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Friday SOTD Thread - November 22nd, 2024 (#530)
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this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2024
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GEM Days 6a/14: first Generation GEM Micromatic Clog-Pruf – The Zenith of Razor-Making – Fri 22 Nov 2024
This is shave 11 of my run through all 14 generations of GEM-style razors, and I have reached the first generation Clog-Pruf, around peak maturity of the Micromatic system.
The first generation Micromatic Clog-Pruf
The Clog-Pruf shares all the parts with the second generation MMOC except the base plate. The Clog-Pruf has a scalloped safety bar (with 12 nubs) and two large lather channels where the MMOC had the open comb. Technically, the two razors are entirely equivalent and any preference is just a question of taste. The MMOC has a reputation for being aggressive, and the Clog-Pruf – while being very efficient as well – is considered more middle of the road, although it's still got plenty of blade feel compared to typical safety razors like a Gillette Tech, a DE89/R89 or its gazillion clones or any Merkur. I was made aware of this razor by sub veteran, LG organiser extraordinaire, and all-around great guy u/merikus, and while I have a mild preference of the MMOC over the Clog-Pruf, I can agree with his sentiment
The two Clog-Prufs, the second generation MMOC and the Flying Wing are just different mildness variations of the same razor and differ only in the shape of the comb/safety bar. You know you've reached maturity if all you change are details and keep all of the fundamentals. So what is the marketing angle for selling this minuscule update to the MMOC? It's Barbasol! The big lather channels are supposedly designed not to clog with brushless creams.
The shave
A refreshing vetivercentric shave with Dirtyver today. The NOS Clog-Pruf gave me a fantastic shave as always. Once you've gotten the hang of any of the Micromatics, they all become great IMO.
The butterscotch Zenith with the comfy handle and the scrubby Manchurian badger knot layers up quickly and I love the scrub.
The timeline
I continue to enjoy this series. The DE razor (and blades) were marketed in parallel with SEs. Was the popularity of DEs all about low-cost replaceable blades?
Thank you! I enjoy writing it!
I don't know, and I wonder about it a lot. The GEM system seems technically better, and IMHO makes for better mass-produced razors than the Gillette format. Might it just be network effects?
My suspicion is that it was marketing. I think the band steel used for DE blades was a boon for blade production. The band steel seems to be a perfect fit for high volume, multi-stage manufacture. Gillette heavily promoted replaceable blades, and as I recall, the company's business model was to make its profits through high-volume/low margin sales of blades.
Marketing sounds plausible. The Doubledge Micromatic blades would have had the exact same arguments in their favour, yet they didn't stick around.
Maybe it's one of those mac vs windows stories. Two roughly equivalent systems and one of them gets big first.