a couple of old Gillettes

hello gents,
as many of you know i bought myself a slim and love it, its now my daily razor....however i have been given a couple others now. what i believe i have are a 1950s aluminum ball end (no dates) and a 1947 super speed (no dates), both are English made. the superspeed as you can see is in poor condition but nothing a little re-plate wont fix

Edit:i now think the one i thought was a superspeed is actually a aristocrat Jr #48

That's not a Super Speed.

It's a '48 Aristocrat Jr., congrats!

oh really? how can you tell?
Edit : sorry phone didnt load the above photo..

Daveho said:

oh really? how can you tell?

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Because it looks like one?

Seriously, it has that flat machined bottom plate, instead of the diamond stamped base plate Super Speeds had:



Although there's a version of the Aristocrat Jr. with a diamond stamped base plate, what you have there is a '48 Aristocrat Jr.

Nice razors. Congrats.

england didnt make any super speeds that looked like the 40s style did they? all of the ones they made that looked like a 40s style super speed were called the aristocrat jr werent they?

forrestgump said:

england didnt make any super speeds that looked like the 40s style did they? all of the ones they made that looked like a 40s style super speed were the aristocrat jr werent they?

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The 40s style Rockets look like US Super Speeds, except the obvious Rocket knob mechanism.

Cool surprise.

For someone who is just getting hit with a case of RAD, it's amazing to me how you guys can tell the difference between all of these razors!

wow so it is, fantastic dont know anything about it

The Parat is another version of the 40s style Rockets, and the only difference is the diameter of the knob. The standard Rocket's knob is slightly larger than the handle:



Parat:

nuclearblast said:

The 40s style Rockets look like US Super Speeds, except the obvious Rocket knob mechanism.

View attachment 523002

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ok, got ya. but england didnt make any super speeds like our u.s. 40s style did they? i mean the ones they made that looked similar to the u.s. 40s style were just called the aristocrat jr then. op was wondering how you knew it was an aristocrat jr, and i was just saying because england didnt have any 40s style super speeds.

forrestgump said:

ok, got ya. but england didnt make any super speeds like our u.s. 40s style did they? i mean the ones they made that looked similar to the u.s. 40s style were just called the aristocrat jr then. op was wondering how you knew it was an aristocrat jr, and i was just saying because england didnt have any 40s style super speeds.

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Yes, they only produced 50s style Super Speeds both regular Super Speeds and Flare Tip Rockets. The ones with a knob like an American 40s Super Speed are all Aristocrat Jr. with the machined base plate.

nuclearblast said:

Yes, they only produced 50s style Super Speeds. The ones with a knob like an American 40s Super Speed are all Aristocrat Jr. with the machined base plate.

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right, ok. thanks for the clarification

Now that it became clear it was not what you thought you can send it to me. I'll pay for the shipping.

Nice razors Daveho.

This forum is an amazing fountain of knowledge...

thanks for the info, ill be sure to post pics after its replated

im gonna fix up the aristocrat and give it as a gift, what can you guys tell me about the aristocrat Jr #48

the 1948 #48 Aristocrat jr. has a hollow handle like the 40s Super-Speed, no notches, flat base plate, no endcaps
the 1949 #53 Aristocrat jr. has a solid handle, endcaps, notches, flat base plate
the 1953/54 ? #53 Aristocrat jr. has a solid handle, endcaps, notches, diamond stamped base plate

yours is the #48 Aristocrat jr. - you do not see him often.

how lucky, the razors came out of a bucket in the back of a work colleagues fathers shed, there was also the pair of ball-ends both with aluminum handles (the things are so light, you cant let the razor do the work), a fatboy and a Gem single edge as well as several blades.

how rare is the #48?
on a side note, it shaves fantastic!

British Rockets, Rockets HD, Aristocrat Jr. LOVE them all. Great razors with superior plating to the vintage US razors