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Apollo / Ben Hur

Here a beautiful advertising image of the thirties .. which speaks volumes about how old this brand is:

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Is it possible that Friedrich Herkenrath for the logo of his factory was inspired by the image of Rodolfo Valentino in the film Ben-Hur?

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Benedetto.
 
Some German factories commissioned razors that were given to their most loyal customers or were distributed on festive occasions.
We know that the well-known New Yorker Hoffritz jewelry used the Merkur brand, Siemens used the well-known Pfeilring house, Horbachstahl commissioned Walbusch B5 and there are many other examples. This shows us that some razor models were so appreciated by customers that they were even offered as a gift by replacing (not always) the trademark with the trademark of the company that commissioned the pieces. Finding these razors is much more difficult than finding razors with the original brand. I wanted to show you some examples (Apollo only) from my collection:
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most likely here Lindberg (exporter of musical instruments) decided to replace the head cover to make the razor cheaper.

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I don't know about you but I find these razors beautiful and I always try to buy them.

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Benedetto.
 
New addition to my collection
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Whenever I buy or get one of these razors together with the object, I always want to know its history ... to whom it belonged .. where it was .. where it was kept .. or where it was found .. I must say that every one of these razors tells a little story. For example, this model I received from a sweet lady from Bolzano is strardinary because for the first time I found a case different from the other bigger ones .. and really impressive how many types of cases this company has made, really to please everyone and I despite years of collecting behind me still amaze me.

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As you will notice it is not in splendid shape like my other razors but it has cost me very little. Only a wash and the chrome in some places has returned to shine as in the past.


Benedetto.
 
I only have one to add here, but for the sake of sharing :)

I find it interesting how there’s quite a few variations on the matched zippered cases for this razor (the adjustable). I’ve counted at least a handful, some smaller, some bigger with styptic and everything. And some in real leather and some with leatherette exterior in various colors. Here’s mine to join the party, no room for a styptic but case in leather. And a manual to boot! ...Jake, you know this one ;)

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Dear collectors .. I recently found this extremely rare model of "Apollo N ° 311 portable razor" ... Found in a flea market in a small town in south-eastern Ukraine (about 2300 km away from Solingen). How did it get there? Probably this razor dated after 1935 (English patent filed in 1938 https://www.razors.page/patents/GB485747/) was used by a German soldier who participated in the Second World War, the razor in fact was part of a lot that belonged to a veteran.

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Here are some comparison photos with his brother 311 ...

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I confess that finding this little gem was very very difficult :nic1and besides what @efsk owns I haven't seen many around ...

Thank You
Benedetto.
 
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Terrific find Benedetto! And in marvellous condition, too!
Good to know there’s two of these. Mine doesn’t feel so lonesome now
 
Apollo and Ben Hur came from the same factory, although in the 1910s the Apollo-brand belonged to a different producer. Somewhere end of the 1920s early 1930s Herckenrath acquired the rights to the name, possibly to do with Jewish associations to the Ben Hur name, which were not a positive thing in 1930s Germany.
This two-piece razor shows a baseplate of one brand, and a handle of the otherassembled into one piece, so not a frankenrazor. I call it my Ben Pollo.
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I'm adding a variant to this thread.

I bid on and won this very sorry looking Apollo Mikron.

I am assuming that the small piece of handle that came with it is the original part. It fits and is the right length for the rest of the razor.
A couple of people told me that I was crazy and that I had bitten off more than I can chew here. :D

It says Apollo Mikron on the base plate so its definitely a Mikron 1. (See third imnage below). There are not many out there, but every other one that I've seen has a metallic handle.

I have no idea on what it is. My guess is that its some sort of transition between a very early Mikron and a Busch Flexi. If anyone can shed some light here, please do so.

As it arrived in the background and the handle that I made in the foreground.
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I did come careful measurements and ended up with the handle that is now on it. (third time lucky). The handle is turned out of a nylon and although I did some pretty serious polishing, it hasn't become shiny.
The upside of it been made out of nylon is that it will never break again.

I'm not sure about the white dot but it looks like there was one on the original. The adjustment mechanism works perfectly.

Overall considering what I received - I'm very happy with the end result.

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The bottom screw, like all Mirons is there to line up the twist knob. This one is stuck in there - and it can remain that way because I really don't want to force it.

I lined the numbers on this one up by slightly adjusting the length of the handle.

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This is how it should break down but this one breaks down into five pieces.
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