Thread: Trying to identify?

I was looking around an antique store and stumbled upon this, I then promptly aquired it. I was wondering what brand this is? I have never seen this before, I am quite a newb. It appears to be an ivory handle... It is in quite fair condition, there is no rust or cracks on the blade and it is still quite sharp. Would this be worthy of a restoration or did I just waste my money?

Pictures follow...

I think the razor looks great.
I have heard of the brand but I am not sure how popular it is.
The scale look like bone or Ivory.
IMHO definitely worthy or restore, but from the pics it looks like it could be used as is with just a little clean up/polishing on the blade.

Theo Koch was not a razor maker. Like Pearlduck they were a supplier to the trade. I clearly remember going to the barbershop as a kid and as I sat in the booster seat staring down at the footrest on the chair it said Theo Koch.

So is Bessemer Sheffield the razor maker than, does this have any collectible value. Or is it just a good shaver?

Nice bone scales! I had a similar Bessemer, and it was a good shaver. It is a Sheffield, of course, and of good quality. May have some uneven hone wear, not sure from one of your photos, but that is correctable. I like the Bessemer trademark, too.

What would be the proper way of restoring the polish to the blade?

You can either go to the classifieds and look under the member services and send it to someone to clean it up and hone for you.

If you would like to clean it up yourself you can look here http://straightrazorpalace.com/works...wers-here.html for the information as well.

I would definitely send it out to get it honed by a pro though after cleaning it up if this is your first razor.

I am going to go out on a limb here and make a guess...

That is Bessemer Steel from Sheffield England made by either ERN or Kohler(sp*) in Germany and distributed by Koch...

That is my Wag of the day

Also I would guess Bone rather than Ivory only from the pic, because of the "holes" at the wedge end, I could tell you in an instant if they were in my hand, but by the pics there are less clues available...Ivory under a glass looks to have "veins" Bone looks to have "holes"
Oh yeah also Ivory is very very very thin in comparison to just about every other scale material...

The scales do seem very thin to me, but this is my first straight.

the fact that the scales did not shatter in your hands tells me its bone....


/I keed I keed