Item Description
These blades have cropped up on B&B from time to time, and have been discussed here. In assessing them, I should defer to the judgment of those who have been using these blades for longer than I have (or will), so read this review with the caveat that I have only used this blade three times: twice in a 1949 Super Speed, once in a Merkur Progress.
Please also note that the picture is a stock photo; the packs I have are slightly less green and do not come with two free blades.
The place of manufacture is - as with the "Swedish" Gillettes - uncertain: What must be a newer pack gives Procter & Gamble addresses in Weybridge (UK) and Geneva (Switz.), while the older ones list the Gillette companies in Brussels, Esbo, Copenhagen, Milan, Oslo, Rijswijk, Stockholm...
Price: Around 3 Euros a pack, I think – though I didn't buy them myself. In any case, cheaper than the "Super Platinum" version. Availability is a problem. Mine come from the Galeries Lafayette department store in Strasbourg, you can also get them online, but only – as far as I can tell – from France.
Quality: This is one for the metallurgists: I have heard it said that these are, essentially, Swedish G's minus the platinum coating. Quality seems pretty good to me, though I'm not in a position to gauge whether it's consistently so.
Sharpness: Pretty sharp. They cut through stubble like nothing (with the possible exception of the mighty Feather).
Longevity: Have used this only three times, but it doesn't seem to have changed much in that time. Could probabably deliver more, but right now, I'll not try that, because...
Smoothness: The smoothness of the shave does not, to my mind, quite balance the sharpness: Every use gave me BBS in the easier places, but not in the difficult ones where I feared to tread (sorry, dodgy metaphor). I also got some nicks in places where I haven't had nicks for a while. Not a gentle or forgiving blade, to my mind.
Packaging: Dispenser, as with the Swedes. Smelly petroleum-based coating rather than individual wrappers. Fiddly cardboard outer packaging. Still, one point for the pleasure of using the dispenser with my Super Speed – catching the blade in the notch – and another for the capacious used blade safe.
Overall: If you like the Swedes, you'll love these. I don't much like the Swedes, but like these better. Still, I don't think I'll be using these regularly.
Please also note that the picture is a stock photo; the packs I have are slightly less green and do not come with two free blades.
The place of manufacture is - as with the "Swedish" Gillettes - uncertain: What must be a newer pack gives Procter & Gamble addresses in Weybridge (UK) and Geneva (Switz.), while the older ones list the Gillette companies in Brussels, Esbo, Copenhagen, Milan, Oslo, Rijswijk, Stockholm...
Price: Around 3 Euros a pack, I think – though I didn't buy them myself. In any case, cheaper than the "Super Platinum" version. Availability is a problem. Mine come from the Galeries Lafayette department store in Strasbourg, you can also get them online, but only – as far as I can tell – from France.
Quality: This is one for the metallurgists: I have heard it said that these are, essentially, Swedish G's minus the platinum coating. Quality seems pretty good to me, though I'm not in a position to gauge whether it's consistently so.
Sharpness: Pretty sharp. They cut through stubble like nothing (with the possible exception of the mighty Feather).
Longevity: Have used this only three times, but it doesn't seem to have changed much in that time. Could probabably deliver more, but right now, I'll not try that, because...
Smoothness: The smoothness of the shave does not, to my mind, quite balance the sharpness: Every use gave me BBS in the easier places, but not in the difficult ones where I feared to tread (sorry, dodgy metaphor). I also got some nicks in places where I haven't had nicks for a while. Not a gentle or forgiving blade, to my mind.
Packaging: Dispenser, as with the Swedes. Smelly petroleum-based coating rather than individual wrappers. Fiddly cardboard outer packaging. Still, one point for the pleasure of using the dispenser with my Super Speed – catching the blade in the notch – and another for the capacious used blade safe.
Overall: If you like the Swedes, you'll love these. I don't much like the Swedes, but like these better. Still, I don't think I'll be using these regularly.
