Gadget Freak: A History Tour Through Braun Electric Shavers

There has never been a brand so respected by males as Braun, and there only a few men that have never tried at least one of their personal home care products. When you think of this iconic brand, the first thing that pops into your head is the electric shaver. Slick in design, made out of top notch quality materials, and easy to use, Braun’s electric shaver is quite possibly the best one on the market.

Whichever one you choose, you can be certain that you’re getting the best for your buck and that you’ll never regret your decision. The company made sure of it, while proving their worth over the past decades.

The Birth Of The Iconic Electronic Shaver

Back in the 1930’s, a man called Max Braun had enough of shaving with a traditional razor. He figured that there had to be way to turn the shaving experience into a simple, gentle, and more enjoyable process.

Braun heard about an electric razor that was invented in America a decade earlier, but he decided he should make his own instead of just buying one, since he was confident that he had enough knowledge to do so.

As an owner of a manufacturing firm (in which he produced radios and radio components), he found it pretty easy to make a device that features precision blades and a small electric motor. He was a pretty good designer as well, so he quickly thought of a design that would be sleek, elegant, manly and welcoming to the eye, but all in all – simple.

By the late 1930’s, Max completed his electric razor, but as World War II swept the world, his plans got sidetracked and his factory got destroyed. After the war, he built a new factory and by the late 1940’s he was ready to share his vision with the world and all of its men who had enough of traditional razors.

The S 50 Max Braun

Naturally, he named his first razor-blade baby after himself, and quickly set his innovation apart from other similar ones, as it had the very first foil head, which completely rejuvenated the shaving process. While other devices from other manufacturer used a comb system to cut the hair follicles, Braun’s shavers used the foil system which allowed the hairs to fit through the holes so the shaver’s cutters could trim them off.

The Legacy Continues

Arthur and Erwin Braun, Max’s sons, continued on their father’s work and created an electric shaver of their own – the Braun 300, which featured some design and functionality changes. The foil top got spruced up with a new shiny, metallic color while the rest of the device was white, and it was squatter and wider than the first Braun shaver.

These small changes went on until the 1960’s, when Gerd A. Miller changed the basic color back to black and slightly rounded-up the sides, to make the new Sixtant SM 31 electric shaver. By the end of the 60’s, the first battery-powered model came out, and in the 70’s the gadgets were made in bright red and bright yellow variations, so they could fit better in the funky decade.

However, the biggest breakthrough since its invention came in 1989, when Braun entered the women’s market, making its first epilator.

The Braun company still comes up with innovative designs and features, thus ensuring their reign over the electric shaver sphere.