Matador De Luxe vintage

I won a lot of two razors in an auction, a Matador and a Gillette Tech. They did not look that good in the pictures on the auction site but when I received the razors today I was surprised to find both in better condition than I had thought, especially the Matador. I won't say it's new but certainly in mint condition.

The Matador was a Swedish made razor manufactured from 1930 to the late 1950's when the factory was bought by Schick and set to manufacture injection blades (I think) and then closed at a later date. There's not that much info available about this manufacturer so feel free to share if someone knows more. I found an article about the factory building being demolished a few years back. I knew this brand existed (in fact I believe it still exists as a brand of disposable cart razors) but I have never had one of these things in my hand before.

So this razor is from the late 50's or older. It is sturdily built, I'm guessing it's brass. The plating is completely intact and there is little or no sign of wear. It weighs in at 64 gram and the size is almost exactly the same as my Merkur 34C. There are a few odd things about this razor. First, I thought it was a three piece but it turns out the bottom plate is fixed to the handle (rotating on a brass bushing). Second it was delivered with a sort of brass plate which can be seen in some of the pictures and which appears to be intended to protect the blade. Never seen one of those before, are they common? Is it meant for traveling with a blade in the razor, perhaps? It's an original bit as it has Matador stamped onto it. Finally the razor came with a (Matador brand) blade in it but it was not dirty and the blade even looks unused. 

So, I'm posting this in case someone have some more info, or can see something in the pictures that I'm missing or just finds this interesting. I do, but then, I'm biased.


Without the brass plate "safety".

Brass plate next to it.

Brass plate installed.

Bottom, brass plate fixed.

And finally the blade that was in it, looks pretty fresh for a used 60+ year old blade, I thought.