Léthien's guaranteed true Damascus razor blades
In a gazette from the year 1787 I found the note that the French cutler Léthien sold “guaranteed true Damascus” razors (vrai Damas à garantie) for up to two and a half times the price of his “mechanical Damascus” razor blades (damas corroyé & raffiné au feu).
This differentiation between “true Damascus” and “mechanical Damascus” is notable and begs the question what kind of steel Léthien used to produce these “guaranteed true Damascus blades”.
I found an earlier source documenting that Léthien imported Damascus sabres from Constantinople in 1786 to make knives “dites à coulisse”.
From this I conclude that the said “guaranteed true Damascus” razors were also made from these sabres and as such are possibly the first West European razor blades to be made of true Damascus steel.
My aim is to find an example of one of these Léthien “guaranteed true Damascus” blades. I would be grateful to anyone who can assist me in my search.
Thanks
Richard Rechsteiner