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Gillette Heritage Initial Review

I have to say I am quite disappointed by Gillette. Selling a box basically. And for $35. Come on! It is not a Gillette Head. They didn't even make a proper copy of the NEW handle. :angry:
 
been using my new Gillette Heritage now for over a month straight.......I'm a fan and I think it's a great buy! as mentioned the heads and handles are different. I think it's great that Gillette got back into the game, but whatever means necessary. Maybe this will be the avenue in which they get into other DE products.
 
Just ordered my Heritage today. I've been away from B&B so long that this slipped under my radar so I'm just now noticing it. All the reviews of the Heritage indicate the case and razor are very well made with attention to detail (such as the retro-themed instruction card), faux leather case and sturdy liner. I love the classic diamond Gillette logo on the case too. The case reminds me of their 1920's Milord cases. I am very excited to get my Heritage in the mail as soon as they are back in stock at Amazon (March 14, they tell me). A lot of folks are complaining but I'm excited about this product and think it's a sign of better things to come. After all, if P&G is thinking about getting back into the DE game they have to start someplace!

On first hearing about it, I expected the Gillette Heritage to be a cheap, half-assed attempt to make money off the resurgent DE crowd. And it does seem that way on the surface, as a lot of hard-core Gillette fans are whining about the non-Gilletty-ness of the razor itself. But think about it -- for a company that doesn't even make DE razors anymore and simply doesn't have the tooling to make DE razors anymore (at least not all metal ones), they went to a lot of effort to produce a quality razor set! They had to get the razor head from somewhere and Muhle is a highly respected company that also has the production facilities to meet demand. I don't fault them for that choice, at least initially. Where they got the handles from is a mystery to me but they sure appear to be well made.

I am under no illusion to think that P&G/Gillette cares about shaving nostalgia -- they simply want to re-capture lost market share. This first offering seems to be P&G dipping their toes into the water to see how well Gillette branded DE products will sell in this niche market. I hope this one sells well as it will only lead to more diversity in the DE market. Heck, P&G may eventually ask themselves "who better to market DE razors than the company that started it all"! I see no conflict at all with P&G selling both carts and DE razors. But the DE market is not, nor will it ever will be, large enough to justify the cost of them building new fabrication facilities so they will have no choice to outsource the parts, which is fine by me as long as they use quality parts, and that certainly appears to be what they've done with the Heritage. I keep wondering, though, where they sourced the US-made handles from!

I bet this isn't the last "throw-back" product we see from P&G/Gillette. One thing is certain, you can bet that P&G employees are reading this forum. I, for one, appreciate their efforts and look forward to more!
 

BradWorld

Dances with Wolfs
I still dig mine. If you don’t t think it’s for you, then don’t buy it. I am not kidding myself into thinking it’s a true reissue, or new Gillette resurrection. But it’s a neat razor with a tie to Gillette, and a nice case. I’ve bought much worse razors for more money too.
 
Ordered a Heritage on Feb 9 as a lark. I'm still waiting. If it comes next week, fine. If not, I don't really care. I have plenty of other DE's in my basement box. This past month, I got reacquainted with my 34G after over a year of using another, and I'm wondering whatever possessed me to send that 34 to the basement in the first place and why I need a Heritage.
 
Just ordered my Heritage today. I've been away from B&B so long that this slipped under my radar so I'm just now noticing it. All the reviews of the Heritage indicate the case and razor are very well made with attention to detail (such as the retro-themed instruction card), faux leather case and sturdy liner. I love the classic diamond Gillette logo on the case too. The case reminds me of their 1920's Milord cases. I am very excited to get my Heritage in the mail as soon as they are back in stock at Amazon (March 14, they tell me). A lot of folks are complaining but I'm excited about this product and think it's a sign of better things to come. After all, if P&G is thinking about getting back into the DE game they have to start someplace!

I ordered one on February 14th after my wife gave me one of those Rick from Pawn Stars razors and a super cheap razor with a barber pole painted handle, both of which she found on Amazon. They're still telling me March 17th hopefully I get bumped up a few days. Below are the culprits that inspired my purchase. In searching for a picture of the barber pole razor I found that it's priced at $16 - she got ripped off for sure on this one. The doors aren't aligned, the blade doesn't sit straight, and you'd have to pay me to put it to my face.

