SMF

Hi all - I recently bought a Gillette Red Tip on eBay, but it looks different to all the ones I've seen in pictures: specifically, the side-plates / end caps aren't one solid piece. Is this unusual - or maybe what I have isn't a genuine Red Tip? Thanks for any advice!
Alex

I'm no expert, but it's a possibility that the end caps were either taken or knocked off and the razor has been replated.

If it turns out to be a phoney, complain to ebay and the seller. He will no doubt rather refund your money than get a bad review. Also complain to PayPal and they will police the seller and get your money back; but first contact the seller.

Hi Alex, welcome to SMF!

My guess would be the same as Bruce's. I have a user-grade Red Tip Super Speed with the end caps missing and I have a near-mint, cased Red Tip SS with the end caps intact.

My near-mint Red Tip has end caps, and I understand all Gillette TTO razors from the 1950s (at least those made in the US) to have had such end pieces. My user-grade Red Tip has unfinished structural pieces, once covered by end caps. These razors, in original form, were nickel-plated.

Since the normally unfinished structural pieces, normally covered by end caps, are plated on your razor, I would guess the razor to have been refinished/replated, as Bruce suggested. This makes for a nice razor, but it is not in original condition.

I don't know what you paid for the razor. Replating would have cost a fair amount of money and it dresses the razor up significantly. The razor should not be sold as in original condition, however. If you paid a reasonable price and you purchased the razor as a user, I think you did well. If you were hoping for a collectable piece in good original condition, that's not what you got.

- Murray

Hi Alex, thanks for joining us. I agree with Murray's comments. It's probably a good user grade razor, but if you weren't notified about the missing end caps, and if the photos clearly did not show you the end caps were missing, it might have been an intentional deception, or it might just mean the seller was clueness. If the price you paid is of concern to you then you may consider asking to return the razor for a refund. Let us know how this works out.

look at that handle carefully, all flare tips from usa had the same handle, and that is not the same handle as my flare tip

Thanks, everyone. I bought it to use, and it's a great razor to shave with - now my firm favourite.

Just seen a couple more on eBay without the endcaps:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-GILLE ... 1615067875

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1950s-Vintage ... 1615067875

If you notice in the second auction item there is a good pic of the end cap or lack off. The difference in plating tells me that the end cap came off somehow. An issue that's not that uncommon.

nicodemus38 wrote:look at that handle carefully, all flare tips from usa had the same handle, and that is not the same handle as my flare tip

What differences are you seeing, Nic? I have two US-made Red Tips, a 1955 and a 1956, and the handle on Alex's razor matches both of mine exactly.

- Murray

Mine's the same also. But it does still have the end caps.

End caps are purely aesthetic in purpose and have no effect on the shave. That said, I have a late 40's Gold Aristocrat that was missing one until one day I bought another for $10 in an antique store. I sent it to Capt. Murphy who merely exchanged the T-Bar from one to the other and charged me nothing as I let him keep the salvaged one for parts.

I have a K 1 flare tip. The endcaps are PART of the tbar assembly. no "end cap" doors fall off.

also, the knurling pattern on the handle is different. it has 10 horizontal bands of textured knurling, each one is separated from the others by a razor blade thick groove. Each section gets progressively larger as you go down the handle away from the base plate.
I was always told that all American flare tips had the same handle, just the color and gap are supposedly different.

Nic, you're talking about a 1965 Super Speed, which has a redesigned, lower-profile head and isn't comparable to a Red Tip from the 1950s.

The knurling on the handles of Super Speeds varies over time. My 1956 and 1957 Super Speeds look the same, but the pattern on the handle of my 1958 TV models is definitely different and 1958 brought some minor internal structural changes, as well.

The Red Tip has a thicker handle and different knurling from other Super Speeds.

- Murray