Good evening Gents,

I'll start with an introduction. My name is Jay, and I'm attempting to become a convert from my well loved safety. I've been mug shaving for years, and find few things more pleasant and centering that a good shave. My razor of choice right now is a Gillette Fat boy, but I feel it's time to move on to where the REAL boys play.

Long story short I was perusing my local flea market Sunday and came across a rather nice JA Henckels straight edge. I quickly gobbled it up when I saw that and Solingen (I knew a little) and brought it home for some restoration.

Upon cleaning the scales I saw brown residue on my cloth and the familiar scent of vulcanized rubber (I restore fountain pens as well). I really thought the scales were celluloid. I did notice that the spacer was indeed white celluloid that had turned a wonderful shade of cream. Perusing the useful information on this site I was able to dig up the JA Henckels catalog and identified it as a model 72 (also stamped on the tang) but there is one difference. The blades in the catalog were all plain, and as the picture below will illustrate, mine is not. Mine has a lovely floral and leaf pattern on the one side of the blade, with the background of the relief gold filled.

Can someone enlighten me on the rarity or commonality of this? Was it an added option or aftermarket? I would also like to ask about the scale material. Everything I have been taught in the pen world said keep hard rubber out of water, especially hot as it promotes oxidation and turns hard rubber brown, yet these scales are PRISTINE.

At any route, anything you could tell me about this razor is much appreciated. I'd also like to know what you thought of the blade. Is it easily shave worthy? I have a bald patch on my leg right now that says yes (I couldn't resist) but it looks like it would need a stropping. Anything you see that looks like rust isn't, it's bright spots that reflected brown for some reason. OH, and the odd scratch on the scale is a fingerprint...sorry

Stamped on the tang is the following: 72, (THE JA HENCKELS LOGO) J.A. HENCKELS, SOLINGEN ZWILLNGSWERK.



So I guess I didn't make it that short...oh well. Looking forward to what you have to say.

J