Same.They were the first DE blade I ever used. I can still remember that shave as well.
*CONFIRMED* King C Gillette blades are *NOT* rebranded Platinums!
- Thread starter Unidentified_Snail
- Start date
I have been reading this thread with interest since the first post several weeks ago. I also find the KCG blade to be a most excellent blade. There is an almost intangible feeling of sharpness and smoothness when I shave with one. It’s hard to explain. Hard to quantify.
I took a big interest in this subject when Polsilver blades started becoming scarce, and people started saying Wizamet was the exact same blade. Likewise when Astra SP started using laser engraved labels on the blade, and peeps started saying they were different than the ink-printed older ones. Then the whole light blue, dark blue Platinum thing. These things make for interesting debates.
I follow all of the microscope blade photo threads. I have a usb microscope as well. I am not a believer that these are decisive for anything other than looking a edge smoothness. I truly believe that if you take a blade from two years ago, and compare it under a microscope to the exact same blade brand and model from 6 years ago, for example, the microscopic pics will differ. The production line machinery wears, gets maintained, gets replaced, etc. and this will have an impact on the microscopic details we see in those photos. It was indicated in one of these threads that the Polsilver and the Wizamet were NOT the same blade in different packaging due to microscopic differences in the blade edges. I still believe they are the same blade despite this for the reasons I mention above. I have lots of each blade, and shave with them often. And I perceive them to be the same blade. And the correspondence with various Gillette associated persons indicates that they are the same blade. All this despite microscopic images that show the edges to appear differently.
I personally never liked the older Platinum blades in the dark blue and white boxes. Never. Never liked GSB either… and they are packaged in a tuck with very similar artwork. But I love the newer light blue Platinums. They are a top blade in several of my A-list razors. I have one loaded into my Wolfman right now prepping for todays shave as I write this. Is this in my head? Maybe. I recently picked up a 100 pack of the older dark blue Plats to do a future comparison. But I like what I like. And I don’t what I don’t. Logic and science be damned.
This brings me to the KCG. I would never arbitrarily buy a blade that is so expensive. Even a Kai or a Feather is a fraction of the cost of a KCG. But I travel a lot, and took a bladeless DE on a carry-on trip early last year. So I grabbed a pack of KCGs at the local pharmacy. Man those are great blades! Silky smooth, nice and sharp, and long lasting. I am 5 blades in. All while traveling. They live in my travel kit. And they are great. I do think if they are not the same blade as the new light blue platinums, they are really close. But the plats don’t last as long. And they might not be as smooth. So the jury is still out. But they are definitely close cousins at the very least!
I took a big interest in this subject when Polsilver blades started becoming scarce, and people started saying Wizamet was the exact same blade. Likewise when Astra SP started using laser engraved labels on the blade, and peeps started saying they were different than the ink-printed older ones. Then the whole light blue, dark blue Platinum thing. These things make for interesting debates.
I follow all of the microscope blade photo threads. I have a usb microscope as well. I am not a believer that these are decisive for anything other than looking a edge smoothness. I truly believe that if you take a blade from two years ago, and compare it under a microscope to the exact same blade brand and model from 6 years ago, for example, the microscopic pics will differ. The production line machinery wears, gets maintained, gets replaced, etc. and this will have an impact on the microscopic details we see in those photos. It was indicated in one of these threads that the Polsilver and the Wizamet were NOT the same blade in different packaging due to microscopic differences in the blade edges. I still believe they are the same blade despite this for the reasons I mention above. I have lots of each blade, and shave with them often. And I perceive them to be the same blade. And the correspondence with various Gillette associated persons indicates that they are the same blade. All this despite microscopic images that show the edges to appear differently.
I personally never liked the older Platinum blades in the dark blue and white boxes. Never. Never liked GSB either… and they are packaged in a tuck with very similar artwork. But I love the newer light blue Platinums. They are a top blade in several of my A-list razors. I have one loaded into my Wolfman right now prepping for todays shave as I write this. Is this in my head? Maybe. I recently picked up a 100 pack of the older dark blue Plats to do a future comparison. But I like what I like. And I don’t what I don’t. Logic and science be damned.
This brings me to the KCG. I would never arbitrarily buy a blade that is so expensive. Even a Kai or a Feather is a fraction of the cost of a KCG. But I travel a lot, and took a bladeless DE on a carry-on trip early last year. So I grabbed a pack of KCGs at the local pharmacy. Man those are great blades! Silky smooth, nice and sharp, and long lasting. I am 5 blades in. All while traveling. They live in my travel kit. And they are great. I do think if they are not the same blade as the new light blue platinums, they are really close. But the plats don’t last as long. And they might not be as smooth. So the jury is still out. But they are definitely close cousins at the very least!
