GEM Days 13a/14: Push That Button 2, the Contour or Statis – Fri 29 Nov 2024
Brush: Zenith 506B MB (27 mm × 51 mm Manchurian badger)
Razor: GEM Contour
Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
Lather: Declaration Grooming – Massacre of the Innocents
Post Shave: Stirling Soap Co. – Haverford
Fragrance: Tom Ford – Tobacco Vanille
This is shave 25 of my run through all 14 generations of GEM-style razors, and I have reached the penultimate GEM, the Contour, or when ASR stopped trying
The Contour
At this point, ASR has given up. The Contour brings nothing new to the table and is just a cheaper version of the Push-Button with a slightly modified handle design and no more gold plating. That’s it.
A look under the base plate shows that there was a slight modification of the outline of the thin leaf (foil?) spring that opens the top cap to accommodate the new footprint of the handle’s neck. It’s that thin sheet that’s placed between the base plate and the neck of the handle.
Looking into the open razor, we can see that also the width of the foil springs was reduced, but the cutouts on the back of the base plate still have the full width for the wider springs. It makes for a slightly more sluggish mechanism, and in the open position, a little bit of slack in lets the head jingle. No big deal, but distinctly cheap feeling. Lastly, they also dropped the grooves on the safety bar. Apparently, those “tough whiskers” don’t need setting up anymore for closer shaving?
TL/DR, this looks and feels like the budget version of the Push-Button, which itself was a sub-par attempt at replicating the magic of the Flying Wing. #Sad
The shave
Fantastic warm and sweet shave with MotI, Haverford, and TV. These scents have been among my favourites since the beginning of my descent down the rabbit hole and they still are.
Very interesting. I would guess that the mid-40’s was the beginning of the heyday for DE and injector razors. 1970/71 was the introduction of the cartridge razor. The marketing push on these things has been extraordinary, and there’s a sleek look to their design (somewhat like the Blackland Vector’s). Given the influence marketing has on us, it is a wonder that GEM blades, and DE blades are even made anymore.
GEM Days 13a/14: Push That Button 2, the Contour or Statis – Fri 29 Nov 2024
This is shave 25 of my run through all 14 generations of GEM-style razors, and I have reached the penultimate GEM, the Contour, or when ASR stopped trying
The Contour
At this point, ASR has given up. The Contour brings nothing new to the table and is just a cheaper version of the Push-Button with a slightly modified handle design and no more gold plating. That’s it.
The head is remained the same, just that it’s raw unplated stainless steel.
A look under the base plate shows that there was a slight modification of the outline of the thin leaf (foil?) spring that opens the top cap to accommodate the new footprint of the handle’s neck. It’s that thin sheet that’s placed between the base plate and the neck of the handle.
Looking into the open razor, we can see that also the width of the foil springs was reduced, but the cutouts on the back of the base plate still have the full width for the wider springs. It makes for a slightly more sluggish mechanism, and in the open position, a little bit of slack in lets the head jingle. No big deal, but distinctly cheap feeling. Lastly, they also dropped the grooves on the safety bar. Apparently, those “tough whiskers” don’t need setting up anymore for closer shaving?
TL/DR, this looks and feels like the budget version of the Push-Button, which itself was a sub-par attempt at replicating the magic of the Flying Wing. #Sad
The shave
Fantastic warm and sweet shave with MotI, Haverford, and TV. These scents have been among my favourites since the beginning of my descent down the rabbit hole and they still are.
The timeline
1906-1953: GEM 1912/Star Cadet/Junior/Damaskeene1914-1927: 19141924-1933: 1924 Shovelhead1930-1932: Micromatic Open Comb Gen 1 (Bumpless baseplate)1932-1941: Micromatic Open Comb Gen 2 (double-edge Micromatic GEM blades)1940-1943: Micromatic Clog-Pruf1945-1946: Micromatic Clog-Pruf Peerless1947-1950: Micromatic Flying Wing/Bullet Tip, with guiding eye until 1948, with plastic knob in the last year1949-1953: GEM Jewel/Streamline/Ambassador (The beginning of the end IMHO)1950: New GEM Feather Weight, renamed to “Slim-V Flat Top” in 1953, British version sold as “Natural Angle” by Ever-Ready1955-1958: 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 ButtonVery interesting. I would guess that the mid-40’s was the beginning of the heyday for DE and injector razors. 1970/71 was the introduction of the cartridge razor. The marketing push on these things has been extraordinary, and there’s a sleek look to their design (somewhat like the Blackland Vector’s). Given the influence marketing has on us, it is a wonder that GEM blades, and DE blades are even made anymore.