Gillette ABC pocket edition restoration

Hi all,

So I finally received the beauty pictured below and I am overly excited - especially because i feel like a made a bargain The thing is in really good condition - No dents, no significant scratches, tight hinges, good plating etc., but as you can see, I believe it has turned dark in between the ornaments, both on the razor and the case. It wasn't sold like that, was it?. I think i've seen some completely "clean".

My question is: Should I polish/chemically remove the "smudge" on the razor and case or should I leave it with what time has done to it?

If You care to share comments, thoughts, experiences I would be very thankful!

Thank You in advance.

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I'm a firm believer in leaving the patina. That took 100 years to get! I polished one single ring and always regretted it. But it's really a personal preference. Some people want them clean and polished.

The tarnish in the hard to reach areas shows off the depth. I would never polish in those areas.
Of course it wasn't tarnished like that when it was new, but people have been working with silver for a long time, so I believe that silver plated scroll work like that is consciously designed to get more beautiful with age.

I'll leave the tarnish alone....but it's your call.

Keep the patina.

you need polish cream and a brush

There wouldn't be anything "wrong" with removing it -- they were not sold that way originally and would have been entirely shiny silver -- and you can do it in a completely non-destructive way by popping out the liner inserts and giving the whole case the baking soda/aluminum foil treatment. HOWEVER, all that said, I actually like the look of the tarnish in the recesses of the "ABC" designs, and wouldn't personally go any farther than you've got it there already. It really makes the design pop.

Here are some before and after shots of a clean up of my own:

Wow nice clean up... How do you clean up a gold plated set like this?

MacDaddy said:

There wouldn't be anything "wrong" with removing it -- they were not sold that way originally and would have been entirely shiny silver -- and you can do it in a completely non-destructive way by popping out the liner inserts and giving the whole case the baking soda/aluminum foil treatment. HOWEVER, all that said, I actually like the look of the tarnish in the recesses of the ABC designs, and wouldn't personally go any farther than you've got it there already. It really makes the design pop.

Here are some before and after shots of a clean up of my own:

Click to expand...

MacDaddy said:

There wouldn't be anything "wrong" with removing it -- they were not sold that way originally and would have been entirely shiny silver -- and you can do it in a completely non-destructive way by popping out the liner inserts and giving the whole case the baking soda/aluminum foil treatment. HOWEVER, all that said, I actually like the look of the tarnish in the recesses of the ABC designs, and wouldn't personally go any farther than you've got it there already. It really makes the design pop.

Here are some before and after shots of a clean up of my own:

Click to expand...

i have to agree with u on this one.

How do you polish a gold abc to clean up,like this?