First off, I find passionate discussions like these interesting. I haven't used a sharpened oyster shell or piece of flint so I can't speak comprehensively, but I've used (in order) a disposable, cartridge, DE, SE and lastly a Straight Razor. My preference/goal when honing and using a SR is a sharp, comfortable, consistent edge that after honing and stropping, provides a good shave. When the shaves suffer, the edge gets refreshed to again provide a consistent shave. At its core, the ideal is to find a DE/SE blade that consistently gives you the best shave, and more shaves for the best value, but I'll use anything as long as it's sharp and it shaves.
I've used KCG blades and they remind me of vintage English Wilkinson Sword blades--sharp, smooth and last a good while. KCGs are pricey, but I got them for the same discounted price as the VDH branded blade with 6+ shaves on it chambered in a Tech for stray hair cleanup after a SR shave (the VDH replaced a German Wilkinson Sword, which replaced a vintage Gillette Thin carbon blade, etc.). Whether P&G is lying, or if brand x and y are the same blade just packaged and priced differently, or Gillette is toxic, etc., is all chaff/smoke/mirrors/personal preference/perception/bias -- just find a blade you like and shave with it (if you feel people are going to judge you for it, then don't tell anyone).
Frankly, reading through this helped drown out the "Aaron Rodgers trade news" all day, everyday coming from the office radio...
I've used KCG blades and they remind me of vintage English Wilkinson Sword blades--sharp, smooth and last a good while. KCGs are pricey, but I got them for the same discounted price as the VDH branded blade with 6+ shaves on it chambered in a Tech for stray hair cleanup after a SR shave (the VDH replaced a German Wilkinson Sword, which replaced a vintage Gillette Thin carbon blade, etc.). Whether P&G is lying, or if brand x and y are the same blade just packaged and priced differently, or Gillette is toxic, etc., is all chaff/smoke/mirrors/personal preference/perception/bias -- just find a blade you like and shave with it (if you feel people are going to judge you for it, then don't tell anyone).
Frankly, reading through this helped drown out the "Aaron Rodgers trade news" all day, everyday coming from the office radio...
well, after reading all the hub-bub I went and got a box of KCG's for myself and had a shave with my NEW SC that I use daily. I gotta agree, they are very much a twin to the Platinum or are the same. I'll do some blind side by sides by having the old lady switch it up and see if I can feel a difference.
That said, it was a pleasant shave and I look forward to trying them in my Fatboy, Heritage and RFB 88
That said, it was a pleasant shave and I look forward to trying them in my Fatboy, Heritage and RFB 88
Chandu
I Waxed The Badger.
So I spent much of the last week trying the KCG versus some other blades I have. Each shave was with a brand new blade, so if some wear in and improve that will not be accounted for in my assessment. You may of course use your knowledge of that in reading my one shave assessment.
vs. Wilkonson (German). KCG was the smoother and sharper of the two for me. The Wilkonson was a bit better than the Dovo.
vs. Merkur. The KCG was better by a long ways. I would put the Merkur almost identical to the Dovo
vs. Persona Med Prep. The Med Prep was a nicer shave. Felt smoother for the shave and no difference in closeness. No need to spend more money on KCG blades as the Med Prep is nicer for me ccop
vs. Muhle. This one really surprised me. I preferred the Muhle. I'd say it's as good as the Med Prep. At some point I will run those head to head to decide which I buy going forward
vs. Feather. Very very close. The KCG felt very slightly smoother, but the Feather very slightly more efficient. I'm not sure on this one.
There it is, one shave with a Muhle Rocca, Baum.be Cream and a Muhle Fibre brush. I think for me the blades I will buy more of in the future will be the Med Prep or the Muhle. I have not compared the KCG to the Silver Blue yet. I will note if I see much difference when I do.
Thanks for the assessment! That helps me in trying other stuff for the future. The surprise here for me is the Muhle as, this was when I first started shaving, they were ok for me but again this was very early on so I have not tried them since.
When I tried tried the Merkur I was not a fan, I didn't try them since, this was early on my shaving and see no need to.
The rest, with Personna Med Prep, Wilkinson (German) and Feather do not surprise me.
The Personna Med Prep and Feather I will try, I have them but early on with wet shaving the Feathers were a touch harsh for me so we shall see. I love Kai's as they had they the sharpness without the harshness so we shall see. Right now I am doing a rotation of reusing blades so I usually was a one a done but have been encouraged to reuse blades, which I have been.
Thanks for putting up this assessment, it will help me queue up the next blades to try.
Initially, I tried to use the KCG as my DE blade reference. This was because it is the single premier Gillette DE blade that Gillette offers for sale in the United States.
I am of the opinion that it is a superior quality blade, just not worth the tarrif that Gillette places on it.
My observation is that many popular blades fall within a standard deviation of the KCG.
