Gillette Silver Blue (Review)

[IronHammer]

I wanted to throw this little review into the mix and ask if anybody knows how I might be able to wrangle me some of these bad boys!

I recently found a single Gillette Silver Blue blade in my medicine cabinet still wrapped neatly in it's wrapper. It was left over from the "From Russia with Love" blade PIF last year. I know how much appreciation I have for any blade bearing the Gillette name, I was curious to see how it would perform. So I loaded it into my 1970 gold Super Adjustable. My current favorite blades are Gillette Super Platinum (Russian) and Gillette Thins made in Brazil. I honestly didn't think there existed a finer edge so I was totally unprepared for just how incredible this Silver Blue performed.

I noticed from the very first stroke just how unbelievably smooth this blade was. It was almost like shaving without a blade at all! I was still enjoying the smoothness of this blade when I started my second pass (XTG and ATG). As I finished the first pass, I noticed I had no problems at all getting a DFS with just the first pass! Areas I normally have to carefully go over many times with other blades only needed minor attention with the Silver Blue. I am simply stunned at the sharpness of it while still being smooth as silk. It's like the perfect Feather!

I have used this blade three mornings in a row now and these shaves have been the most magnificent, nick-free, irritation-free and closest yet. I sure wish I knew where to get more of these discontinued blades. I am extremely sad to say goodbye to my one and only Silver Blue blade.

I hope somebody found this review helpful.

 

[jwilock]

A much under appreciated blade, IMHO. I've tried nearly 50 varieties of blades and I think Silver Blues rank right up there with the best of them. A while back (maybe 3 months or so ago) I saw a special on them (RBM) and bought 100. I'm glad I did and I suspect these will probably disappear from the market altogether in the not too distant future. If you love em, you might consider buying a quantity now even at $38/100 that's not a bad price for a blade so good, and one which you might not be able to buy at all in the future.

 

[bladegap]

I too am a fan of the Silver Blues and have laid in a fair supply thanks to Razorbladesandmore. Two other blades you may like are the Gillette 7 o'clock super platinum blacks from India and the Gillette Rubie Platinum Plus, from Russia. Both of those blades are similar in sharpness and smoothness to the Silver Blues.

 

[jwilock]

Sorry for the misinformation in my earlier post ... I saw them listed at RBM but failed to notice the note that said they were no longer available. Glad I picked up 100 when I did.

 

[echotron]

I found some at Lee's Razors:

http://www.leesrazors.com/products/Gillette-Silver-Blue-Razor-Blades.html

Go for 'em! (I love the other Russian Gillettes so much I ordered mine right before I posted this ... DUH! )

 

[velocityboy]

It looks like the Silver Blue 100 packs are back in stock at Razor Blades and More. Currently showing 25 in stock.

Oh, and what do I think of them? Well I suppose I could tell you... but let me just show you instead.

 

[jwilock]

There you go IronHammer. Go get em before there gone again!

 

[Mischka]

My favorite modern-day blade. Smooth, sharp and lasts for three BBS shaves against my coarse, dense beard. I've tried just about every brand out there, too.

 

[nuun]

can anyone compare the silver blue v/s the iridium super...I'm currently using silver blue...the best value in terms of very sharp and smooth

I think the silver blue is really nice especially around $32/100 last time at RBM; compared to $52/100 for the iridium super

is the iridium super 1.5x as smooth and sharp as the silver blue?

 

[rxonmymind]

+1 on the Gillette Rubies. Had some pif'd to me by a kind member and those are amazing blades. Love the Gillette Silver Blures too!

 

[nick/cut]

Interesting that I ran across this post, after using these gillette blades I won't let any of them near my face. Unfortunate for me, I have about 150+ of these blades I'm trying to unload; I've found my blade of choice. PM me if you're interested

 

[CapnPanther]

Interesting that I ran across this post, after using these gillette blades I won't let any of them near my face. Unfortunate for me, I have about 150+ of these blades I'm trying to unload; I've found my blade of choice. PM me if you're interested

Not a big fan, either. Got ten hoping that I'd love these, but didn't happen. Nicks and irritation were the norm. As always, YMMV.

 

[jwilock]

One reason I like these so much is that they are very sharp - probably as sharp as any blade available (with all due respect to Feathers). On the surface you might think that being very, very sharp might sound like a good thing. But in fact being very sharp is not always the best possible blade for all razors or all faces. As always, YMMV rules the day when it comes to blades.

