King C. Gillette safety razor + Mystic Water Leather & Smoke shaving soap = fine shave
Pcmpted by a reader query, I ordered a copy of the King C. Gillette safety razor, named in honor of King Camp Gillette (b. 1835 in Fond du Lac WI; d. 1932 Hollywood CA) and gave it a go this morning, using one of the Kiing C. Gillette blades that came with the razor.
But first, the prep. I really like this Yaqi brush with the transparent amber-like handle. The knot has a relatively short loft, but it does a good job. The soap is another sample I got with my Mystic Water soap order, and I definitely like the fragrance of this soap — this sample I’m saving to use again. The lather was quite good because Mystic Water makes a good soap.
The razor is not exactly a clone of the Edwin Jagger head, but it’s definitely a close cousin. The primary difference visible to my eye was that underside of the baseplate, which differs from the EJ razor and which has zero effect on the shave. So far as cap, gap, and guard, there was no difference that I could see, and in shaving with it, I found that it shaved much like an Edwin Jagger razor, which is quite good.
The razor has good heft and is well made. Like the EJ and some other brands the cap and baseplate don’t cover the end tabs of the blade. I understand the idea — by leaving the end tabs exposed, it is easy to adjust blade alignment — but I prefer that the end tabs be covered, and if the razor is made with close tolerances, manual adjustment of alignment is not needed. This razor seems to have good close tolerances.
The handle treatment is idiosyncratic: textured at the top, smooth at the base. But it worked fine. The handle is longer than that of most razors, but not so long as to be awkward.
On the whole, this is a very good razor indeed, and at US$25 a very good bargain.
Three passes left my face totally smooth. Again I noticed the presence of the pre-shave particularly in the second pass, and it was there for the third as well.
A splash of The Holy Black’s Gunpowder Spice aftershave, and I’m ready to join in the bright, clear, sunny day.
Thanx for the report and evaluation.
I wonder how “The King” would feel about a razor named in his honor being made off-shore?
Steve Riehle
8 April 2021 at 9:53 am
I ordered one too after it was mentioned last week. I also thought it looked like an EJ head: when holding both together it is hard to tell difference, although I felt the cap curvature was slightly different, but maybe I just wanted it to be different LOL. I tried it yesterday. A good shave.
Mark
9 April 2021 at 4:10 am
I was thinking about the difference in the design of the bottom of the baseplate. It strikes me that the King C. Gillette design is simpler and probably easier to manufacture (in terms of mold design), but probably not significantly different given CAD.
LeisureGuy
9 April 2021 at 6:41 am
CAD? on a Zamak plated razor?
Larry
10 April 2021 at 5:39 am
As I said, I was speaking of the mold. And I imagine computer-aid design is used for all sorts of things, including furniture built by hand from wood. I don’t think nowadays all those skills I learned in mechanical drawing are in much demand when computer-aided design can do the drafting, show a eD perspective, and so on.
LeisureGuy
10 April 2021 at 9:07 am