Guys-
I scored (in my estimation) pretty darn well today. I found two Gillette safety razors, his original little model (with the unfortunately characteristic crack in the handle) and then the 1930's rerelease as the "new safety razor".

The first has seen enough use to wear the silver off the head and expose the brass underneath, and has about a 3/8ths crack in the handle. The seals in that are pretty loose too, so I know I'm going to take the handle apart, put in new cloth gaskets, and epoxy it all together. I think with a good circular clamp I can repair the crack....

The "new" has lost most of the gold wash, with just the faintest hints remaining where it isn't handled much. I figure my options are to either leave it as is - it has a very even patina - or totally polish it down, strip it with acid, and then re-wash the gold. My question is if it's worth that work, or if it is still valuable to use/sell as is. It's in beautiful shape with no scratches or dings, it's just missing the gold wash.

IF the GW would be worth it, how would I best go about that? I know a little about things like gold chloride and electroplating, etc, or some of the reagents that might be used to chemically goldwash the metals....but nothing about the actual practical acquisition of these substances, preparing and washing a whole razor, or what technique would be best.


I'm not kidding, though....with GW this thing would be freakin' minty.


Advice?