Thread: Buying French razors in bulk...

The mostly magnificent seven?



I've been on a French razor kick lately. Three lots of razors later and I've got four razors that'll almost certainly go into regular rotation and three who will ... um. Be a lesson to others? Certainly a lesson to me.



From top to bottom

• Front reads "Briau / Lyon." Blade reads "Royal Star" Back tang - "Deposé". Fairly hollow grind, very light text frosting on the blade. It had a bit of a frown, but I ground it out. Looks like it's going to take a great edge.
• Sadly honed out little guy reads "Special Barbe Dure" -- looks like someone's barbe was way dure.
• Front: "Charriere/ a Paris" back "Collin & C^ie/ a Paris"
  in 1866 two of Charriere's apprentices took over his business, Adolphe and Robert Collin. Robert went on his way shortly after but Adolphe continued to produce fine instruments under the name Collin & C^ie until 1935. This feels like a razor made by a maker of surgical instruments, much like the J. Weiss blades I've handled.
• W. Picard Garanti. Frowny. The back is stamped 61.
• Cotte with a cannon. Small, frowning, but nicely made.
• Front reads: Barriere / Paris No. 4 -- there is what appears to be the bottom of a crown and then below the 'B' is a tiny caret. The back reads 134 Medaille ARG^t (Silver medal?) Fontinille.
  It's a smaller blade, but lightly ground and very nice in hand. Heavy for its size.
• Rameau F^cant / SENS (Yonne) -- IE: Rameau Sens, made in Yonne (yes?). The scales are engraved with D. ROUSTAN, and it's not the usual owner scrawl but something much more decorative and close to professional. This is my favorite razor of the lot. It's not a huge blade, but it's heavy, has superb tool-grade jimps and unusual but attractive flat scales.

And that's all I know. If anyone has more information, I'd love to hear it!

I'll hold off on the French jokes. We've all heard 'em anyway.

That is a nice lookin' pile.

I am really looking forward to shaving with that Rameau Sens. Out of the shipping packet it was sharp enough to effortlessly cut hair off my arm, and it's only got about 0.5mm of hone wear. If it weren't for a couple tiny chips I'd just wipe in on the CNAT, strop & go.

Oh la la!..moi manefeek!

Some information about your Cotte (cannon stamp). The first registered trademark with the name Cotte and a cannon was in 1900, but the mark is registered to Cotte Greliche a Thiers France cutlery company.

But this company Cotte Greliche was much older as their first registration with the trademark office was in 1883.

Camille Page refers to this company from the late 1880's In 1903 another registration for Cotte Greliche Medaillle D'or (Gold Medal) as this will be their last one.

The first registration with Cotte and cannon trademark without Greliche came in 1920. And is registered to Francois Cotte 63 Durolle Thiers, France, this trademark seems to be exactly like the one on your razor.

The last entry for Cotte was in 1950 but registered to a different Cotte first name Henri more then likely a family member.

You can find information on the Picard razor http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...-razor-id.html

Rameau à Sens usually are good blades. As for the Paris and Lyon ones, probably made in Haute-Marne, which is reputed for their cutlery. French blades are often found in a poor condition, when here you have healthy steel, and with proper care, you'll be able to give it a shine without giving the grinding traces up, which are gorgeous.