Gillette Platinum (Swede), wow!

[awa54]

I had always assumed due to the packaging, the the blue pack St. Petersburg "Platinum" blades were close relatives of the Silver Blue...

But at least for me they're a whole different blade! My first "Swede" is still going strong at a week worth of shaves, which is exceptional, considering that I usually get only 3-4 good shaves out of a DE blade (Personna 74*s excepted). Not to mention that it's among the smoothest blades I've used *and* gives closeness that's right up there with Feathers and 74*s.

I'll keep shaving with this blade until it feels harsh for at least two days in a row, but at this point it seems to be second only to the vintage Personnas in longevity, which is great, since it would be nice to have more than one long-life blade option!

 

[Space_Cadet]

I think I know what blades you're talking about, but just to be sure, can you show us the packaging?

 

[BigJ]

Photo please!! Sounds like a terrific blade!!

 

[awa54]

Another great shave this morning, no sign that this blade is nearing its end...

These are from Bullgoose, but there are other "Platinum" blades available, with different packaging. I have some of the other version on order as well, these have similar color packaging to the "Silver Blue" blades... once these arrive I'll report on their performance compared to the ones I have now.

This is a product shot of the other "Platinum" blade packaging lifted from a seller's auction.

 

[Medivh]

The Platinums on the first picture are widely available in Europe while the Platinums second picture some believe that they were discontinued or maybe exported to other countries. Some even claim that both of these blades shave the same, but others don't agree. I have both of them and it has been a while since I shaved with any of them but from what I remember I don't find them very different from one another. I can't test them at the moment though, because I have at least 5 blades in use and I don't have more magnets to put those two .

 

[ShaverAZ]

I'd get the Silver Blues from a vendor I did business with but just stockpiled several tucks. Reading of how good they were, I tried several and liked them. They were pretty comparable to my Lab Blues. He started sending me some Platinums-they last a few smooth shaves longer - more like my Lab Blues.

 

[mata_66]

Another great shave this morning, no sign that this blade is nearing its end...

These are from Bullgoose, but there are other "Platinum" blades available, with different packaging. I have some of the other version on order as well, these have similar color packaging to the "Silver Blue" blades... once these arrive I'll report on their performance compared to the ones I have now.

View attachment 1176676



This is a product shot of the other "Platinum" blade packaging lifted from a seller's auction.

View attachment 1176678

Two great blades if you ask me. The first package is the new Gillette flagship blade in Europe and sold pretty everywhere in Italy at outrageous prices (around $4 per tuck) retail (supermarkets, groceries etc). Luckily you can buy 10 tucks on Am*zon for under $10.
The Platinums in the second picture have not been discontinued, they are now produced for the Arabian markets. Look closely to the top-right corner of the new packaging:

The two "Platinums" feel different to me, I prefer the new "light blue" Platinums (first picture), they are very smooth and sharp.
A tad smoother than the old ones. Also I can get ten shaves easily from one of the new blades. I used to get 6-7 shaves from the old ones.

 

[awa54]

Now I'm going to have to do a St. Petersburg comparo using my two GC .68s...

old production (more than 5 years ago) Polsilver SI vs. new production Polsilver SI vs. Wizamet SI

and blue pack Gillette Platinum vs. blue/gray/white pack Gillette Platinum

I loaded up a GSB this morning to refresh my memory, it's quite a disappointment compared to the blue pack Platinum, not a bad blade at all, just not up to the standard set by the Plat.

But first I'll find out how many great shaves the blade that started this line of inquiry goes before stumbling. I didn't track it closely enough since I was expecting only 3 or 4 shaves from it, so all I'm certain of is that it's at more than a week +1 now, possibly as many as 10 and still going strong. I honestly think that these may be even better than my beloved vintage Personna Super Platinum Chrome blades (which are P74* Supers without the 74* branding according to my face and the number of shaves they give), though I'll be astounded if the Gillette Platinum can keep that level of performance up for a month like the SPCs routinely do.

 

[awa54]

Interestingly this morning marks the first degradation in the shave from the Plat; in the same way that the P74*s slowly fade without getting harsh, this blade feels a bit duller, but without tugging or scraping and the shave wasn't quite as close on the difficult spots.
Still, ten-ish excellent shaves and a forgiving slide into failure is much more than I've come to expect from modern stainless DE blades.

With the Personna tungsten alloy blades this intermediate stage can last for weeks, so I'm going to press on and use the Plat until it gets harsh or starts to tug too much, that way I can get a baseline for absolute lifespan.

 

[mata_66]

this blade feels a bit duller, but without tugging or scraping and the shave wasn't quite as close on the difficult spots.

