Thread: What is your most rare straight razor?

Caccia, I've never seen anything like that frameback before. And you found a second one!!!

Jerry, that is a beautiful old stubtail.

Originally Posted by JP5

Caccia, I've never seen anything like that frameback before. And you found a second one!!!

Jerry, that is a beautiful old stubtail.

Thanks for the nice comments on the razors,I do have a black plastic (?) scaled one also that I used to hone the blades.The shaves are better than I expected too.

Someone may correct me, but I would think the frame was made from something other than ivory. Making frames from ivory would have been extremely difficult and time consuming.

Is your other interchangeable frameback a Jacques LeCoultre? Those are definitely more common, although I've never found one!

Originally Posted by JP5

Someone may correct me, but I would think the frame was made from something other than ivory. Making frames from ivory would have been extremely difficult and time consuming.

Is your other interchangeable frameback a Jacques LeCoultre? Those are definitely more common, although I've never found one!

I did a hot pin test and and it seems like ivory to me,I could be wrong of course.Interestingly,I have a couple Le Coultre(one is ivory) razors but they are different.No matter what material they used back then putting a razor together this way was difficult.Perhaps someone out there could verify if they made frames of ivory 120 years ago?I used the bottom black F.W.Soderen to hone the spare blades of the other razors.

Söderén never produced anything but luxury razors. They were very expensive at the end of the 1800's and they are unfortunately very rare today. Since it was a luxury product the very top of the line versions could be made with ivory. Since real ivory is very easy to recognize I have no doubt that it is ivory. What amazes me is how brittle it must be and how much these razors must have cost back then. I have attached a photograph of the few well preserved Söderén razors I've managed to find over the years.

Originally Posted by caccia

No lever,the blade just slides into a brass groove.The blade is in there nice and snug and I have shaved with the razor before realizing how uncommon they are and how it would not survive being dropped.A few months after finding this one,I found another.

I think it is time for you to buy a lottery ticket after finding that second one. Thanks for posting those unusual and interesting razors.

Bob

Originally Posted by JP5

Someone may correct me, but I would think the frame was made from something other than ivory. Making frames from ivory would have been extremely difficult and time consuming.

I'm voting for ivory. I've got a similar Gellé Frères frameback with a genuine ivory frame. The blade has one threaded protrusion on top that fits through a hole in the ivory and is secured with a simple nut.

Interestingly, there was a court case in the year 1900 involving that razor and trademark infringement. I ran the French text through Google translate, and here's the relevant snippet from the legal record:

"... [the defendant] maintains that the banal and usual 'Ideal' adjective can not constitute an exclusive property, being a mere qualifier of the public domain and that in any case no confusion can arise from the simultaneous use of these two different denominations 'The Ideal Razor' on the one hand, and 'The Ideal' on the other hand; That, in addition, the two razors are not alike: one is metal-framed and the other has a horn or celluloid mount"

I don't know French, but I'm thinking the word that is translated as "horn" might be a synonym of "tusk."

You might be surprised how strong ivory can be, and how intricate pieces made of it could be. It doesn't surprise me that the frame is ivory.

Most rare for me, likely my CT Bingham Tally Ho I just picked up or maybe one of FBU or FBO W&B.
No po ics of the others my phone isnt cooperating.:/

Originally Posted by ScienceGuy

You might be surprised how strong ivory can be, and how intricate pieces made of it could be. It doesn't surprise me that the frame is ivory.

Hey ScienceGuy!
If it passed the hot needle test (which he said it did) that is pretty conclusive. No surprise at how strong it is or how intricate in can be. Part of why I love ivory. I am surprised they made frames of it though. I find that very interesting. Another added to the wish list!!!
Thanks for posting SG, always nice to hear from you!