Mid-Century Translucent Blue Guillotine Cigar Cutter, 3 inch, Circa 1950s-1960s

Welcome to Pipe Collectors Encyclopedia, your premier destination for museum-quality estate pipes with comprehensive historical and technical documentation. IDENTIFICATION This is a modernist guillotine-style cigar cutter featuring a translucent body with bold blue acrylic accent, measuring 3 inches in length. Dating to the mid-twentieth century (circa 1950s-1960s), this piece exemplifies the post-war industrial design movement that celebrated transparency, synthetic materials, and geometric form. The cutter represents a significant departure from traditional brass and silver cutting implements, embodying the era's optimistic embrace of new materials and space-age aesthetics. HISTORICAL CONTEXT Following World War II, industrial design underwent radical transformation. The austerity of the 1940s gave way to an explosion of color, transparency, and experimental materials throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Designers and manufacturers embraced acrylic, Bakelite, and other plastics as legitimate materials for luxury goods and everyday objects alike. The translucent blue accent reflects this design philosophy directly. Guillotine-style cutters, descended from early twentieth-century precision engineering, found new expression in modernist form. This cutter bridges high-function precision tooling with mid-century modern art-a dual identity that defined the era's most successful industrial designs. GRADING AND MARKS - Body: Translucent plastic with integrated blue acrylic accent - Mechanism: Guillotine-style blade assembly (maker to be confirmed) - Manufacturing origin: To be confirmed - Finish grade: Original vintage condition - All markings and manufacturer stamps: To be confirmed upon examination DESIGN ANALYSIS The cutter employs a classic guillotine mechanism accessed through two circular finger loops positioned at opposing ends. This ergonomic design, derived from high-end scissors and precision cutters from the early twentieth century, provides stable grip and controlled blade action. The translucent housing allows visibility of the internal blade assembly, a design choice that celebrates mechanical function as aesthetic virtue. Form and engineering merge seamlessly in this example. MATERIALS AND FINISH The body is constructed from translucent acrylic plastic, likely Lucite or similar period material, accented with bold blue elements. The translucent quality represents the period's fascination with revealing internal mechanisms and celebrating new synthetic materials. The finish shows appropriate patina consistent with mid-century production and age. Original luster and clarity to be confirmed upon detailed examination. CONDITION REPORT Overall condition: Good vintage condition. Blade mechanism function to be confirmed. Housing shows expected signs of age consistent with 1950s-1960s production. No major cracks or breaks visible. Minor scratching and patina appropriate to era and use. Complete and original in all observable components. Professional assessment pending detailed handling. DIMENSIONS - Total length: 3 inches - Width: To be confirmed - Depth: To be confirmed - Weight: To be confirmed - Blade span: To be confirmed CLOSING This mid-century modernist cigar cutter ships directly from the Faridunhill archive with full museum documentation and condition assessment. Professional sanitation and worldwide shipping available. A remarkable document of post-war design optimism and industrial craftsmanship. SKU: SKU-286