Monday SOTD Thread - November 25th, 2024 (#533)

Quintidi 5 Frimaire an 233 de la Révolution, jour du Cochon

• Preshave: Proraso Green Preshave
• Brush: Zenith 506U XS Horse 🐎
• Razor: GEM MMOC
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (13)
• Lather: Barrister & Mann Plague
• Postshave: Naissance 702 Witch Hazel
• Postshave: Epsilon Blue Mediterranean
• Postshave: Nivea After Shave Balm

I coughed so much, I hurt my rib, and as a consequence, I don't feel confident using a straight for the moment. @djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social's series increased my appreciation of GEM razors, so I used my MMOC (2nd generation). A good and close shave.

Have a good evening!

_{Shared via [emacs](https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/) & [sotd.el](https://gitlab.com/shavin1/sotd.el)}

November 25, 2024

• Brush: AP Shave Co. handle w/26mm Maggard SHD
• Razor: Ever-Ready Streamline Jewel Gen 2
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE (2)
• Lather: London Razors/Summer Break Soaps - Mountain Laurel - Soap
• Post Shave: London Razors - Mountain Laurel - Aftershave
• Post Shave: Goodfellow & Co. - Face Lotion - Kelp & Sea Mineral

I can't help but follow along with @djundjila@sub.wetshaving.social 's GEM calendar the past couple of days. The Streamline (mine is a Jewel) is pure luxury as far as I'm concerned. The build quality, especially the quality of the chrome plating, is superb.

u/120inna55 made a reddit post a while ago regarding the different variations of this razor. I copied his work into a wiki format and added his wonderful pictures in line so you don't have to click away to imgur to look at them. It's worth it just for the pictures. https://wiki.wetshaving.social/Curated_Articles/Streamline

This handle/knot combo is new to me. I used to have a 24mm Maggard 2-Band Badger knot in this handle, but after auditioning this knot for use in another handle I decided that I love this knot, but not enough for the other handle. I lofted it pretty much as high as it'll go, so it has pretty low backbone. Now I have a 24mm (bulb, meh), 26mm (this one), 28mm, and a 30mm SHD in my brush collection. This 26mm might be my favorite. My second favorite is the 30mm, but this one has a bit more texture to it while still be soft and comfy.

GEM Days 9a/14: Ever-Ready Streamline – Pretty Regression – Mon 25 Nov 2024

• Brush: Zenith 506B MB (27 mm × 51 mm Manchurian badger)
• Razor: Ever-Ready Streamline
• Blade: Personna GEM PTFE
• Lather: Geo. F. Trumper – Rose
• Post Shave: Noble Otter – Two Kings
• Fragrance: Mäurer und Wirtz – Tabac Man Gravity

This is shave 17 of my run through all 14 generations of GEM-style razors, and I have reached the Ever-Ready Streamline, or when things started going south IMO.

The Jewel/Streamline/Ambassador

A little bit of context. We're in 1949, the height of shaving technology is the Micromatic Flying Wing, and the 1912 is a about 4 decades old at this point. It is still being produced. Engineers of the American Safety Razor Company have since improved upon it by decoupling the blade alignment and clamping with the 1914 and 1924, both of which went out of production since. The engineers further improved upon it by developing the Micromatic twist-to-open mechanism that keeps your fingers nicely distanced from any spring-loaded top caps and sharp edges, but still the 1912 is being produced. It seems like ASR wants to produce fancy high-tech razors like the beautiful Flying Wing, they want to shake he legacy and limitations of the 1912 design, but something (likely economic pressure from the Gillette competition) keeps them in the low cost-low tech business of the 1912.

In this context, the Streamline/Jewel/Ambassador enters the scene. It's shiny, its hefty, it looks solid, and... It's a fancy 1912. A full regression to their first design. See for yourself †: closed and open

This is just a cast version of the 1912 and could have been produced as is in 1912. ASR just fully gave up on being a technology brand for this one and went for 100% nostalgia. This is the second generation of the Streamline, but this time it sticks and it marks the end of the Micromatic era. Starting with this second gen Streamline, all future razors by ASR will be less technologically advanced than the Micromatics (or mimic it with cheap plastic parts).

† There is also a rare early first generation 1936 Streamline, but the historical context is the same (substitute high tech MMOC for high tech Flying Wing).

The shave

Luckily, the 1912 is a great shaver, and the Streamline has inherited that. It's disappointing that this thing was made after the Micromatics, but as an as earlier GEM ad says, "So What? It's the shave that counts!"

I always enjoy the rose cream, and the combo with Two Kings and Gravity works well.

The timeline

1. 1906-1953: GEM 1912/Star Cadet/Junior/Damaskeene
   • FLS
   • SLS
2. 1914-1927: 1914
   • FLS
   • SLS
3. 1924-1933: 1924 Shovelhead
   • FLS
   • SLS
4. 1930-1932: Micromatic Open Comb Gen 1 (Bumpless baseplate)
   • FLS
   • SLS
5. 1932-1941: Micromatic Open Comb Gen 2 (double-edge Micromatic GEM blades)
   • FLS
   • SLS
6. 1940-1943: Micromatic Clog-Pruf
   • FLS
   • SLS
7. 1945-1946: Micromatic Clog-Pruf Peerless
   • FLS
   • SLS
8. 1947-1950: Micromatic Flying Wing/Bullet Tip, with guiding eye until 1948, with plastic knob in the last year
   • FLS
   • SLS
9. 1949-1953: GEM Jewel/Streamline/Ambassador (The beginning of the end IMHO) ← We are here
10. 1950: New GEM Feather Weight, renamed to "Slim-V Flat Top" in 1953, British version sold as "Natural Angle" by Ever-Ready
11. 1955-1958: GEM V-Slim "Heavy Flat Top" (G-Bar, shiny chrome), New V Natural Angle Heavy Flat Top (E-Bar, less shiny nickel)
12. 1958-1965: Push Button
13. 1965-1973: Contour
14. 1973-1979: Contour II (The last GEM razor)

25.11.2024 - Monday Palate Cleanser

• Brush: RazoRock 400 Noir SE 24 mm
• Razor: Greencult GC 2.0 (II plate)
• Blade: Rapira Platinum Lux
• Lather: Barrister & Mann - Fougere Angelique (sample)
• Post-Shave: OAM sensitive skin toner; Alterra men natural ASB

1 pass on both head and beard lines. A very solid shave.

Today's sample was also graciously provided by @snooting@sub.wetshaving.social together with the sample of CF Pine Tar. Fougere Angelique is a very citrus-forward fougere scent. The initial impression reminds me of a hard lemon candy I knew from my childhood. However, it soon opened up to a more approachable fragrance. I'm definitely more the target audience for the diametrical opposite Fougere Gothique (missed opportunity to call it Diabolique IMHO), but this was a great palate cleanser after yesterday's smoked wurst shave. Of course, like any B&M it also delivered an awesome lather. Thanks for the opportunity to try it!

Plate No. 2 of the GC 2.0 is a good one for everyday use. Great results, no irritation.