Fragrance: The Scottish Fine Soaps Company – Vetiver & Sandalwood
This is shave 15 of my run through all 14 generations of GEM-style razors, and I have reached the prettiest vintage safety razor of all times, the GEM Micromatic Flying Wing. The American Safety Razor seems to have hired a designer or two because this and the next razor (the legendary Streamline/Jewel/Ambassador to come out of the factory are absolutely stunning.
The Flying Wing/Bullet Tip
The Flying Wing is an update to the Micromatics with the same exact same twist-to-open mechanism as the MMOCs and Clog-Prufs, but with a redesigned head, a true safety bar and a reduced bullet tip-shaped knob. The top cap is now flat, and the modern safety bar and its geometry have roughly settled for the remainder of ASR razor history with the exception of the Jewel (more on this tomorrow).
The original version with the Guiding Eye came in the chrome-plated version I’m using today which shipped in cardboard packaging, and a gold-plated version in a see-through display case visible in the background of the SOTD pic.
The Flying Wing is the mildest of the Micromatics, and because of the flat top cap feels significantly different than the MMOCs and Clog-Prufs, but it is still an efficient razor, and had seen significant use on the sub, particularly during a brief phase when Micromatic Mammoth Monday Formation Flights (MMMMFFs) where a regular thing.
The shave
I love the scent of 1889, but get a tingling from the frag, so I use it rarely. I limited myself to two passes today, and I managed to get a great shave before the tingling reached unpleasant levels. Success. The Flying Wing consistently gives great shaves, and today was no exception.
I have a guiding eye on my Flying Wing. Complete gimmick. Would love to have been in the room to hear the discussion when they added that to the cap. Or, I wonder if it is actually a manufacturing error and a bug was promoted as a feature?
Or, I wonder if it is actually a manufacturing error and a bug was promoted as a feature?
I dunno, these razors are pretty flawless otherwise. Looks like they had a tight QA? But yeah, it’s so comically pointless that I wonder what whey were thinking :)
GEM Days 8a/14: GEM Micromatic Flying Wing – Stunning Beauty – Sun 24 Nov 2024
This is shave 15 of my run through all 14 generations of GEM-style razors, and I have reached the prettiest vintage safety razor of all times, the GEM Micromatic Flying Wing. The American Safety Razor seems to have hired a designer or two because this and the next razor (the legendary Streamline/Jewel/Ambassador to come out of the factory are absolutely stunning.
The Flying Wing/Bullet Tip
The Flying Wing is an update to the Micromatics with the same exact same twist-to-open mechanism as the MMOCs and Clog-Prufs, but with a redesigned head, a true safety bar and a reduced bullet tip-shaped knob. The top cap is now flat, and the modern safety bar and its geometry have roughly settled for the remainder of ASR razor history with the exception of the Jewel (more on this tomorrow).
For the first year, the Flying Wing came with the so-called “Guiding Eye”, a gimmick that’s supposed to encourage the right shaving angle like the “HOLD FLAT AGAINST FACE” engraving on some MMOCs.
The original version with the Guiding Eye came in the chrome-plated version I’m using today which shipped in cardboard packaging, and a gold-plated version in a see-through display case visible in the background of the SOTD pic.
A later version replaced the brass twist knob by a plastic knob.
The Flying Wing is the mildest of the Micromatics, and because of the flat top cap feels significantly different than the MMOCs and Clog-Prufs, but it is still an efficient razor, and had seen significant use on the sub, particularly during a brief phase when Micromatic Mammoth Monday Formation Flights (MMMMFFs) where a regular thing.
The shave
I love the scent of 1889, but get a tingling from the frag, so I use it rarely. I limited myself to two passes today, and I managed to get a great shave before the tingling reached unpleasant levels. Success. The Flying Wing consistently gives great shaves, and today was no exception.
I have a guiding eye on my Flying Wing. Complete gimmick. Would love to have been in the room to hear the discussion when they added that to the cap. Or, I wonder if it is actually a manufacturing error and a bug was promoted as a feature?
I dunno, these razors are pretty flawless otherwise. Looks like they had a tight QA? But yeah, it’s so comically pointless that I wonder what whey were thinking :)