WetShaving
This is a community of enthusiasts, hobbyists and artisans who enjoy a traditional wet shave: brush, soap, and safety or straight razor. We are a part of the WetShaving community found on Reddit, Discord, and IRC.
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GEM Days 1/14: 1912/Junior/Cadet/Damaskeene – Sun 17 Nov 2024
I'm doing a run through all 14 generations of GEM-style razors from 1906, when the 1912 started production to 1979 when the conveyor belt rolled out last Contour II. For the purposes of this run, I'm defining the 14 generations as follows:
† Still in production by u/EldrormR Industries – GEM Division.
All dates in the list above come from the American Safety Razor Dating Chart here. I hope they are accurate, but haven't double-checked anything.
This is an opinionated list for at least four reasons: 1) The Damaskeene (open-comb 1912) is different enough from later tyical 1912s to deserve it's own day, but I don't have one. 2) The British 1909 isn't on the list because I have never seen one in the wild. 3) there are three generations of Jewels, but I only have the one, and finally 4) there are images floating around the interwebs of an adjustable GEM Pushbutton, but it's a kind of a phantom and I'm not sure it ever was more than a prototype.
The 1912
The first GEM razor, and also my gateway into the SE Cult. In 2021, u/Semaj3000 recommended me to try a 1912 at first, because they are good shavers and cheap. Specifically, he recommended me to trawl French eBay for the Star version called "Cadet", because the Bakelite cases of the day had blade banks with the French inscription "lames", which amused him. As you can see in the SOTD picture, I followed his advice and indeed found a razor and case in great condition. Since I never fall halfway into a rabbit hole, I also ended up getting a British-made 1912 which came with NOS contemporary Corrux blades with the fun Ever-Ready maskot, and a pretty US-made one with the iconic art deco "chain-link" handle. Back then u/Semaj3000 and u/VisceralWatch were at peak vintage razor thrill, and I learned a lot about GEM razors in a hurry from them.
This first GEM razor has already half of what I consider the genius of this line of razors: Unlike DE razors with a single degree of freedom in their clamping mechanism, the 1912 has two springs, one clamping the blade down, and one pushing on the spine, firmly locking the edge in place against the blade stops. This is why GEM razors always have an absolutely reproducible exposure and gap, regardless of the geometric tolerances of GEM blades, unlike DE razors and all modern GEM razors.
The shave
Once you get the hang of GEM razors (which is easy), the 1912 gives great shaves to the sound of buttering toast. Verbena Toscana is a lovely summery scent, and I really like the AYLM hard soap base. 4711 and Farina are lovely, but they don't last very long.
Very cool, I look forward to hearing your thoughts as you compare these.
I have my first GEM razor on its way to me, it should be delivered tomorrow actually. It's a 1940-43 Clog-Pruf that looks in excellent shape, and it was only ~$15 shipped on the bay!
The Clog-Pruf is a fantastic starting point IMO. Good choice!
Cool chart. What's the source? Might be good to add to the wiki for posterity.
Edit: you already included the source. Duh!