Thread: Boker 7 Day set - Ivory?

The gentleman at Boker did reference their old catalog as part of the verification process as well as having me send some detailed pictures. The razors in question were manufactured between 1902-1908 and the 7 day sets were only done in a couple of different scale materials. I am impressed that they would even take the time to do the research to verify the dates and scale materials. Most companies would just ignore the request.

SCORE! It's great to know that there are still such treasures out there waiting to be discovered. Enjoy your new toys!!!

Originally Posted by CarrieM

The gentleman at Boker did reference their old catalog as part of the verification process as well as having me send some detailed pictures. The razors in question were manufactured between 1902-1908 and the 7 day sets were only done in a couple of different scale materials. I am impressed that they would even take the time to do the research to verify the dates and scale materials. Most companies would just ignore the request.

Thanks for taking the time and trouble to do the research. Great set ! One to hand down to the grand kids. I have seen the Boker video of their straight razor mfg here and it is pretty impressive.

Boker has always been wonderful with helping me in my research.They are a great company to deal with.

As to the previous question here is the info I reseved obut reference material.



your inquiry regarding straight razors reached us in Solingen,Germany. As you know, Boker products are being manufactured here.

On straight razors, you must know, that it was only last year when we came back to producing a line of 6 patterns.They are part of the current Boker USA catalog and probably you are familiar with these.
Before that Boker did not resume to make straight razors after the 2nd world war.
The company has been destroyed in 1944 badly. The only material we have available has been made available to us by private people after the war.
We have one Boker catalog of Herrmann Boker,New York 1906.
In there you find 20 pages of straight razors with various tangmarks,etchings and handlematerials. These pages tell you more than I even know out of our history concerning straight razors.
We'll copy these pages for you and send them by airmail to your attention.
I hope we could help you. Enjoy this old material.

Best regards
Ernst Felix,president

Very, VERY nice.

To some people the scales matter to some don't. I personally fall in the first category, mostly because I like the feel and the idea of a natural material is appealing to me.
While I don't have use for 7-day sets, I still have managed to accumulate a few and it's been hard to part with as they're a real luxury item that one gets quite attached to.

Great razors.

Very nice find. I wouldn't care what the scales were made of if I were you as long as they were in great shape, which they clearly are. If it really really bugs you though, you can tell its celluloid or not by heating a pin and putting it to the scale. Beware though, this will melt the plastic and leave an impression, so do it if you really don't want the scales if they're plastic.

I would leave them alone and wallow in the glory of having seven awesome razors. Grats.

Originally Posted by gugi

To some people the scales matter to some don't. I personally fall in the first category, mostly because I like the feel and the idea of a natural material is appealing to me.
While I don't have use for 7-day sets, I still have managed to accumulate a few and it's been hard to part with as they're a real luxury item that one gets quite attached to.

Great razors.

The feel and idea that the material is natural has a great value to me also. I was just honing one of them last evening using natural stones and my thoughts wandered to what the area around the stone material looked like when it was on the surface and the elephant the ivory came from when it was alive. My thoughts then went to 'if the razors cold talk' and trying to imagine a story behind the original owner of this set. The part about the scales not mattering to me is that I am very happy with the set, for what we paid for it, even if the scales were celluloid or some other man made material. The set is in great condition and I will enjoy my shaves with them very much. If I can get some time together I hope to finish honing the set and start it in my rotation on Sunday for a once through.

I still haven't decided how I am going to address the chip issue on the Monday blade. At the extreme tow there is a chip about 1/64 deep (edge to spine) but about 1/16 long (toe to heel). I'm not sure if I want to hone it down and keep the edge straight with a small French point like on the others or give it a smile. I'm leaning towards hone it down and keep the edge the same as the others. I'd post a pic of the chip but I am sure I couldn't get it shot well enough to show anything of value.

it's of course your call, i'd hone it out evenly. it looks like there's already a smile to the blade, and i don't think emphasizing it on one end would be my choice.
it is indeed a shame with all my 7-day sets i've never done a week with one of them... of course i don't have one that all are honed too