 

[malocchio]

One reason I like these so much is that they are very sharp - probably as sharp as any blade available (with all due respect to Feathers). On the surface you might think that being very, very sharp might sound like a good thing. But in fact being very sharp is not always the best possible blade for all razors or all faces. As always, YMMV rules the day when it comes to blades.

yes...I heartily agree with this statement. I had several hundred of these awhile back ,great shaves in certain razors , and tug-o-war in other razors, they are severely sharp !

 

[Mitsimonsta]

Myself and Jim (jwillock) have talked about the Silver Blues for the best part of two years.

The reason why the destroy faces is that they are the familiar Gillette grind angle that we are all comfortable with (Astra, Permasharp, SI, 7 O'Clocks, GBE's, Platinums) yet they are virtually feather sharpness. So you get a familiar feel on your face and then start going about your shave as you usually would and then BAM! Your normal 'little nick' is kind of bleeding quite nasty and you reach for the Stryptic.

They are my go-to blade if I have 3-4 days growth. Nothing takes it down like a Silver Blue - no, not even a Feather. I do find that I get irritation on these blades after continued use, very much like the 7OC Yellows.

For me, better value and shave experience than a 7OC Black/Blue, can get 4 shaves of 2-passes out of them but 5-6 shaves from a Silver Blue. I feel that they are very similar to a GBE or Dark Platinum, but the sharpness turned all the way to 11 baby!

As always, I seem to get the best performance from Vintage Gillettes. Slims, Fatboys, Redtips. I think IronHammer in the Super Adjustable would have found an amazing shave with it set anything above say a 4 (which is equivalent to 6 on a Slim in my opinion, and my slims and Fatboys are set to 6 all the time).

 

[rxonmymind]

Interesting that I ran across this post, after using these gillette blades I won't let any of them near my face. Unfortunate for me, I have about 150+ of these blades I'm trying to unload; I've found my blade of choice. PM me if you're interested

You are nick&cut..just saying.....

 

[NICKED&CUT]

Picked up a tuck at Cambridge Chemists in NY during my recent trip. I remember shaving with it was good but not better than my current blade of choice - Gillette Yellows (21c/blade shipped). Time to do a shave test and figure it out. But at ~40c/blade, it is a tough hurdle.

BTW, the salesperson there said they were regarded as the replacements for the Swedes. Not having ever used Swedes, I have no baseline to confirm that statement of his, but I have my doubts.

 

[bladegap]

can anyone compare the silver blue v/s the iridium super...I'm currently using silver blue...the best value in terms of very sharp and smooth

I think the silver blue is really nice especially around $32/100 last time at RBM; compared to $52/100 for the iridium super

is the iridium super 1.5x as smooth and sharp as the silver blue?

I was curious about this comparison too, so I am one pass (six shaves each) through a rotation of 7OC Black, SI, GSB, 7OC Yellow, and 7 OC Czech Blue. Based on this experience, I would say the Silver Blue is markedly sharper than the Super Iridium. In fact, the Super Iridium and the Czech Blue seem the least sharp of these blades. However, the Super Iridium is also noticeably smoother than the rest and has terrific glide. It is a very close and comfortable shave. Whether it is better or worse than the Silver Blue or 7OC Black is a matter of preference, but it is a very high quality blade.

 

[jwilock]

I was curious about this comparison too, so I am one pass (six shaves each) through a rotation of 7OC Black, SI, GSB, 7OC Yellow, and 7 OC Czech Blue. Based on this experience, I would say the Silver Blue is markedly sharper than the Super Iridium. In fact, the Super Iridium and the Czech Blue seem the least sharp of these blades. However, the Super Iridium is also noticeably smoother than the rest and has terrific glide. It is a very close and comfortable shave. Whether it is better or worse than the Silver Blue or 7OC Black is a matter of preference, but it is a very high quality blade.

That's a great selection of blades you are running through - all on my list of blades I like a lot. If you want to try another blade of similar quality, and cheap and easy to get, try the Perma-Sharp Supers (Russian variety). And if you can get your hands on some GBEs (Bleue Extras) they are definitely in this class.

 

[bladegap]

Thanks, Jim. The Perma-Sharps are on my list to try. I am reluctant to try the GBEs--there's already too many unavailable blades I am attached to.