It would seem likely that if quality remains unchanged, moving manufacturing from Russia to India might help the brand from a political appearances perspective.
Is Gillette silver blue going to be continued somewhere else? Any information?
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This sort of thing happens -- along with the "stock up now" gut reaction.
I lost count of how many times I went through this.
I have loads of shaving gear I will likely never finish using as a result of this kind of panic hoarding.
The bottom line fact remains, favourites change ...!!
Don't bother stocking up..!
It was great while it lasted (GSB in this case), but you will find something that works just as well, if not better.
I lost count of how many times I went through this.
I have loads of shaving gear I will likely never finish using as a result of this kind of panic hoarding.
The bottom line fact remains, favourites change ...!!
Don't bother stocking up..!
It was great while it lasted (GSB in this case), but you will find something that works just as well, if not better.
Wise words. In my case I would not call it panic hoarding. Just regular old hoarding. When I find something I really like, as in blades, soaps, aftershaves, etc…. I tend to stock up. Then something better comes along. And I end up with a sizable stash of stuff I rarely use. I have ceased that behavior for the most part, and have been liquidating.
I cannot comment on the specific blades that are being questioned here which have moved country of origin, as I either have not tried the new variant yet, or don’t like them (GSB). But I do love the Russian KCG and Astra SP. I currently bought a box of China KCG and have them queued up for a test run. So we will see soon.
But I have a few Chinese and Indian blades now that I really like. So I have no issue with those brands moving if they maintain quality. In particular, I have really enjoyed the Chinese London Bridge blades for the last couple of years. In my stable of high end modern blades, and highly revered vintage blades, the Chinese London Bridge ranks very high in my rotation.
That's sort of my position too on those specific blades. Both the GSB and Nacet. Many people love them, I don't hate them, but they don't do anything special for me.
My big "Russian Love" is the Gillette Rubie, which is now gone from markets outside of Russia (as far as I can tell). I managed to hoard an extra hundred before it was too late. Will buy me some time to wean off them and fall in love with some other blade ...
Never used a Rubie, but I read an old post today where a user compared the Dorco Prime to the Rapira Platinum...
In brief, to me Rubies are sharp, smooth, long lasting. Perhaps the blade I know that most resembles it is the Personna Med Prep, but it costs more than double of what I pay for Rubies.
Lots of ungrounded speculation in this thread, and some of it is misinformation.
Like that thing about P&G not being the majority owner of the plant. Not true. It is now owned by P&G.
The PPI plant keeps manufacturing blades. Some of the models have been moved to India and China.
Astra SS and Astra SP - India
King C. Gillette and light blue Gillette Platinum to Gillette Shanghai.
Those are the blades that are intended for the Western countries. Means they are a product for Western Europe or North America. That is because of the sanctions in the West. Blades that are intended for Asia or Africa are not being moved. Those are:
7 o'clock Sharpedge, 7 o'clock Super Stainless, Perma-Sharp, Iridium -Super, Minora Stainless and Nacet Stainless.
And now to answer the question in the title of the thread.
Silver Blue and the Dark blue Platinums are currently 'phantom' blades. By 'phantom' I mean that unlike 20 years ago they don't have a designated country for sales now. It seems that Gillette is not going to move them, just like those models for Asia and Africa.
Like that thing about P&G not being the majority owner of the plant. Not true. It is now owned by P&G.
The PPI plant keeps manufacturing blades. Some of the models have been moved to India and China.
Astra SS and Astra SP - India
King C. Gillette and light blue Gillette Platinum to Gillette Shanghai.
Those are the blades that are intended for the Western countries. Means they are a product for Western Europe or North America. That is because of the sanctions in the West. Blades that are intended for Asia or Africa are not being moved. Those are:
7 o'clock Sharpedge, 7 o'clock Super Stainless, Perma-Sharp, Iridium -Super, Minora Stainless and Nacet Stainless.
And now to answer the question in the title of the thread.
Silver Blue and the Dark blue Platinums are currently 'phantom' blades. By 'phantom' I mean that unlike 20 years ago they don't have a designated country for sales now. It seems that Gillette is not going to move them, just like those models for Asia and Africa.
Thanks for this great information. So do you believe the blades intended for Asia/Africa like Nacet, & 7 O’ Clock Sharpedge will still be available to order somewhere a year or two from now?
I imagine if they remain available then the GSBs might also have a chance of sticking around?
I’ve been stocking up on a lot of Russian blades since they are my favorites. Especially the Rubie, Nacet, & GSB so it would be great if they remain available in the future. I know the Rubies are now gone. A shame they weren’t more popular since it’s probably my favorite blade.
One last thing, I ordered some GSBs from 2 different vendors on the bay to see what showed up and one of the vendors had the same newer packaging that’s been the standard GSB packaging since 2021 or whenever the change happened from double wrapper to single wrapper. They were dated 12/20/18.
The other order surprised me because the packaging was different. They were dated 02/24/22. The boxes look the same but the blade wrapper has changed to look more like the Nacet with “Gillette Silver Blue” stamped all over the wrapper. And the inking on the blade itself doesn’t look quite as dark.
My last shave I did one side of my face with the 2018 blade and the other half with 2022 blade and they both seemed the same. Usually I’m pretty good at feeling differences in blades and can even tell a big difference from different batches/dates at times but these seem to be the same blade to me. Both ordered from the top 2 sellers on the bay.
I couldn’t find any mention of this change so if it’s of interest I can try to post photos on a new thread.
The other order surprised me because the packaging was different. They were dated 02/24/22. The boxes look the same but the blade wrapper has changed to look more like the Nacet with “Gillette Silver Blue” stamped all over the wrapper. And the inking on the blade itself doesn’t look quite as dark.
My last shave I did one side of my face with the 2018 blade and the other half with 2022 blade and they both seemed the same. Usually I’m pretty good at feeling differences in blades and can even tell a big difference from different batches/dates at times but these seem to be the same blade to me. Both ordered from the top 2 sellers on the bay.
I couldn’t find any mention of this change so if it’s of interest I can try to post photos on a new thread.
It doesn't matter what I believe. I am not a clairvoyant. I just stated what facts lead me to conclude about the state of the models.
The Rubies are not gone. It is just that they no longer can be bought in the West. They are still manufactured and sold in Russia. Mid-2023 batches are seen on a Russian marketplace site. They are a blade for Russia and Belarus. Formerly for Ukraine too.
It just seemed like your best guess would be better then my own or most other members since your knowledge on the subject far outweighs most. I didn’t imagine you played with crystal balls or anything.
I remember hearing Rubies were still being made but I haven’t found a single source that ships to the U.S. Maybe some overseas sites would be willing if you knew where to look. If the Nacets & GSBs stay in production but become unavailable like the Rubies you’d think someone would eventually become a middleman for reselling purposes. I guess the Rubies just weren’t popular enough but the Nacets & GSBs might be.
Since they’re cheap enough now I’m just stocking up for the future just in case they aren’t available. The Russian blades are by far my favorites.
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