GEM Days 1b/14: 1912/Star Cadet/Junior/Damaskeene – Sun 17 Nov 2024

• Brush: Dogwood Handcrafts - Papa Eld with Declaration Grooming B3
• Razor: Ever Ready - 1912 (with iconic chain link handle)
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
• Lather: Barrister and Mann – Lavanille
• Post Shave: Chatillon Lux – Pure Lavender

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Second shave with a patent 1912 razor, this time with a US-made Ever-Ready 1912 with the iconic art deco / chain link handle introduced in 1927. It’s a very simple razor head made from just a few pieces of bent sheets of brass (and possibly steel for the spring), but this razor was produced for almost 50 years for a reason. This simple design gives great shaves and must have been very cost competitive to produce compared to later models, which all involve deep drawn, cast, or machined pieces.

It is telling that this first and simplest GEM razor also had the longest run. Over the next two weeks we’ll visit its more and more complicated and technically brilliant cousins, but not successors. It will survive them all.

Lavanille and Pure Lavender are a fantastic combo.

This was shave two of my run through all 14 generations of GEM-style razors.

1. 1906-1953: GEM 1912/Star Cadet/Junior/Damaskeene ← We are here
   • FLS
2. 1914-1927: 1914
3. 1924-1933: Shovelhead †
4. 1930-1932: Micromatic Open Comb Gen 1 (Bumpless baseplate)
5. 1932-1941: Micromatic Open Comb Gen 2 (double-edge Micromatic GEM blades)
6. 1940-1943: Micromatic Clog-Pruf
7. 1945-1946: Micromatic Clog-Pruf Peerless
8. 1947-1950: Micromatic Flying Wing/Bullet Tip, with guiding eye until 1948, with plastic knob in the last year
9. 1949-1953: GEM Jewel/Streamline/Ambassador (The beginning of the end IMHO)
10. 1950: New GEM Feather Weight, renamed to “Slim-V Flat Top” in 1953, British version sold as “Natural Angle” by Ever-Ready
11. 1955: GEM V-Slim “Heavy Flat Top” (G-Bar, shiny chrome), New V Natural Angle Heavy Flat Top (E-Bar, less shiny nickel)
12. 1958-1965: Push Button
13. 1965-1973: Contour
14. 1973-1979: Countour II (The last GEM razor)