This week’s razor is one of the more beautiful razors that Gillette ever put out.  Let me introduce the Gillette ABC Pocket Edition. Many of you have probably seen one of these on the interwebs before and the most notable thing that draws your eye in is the ornate handle.  There are actually several different versions of this handle, all beautiful in their own right.

These ABC’s were some of Gillette’s first offerings (only 6 years since the first double ring dropped in 1903) that was designed to be stylish as well as functional.  There’s no doubt these things look cool, so let’s dive in…

https://imgur.com/a/PqksW5v

razor on loan from u/falcons1583

What We Know:

Original price $5.00 to $7.50

First introduced in 1909

Gillette commissioned the American Button Company (ABC) to make these razors

Likely designed prior to the introduction of the “triangle” Gillette logo, which came about just before the release of these razors, hence why the razors only have serial numbers and the logo on the cases is patched on

Cases came in gold, silver, gun metal, and a very rare leather

Razors came triple-plated in either gold or silver

Posts in top cap a little shorter and more rounded off than a regular Old Type

Some examples have very rounded teeth but not all from what I've seen

Handle variations include Shell, Empire, Scroll, and Flower

Most had plain top caps, but there are a few that were sold with top caps engraved with the Gillette logo on them (those go for big money as they’re quite rare)

Quality control wasn't the greatest, resulting a lot of wobbly handles

Balance: handle-heavy

Blade gap: there isn’t any really (.shrug)

How It Shaves:

I’m not going to lie, this one was scrapey.  FWIW, I didn’t use a shim with this one at all, but I’ve heard that can improve the shave.  I tried mixing it up, changing from a Perma Sharp to a Voskhod, but results were still the same.

I wouldn’t really call it aggressive.  This one doesn’t have the blade feel that some other razors have but it is what I’d call scrapey.  That could be due to the teeth or as u/NeedsMoreMenthol pointed out last time, blade exposure. What I do know is that for this to be on Old Type head, it doesn’t really feel anything like my Bulldog or Goodwill razors, which I quite enjoy.  Can this razor be tamed? Absolutely. You just need to pay extra attention to your angles and it can get the job done. The room for error is just too wide for my tastes.

One of these days I’ll get around to owning one of these bad boys and maybe then I’ll shim it.  Hopefully that will help because this is just too pretty of a razor to sit around unused.

Where Can I Get One?:

eBay or find a collector who’s willing to let one go.  Like I’ve mentioned previously, if you buy from someone who knows what they’ve got then there’s going to be a premium.  The best chances to snag one of these on the cheap is to catch one on eBay. Price ranges of recently sold models seem to range from $30-$200 (the exception being the rare engraved cap model that recently went for over $600).  I should also note that the style of handle and cases tend to drive price as well. The “Empire” style handle/case tends to bring higher prices as well.

TL;DR

Pretty razor, not so pretty shave