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Gillette Aristocrats

gvw755 said:
Finally, I have something to contribute to the discussion of the Gen 1 British Aristocrats. I worry now because I just cleared my winter kale beds and my vegetables for the Spring are still in little pods and have not been planted yet. This makes it hard to live on a diet of watered down soup for the rest of the month to pay for my razor.

I recently acquired the Gen 1 British Aristocrat made for the French market, which is supposedly harder to find and more desirable, and tonight was my first shave with it. I must say that I am completely impressed! :daumenhoch I thought my Gen 3 British Aristocrats were the best shaving TTO razors, however this Gen 1 with the open comb totally beat the Gen 3 hands down. Using a blade that was a couple of shaves short of being tossed (which is how I test my new razors), I could have walked away with a one pass DFS. However, not wanting to waste all that good lather on my brush, I went for a second pass and ended up with a two pass BBS with no touch up. The razor had no feel to it, but just did what it was supposed to do. This razor is not only the most beautiful razors I own, but is one of my best shaving razor. Suddenly, watery soup for the rest of the month does not seem that bad after all. ;)

14472
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Man, she is a stunner, Les - great score!!! So happy that you love the shave, yes those 1st gens are truly fabulous, I am a solid bar guy at heart and this razor almost feels safe like a solid bar, by far the best open comb shaver I own. And the looks Like you say are to die for. I’ve said it before, IMHO no razor, ever built by any maker, is more beautiful.

Enjoy, good sir!!!
 
benedetto said:
I consider this model without any doubt the most beautiful of the Aristocrat
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The only ones more pretty are the same model in flawless gold. Beautiful specimen you show here @benedetto
 
I got a question for all you experts (and folks with extremely good taste) - I was told that the French Market version was not rhodium plated, but silver plated. Is this true?
 
gvw755 said:
I got a question for all you experts (and folks with extremely good taste) - I was told that the French Market version was not rhodium plated, but silver plated. Is this true?
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Mmm it can be .. I'm not an expert on Gillette razors but I know the only difference between razors imported into France was the obligatory writing by law which had to specify the origin of the importing country. Then some accessories of the Gillette model sets were different for the European market such as the Instructions or some cases but I don't know the workmanship of the razors.

Benedetto.
 
What I understand is that all the early 1st gen models (mid 30s) with no wings are silver plated, whereas all the newer/late 30s Aristocrats (with the wings) are rhodium plated. And the Frenchies came in both guises:

Here’s an early one currently offered on the bay, silver plating and no wings:
D7F2916F-A907-4271-8539-0EE0205D594E.png
323EBFDB-B4C0-49D0-AC0E-8B5BE667FA06.png


And here’s my newer one:
95A5293C-6371-4709-B88E-C0F97A0135DC.jpeg


....and here you can see the wings on the newer models (my Frenchie along with a non-French)
4E6B243E-E889-454D-948F-6A52EB630E4F.jpeg
 
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gvw755 said:
Thanks for the info. Darn, mine is just rhodium plated. :(
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Well, I find rhodium the best looking ones, even though the silver is darn nice too.

Another note of caution though that I’ve been told is that the early models don’t shave nearly as nice as the newer ones. But I have no personal opinions on this as I do not yet own an early one :(
 
Northstonehill said:
gvw755 said:
Thanks for the info. Darn, mine is just rhodium plated. :(
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Well, I find rhodium the best looking ones, even though the silver is darn nice too.

Another note of caution though that I’ve been told is that the early models don’t shave nearly as nice as the newer ones. But I have no personal opinions on this as I do not yet own an early one :(
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I also heard that the Gen 1 were inconsistent in the shave quality between razors and that if yours shaves well, keep it and don't look for another. Of course this was told to me by the seller (whose knowledge of anything regarding vintage Gillette I respect highly).
 
gvw755 said:
if yours shaves well, keep it and don't look for another. Of course this was told to me by the seller
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So how does yours shave?
 
Best TTO I ever shaved with.:daumenhoch

Then again, having shaved with just one of these, I don't know if it is the best shave with a Gen 1, or the worst.o_O
 
gvw755 said:
Best TTO I ever shaved with.:daumenhoch

Then again, having shaved with just one of these, I don't know if it is the best shave with a Gen 1, or the worst.o_O
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My 2 cents for what it’s worth: I have a few of these late 1st gens and they all shave exactly the same: Very very smooth, limited blade feel = awesome. It literally feels 99% like shaving with a solid bar razor. So I think that reported bad shaves from 1st gens probably stem from beat-up nonaligned specimens.
 
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