Thread: George Wostenholm and sons celebrated ixl razor

I am thinking about purchasing this razor but have some questions. For one there are no markings on either side of the tang. The only markings on the razor comes on the scales which say " IXL george wostenholm & sons celebrated ixl razor IXL."

Is this normal or should I stay away from purchasing this razor?

I suspect that there's a lot of variation in IXLs, but the one I have has:

G Wostenholm & Sons
Celebrated Hollow Ground Razor

on the blade and:

George Wostenholm & Sons
Celebrated IXL Razor
Washington Works
Sheffield

on the tang.

Do you have any pics of it? It is not outside the realm of possibility that it is a generic blade with GW scales.

EDIT: Since *I* asked for pics... Mine is mid-repair, but you can at least see the markings

no i unfortunately do not have any pics I am able to get ahold of. It just completely threw me off when there were absolutely no markings on the blade only on the scales. The blade to me though does look like any of mid to late 1800 sheffields in the way the tang is shaped. Just seems strange to not have any markings.

Possible that they have been ground/polished off. If so the blade must have gone through quite a "restoration." I would stay away from it. Razors are rescaled all the time and have been since day one.

Hmm... well hopefully someone more familiar with Wosties will come along soon. I honestly don't know enough about their full range to know whether they made any without markings on the blade.



EDIT (again!): Jimmy has a very good point re markings being ground off. FWIW I would avoid it too.

thats what I was thinking too. You can actually see pics on ebay. Here is the link.

Vintage George Wostenholm Sons Celebrated LXL Razor | eBay

If it stays at the .99 + shipping I might roll the dice, much beyond that and I would steer clear.
If it was reground it was a good job but none the less it looks like a no name rescaled (good or bad you never know).

Hi Everyone!

I need some advice. I just acquired a George Wostenholm I-XL and am wondering if it is a fake. It does not have Sheffield or England stamped on it at all. I am wondering if this means that is not an original or if there is an explaination. I checked out Strazors.com first to see if i could pull anything from the first hand documents but couldn't get any answers from it. I'd Love to hear your thoughts and evidence for or against its originality!