Thread: Silver handled razor

Hi all

Long time away from here..Oh, well, good to be back.

I am looking at a silver handled razor.

Not so many of them around more. Was they made in small numbers?
Some here who have one or have had one?
How is the balance on them? (I guess they was made of good razor makers, made to be used, so they had to be well balanced). Have not had one in my hands, yet....

These one have a handle made of one solid pice of silver.

Hope some have some information

Have a good day

Holy cow... That thing is gorgeous! It looks a lot like the work that John (Shutterbug, on the forums) does!

And, from what I've heard about his work, they are quite superbly balanced, and, from the obvious quality/craftsmanship of those scales, I'd hazard that no one would make such beautiful scales, without making sure they balanced.

That's just my guess, though

Silver is rather heavy, no? I would expect that a razor with solid silver scales would be very scale heavy. I would expect they were made in very limited numbers, because silver is expensive. The silver scales also tend to have lots of detail on them, which would add to the price. You can find some razors with aluminium scales that look similar, but are cheaper and the scales are lighter. I have one... somewhere...

Sterling Silver scaled razors were pretty much at the top of the heap back in the day mostly bought by wealthy people. These days the razor collectors usually go after them so the prices are usually very high.

From a practical standpoint I agree unless the scales are very thin or highly worked they could give the razor poor balance and then there's the issue of having to polish the silver all the time or it turns black unless you coat it with something.

They come up all the time on Eboy.

I've seen quite a few Sheffields with sterling silver scales over the years on ebay. They usually went for at least a couple of hundred dollars and many times with corrosion on the blades. I've never owned one but I bet they would be scale heavy in the hand.

At the present time , the spot price of silver around $15.50 U.S. per ounce . There may be 1 ounce or 2 at the most of silver to make those scales . Just a little food for thought when you're shucking out $200+ for a set of silver scales .

*Very* interesting set of scales. I can't tell if they are cast or repousse.
If cast then they would be most definately overbalanced. If they were repoussed from a thin sheet of silver, then they could be light enough to work well with the blade.
I find the pattern oddly asymetric, and somewhat unfinished. I wonder if space was left open for an engraver to add text in the open areas or if this is a typical design for the time and location of the piece. Beautiful craftsmanship in any case.

Originally Posted by dave5225

At the present time , the spot price of silver around $15.50 U.S. per ounce . There may be 1 ounce or 2 at the most of silver to make those scales . Just a little food for thought when you're shucking out $200+ for a set of silver scales .

The current price on a strip of sterling 1" x 6" at 18 gague is @ $28
Two pieces would be $56
Double that for .99 fine silver.
Minimum 15 hours of labor @ $40+ per hr. for a master bench jeweller. I know some who work for $65 an hour.
So think about shucking out $656 when you look at a piece of collectable art.
Just something to think about.

I wasn't refering to the fine hand worked scales you make . I was thinking along the lines of mass produced , poured into a mold or stamped by the thousands , type of scales .

Originally Posted by dave5225

I wasn't refering to the fine hand worked scales you make . I was thinking along the lines of mass produced , poured into a mold or stamped by the thousands , type of scales .

From the examples I've seen, I don't think silver scales were made like that. But I could well be wrong.