"Durex Solingen Silver Steel Straight" Razor

I'll start by admitting my complete ignorance of straight razors. Unfortunately, I had no camera with me.

In an antique store, I ran across a straight razor in beautiful shape, in the original box. On the box, the word "Durex" was contained within a circle and appeared to be written both horizontally and vertically within the circle. A trademark? The words "Solongen Silver Steel" followed this. The word may also be spelled "Solingen", although my notes appear to have the first spelling.
The razor appears to be in superb condition, and the box in good condition.

Can anyone tell me anything about this razor?

The box was marked $49.99 and was on a badly organized shelf under an empty watch band box. If I hadn't picked up both boxes and realized that the bottom box had something in it, I wouldn't have found the razor.

Like a courteous customer, I restored the shelf to its original condition.

Hopefully, the razor will still be there if I decide that I want it.

A Durex razor?
I know barbers often offer 'something for the weekend', but that's going too far...

That's what it said, as near as my old eyes could make out in the somewhat dim light. Is there some razor company that uses a trademark of two similar words crossing one another in vertical and horizontal lines, surrounded by a circle?

I would imagine Durex was just a trade or retail name put on the razor. It was probably made by some other company in Germany. That was a very common thing.

Thebigspendur said:

I would imagine Durex was just a trade or retail name put on the razor. It was probably made by some other company in Germany. That was a very common thing.

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Yeah, that's certainly true in the world of firearms, a lot of them were rebranded for major stores or dealers.
No reason why that wouldn't happen with razors, or indeed most other products.

You guys are probably right about the trade name. I've looked high and low on the internet, and the only reference to Durex has already been covered in this thread. (You would have to know the location of the antique shop and what it has for neighbors to appreciate the true irony. )

I guess that the only question remaining is if it is worth the $50 that the dealer is asking. As I said, the blade appears to be in beautiful shape, indeed it may have been unused. The box exterior is somewhat faded.

I'm not sure that straight razors will be for me, and I really don't want to risk much. I'd like to be able to get the majority of my money out of it if I decide not to keep it.

It's just occurred to me that my 'something for the weekend' quip might not be quite the joke I thought it was.
According to Wikipedia, the brand name Durex was trademarked in 1929.
It was quite common in those days, as it still is today, for companies to have their corporate logo marked on items for promotional use, either as giveaways for customers, or for their salesmen to use to 'sweeten the deal' with a potential retailer.
It could be possible that Durex the condom manufacturer commissioned these razors for their sales people to give away to barbers who agreed to stock Durex products in their shop, or to be sold alongside their products.

jamesbeat said:

It could be possible that Durex the condom manufacturer commissioned these razors for their sales people to give away to barbers who agreed to stock Durex products in their shop, or to be sold alongside their products.

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I hope Lorena Bobbitt never shopped there - she seemed to have a problem with sharp objects.

What it says on the box means next to nothing. Does it also say Durex on the razor itself?

Many times razor are just put in whatever box is near at hand, and thus don't necesssarily tell you anything about what is in there.

If it is in good shape, and was made in Solingen, I'n sure it's a good razor. Haggle a bit on price, and buy it!