This is exactly what I'm experiencing. From shave n. 6-7 the blade gradually loses its sharpness and doesn't shaves as close as before. Still, at shave n.9, the blade is smooth as butter and it's a pleasure to keep shaving with it. I previously tossed them after ten shaves, maybe I will push this one longer to see how long it takes before it becomes unpleasant. Just for science

 

[awa54]

This morning there's a further slip in performance, WTG and ATG are still smooth and in fact still much better than many fresh blades of lower repute, however the XTG around the mustache turn-down (right at and above the corners of my mouth) was tugging and I actually had a weeper, though in the end the shave was still SAS+ to DFS- in closeness, with no burn from the AS either.

I may swap it to my Merkur OC or RR Mamba to see if the additional blade support smooths out the XTG pass enough to let me get the best closeness possible from my remaining time with this blade.

...plus my 100 pack of the "other Platinum" blades arrived today, so that would free up both GCs to have a head-to-head shave off between the two Gillette Plat types.

 

[awa54]

Let the games begin!

 

[awa54]

I'm hoping that the Gillette Platinum to stage left is the same as the blue pack "Swede" on the right, since they're $13/100ct. from several US based sellers, whereas the ones to stage right sell for $20/50ct. from US sellers or direct from Sweden (though they go out of stock in the US rather quickly), or $20/100ct. from Bulgaria with 1-2month shipping to the USA.

Many stock photos of the blue/silver/white pack Plats show the blades with black painted lettering, the batch I got is laser etched like the blue pack variant (though obviously with a slightly different imprint). The batch on the left was made in late August of 2018, the right hand blades early October 2019.

 

[awa54]

Hopes were high, but the first shave with a Tri-Color Package Platinum (hereafter TCPP) was disappointing... not bad at all, but closer to what I get from a GSB, than from that first Blue Package Platinum (BPP).

Missing was the sensation of top tier sharpness, coupled with the best smoothness I've experienced (while still having reliable blade feel). Instead I got strong blade feel that switched over to scraping with only minor angle errors and average sharpness that left me doing about two minutes of extra touch-up on the areas where my whisker growth pattern swirls. The end result *was* a very decent shave with average levels of irritation (I certainly didn't need to use AS, but did anyway, since a bottle of B&M Lyssa arrived yesterday afternoon) and solid DFS closeness.

Tomorrow will be a repeat of today's shave, but with a fresh BPP: TOBS rose, RR Keyhole brush handle, re-knotted with a 22mm Maggard 2-band set to 48mm loft. As before the blade will be in one of my twin GC .68s... fingers crossed that the second BPP is as good as that first one!

 

[awa54]

First shave on the BPP was also a bit disappointing, this makes me think that the TOBS Rose isn't as slick as it could be, despite feeling like a nice rich, cushioning lather... next two shaves will be a different soap, to see if I can elevate these blades' performance and compare their *best* attributes, not how well they deal with adversity...
The smoothness and sharpness were both noticeably better than the TCPP, but I wasn't left with a "wow" at the end of my shave the way I have been with my shaves on that first blade.

...more to come!

 

[awa54]

Today it's back to the TCPP, but with Vicco Turmeric & Sandalwood "foam". The extra slickness and cushion, in combination with the Second Shave is Best effect seen in many DE blades lead to a closer, smoother and all together better shave this morning!

I'll probably do a shave-off between these and the GSBs some time soon, it seems like they're *very* similar... Still feeling like the BPP is sharper and smoother, I'll have another data point tomorrow when I use the BPP with Vicco.

 

[FloridaCreekIndian]

These are my favorite blades. You can get them in bulk from polsilver-blades.com or on eBay.

 

[SirPaulGerman]

Where can I buy some Swede, I really want to try now ?

 

[awa54]

Where can I buy some Swede, I really want to try now ?

At least three Ebay sellers in Bulgaria and one on eCRATER (best prices, most around $20/100 shipped), an Ebay seller in Sweden (decent price $40/100 w/free S&H), Bullgoose shaving (currently o/s, $44/100 + S&H) and the website that @FloridaCreekIndian posted just above your message (nicely priced at $28/100 w/free S&H).

I'm certain there are others (pretty sure I saw a German reseller with 5 packs for $6 + S&H on Ebay in the past), but those are the easy to find or well discounted options that I know of. Both Connaught shaving and Gifts & Care only stock the dark blue/silver/white pack versions (which are also readily available on Ebay for under $15 shipped), but other European or Eastern European sellers must have the "Swede" variant available.

Digging a little deeper in online reviews, it seems that many regard these as very sharp, exceptionally smooth and having longer life than most other DE blades. I need a few more shaves before I jump in with both feet, but so far these are shaping up to be my favorite modern blade aside from Treet Dura Sharps (which sadly are the opposite of a long life blade).

 

[FloridaCreekIndian]

At Polsilver-blades, the more you buy the cheaper they get.

900 blades for $180
1600 blades for $288