John…
The above images taken within the last 15 minutes is the complete “Original” kit Brian Twilley made waaaaay back when. When I say Original, I truly mean original in its true sense. Polished by hand, by Brian, the Artisan who made it and not some hack in Switzerland or an Instagram Razor Polishing Influencer.
The drop for the 10 was not announced, they dropped silently and if you got one, you got one. What you see here is what each and every single one of them looks like without exception. The top cap is polished to a gorgeous shine as best as Brian could manage, the backside is matte. Important for the blade based upon MY personal conversation with Brian. The handles are original Bishop and again polished as best as Brian could manage. The base plate only has a tattoo, there’s no engraving and only lightly polished. You can see the tooling marks on all the surfaces if you look closely. Brian did in fact do a favour for a customer and there is a handle out there that is 316L and is NOT a Bishop handle. That entire kit with the EXTRA special handle is very safe in the hands of a well respected Member of this forum.
John, with all due respect, let’s “pretend” for the sake of authentication the top cap and base plate was in fact the real deal. Why is is matte? Where is the Bishop handle? Why are all the surfaces polished to such a high mirror polish and rounded the edges? There is NOT a crisp edge on that entire kit. Why is it engraved? If it were one of the original 10, and it clearly is NOT, the razor was destroyed the moment it was polished and engraved. Would you purchase an Original Picasso oil on canvas bring it home and paint over it? No, of course not
Where is the paperwork for the misrepresented razor? I’m the second owner of mine. My razor was purchased from the original owner who is a prominent and respected Washington DC Attorney. He doesn’t participate much in this forum but is a respected member currently at Badger & Blade. He was a regular participant at ShaveNook where much information can be found about these razors. At the time of my purchase I also purchased a Brass G1 kit bearing base plate #200. I have receipts and a paper trail for every single item I purchase or sell be it a razor, brush, blade, watch, knife, handgun, rifle, etc
My Charcoal Goods brothers can and will chime in here to correct me if I’m wrong about any detail regarding the original ten 316L hand polished CG razors. Like I said when this thread began, I’m wrong 10x a day and I laugh at myself when I’m wrong, but make no mistake, I’m crystal clear when it comes to this razor. The seller in your transaction did not sell you a original razor, for a couple reasons: the first reason is because he never had one to begin with and the second reason is because of its bragging value. You know the type, we’ve seen them come and go here these past few years. People with money don’t talk about money, it’s impolite. Luxury items don’t impress me, I’m only impressed by integrity
John, I’ve been following you on multiple forums since the early 2000 teens, my first transaction on any forum was with you. Everything I’ve said above has been said in a respectful manner and not malicious in any way. I’m firm on authenticating this razor. Brian himself would chime in and say, that’s an aftermarket polish, the original razors were not matte nor engraved and where is the handle?
Any razor that is NOT in its original state simply has no value….period. Who would take a BBS1 or an RS10 and aftermarket polish? If you ding or dent your discontinued razor, leave it alone. I learned this the hard way.
What does a second run Charcoal Goods 304L matte kit look like? Glad you asked, it’s equally gorgeous. Make no mistake, it’s a different look AND a different shave, it’s also engraved as well as a tattoo. The original 316L doesn’t shave like any razor on the market, it’s really special, ask the other 9 owners, some of them can be found here on this forum and I’m sure will be chiming in here to help you with peace of mind.
I’m opening a Razor Brush and Shave Item Authentication thread here in general shaving. The heading of the thread will be “Flipper & Troll.” This will be a place where members can authenticate a shaving item from any BST and all members will be welcome to chime in to help. Everyone making ANY purchase should always be aware there’s a “Merchant of Chaos” lurking about…..