The Clerk told me it was ivory, what do you think? Is it authentic?
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The Clerk told me it was ivory, what do you think? Is it authentic?
Welcome to SRP. I would say it is celluloid. The clerk may have genuinely thought it was ivory but the etched letters, the thickness and the overall look of it suggest to me that it is not ivory. I could be wrong, I've been wrong a couple of times in the past. Here is the SRP Wiki beginner's guide if you are thinking of getting into straight razor shaving.
100% celluloid.
Nice razor. But its celluloid for sure.
Ivory or celluloid, it looks great. The only electric razor worth shaving with.
Give it the hot needle test. It's a nice looking blade either way!
100% celluloid but a nice piece!
French ivory - faux ivory celuloid.
Appreciate all the answers.
Anyone now anything about the origin?
As others have said, the overall look of the scales is celluloid, ivory scales are usually quite thin for one thing, but, the grain looks to me very much like genuine ivory, more random than the faux grain in celluloid so I wouldnt like to bet on it either way based solely on the pics. Worth further investigation before writing it off as synthetic IMO. Also the covered tang and the grind lines suggest a good quality razor to me. If it is ivory I think its a damn shame they stamped/engraved electric into it!
Jimmy, et al, I respect all of your opnions and I'm sure I have less experience than you guys but dont you think the directions of the grain look more like ivory than celluloid? All celluloid I have seen has very uniform grain indeed.
I can tell you for certain that it is a beauty !!!
Heres what I mean, Ive emphasised the grain in photoshop, its not like any celluloid Ive seen but Im happy to be proved wrong.
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...7/P1082880.jpg
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...7/P1082882.jpg
Also notice how the tang covers are quite translucent.
It is easy enough to find out. Just heat the tip of a pin to red and touch it to the inside of the scale LIGHTLY. If it is ivory nothing will happen. If it is celuloid or plastic it will sink in slightly and smell like plastic burning.
True enough.
Horn smell like burning hair
Bakalite just plain stinks but doesnt burn as readily as celluloid
Celluloid smells very chemical and almost pleasant to me though Im sure the fumes are not healthy
Ivory shouldnt react to a hot pin
Bone generally has distinctive vesicles which appear like small dark spots, probably doesnt burn, havent tried it as its usually easy to id
If you do the hot pin test, make sure to do it INSIDE one of the scales, in case it is celluloid and a little pit forms, along with a chemical POOF of smoke. Looks like celluloid to me, but with an interesting grain. If it passes the hot pin test (no smoke and a smell like drilled tooth at the dentists) then I would venture to say that it is not elephant ivory, but sea mammal. The grain looks completely different than elephant ivory, IMO, and I own quite a few ivory scaled razors. One has a similar grain to yours, and the seller described it as walrus ivory.
The more I look at it the less sure I am, probably its celluloid, Im thinking now that the grain is too pronounced for real ivory. Hurry up and do a pin test Viking!
Heres a snap of some of my antique elephant ivory, I was trying unsuccessfully to capture the grain in a non closeup pic, hence the large size (the forum software seems to have resized it, nevermind), I think you can see the patterns in some of em though.
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...007/ivory3.jpg
Yea, and two of them are have the barbers notch in them. Wow !! Would I ever love to have one of those. Did you know that John Wayne' gun had ivory grips.
I think if it were ivory, it would require pins at boths ends. I'm going with celluloid. Pin test and let us know.
P.S. as for the info on the maker, check thi wiki
1) It is sharp
2) It is not Electric.
Sorry, I couldn't resist!!! :roflmao
I've seen scales similar to those resently. I did the Celuloid test on them and found that they were celluloid.
Celluloid/bakelite test:
Lick your finger so you get some saliva on it, then rub the celluloid till it heats up. then you will be able to smell the celluloid. An old antique dealer told me this trick.
Celluloid. They're way too think for ivory, AND the killer is that they're one piece. No way that would be ivory....
I have a couple of real ivory razor's and they look nothing like that.