WetShaving

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Tuesday SOTD Thread - November 26th, 2024 (#534) (self.wetshaving)

submitted 2 hours ago by AutoBot to c/wetshaving

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Share your shave of the day!

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[–] djundjila 1 points 9 minutes ago* (last edited 2 minutes ago)

GEM Days 10a/14: The Featherweight – A Great Buy For A Great Guy – Tue 26 Nov 2024

Brush: Zenith 506B MB (27 mm × 51 mm Manchurian badger)
Razor: Ever-Ready - Natural Angle a.k.a British Featherweight
Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
Lather: Red House Farm – NoScrub r/wetshaving s(cr)ub exclusive
Post Shave: Mühle – Aloe Vera
Fragrance: Stirling Soap Co. – Island Man

This is shave 19 of my run through all 14 generations of GEM-style razors, and I have reached u/Semaj3000's favourite GEM, the Featherweight, or the return to making razors as cheaply as possible.

The Featherweight

This little razor comes just one year after yesterday's Streamline, and similarly picks up the mechanism of the 1912, but with the base plate of the Micromatic Flying Wing. Similarly to the 1912, the razor is mostly made of bent sheet metal, and has a hollow plastic handle. Clearly, keeping manufacturing cost low was a principal driving force here.

This razor marks the beginning of the final stage of GEM razors: The head geometry won't change much anymore (which means they will all be excellent but mild shavers like the Flying Wing), and neither will the base plate. The cleverness of the Micromatic TTO mechanism is a thing of the past, and handles will never again be detachable like they were with the 1912, 1914, 1924 Shovelhead, and the Streamlines.

Apparently, the Featherweight give the "closest, most comfortable shave" because of "GEM's built-in Barber's Stroke".

The shave

The low profile of the head (like the Flying Wing) invites a low angle, and the cheap looking, but ergonomic grip is comfy. This thing reminds me of the plastic Wilkinson Sword Classic razor: cheap and good. The very light weight of the razor is not an issue for me like it is with the very light Henson.

The timeline

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