Natural Patina or Shine it Up?

**thirdeye** · 08-21-2008, 05:49 AM

It’s been on ongoing question between collectors for a long, long time.
What do you do or what would you do with an antique/vintage item, in our case here on B&B, a razor. Would you leave it with the “nice patina” or would you break out the cleaners and polishes and shine it up like the day it was new?

Pictures are always welcomed.

**Confuzius** · 08-21-2008, 08:16 AM

I think it depends on the item.
I always laugh while watching Antiques Roadshow when people have polished away $10,000 worth of patina/finish from old furniture.

**perry** · 08-21-2008, 08:45 AM

For razors, I don't know that it is necessarily a good thing to have 50 years of "patina" rubbing against my face.

**Rem Freeman** · 08-21-2008, 08:51 AM

Shine that baby up!! See my own reflection of my BBS shave on the razor!

**thirdeye** · 08-21-2008, 08:51 AM

Originally Posted by perry

For razors, I don't know that it is necessarily a good thing to have 50 years of "patina" rubbing against my face.

I would agree but the thought was about collector pieces such as the first Gillette Old Type Double Ring or an 1896 Star and so on.

**Sabledog** · 08-21-2008, 08:55 AM

....it really depends. I have a few razors that are brassed and even show metal wear, but they are from 1930-something so the patina is proper. I have or have had cameras with the leather worn and paint worn down and wouldn't want them to look any other way since they've "earned" their wear.

I think patina is the natural wear of the item through time, not necessarily that it is dirty, but if you are talking about something like a German WWII helmet with nice patina (my brother collects things WWII and Civil War) don't dare make it look like new!

For a showcase razor collection, I think it would need to shine

**Austin** · 08-21-2008, 08:59 AM

With razors, I tend to clean and shine them. With watches, I usually clean them up but leave the patina in tact.

**redbike** · 08-21-2008, 09:29 AM

None of my 35 Gillettes are collector quality, so I do shine 'em up a bit.

jim

**Tigger23505** · 08-21-2008, 09:34 AM

You need to answer a few questions:

Is it a daily shaver?
Does it have value as a collectible?
1. Is the patina part of the collectible value?
Do I have the knowledge to appraise the item?
Do I have the skill to do the task?

I'm still trying to decide if my Fatboy is a candidate for a full restoration (reblacking the numbers, putting a real polish on all the surfaces, cleaning the gunk out of the knurling) or if it is better to leave it as aged.

**Hoos** · 08-21-2008, 09:40 AM

Well, see, when you buy mint-condition razors, you don't have this problem!

Seriously. Kind of. I have a couple of NEWs that look like they've never been used. Right down to the "Gillette" imprint on the razor head being completely unworn. No reason to polish those up.

I do have a couple of other potentially collectible razors that I'm not sure what to do with. Especially the ones that come in the decorated metal box with King Gillette's signature engraved on the bottom (don't recall the name - a series of four, I think, with different designs and the razor handle also has a raised design - a floral or vine type of design). Both the box and the razor head are pretty heavily tarnished. If I decide to use them as part of my regular razor line up, I would definitely clean up the razor heads.

**thirdeye** · 08-21-2008, 09:48 AM

Originally Posted by Hoos

Well, see, when you buy mint-condition razors, you don't have this problem!

I for one will not be the one to mess around with any of my True Mint NOS razors either....

**DanOK** · 08-21-2008, 09:51 AM

I would like to preface my commits with the statement " I have RAD". That being said, it is only fair to state, that at this junction of my life I have no intention of selling any of my razors to anyone. In fact I may just be buried with them.

I enjoy shaving with everything I have and find that cleaning and preparing my razors to be used provides me great enjoyment. It also seems the prudent thing to do before shaving with a new razor. As some of the other hands around here will tell you some of our finds look pretty ruff when we first run across them. Everything don't look like it does on ebay.

**Doc4** · 08-21-2008, 07:37 PM

Clean the gunk off, but leave the patina!

**Ookla The Mok** · 08-21-2008, 07:47 PM

It really depends on how good of a polisher you are. I think half-assed polishing looks worse than anything. However, I have seen the work you do on polishing(example: your reynolds straight). I would take the time and make it look as new again.

Side note: I am also a frim believer in any adventures in replating and the photos that document such adventures.