Attention Darwin Razor Owners

And finally, the last pages -- the last 2 are smallish pages. As in the original.

Thank you very much for posting this.

I wish I could get my name on this list. I've wanted a Darwin for a long time, but never found one at the right price at the right time.

I think they are ugly razors, if you just want to talk about style. But I keep hearing glowing reviews about the way they shave, and that's what really counts.

Also, from looking at advertisements, only the Deluxe model is described as being made w/cobalt steel? Is this the case, for those who have a Standard, Original or 2 Piece?

Thanks so much for making the trip, Jake!


This finally gives us a few answers.

We now know that by 1930 they were making five models of DE, the De-Luxe, the Standard, the Bijou, the Popular, and the Miracol.
I notice they didn't mention the little Mustache razor.

They state that the Darwin De-Luxe is made out of Cobaltcrom Stainless Steel and that the Standard and Bijou are Stainless Steel.
Though if there truly is a difference in the steels between the De-Luxe, the Standard, and the Bijou, you can't tell by looking at them side by side.
We now know what they sold for new in 1930.
Though someone help me out here...... Are those prices in pounds? and could someone help translate them? What does 5 for 1/8 or 7/6 mean???

I think a lot of it is luck of getting one with certain geometry. They all seem to be a touch different, weirdly. I mean, just look at the photos in this thread. The one I had, the blade was overly stable imo. I know it sounds crazy, but since it was surrounded by so much solid material, you never could feel what the hell it was doing on your face. It just felt very dead. It was the most disappointing de for me, even more than the fatboy. It feels fantastic in the hand fwiw.

dpm802 said:

I wish I could get my name on this list. I've wanted a Darwin for a long time, but never found one at the right price at the right time.

I think they are ugly razors, if you just want to talk about style. But I keep hearing glowing reviews about the way they shave, and that's what really counts.

Click to expand...

I own a Darwin SE, and it's fascinating that they made Valet and Durham Duplex compatible blades too.

The se is a beautiful piece of kit. And it is adjustable. I would probably just hone and strop it away from the case altogether. It probably would have been better had they given you the handle, three blades, the guard and a paddle with just leather on one side and a pasted component on the other, or a barber hone type component with a pasted component bound to it and just forgot about the case. At least they realized the rolls' travel distance was way too short.

kcb5150 said:

The se is a beautiful piece of kit. And it is adjustable. I would probably just hone and strop it away from the case altogether. It probably would have been better had they given you the handle, three blades, the guard and a paddle with just leather on one side and a pasted component on the other, or a barber hone type component with a pasted component bound to it and just forgot about the case.

Click to expand...

I agree - I have the stainless steel Deluxe SE and it is a superb piece of British instrument making, but the lack of an adequate case hone is problematic.

After setting the bevel on a coarse synthetic I honed my two blades outside of the case through a progression of Welsh Slates and finished them on 0.3u lapping film. Then I pasted the double sided case strop with ferric oxide and 0.25u diamond.
Now it works wonderfully

Intrigued said:

Thanks so much for making the trip, Jake!

Click to expand...

And thanks from me!

Intrigued said:

We now know that by 1930 they were making five models of DE, the De-Luxe, the Standard, the Bijou, the Popular, and the Miracol.

I notice they didn't mention the little Mustache razor.

They state that the Darwin De-Luxe is made Cobaltcrom Stainless Steel and that the Standard and Bijou are Stainless Steel.
Though if there truly is a difference in the steels between the De-Luxe, the Standard, and the Bijou, you can't tell by looking at them side by side.
We now know they sold for new in 1930.

Though someone help me out here...... Are those prices in pounds? and could someone help translate them? What does 5 for 1/8 or 7/6 mean???

Click to expand...

1 shilling and 8 pence; 7 shillings and six pence. A pound was twenty shillings, and a shilling was twelve pence. Simple, right?

Wonderful, thanks for your efforts, Jake!

Wow that is some money there! What a collection of Darwins.

The Darwin De Luxe blade is precisely the shape required by the Darwin Proprietary razor I have. I need to find a pack of those!

By the way, Jake, this is a treasure trove of info. Thank you thank you!

Glad I was able to get over to the Tufts Library & pick up those files. Small contribution to the data collection for this rare elusive and unusual razor.

Never did I think I would ever end up on this list, but luck and some digging around it happened.. Looks to me like a travel case Darwin Standard..Earlier in the thread it was questioned if there was a travel case, but this sure looks like one..missing the blade pouch ..

Maybe just a couple more pics, lol!!

Outstanding! Congrats on the great score. Yours is the third Darwin leather pouch I have seen now.

wscottb7862: Amazing razor. Would you mind telling us your story about how you came to acquire it?

Congrats Scott. Looks to be in fine shape.