ManuFrance “Étoile St Étienne” 6/8″
A 1920s–30s French razor, complete with its original box and strop pastes. Mirror-finished, re-pinned and coticule-honed.
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Honed, stropped and sanitised, ready to shave. If you’re not happy with the shave, I’ll help put it right, free of charge.
- Maker
- Manufrance, Saint-Étienne
- Made
- c. 1920s–30s, possibly into the early 1940s
- Width
- 6/8″
- Grind
- Quarter hollow
- Point
- Round
- Scales
- Original black thermoplastic, brass pins
- Includes
- Original box and strop pastes
The razor
This razor was made in Saint-Étienne by the Manufacture Française d’Armes et Cycles, better known as Manufrance. The company made hunting guns, bicycles, sewing machines and cutlery, and sold them all over France through its famous illustrated mail-order catalogue. Its razors carried the Étoile St Étienne mark: the six-pointed star etched on this blade.
The tang is stamped MRE FSE D’ARMES ET CYCLES DE ST ETIENNE, the company’s name in short. It dates to around the 1920s–30s, possibly into the early 1940s, and it’s unusually complete, with its original presentation box and its original box of strop pastes. I’m unlikely to find another quite like it.
What’s included
- The razor
- Its original presentation box, embossed in gold
- Its original box of Pâte à Rasoir strop pastes: a blue stick for the first, coarser side of a two-sided strop, and a red stick for the finer second side
Restoration and condition
The blade has been brought to a crocus finish, a mirror polish. The scales have been polished to a gloss, the internal washers replaced and the brass pins re-peened. It opens smoothly and snugly, and centres well.
The scales have a slight warp. It has been repaired, but the razor needs a little care when opening and closing.
Honing
Set on a progression of Japanese synthetic stones and finished on an Ardennes coticule (La Grise), then stropped and sanitised, ready to shave.
The natural stone shown in the photos isn’t included.
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