Acquisitions for July 2011

It's a GEM jewel. Haven't seen one of those for a while. Also wasn't aware they were made in England. It looks identical to the ER Streamline. It's weird all this GEM/Ever Ready/England/ASR manufacturing hotchpotch of what are esssentially identical razors.

Pjotr said:

It's a GEM jewel. Haven't seen one of those for a while. Also wasn't aware they were made in England. It looks identical to the ER Streamline. It's weird all this GEM/Ever Ready/England/ASR manufacturing hotchpotch of what are esssentially identical razors.

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I'm loving it, can't wait till next pay to order some GEM ptfe blades for it and give it a spin. the Gillette feels great too, despite being a bit rough round the edges I will have to give it a whirl with a new blade too.

On a side note, score! my local grocers had Imperial Leather talc on special for $1.99


Smells like a mix between the I.L soap and aftershave, I like it.

Now for a beginner when it comes to Straights, I think i've done quite well this month!





#1 is a Kropp with faux-ivory scales, made in Sheffield. Bought from the strop shop. Most definitely shave-ready.
#2 is a Pass, Solingen-made, also bought from the Strop Shop. Also shave-ready.
#3 is an Anvil Man, solingen-made, bought from life2short1971 here on B&B.
#4 is a J.A Hellberg, still has the warranty etched on the blade, now that's quality! Bought it on a Swedish auction site called "Tradera". First razor I ever bought!
#5 is an unnamed(?) one, says; "Feinste Solingen Facharbeit" on the tang. I think that means something along the lines of: "Best Solingen Union Work". Something like that. Also bought from life2short1971.

My extreme poor mans strop is made my Neil Miller of the Strop-shop. Good enough for a beginner I think.

So, give me your thoughts!

Look at goodies here! Nice little cache you have!

Pretty maids - all in a row. Looks like you have enough to keep you shaved each week now. Looks like Life2Short is hooking you up.

Enjoy the hobby and the B&B!

He certainly is! I'm hooked and he's my dealer!

I really have eleven more razors, but none worth showing off!

Very nice your giving me the itch!

Don't scratch it, resist!

Thanks for the comments, Gentlemen! And if someone has a suggestion as to who I should send the W&B to for restoration please PM me!

He He...Come to the Dark side...Bwahahahaha

Way too late!

DISCLAIMER : I was "comped" this bowl from john at west coast shaving in exchange for my thoughts and critique of same.my opinion is just that,an honest opinion,and the fact that I received this at no charge does not influence my thoughts on the bowl at all..The bowl is from NZEN POTTERY,and I had never heard of them before..the bowl measures 4 1/2 inches wide,and about 5/8 inch tall...each bowl is hand made so no two will be alike,but close... the clay has been expertly glazed,and to my delight the surface of the interior is not glass smooth..I like a few miniscule bumps or ridges,this aerates the lather and puffs it up,not much,but more so than ultra smooth surfaces...many shavers dread the sight of a few bubbles in their lather,but I have found that many creams will foam,and once you start to lather the foamy cream onto your face,the bubbles dissipate and the lather thickens right up.this is less true with soaps,especially tallow based soaps...............the weight of the bowl is just right for hand holding,it is not heavy at all.mine tips the scales at about 250 grams...the swirls of different clay colors is very handsome,a nice break from the usual................working the bowl: not a negative at all,but for the size of this bowl,I would say 24MM knot is this bowls limit,and a 20MM knot is the sweet spot on it...my vie-long barber pro extra horse hair was a beautiful match for this bowl,the 24MM omega black badger had a little tougher time keeping the lather inside the rim,but it did work.a 23-24MM knot with a big fan on it will be a problem,ya gotta have a little swirl room !.............the price is right in line with other fine shaving bowls @ $40.....any negatives ? not per se ,but you do not want to drop this fine little shaving tool,it will not bounce,only shatter...I look forward to many fine soap/cream shaves from this little gem

I have been on vacation this week so I had to stop at some flea markets and antique malls in Indiana and Wisconsin and managed to find these.

A Hess 42



A Red Imp 132



And a Dubl Duck Satin Wedge



Oh and the razor roll!

Nice Phil!!

joel said:

You've GOT to post a video of that power brush in action. It sounds wacky.

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It is definitely different, but it works quite well. I'll see what I can do.

Got these in the mail today . I love that so many places have samples and those that don't I can totally count on Garry to stock some good ones throughout the year .

love that HESS !! speaking of frozen temper,can you believe this ?????????

My father picked these up for me this week. The one on the left is the oldest in my collection. I think it is a 1910. The middle one is my birthdate razor.

These tasty little morsels are some of my latest.

life2short1971 said:

These tasty little morsels are some of my latest.

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Is that a BK 42?!?!?!

If so I've been looking for one of those for awhile. If you ever decide to part with it.....