Wednesday, January 30, 2019

FrankenStrop Razor

This razor was listed on eBay as: Rare Vintage Gillette Gold Autostrop Division Valet Gold Ornate Shaver EUC

They wanted $59.99 for it, BIN.


I sent a message to the vendor to let him know that this was a Valet head with a Gem/Ever-Ready handle. He did not know. The head is a VC3 (made 1935-1940).

I offered him $6 for it, and he accepted, I am calling it a FrankenStrop.  Gillette had acquired Valet AutoStrop in 1930, so you could say that this is a Gillette SE razor.





On the bottom top it says "Gillette Safety Razor Co." and "Auto Strop Division."
















UPDATE: February 4, 2019

The razor arrived today, and I got it all cleaned up. As suspected, the Gem handle made the Valet unworkable. It kept the comb in the lowered position and useless. I took one of my Valet handles and replaced the Gem handle. It turns out the threads are near identical. With the new handle, the razor is functional again.



Now this is the way the razor should look. It is ready for service.


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