91RZ1sxR6fL._SL1500_.jpg 51naG0neroL._SY741_.jpg
 
I have been using mine since I got it now in December, I haven't put it down, my super speed now collects dust. Maybe next week I'll go back to the super speed, but this heritage really is a nice daily driver.

Good to know. My order from Amazon, despite the web site saying it's in stock, keeps getting pushed back. Now showing May 3rd as the expected date.
 
I ordered one on February 14th after my wife gave me one of those Rick from Pawn Stars razors and a super cheap razor with a barber pole painted handle, both of which she found on Amazon. They're still telling me March 17th hopefully I get bumped up a few days. Below are the culprits that inspired my purchase. In searching for a picture of the barber pole razor I found that it's priced at $16 - she got ripped off for sure on this one. The doors aren't aligned, the blade doesn't sit straight, and you'd have to pay me to put it to my face.

View attachment 1071066 View attachment 1071067
The 'Pawn Stars' "VanDerWeishiPawnStar" is a solid razor made by WeiShi. It'll be a milder shave than a Gillette Tech or Clone, but will give you a close and irritation-free multiple pass shave with about any mid-aggressive blade. Astra SP's (or any popular blade) will give you a better shave than whatever blades come in the package.
Have your wife do the Amazon Return. After all $16 can buy a 100 pack of most blades, plus $ left over for something else. Plus, it annoys the ¢rap outta Amazon when their sellers peddle junk & get called on it.
 
have you looked at getting a handle from one of the other MFG's out there? there are a few companies out there doing their own "build your own razor combo" where alot of that stuff is mix and match
 

Rosseforp

I think this fits, Gents
Ah was thinking about maybe still ordering one tho I have a merkur 38c hd long kinda wanted a shorter handle and three peice
The Heritage is a nice razor, I find using a shim very beneficial. The handle is almost the same length as my Merkur 15C three piece razor.
 

Rosseforp

I think this fits, Gents
The gap isn't that big?
I measured the gap on my Heritage at .025" without a shim.
With a GSB used as a shim the gap is at . 028".

The reason for using a shim isn't to increase the gap, the blade is poorly supported underneath, and the shim increases rigidity. Now the blade flexes less and is more efficient. It is most apparent when shaving ATG.
20200413_190511[1].jpg
The baseplate at the top is a Heritage, the blade is only supported by the two rails in the center.
The baseplate on the bottom is from a Gillette New Short Comb. The blade is fully supported, and this is the most rigid of all the New style razors. It has a blade gap of .023".

For a shim, I used a GSB with the edges filed down. Some people snip the edge off with scissors, but that leaves burrs that need to be filed or stoned off anyway. I have a small vise and use a fine file and only take off .010" on each side.
20200413_190336[1].jpg

I hope this helps!
 
I measured the gap on my Heritage at .025" without a shim.
With a GSB used as a shim the gap is at . 028".

The reason for using a shim isn't to increase the gap, the blade is poorly supported underneath, and the shim increases rigidity. Now the blade flexes less and is more efficient. It is most apparent when shaving ATG.
View attachment 1086527
The baseplate at the top is a Heritage, the blade is only supported by the two rails in the center.
The baseplate on the bottom is from a Gillette New Short Comb. The blade is fully supported, and this is the most rigid of all the New style razors. It has a blade gap of .023".

For a shim, I used a GSB with the edges filed down. Some people snip the edge off with scissors, but that leaves burrs that need to be filed or stoned off anyway. I have a small vise and use a fine file and only take off .010" on each side.
View attachment 1086526

I hope this helps!
Yeah thank you tempted now to get one still since my j4 silm I won fell through in eBay bank transaction didnt work due to bank and PayPal
 

Rosseforp

I think this fits, Gents
Yeah thank you tempted now to get one still since my j4 silm I won fell through in eBay bank transaction didnt work due to bank and PayPal
The Heritage is essentially a MÜHLE, with a different handle. I can get a very comfortable shave with mine, although it will never unseat my Fatip' razors as my favorites.....
 
Waited over a month to get the Heritage, used it 3x and went back to my 34G. It's no knock to the Heritage. It seems like a great razor but some old folks, like me, take time to embrace change. Too many other changes in the past 2 months and I'm used to the thicker handle of my 10 yo 34. At some point the Heritage will come out and get tested.

On the plus side, the Platinum blades that came with the Heritage work better in the 34 than my old favorite blades and I've ordered more.
 
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