as long as you tape the spine and administer the right after care they can look and do look as good as when they first popped their head out of the box.