1971 Wilkinson Sword challenge commercial

[AnimalCatcher]

I thought it would be a fun idea to give this challenge a shot, so I picked up five blades of each and went at it. I usually throw blades away after 3 uses, rarely going for 4. Having never used either one of these blades, my idea was to shave with both at least 4 times to see how they hold up.

For hardware I used a Titanium Timeless .95 OC and a Fine lather bowl. For the soap, it was four shaves each with Musgo Real Oakmoss and four each with Captain Fawcett's shaving cream. That Captain Fawcett's shaving cream has such a wonderful piney scent to it. Great stuff!

First up was the Gillette Platinum-Plus. This blade is very smooth and quite sharp. I could feel just the teeniest bit of bite from the blade on the first shave, but the blade completely mellowed for every shave after the first. There didn't seem to be any drop-off in quality regarding the fourth shave, so I pressed on to find out how much life the blade had left in it. There didn't seem to be any drop in quality with shave number eight either, but I was eager to try the Wilkinson Sword, so I discarded the Gillette blade at this point.

With the first stroke of the Wilkinson Sword, I knew something was different about this blade. Just for a moment, I thought I had forgotten to put a blade in the razor, but no, there really was a blade in it. It's just that it was cutting so efficiently, it was hard to tell. Wow! Since I used the Gillette blade eight times, I did the same for the Wilkinson Sword and I got eight of the best shaves that I have ever gotten in my life.

In conclusion: The Gillette Platinum-Plus blade is a top-of-the-line, high quality razor blade which, for me, out classes most of the blades being sold today. It's smooth, sharp and seems to have incredible longevity. As for the Wilkinson Sword blade.... it is the smoothest and one of the sharpest razor blades that I have ever used, period, and I sure wish they were still being manufactured today.

 

[PRobots]

Awesome post, Thanks for sharing.

 

[Bosh Hog]

Great post. Thanks

 

[BigJ]

I thought it would be a fun idea to give this challenge a shot, so I picked up five blades of each and went at it. I usually throw blades away after 3 uses, rarely going for 4. Having never used either one of these blades, my idea was to shave with both at least 4 times to see how they hold up.

For hardware I used a Titanium Timeless .95 OC and a Fine lather bowl. For the soap, it was four shaves each with Musgo Real Oakmoss and four each with Captain Fawcett's shaving cream. That Captain Fawcett's shaving cream has such a wonderful piney scent to it. Great stuff!

First up was the Gillette Platinum-Plus. This blade is very smooth and quite sharp. I could feel just the teeniest bit of bite from the blade on the first shave, but the blade completely mellowed for every shave after the first. There didn't seem to be any drop-off in quality regarding the fourth shave, so I pressed on to find out how much life the blade had left in it. There didn't seem to be any drop in quality with shave number eight either, but I was eager to try the Wilkinson Sword, so I discarded the Gillette blade at this point.

With the first stroke of the Wilkinson Sword, I knew something was different about this blade. Just for a moment, I thought I had forgotten to put a blade in the razor, but no, there really was a blade in it. It's just that it was cutting so efficiently, it was hard to tell. Wow! Since I used the Gillette blade eight times, I did the same for the Wilkinson Sword and I got eight of the best shaves that I have ever gotten in my life.

In conclusion: The Gillette Platinum-Plus blade is a top-of-the-line, high quality razor blade which, for me, out classes most of the blades being sold today. It's smooth, sharp and seems to have incredible longevity. As for the Wilkinson Sword blade.... it is the smoothest and one of the sharpest razor blades that I have ever used, period, and I sure wish they were still being manufactured today.View attachment 1435970View attachment 1435971View attachment 1435972

Great review!! Wish they still made those vintage Wilkies!!

 

[APBinNCA]

Well, thanks for refilling my well of confirmation bias this morning!

Like a few people on here, I prefer the earlier Spoilers and don't like the asking price for these Gillettes. It's obviously due to the name. The Spoilers only last me 3-4 shaves so they aren't a great value unless you happen to have some already...

Now the Wilkinson Swords, those are my main blade. And I mean the ones from 1969-1985 approximately. I wish I could have gotten some Personna 74s before the price went crazy to compare. They are supposed to last even longer! But possibly be less smooth.

 

[AnimalCatcher]

Thank you for the kind words, gentlemen. It was a lot of fun reviewing both vintage blades.

It struck me how costly they were 'back in the day'. With inflation, that one dollar for five blades circa 1971 turns into seven dollars in 2022.

@APBinNCA - I actually just picked up a package of vintage Gillette Spoilers and I'm looking forward to trying them out. Most of the other vintage blades that I've used other than the two above were made of carbon steel, and those were so bad I was unable to complete the shaves due to irritation. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that these blades were nothing like that at all.

 

[blantyre]

I typically get 25-30 two pass shaves out of a Wilkinson Light Brigade. That, and the Personna P74 are in a league of their own in terms of shave quality and blade life. I usually toss them at 30 or so shaves but in some cases they still have more left. Clearly not a sustainable business model - that's likely why no modern blade approaches these. Even 10 shaves would be well past the peak for a Feather or Super Iridium.

Since they are such legends and in short supply, LBs and P74s currently fetch $3-5 per blade on the rare occasions that they are offered at all. Spoilers are less expensive and might last for 15 shaves. Even with long blade life, the vintage blades don't represent a competitive per shave cost. Almost any modern blade will be less expensive to use. Still they are the best IMO and worth the cost.