REX Ambassador: My thoughts.

My comments were about how RE has to date addressed the Gibbs legacy in totality, not just about our discussion had here., Matt and I have had a good conversation about this, and you'll hearing more from him about the evolution of the Ambassador which I think the community will appreciate.

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The design of the razor is awesome! Yes the razor gets most of it's inspiration from the Gibbs adjustable but surely has some Gillette influences. I don't believe anyone would disagree and I for one knew in advance because I had heard it directly from Matt at TBSW this year as I was checking out the prototype.

I think the question here was the finish, and how it would be addressed. Matt has heard us and is taking action. I would like to add that his quick response is certainly appreciated. In writing my thoughts I had the responsibility of being completely honest in my point of view. The finish is certainly different but I was never upset with Razor Emporium or Matt for not stating this in advance (but I can't say I wasn't disappointed at first...) instead I wanted to wait and see what it looked like in hand and how it performed. It has been widely expressed that the shave is crazy good (my wife agrees) and I for one know this to be true. I hope we can all take a step back and know that all the kinks are on their way to being worked out.

good on Razor Emporium for making it right.

Yes JMudrick and I had a great discussion this afternoon over facebook messenger. I really like the "conversation" element of instant messanging and truth be told, I am not on forums as much as I am on Facebook.

Back to the design, there is no kidding that the Gibbs is the grandfather of the Ambassador. Head design, adjustment mechanism, guard slots, etc. However I'd add that the latter Personna Precision is a little closer of a relative (father?) simply because of the retained TTO knob and ability to accept standard DE blades. Plus it was made out of brass whereas the Gibbs is cast zamack and chrome plated (to the best of my knowledge)

MANY of today's razors are either direct descendants or heavily influenced by razors from the past. I think it's a great thing because often these designs were great - but availability, construction, materials or condition aren't there to make it a daily shaver.

We started out wanting to make a Fatboy type adjustable. When that seemed like a total pie-in-the-sky idea, we settled on the Gibbs because it was relatively simply as compared to a Fatboy.

Here is an image of the design evolution. You can see from left to right a progression towards the Ambassador you see now.

[Image: IMG-1249.JPG]

1) We used a Gillette old type cap and crude brass parts to just see if the mechanism was possible. Plastic handle. Shaved OK and was proof of concept.
2) You can see an evolution here- closer to the Gibbs overall. We nickel plated it in our shop. However the pins being used for blade alignment were already showing to be a problem (in fact this picture was taken later in time and I think the original parts were swapped around so I couldn't even get it to close right).
3) We got our hands on a Personna precision and had similar internal tabs to register blade, making under side of guard smooth (which I preferred for branding / aesthetics)  
4) Handle was lengthened and knob retained. Knurl patter was like a roman column but slipped in the hands while wet. This lead to us adding horizontal lines a la Gillette Toggle.

Anyways - we've had a good response to the email we sent this morning regarding brushed finishing. About 15% of owners are opting for it. Many are thrilled with the way it looks and don't want it to change. Regardless, we are here to make happy customers and awesome products. REX has many more products in the works and we want to make sure we start off right. I've always told my staff that it's how you address the problem and follow through that customers remember.

Thanks all and we are here if you need anything else.

Matt

Thanks for that Matt.

I'm curious if you stumbled across any details about the release of the Precision, ie was it released upon expiration of a Gibbs patent ('35 in Germany) or licensed to Personna by Gibbs? Was there production prior to or beyond '53 when ASR bought Personna/PAL?





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I decided to take a chance on polishing the head and I'm glad I did as it looks absolutely stunning.

Matt (Razor Emporium), your honesty and desire to make things right with your customers speaks more about you than the Ambassador does which, in my opinion, should make the razor a success.  Your up front acknowledging of honoring, and getting inspiration from, past razors speaks volumes in a most positive way.  Congratulations and much success in the future.

I decided to take a chance on polishing the head and I'm glad I did as it looks absolutely stunning.

Sweet!!


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Thanks for that Matt.

I'm curious if you stumbled across any details about the release of the Precision, ie was it released upon expiration of a Gibbs patent ('35 in Germany) or licensed to Personna by Gibbs? Was there production prior to or beyond '53 when ASR bought Personna/PAL?





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I looked for personna, mainly because I could read the English patent info. If Gibbs has anything I doubt it was ever filed in USA. Didn't find anything on personna except the case filed in U.K.


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The only patent references I've ever seen were re the French patents of 1935 and 1937 for the razor and proprietary blades respectively. FWIW it seems likely the adjustment mechanism and other basic design features first appear in the Hol'Pif razor (which begat the L'Essor) without patent.