British Wilkinson New Stainless Blades - 1969

[Storch4]

When Energizer Holdings bought Wilkinson and Schick and Personna now, they started making the blades in Deutscheland. Would not be surprised if the move their Verona plant there.

 

[Storch4]

Sorry for the palaver but these came later with the black print on the wrapper. I have a few left from the 70s and they have a white wrapper. They may be 60s vintage but they are scalpel sharp and smooth as glass. Enjoy those shaves!

 

[mjclark]

They look like the blades I sold by the case. These were the best blades you could buy back in the day. My Dad swore by those English Wilks. I used them too for years until I was brainwashed in to Atra carts. Those Wilks outsold Gillette and Schick as well as Personna two to one easily. I have a few Deutsche made ones and will give them a whirl after I use a Nacet I loaded today.

Thank you so much for this information - it’s real gold!
So these really are the best of the best then?
I’ve used Personna 74s and Spoilers and I’ve got some Schick Plus Platinum and European Gillette Platinum Plus queued up too.
But everything seems to suggest that these ‘70s British Wilkinsons rule them all...

 

[Storch4]

I have to say yes just based on what I sold and anecdotal memories from Dad and personally. I remember them shaving away my wire stub with ease and that was in a black handle SS and a Tech. The Tech with those old blades brought me back to DE shaving again after I found it in a box in my basement.

 

[mjclark]

So a bit of a breakthrough here:

I unboxed the XCN Chromium Sword Master blades which were packaged and marketed in the US.
And they are identical to the Super Sword Edge blades which were packaged and marketed in Britain.

British market blades on the left, US market blades on the right -

 

[Goatywoaty]

Very interesting mjclark! Thanks for posting the pics! I started another thread just here regarding marketing:

Wilkinson Sword Chromium/Light Brigade - Was this just marketing for the US Market?

I haven't seen any Light Brigades or XCN Chromium etc for sale in the UK which aroused my suspicions that the different names were just marketing for different countries. However one chap has posted in there that he has seen LB/Chromium packaging with UK currency on it...so maybe that theory was wrong about the marketing, but certainly your blades look the same!

I guess the real test would be to see if those two shave the same! Have you tried them? If so, how were they?

 

[mjclark]

Very interesting mjclark! Thanks for posting the pics! I started another thread just here regarding marketing:

Wilkinson Sword Chromium/Light Brigade - Was this just marketing for the US Market?

I haven't seen any Light Brigades or XCN Chromium etc for sale in the UK which aroused my suspicions that the different names were just marketing for different countries. However one chap has posted in there that he has seen LB/Chromium packaging with UK currency on it...so maybe that theory was wrong about the marketing, but certainly your blades look the same!

I guess the real test would be to see if those two shave the same! Have you tried them? If so, how were they?

Brilliant! I’m currently still shaving with the 1970 New Wilkinson and about to compare it to a 1980’s British Wilkinson.
If we can find for sure the UK marketed equivalent of the LBs then that will be a happy day indeed!!

 

[mjclark]

So for comparison I just shaved with a 1980’s British Wilkinson in this fantastically aggressive Swedish Matador DeLuxe:

This blade doesn’t feel quite as smooth as the New Wilkinson from 1970 so I feel comfortable that they’re not the same blade, but it is equally incredibly sharp.
So now it’s a question of how many shaves can be had from each one...

 

[jmudrick]

Gotta get me a Matador...

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[mjclark]

Gotta get me a Matador...

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

Yes I’m surprised to say it’s a phenomenal shaver!
The second shave with the 1981 British Wilkinson and after the first pass the blade totally settled in and smoothed out.
Now it’s as smooth as the 1970 New Wilkinson and ridiculously ridiculously sharp.

Combined the amazing Matador De Luxe this was an all time great shave:

@Mouser I’m starting to see why you exclusively use awesome vintage blades!

 

[mjclark]

Comparing the 1970 New Wilkinson and the 1980 Wilkinson blades, both on their 6th shave, they are both equally fantastically sharp still but the New from 1970 is noticeably smoother.
How many shaves can these blades go for?

