Gillette British No. 81 Variations

Gentlemen, you know British Gillette razors have always a big mystery for me. Different cases, minor design changes and dating them are sometimes difficult. Well, I have two different designed No. 81 with two different cases. First one is a 3 piece version and its beautiful chrome case. It weighs 73gr and its length is 84mm. But the other one is a 2 piece like No. 77 and No. 88 with Richwood case. Its weight is 75gr and length is 82mm.

I added few links from the past which are related this variety issue and model. Besides 2 piece No. 81 was not restored, imho. In addition they share the same patent number. BRIT. PAT. NOS.-352975-6-7-363892

Sorry for my bad pictures.

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=143260

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=174254

That´s a great find! I´ve never seen before the No81 as 2-piece. I´ve only the 3-piece gold version with copper handle

Your case is unique too: the print inside of the lid is upside down - what a find

that has to be a recall or defect razor, i never seen1 like that, has to be rare collectable.

That two-piece is my ideal razor. Long comb NEW, the look of the #77/#88, but the heft of a Bellmont.

I MUST FIND ONE.

Thank you for your words, gentlemen. Fyi, I shaved with it yesterday. The result was BBS with no extra pressure. Besides, its tooth profile is slimmer than NEW Tech.

By the way Achim your No. 81 is also great. Gold finish is very rare among British Gillette razors. Well, I think mine is the 4th 2 piece razor of Gillette.

mr-razor said:

That´s a great find! I´ve never seen before the No81 as 2-piece. I´ve only the 3-piece gold version with copper handle

Your case is unique too: the print inside of the lid is upside down - what a find

Click to expand...

It seems that there might be a couple with the inverted printing - see here

I thought I'd seen another one around recently!

Mark1966 said:

It seems that there might be a couple with the inverted printing - see here

I thought I'd seen another one around recently!

Click to expand...

Nice. I wondered why that recent auction didn't skyrocket more.

The #81 I have is BEAT and brassy. It's got bent teeth and most of the silver is gone.

So sad to look at..