Saying hello and help with what type of razor.

Hi, i am new to the forum and to wet shaving in general. I got a Dovo Black Star for Christmas, but I just was unable to wait for it to get here. So I went down to the local antique shop looking for a present for my father and what did I find? A vintage Gillette DE razor, well I hope at least. I have done a little looking on line and have found that it might be a Gillette Gold Tech but I am not sure. I know that this forum has a wealth of knowledge and was hopping that that I could tap in to a little bit of it. This is the razor that I bought.
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There are know numbers on it that I have found. On the bottom of the razor it just says: Reg. US, Pat. off, the Gillette symbol, and made in USA. any help would be great

Thank you in advance,
John

Hello Ducati,
Off the top of my head, that looks like some type of Gillette Ball Tech. I would say from the 1930s. It's a relatively mild shaver.

I agree with my good friend Obie, looks like a ball end Tech. I couldn't nail down a year for you, but it's in really good condition. Nice find.

Thank u guys for your help. The shop has another in about the same condition that I am going to get for a friend. It will be nice to know a little about it before I give it to him.

you might try asking at badger and blade dot com, too. Pretty sure it's a Gillette ball end Tech, I think these were made well into the fifties, but they starting putting date codes on them (A1, D2, etc) in 1950, IIRC.

Wealth of information on that forum, lots of friendly and helpful folks there too.

The first DE razor I got was a (not gold) Gillette Tech -- cost $5 at an antique store.

I was quite surprised when I put a blade into it, and it _shaved_ !!! It took me a while (with help here) to understand that "no pressure on the blade" really meant "NO pressure on the blade".

Get some DE blades (a sampler is nice) and try it out. Pre-shave prep matters -- it's not a cartridge razor.

. Charles

Once you try a vintage Gillette you will kiss cartridge razors 'Good-Bye' forever! I shaved with a Gillette Trac II for 35 years, got tired of the high priced cartridges and tried a vintage Gillette. After about 6 months I tried a str8, now I deal with RAD as in 5 DEs and 36 str8s.....................

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Originally Posted by DoughBoy68

Once you try a vintage Gillette you will kiss cartridge razors 'Good-Bye' forever!

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Amen to that brother!

Somewhere close to the sides of the diamond on the bottom plate you should see a small letter on one side and a small number on the other. Given that you can look up the code and determine exactly when it was made. I had a similar one made 4th Quarter 1962

I think it's a gold Ball-end Tech made sometime after 1952 and before 1973 when they stopped producing this model, before then Gillette used triangular slots in the bottom plate, this razor appears to have rectangular slots...without a date code, nailing down an exact date would be unlikely

As others have said, it seems to be a gold ball end tech. Put in a blade, and give it a go. You will probably like it. It is a very mild shaver compared to most DEs. Just remember no pressure.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DoughBoy68

Once you try a vintage Gillette you will kiss cartridge razors 'Good-Bye' forever! I shaved with a Gillette Trac II for 35 years, got tired of the high priced cartridges and tried a vintage Gillette. After about 6 months I tried a str8, now I deal with RAD as in 5 DEs and 36 str8s.....................

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I certainly agree with your assessment of multiblade cartridge razors. My face started feeling better instantly when I went with the double edge, single edge, and straight razors. In other words, one blade.

I've been wondering for about a couple of years now, just what it is about the multiblade razors and canned goo that left my face chapped all the time. I think if you have two blades your face gets two passes in one, increasing the chances of irritation. I also think the canned goo does not protect your face. When you use canned gel it gunks up between the blades and forces you to press harder, causing more irritation.

I just can't get over what a difference it has made to use the retro shaving equipment. It feels great!