I find the German William Sword blades similar to your description. I don't find them to be a bad blade. But neither do I find anything particularly special about them. The KCG is definitely the better of the two, exactly as you describe them.
Agree again. Though the Feather blade that I am shaving with this week is exceptionally smooth.
The Rocca is perhaps a best razor to use for your blade evaluation. It is highly efficient but not agressive. It depends less on perfect techniques than a DE89 and shaves close to a R41.
I think you will find both the Lab Blue and Silver blue to be similar in quality and in price. You may find that you don't need to buy the more expensive Med Prep blades.
Both of these are very similar in their shaving characteristics to the KCG. Either might be suitable replacements for 1/4 the price.
Thank you for your research into this matter! I was wondering myself if they were just rebranded Platinum's. It would make logical sense if that was the case. Looks like I need to try some King C Gillette blades.
I haven't used a KCG blade in any of my current top 6 razors. I only have a few... but I'm getting great shaves with Nacet, Personna Comfort Coated, Wizamet and Kai blades..... I just loaded a 7 O'clock black for my next Wolfman shave. I expect those to be excellent as well. I still need to try my Perma-Sharp blades... I have a lot of them based on people who use them here.
I just got some Gillette Nacet blades and they seem pretty equal to the KCG blades in terms of performance & smoothness. Very impressed so far.
All of those are good blades. I have all of them in quantity except for the Kai, which I have yet to try.
The Nacets are a favorite. I can't really tell any difference between them and the Perma-Sharp's.
To me, the Wizamet's are on par with the K.C.G. Maybe the Gillettes are a tad smoother shaving?
The Black's are my favorite. I get the smoothest shaves from them.
Maybe I missed it, but did any vintage blade guys compare the old Platinum Plus to the K.C.G. blades? I'm just wondering if they are the same or similar. High price=higher profit margin, but you have to give some quality at this price and the Plat plus may just be the ticket.
I was having an affair today with another wet shaving forum (lurking, not a member, forum name not revealed here) and I came across a thread that was discussing the possibility that the King C Gillette is a relabeled Astra SP.
Based on my own experience, I feel this is more likely to be untrue than true, but I thought I'd throw it out there to continue this discussion a bit.
Based on my own experience, I feel this is more likely to be untrue than true, but I thought I'd throw it out there to continue this discussion a bit.
I don't think it is an Astra SP. A Gillette Platinum maybe?
What do you think the K.C.G.'s are?
I think the KCGs are Platinums. There was debate in the past over the wax spots. Platinums had the two large blobs along the alignment holes and KCG had the four small dots. I can see how this may cause debate. But Gillette switched back to the four dots recently.
It just so happens I have KCGs and Platinums from similar date codes. Let’s take a look.
Both blades are also laser etched and packaged in the same plain white wax paper.
For me? Same blade. It’s easy to change the laser etching pattern at the end of a production run. That doesn’t require any retooling of machines, only a different computer program. It doesn’t make sense to retool a line, or make a whole new line, for the small US market the KCGs are aimed at.
In contrast, the Astra SPs with similar date codes also have four wax dots, but they have their own printed wax paper and aren’t laser etched.
Astras aren’t the KCGs. That’s too much retooling to make any economic sense.
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I think that this pretty much sums everything up quite nicely. They certainly are not going to spend bucks on a new blade for the extremely limited US market.
Gillette was fine including the Platinums with the Gillette Heritage. I assume there was a reason for that.
It makes perfect sense that they would simply repackage and re-purpose the Platinums for the K.C.G. line.
In reality, the core demographic customer of the K.C.G. razors and products are not the ones vested in the DE shaving community. They are customers who go into a drug store to buy razor blades for $7 a box.
Yup, we are not their target customer. I fully appreciate Gillette producing and distributing a line of DE where one can walk into almost any drugstore and get a pretty kick-*** setup. My co-pilot a few weeks ago left his setup at home and a quick trip to Podunk CVS had him back in business.
While similar in many ways, I personally think they are different blades. For me the Platinums have performed more efficiently and less smooth and the KCG's more smooth and not as close in my side-by-side tests. As always, I could be wrong ... and at the end of the day I'd be happy if with either.
I have pretty much the same experience. The KCG’s are noticeably smoother. I could believe they’re the same blade, though, perhaps just sorted out during manufacturing.
I could certainly be mistaken, but I thought the Gillette Platinum blades that were supposed to be the "same" as the KCG were the Platinums that are most common in Europe. The blades that are currently in the dark blue packaging shown here:
These are supposed to be quite different from the Platinum blades Jay21 showed in Post 115.
These are supposed to be quite different from the Platinum blades Jay21 showed in Post 115.
The ones on your photo are the light blue Platinums (the newer product). The ones in post #115 are the dark blue Platinums.
