J.A. Henckels and Co is quite a popular vintage brand that can be found relatively widespread all over the world, mainly because the company was in existence for many years, it started in 1731 and produced straight razors up to 1969. They manufactured a lot of razors over these years, quite surprisingly there is not a lot of information about the company or its products out there, here is one page that could spark your interest in this German brand of razor. This is the 78 1/2 model, and as yet, we are not quite sure what this means, we still have to figure out how the numbering system works that is stamped on the tang. The razor has been shortened from the heel as there was a crack in the blade that had to be removed, so it is a great razor for someone looking for a blade that is closer to a shavette. The scales are in fairly good condition and nice and tight with good opening and closing action. The steel has a few marks on it, but nothing that will prevent service for the next 80 years, or that distracts too much from its appearance. It has a white wedge fitted to the black celluloid scales, quite commonly used at the time. The blade has a round point, and has a working edge of 58 mm long. The blade height is 5/8 with a spine thickness of 4 mm delivering a working angle of around 14 degrees on this modded full hollow grind blade.
*Vintage razors are priced according to model and availability, time spent cleaning and reconditioning them, and also time spent getting the edge into a shave ready condition (some are preserved as is, or sold as is for the new owner to sharpen) Please enquire if you need additional work done to this razor prior to purchase. All straight razors will require a stropping on a leather strop before every use. Pics are unedited (detail) and provide a true image of the condition of the razor.
This razor is shave ready and can be used as is without stropping it, stropping should be executed after first use. We tested it and it shaves effortlessly without the need to stretch the skin and gave a nice smooth result. The razor weighs 35 grams.