Production Year	Serial Numbers	Models Produced			Notes
1903	n/a	Double Ring (1903-1906)			Company is managed by investor John J. Joyce, while King Camp Gillette continues employment with Crown Cork as sales manager in London, UK. William Nickerson is employee #1. First ad in fall issue of System. Annual sales: 51 razors and 168 blade packs.
1904	1-45424		Old Type (1904-1929, including Single Ring, Ball-End, etc.)		First patents granted November 15, 1904: 775,134 and 775,135. Annual sales exceed 90,000 razors (note that serial numbers did not begin until midway through the year, and Gillette estimates that approximately 55,000 were produced without serial numbers). King Camp Gillette returns to US and rejoins company as a vice-president, later honorary president.
1905	45425-370424				International expansion begins with sales in UK and blade manufacturing in France.
1906	370425-770424
1907	770425-A195424
1908	A195425-A675857				Diamond logo in use.
1909	A675858-B222220
1910	B222221-B697600				John J. Joyce buys out most of King Camp Gillette's stock. Gillette remains honorary president, but effectively retires.
1911	B697601-C80508
1912	C80509-C260238
1913	C260239-C407806
1914	C407807-C578360				Nickerson invents an automatic honing machine, allowing increased blade production.
1915	C578361-C911806				Launch of Milady Décolleté, first women's razor.
1916	C911807-D516474				Joyce retires to California, dies shortly afterward leaving controlling shares to John E. Aldred.
1917	D516475-E449207	Military Sets			Aldred reorganizes Gillette as a Delaware corporation. Annual sales exceed 1.1M razors.
1918	E449208-J7344				All J Series are WWI production. Annual sales near 5M razors in 1918.
1919	J7345-K927216
1920	K927217-N459887				Annual sales exceed 2.1M razors in 1920.
1921	N459887-N999999, P1-P679777, 1A-863912A			New Improved (1921-1929, including Bostonian, Big Fellow, etc.)	"O" was not used as a serial number prefix. May launch of New Improved razor with new serial number format. Old Type continues as "Brownie" and various other sets, but without serial numbers. Original 1904 patents expire November 15, 1921. Annual sales exceed 4.2M razors.
1922	863913A-336676B
1923	336677B-391575B
1924	391576B-485927B
1925	485928B-602049B
1926	602050B-770070B				Gillette celebrates its 25th anniversary as a company. In Germany, competitor Roth-Buechner is purchased.
1927	770071B-902611B				From Oct 18 1927 to Aug 27 1928, there were no serial numbers used.
1928	1C-94800C				Serial numbers resume. Nickerson retires. Gillette develops Kroman blades, and declines to purchase a new strip-based blade design offered by Henry J. Gaisman (Auto Strop).
1929	94801C-241755C	The NEW (1929-1940?)			Auto Strop begins selling Probak razors and blades, using Gaisman's new design. The Probak reaches the market before Gillette launches the NEW in 1930.

In 1930 Gillette stopped using serial numbers on razors. So razors made from 1930-49 can be difficult to date precisely. However, blades made in those years were stamped with a date code: A for 1930, B for 1931, etc., plus 1-4 for the year quarter. So "A-1" means January-March 1930. In 1950 this system was expanded to include razors, too (see below). If a vintage razor is found with its original blades, the blade codes can be used to establish a rough date for the razor. This is not 100% accurate, since the blades may not be original or may have been made before or after the razor.

Production Year	Models Produced				Notes
1930		The NEW (1929-1940?)			Gold plated Big Fellow intro'd as NEW Big Boy Deluxe. In this year only De Luxe models were numbered, starting with 1-D, and often the final D was omitted. Kroman blade introduced. Patent fight and merger with Auto Strop. Stock falls from over $100 to below $30.
1931	Goodwill				Henry J. Gaisman (Auto Stop) succeeds tainted management after financial scandals. Stock falls below $5. King Camp Gillette resigns as President.
1932					Blue Blade introduced. Death of King Camp Gillette on July 9, 1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938	3 Piece Tech (1938-1979)		Sheraton	Senator	First TTO razors introduced. Thin Blade introduced. Gaisman retires, succeeded by J.P. Spang, Jr. New emphasis on sports advertising.
1939					"World Series Special" Tech.
1940			Regent Tech		Regent Tech introduced as the first closed-comb TTO.
1941			Ranger Tech	Milord (1941, 1946-1953)	"Cavalcade of Sports" theme introduced.
1942					War Production Board orders dedicated military production for all razors and most blades.
1943
1944					War Production Board lifts orders late in 1944.
1945
1946				Milord (1941, 1946-1953)	Introduction of razor end caps.
1947			40s Style Super Speed (1947-1954)
1948					Introduction of notched post.
1949					First plastic case: red/clear styrene

The single-letter date codes are accompanied by a number, which corresponds to the quarter of the year. So 'O-1' means 1969, January-March. Date codes on blades (see above) also continued through this period.

Production Year	Date Code	Models Produced						Notes
1950	V	3 Piece Tech (1938-1979)	40s Style Super Speed (1947-1954)			Milord (1941, 1946-1953)		Razor Date Coding Begins with V-3
1951	W			Black Tip Super Speed (1951-1952)
1952	X
1953	Y
1954	Z			Flare Tip Super Speed				40s Style Super Speed TV Special Z3 & Z4
1955	A		Blue-Tip and Red-Tip Super Speed (1955-1959)
1956	B
1957	C				Toggle (1957-1958, 1960)			Toggle Goes on Sale Christmas '57
1958	D						"Fat Boy" Adjustable	50s Style Super Speed TV Special
1959	E
1960	F				Toggle (1957-1958, 1960)	195 Adjustable ("bottom dial")
1961	G				"Slim" Adjustable
1962	H
1963	I					Lady Gillette
1964	J
1965	K
1966	L		Black Handle Super Speed				The Knack (1966-1975)
1967	M
1968	N			Black Handle Super Adjustable
1969	O
1970	P
1971	R							Some razors produced with Gillette Date Code Q. Trac II introduced.
1972	S
1973	T
1974	U
1975	V
1976	W							Atra / Contour introduced. Good News disposable introduced.
1977	X							Black Handle Adjustable Gets Plastic Bottom Plate
1978	Y
1979	Z
1980	A
1981	B
1982	C
1983	D
1984	E
1985	F							Atra Plus / Contour Plus introduced, with the first lube strips.
1986	G
1987	H

Numbered British Gillette Information