Thread: C V Heljestrand

I scored this from the bay last week & just got it today. It is in beautiful condition except for a spot on the blade which I have not attempted to clean off yet. I imagine some polish will do the trick!

Nice score! There was a lot of 24s at the bay last week. You probably picked one of the best.
Don't know why, but 24s seems to be very popular heljes... i see lots of them surfacing.

Originally Posted by Matheus

Nice score! There was a lot of 24s at the bay last week. You probably picked one of the best.
Don't know why, but 24s seems to be very popular heljes... i see lots of them surfacing.

Not necessarily the most popular but it seems like they are by far the most numerous Heljes on Tradera(Swedish Ebay-type site) and they usually go quite cheap compared to other Heljestrands and high end razors in general for that matter, which to me implies that the demand for them is very low.

I've got two ideas for why this could be;

It could be that they were one of the cheaper models that Heljestrand made and they were produced on a larger scale than other models, that they're very small and have a wedgy grind would mean that they were easier and cheaper to make than the bigger more hollow razors. And I don't think I've ever seen one of them in anything other than celluloid/plastic scales.


It could also be that since they're very basic compared to other Heljestrand models, a lot more people are willing to part with their 24's than their Mk;30's,31's,32's,33's,42's...etc, so they seem a lot more common than they actually are.

Keep in mind that neither of these scenarios rule out the other.

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Congrats on the buy OP, that's some good steel.

Heljestrand is the best blade IMO. Great score.

Great score. Congrats mate. Looks beautiful.

Originally Posted by Tripoli3

Heljestrand is the best blade IMO. Great score.

My mother's uncle who died in the 80s of last century has been a life-long straight razor shaver. He has lived his entire life in the Netherlands where German straights were used almost exclusively. He travelled to Sweden a lot for business where he bought his razors: Heljes. Being excellent no frills razors many were sold. So many turn up on auction sites or us to enjoy :-)

It could be that they were one of the cheaper models that Heljestrand made and they were produced on a larger scale than other models, that they're very small and have a wedgy grind would mean that they were easier and cheaper to make than the bigger more hollow razors. And I don't think I've ever seen one of them in anything other than celluloid/plastic scales.


It could also be that since they're very basic compared to other Heljestrand models, a lot more people are willing to part with their 24's than their Mk;30's,31's,32's,33's,42's...etc, so they seem a lot more common than they actually are.

I think I can answer that...

Alright : there is CVH (Carl Victor Heljestrand) and there is MK (Martin Kindal), two very separate firms.

Here is the gist of it.
Martin Kindal is (still exists) a high end cuttlery seller. Very high end goods, very high end clientelle, at least at the turn of the 20th century.

Martin Kindal would, AFAIK, along some other high end sellers (eg : sellers from Place Vendome at the same time), often resort to CVH for the quality of their blades. The Martin Kindal specific blades are prefixed MK (ex MK 31, MK 32).

Thing is, not all CVH blades are MK. So, a "not MK" CVH is somehow a "lesser brand".

Then, you have to consider that CVH would most of the time forge "small blades", they have a reputation for that.
And they would forge "simple" blades (eg MK2, MK4, MK24) and "outstanding" blades (MK 31, MK 32, etc). You will find some are far more elaborate than others. MK 32 is for example an outstandingly large and well though model.
Indeed most "ivory - MOP -Tortoise" MK razors would have a MK 31 or MK 32 blade.

And there you have it, the factors that make a CVH blade expensive or not :
- Brand (MK or not MK)
- Luxury range (MK2 vs MK31 for example)
- Size (the large ones are fairly rare)

As a matter of fact, there is quite a simple way to have MK quality (and it's as good as they say) for cheap.
CVH shared the patented recipe for their steel, and most probably their smith, with another lesser known brand : JA Hellberg

For example : a JA Hellberg with a MK 31's scales (the blade went on the MOP MK31 that I traded to a MK collector for a restoration)



Anyway engine46 have fun with this one. I find them easy to hone, and outstanding shavers (almost the only hollow blades that I like)

Originally Posted by Aggelos

Alright : there is CVH (Carl Victor Heljestrand) and there is MK (Martin Kindal), two very separate firms.

Nope, MK stands for "Mästerlig kvalitet"(masterly quality), you can also find some Heljes that are marked "BK"("Bra kvalitet" or possibly "Bästa kvalitet")(Means either "good quality" or "best quality" depending on what it's short for), it's a mark of quality and has nothing to do with Mr Kindal, that MK also happens to be his initials is just a coincidence.

Also I'm pretty sure his name was Magnus, not Martin(maybe he changed it later in life (or the company changed its name) to sound more French but his birth name that was the name he had (at least during the initial years) when he did business in France was Magnus).

That's interesting Baxxer and stacks up with what I read before regarding MK being the quality mark. I have a set of single edge CVH blades and also the Kindal strop hanger (minus strop) which I assume was another relationship shared by Kindal and Heljestrand - do you know anything about that relationship and why CVH chose to use Kindal as their strops?

Also I'm pretty sure his name was Magnus, not Martin

And you would be right, I don't even know why I though it was Martin.

That being said, Magnus' own granddaughter (Mackie or so I've read) seems to pretend that MK indeed represents her ancestor's initials.

Don't know where the truth is, two version, yours makes quite a good explanation.