Thread: Dating and old straight razor

There are lots of requests on the forum for people to help give an age to a straight razor. As most of you know, it's actually pretty hard to do as the design hasn't changed much over the years, most manufactures ran for a long period of time and straights don't have any serial numbering system like Gillette DE's.

I thought that I'd share a quick process that I went through to get a date of a razor listed on eBay that I was interesting in buying. The razor was listed as being 1830's and whilst that looked about right, I wanted to see what I could find out.

Here is one of the ebay photos




So we now have a few pieces of information. The maker is Pickslay and Co, they held a Royal Warrant and they the Monarch at the time was WR.

The last two King Williams were William III and William IV. William III reigned from 1689 to 1702. Looking at the razor, that doesn't fit. The shape of the tang is too late for that.
William IV reigned from 1830 to 1837. That fits alot better.

Now the maker. Charles Pickslay and Co were in business from 1832 until 1843. They ran the Royal Yorks works in Sheffield.

So now it's narowed down to being between 1832 and 1837.

Looking through the SRP Wiki, there is a really good diagram on the changes in razor designs.

The straight razor - Straight Razor Place Wiki



The tang on the ebay razor matches the design between 1810 and 1835.

That now dates the eBay razor to somewhere between 1832 and 1835 (give or take).

Being satisfied that it was as old as the seller said it was and being an antique Sheffield blade from a maker I've never heard of before and having scales that my gut tells me are ivory, I decided to spend the $88 inclusive of postage and buy it.

I am going to let you buy my razors for me from now on. I am impressed with how you were able to put the information all together.

Perhaps you could do a series on what to look for in various razor brands.

Interesting post. Thanks!

Hi guys, this is probably the wrong place to ask. But I baught an old cut throat razor a while ago with no knowledge (still none) cause I loved the look of it. It has a logo of an eagle with a crown and says German Make stamped on one side of the blade near the tang and on the other side it says Warrented, hollow ground, Solingen - Germany. It has a very faint etch on the blade itself that I think says Diamond Steel. With a plastic handle but looks old. I was wondering how old it could be? It still has a nice edge but the "plug" part on it is missing. Any ideas?

How's about some pictures. Your description is great, but pictures speak a thousand words!

I have no idea how to post pictures on here tbh so the description is the best I can do

Originally Posted by Dalmyn

I have no idea how to post pictures on here tbh so the description is the best I can do

fair enough

Well, I, for one, don't need more than the description to hazard an answer.
Most likely 1900+, 80% chances it's 1915-1965 and without a brand on the tang there is almost no way to guess better.
Oh and even if the brand was available it would still probably be the same range

As said above, early to mid 1900s. This was the golden era of Solingen razors. Youll be hard pressed to find a bad one. Diamond steel is more than likely the make.

Great! Mine looks almost exactly the same but has a squared off handle at the end and it's a straight handle and a round nose on the blade. Also I googled the logo on the tang a bit and it's called Crown Eagle and on the blade as you said it says Diamond Steel