Also based on the discussion in this thread:

Wilkinson Sword Chromium/Light Brigade - Was this just marketing for the US Market?
these New Wilkinsons from 1970 look like very good candidates to be the UK equivalent of the US market Light Brigades.
Hmmm....

 

[Matt O]

There is an interesting thread on a different forum, and the OP posted this regarding the NEW blades produced circa 1969/1970...he believes that they are the UK equivalent of the Light Brigade blades that were sold in the US market. It’s a pretty neat piece of shavecana, even if it is just in the digital form.

Vr

Matt

 

[Matt O]

Gents,

I used one of the Wilkinson NEW blades today from 1969/1970, and it felt exactly like the initial shave I get from a fresh Wilkinson Light Brigade...same legendary sharpness...same legendary smoothness!

I am now going to shave every other day with this blade until it’s been killed, in order to see if the blade evolves as a Light Brigade evolves.

Vr

Matt

 

[Matt O]

Gents,

I just completed the 3rd shave with the Wilkinson “NEW” blade from 1969/1970. It was a sublime shave, and it is right there with the vintage Wilkinson Light Brigades and vintage Wilkinson London Bridge blades. It’s ultra sharp and ultra smooth thus far.

Fingers crossed for the next 12 shaves!

Vr

Matt

 

[Dalejr]

100 Packs of 5 sold recently on Ebay in a dispenser form. Don't know how I missed them in my usual daily searches would have loved to buy a pack or two to compare, congrats to those who did get them I guess.

 

[Matt O]

100 Packs of 5 sold recently on Ebay in a dispenser form. Don't know how I missed them in my usual daily searches would have loved to buy a pack or two to compare, congrats to those who did get them I guess.

Dale,

I purchased a tremendous amount of these over the last two weeks based off of a recommendation, and a guess.

So far based off of the research and the initial four uses, I suspect these are a match for the vintage Light Brigades and vintage London Bridge blades. I hold the LBs in the highest esteem.

They start off smooth, but they get smoother through shaves 4-5, and then stay that way for the next 15+ shaves! So far, the “NEW” blade has gotten smoother and smoother like the LBs do...if the “NEW” blade continues and goes the distance, I will consider it to have the highest pedigree.

I will report back so you can make a more informed decision. It will take a couple weeks to see how it goes.

Vr

Matt

 

[Matt O]

I am 16 shaves in on my first vintage Wilkinson “New” blade, and it is showing zero signs of slowing down.

The shaves have been nothing short of superb, and I believe these are the same quality as the Wilkinson Light Brigades, and the vintage Wilkinson London Bridge blades.

Vr

Matt

 

[BradWorld]

I am 16 shaves in on my first vintage Wilkinson “New” blade, and it is showing zero signs of slowing down.

The shaves have been nothing short of superb, and I believe these are the same quality as the Wilkinson Light Brigades, and the vintage Wilkinson London Bridge blades.

Vr

Matt

Do you think the vintage English London Bridge blades are the same as the Light Brigades? I have heard it stated both yes and no. You seem to have experience with all three types now. Appreciate the opinion.

 

[Matt O]

Do you think the vintage English London Bridge blades are the same as the Light Brigades? I have heard it stated both yes and no. You seem to have experience with all three types now. Appreciate the opinion.

I am absolutely convince the “New” blades are the same as the Light Brigade blades. The London Bridge i do not think are the same, but they are close…I think I like them a little bit better.

 

[BradWorld]

I am absolutely convince the “New” blades are the same as the Light Brigade blades. The London Bridge i do not think are the same, but they are close…I think I like them a little bit better.

Cool. Thanks Matt. I have never tried a Light Brigade. I am not willing to spend $5 a blade for those. And i guess I missed the boat when they were less expensive. Someone told me the Brit London Bridge blades were the same, so I found a full sleeve for around a buck a blade, and figured why not. They are really good blades. I may pick up another full sleeve just for yucks.

Congrats on the massive haul of "New" blades. You hit the jackpot there.