After trying a couple, I bought 100 of the black Super Platinums made in India a while back...for me, sufficiently sharp and smooth. Perhaps if you could get a tuck of each type, you could make a determination if they're for you or not.
is there anything as confusing as 7 o clock blades
- Thread starter bluesparkuk
- Start date
I bought a stash of the 7 O’Clock Blues before they went out if production. They are made in Russia, and called Super Platinum just like the blacks, which adds to the confusion. They are nothing special for me. But ymmv, as others have stated that they are wonderful. For me they are all fairly good blades. With the yellows being best, then black. And both greens are great too. The blues are in last place out of the 5 types.
Been using the greens and yellows for the last month. The yellows have been consistently bad with my R41, 3ONE6 and 39C. I've repeatedly ended up with cuts and weepers chasing a BBS, which is strange, since folks usually say they're better than the greens. YMMV.I've rarely been disappointed with Russian blades, so just ordered a bunch of Greens and Yellows from Ukraine. Hope I can add to the confusion here when I test them out
I've had better luck with the greens. Had one of my best shaves in recent days with a green in an R41. Its not as consistent as a Nacet, but still a really smooth blade.
Try the Blacks next. They are really sharp. I do like the yellows, but I like both green varieties as well. The only ones I did not get along with at all have been the extinct Blue ones.
The Blacks and the Green Permasharp blades have the same address on them along with the Wilkinson Sword blade on the red/white/blue box. I have tried all three and my favorite is the Permasharp blade. I didn't mind either the blacks or Wilkinson Sword but thought the Permasharp was the best. Smooth and sharp for me. Now I didn't know that they made a Wilkinson Sword in the red/white/blue box in China, guess it doesn't surprise me any. My other favorite blade is the Wilkinson Sword Classic made in Germany . I also bought some in a blue plastic blister pack that were made in Mexico, they not were not good. The Classic I can get at the local drugstore and they are in a black plastic box, not sure what the difference is in the ones I have seen in the white plastic box.
When it comes down to it I think there are a number of brands out there that are confusing. How many different Derby blades are out now? I know Personna is confusing with the Blue, Reds, med preps. A few years ago I actually found a Personna DE blade at the local grocery store, it was in 10 blade white dispenser pack, IIRC they were sealed on a card stock and memory says it was red card stock. I remember them being the worst blade I had tried to that point and could give the Graham Field blade(aka "the blade from hell") a run for its money.
In the end I think a lot of them are confusing.
When it comes down to it I think there are a number of brands out there that are confusing. How many different Derby blades are out now? I know Personna is confusing with the Blue, Reds, med preps. A few years ago I actually found a Personna DE blade at the local grocery store, it was in 10 blade white dispenser pack, IIRC they were sealed on a card stock and memory says it was red card stock. I remember them being the worst blade I had tried to that point and could give the Graham Field blade(aka "the blade from hell") a run for its money.
In the end I think a lot of them are confusing.
True.
I would add Lord to the list. There are a large # of “Lord“ branded blades and some of their sub-brands are confusing. I have seen the exact same Asco blades in different packaging. Same name, same blade, different coloured boxes.
A number of years ago I bought enough 7 o'clock Blues, before production ended, to last my lifetime and beyond because for me they have been wonderful. I rotate among a dozen brushes, and used to rotate razors until discovering the Rex Ambassador.
I like the 7 o'clock yellers and India greens. I tried the black ones a while back and was pretty meh on those. The russian greens were a hard pass.
One thing I like about DE shaving is the range of blades available over the internet. SEs and Cartridges just don't have that kind of choice.
One thing I like about DE shaving is the range of blades available over the internet. SEs and Cartridges just don't have that kind of choice.
As I reported before, I have all of the 7 O’Clock blades.... but haven’t used them in a while. Due to this thread I tried a couple of Blacks in a couple of different razors. I found them to be quite harsh. Not enjoyable at all. Interesting as I have good memories from using them a few years ago. My tastes and my choice of razors have changed quite a bit. But I expected at least a decent shaving experience from them. I’ll have to try them in a Tech or a DE89 to see if they work well in the razors I used back then. The blacks do not cut it in a Wolfman or Charcoal Goods. Ymmv.
It’s wild to me differences person to person or more likely it’s what I don’t know. I have very much enjoyed the Blacks in the Wolfman. Thanks for the share. I’ll keep looking at various combos and maybe someday I’ll get to try some different blades others recommend.
Yeah, I was quite surprised at the harsh results. I will have to try it with a new Black blade. For the record, I find the Wolf to be very picky with blades. Some blades that I love in just about every other razor have proven to be yucky in the wolf. I do prefer the Perma-Sharp in the gold tuck with my Wolf. Best combo of sharp and smooth. Wizamet/Polsilver were my favorite blades prior to the Wolf. They took a bit of getting used to in the Wolf, but I am good with them in there now. Sputnik's are great in the Wolf too. I just got a new Wolf at 1.25 (2 shaves on it) so the learning process is just now starting all over again with blades etc.
It has been hinted by a Gillette insider that the Gillette Silver Blue (GSB) are the new 7 O'Clock Blues. I can't confirm any similarity as I've never tried the old Blue Super Platinums.
Companies sell their blades in different markets and they create different brands. The confusion is caused by globalization as, thanks to the Internet, we are able to know the existence of blades produced all over the world that weren't previously available in our country/world zone.
Somebody cited Asco. Asco Orange, Red and Red/Blue are all the same (decent) blade. They are made in Egypt by Lord and different packaging are intended for different markets. For example (I'm making this up) Orange may be for their local market, Red for export and Red/Blue specifically for a special market like the Gulf countries.
7 O'Clocks are produced by two different Gillette divisions under the same P&G Global umbrella. Two variants for Eastern Europe and two for the Indian sub-continent. Simple as that.
I live in Italy and the big companies produce and sell in my market Gillette Platinums (P&G) and Wilkinson Swords (Edgewell). That's all. At P&G and Edgewell they don't care to clarify the difference of blades produced in Himachal Pradesh, India or Shangai, China. Those blades are not intended for me the Italian final user.
The Personna craziness: Two different companies, for some strange reasons, hold the rights to use the Personna brand: one it's Accutec in USA and one is Edgewell for the rest of the World. Supposedly there are only two blades intended for shaving: the Personna "Comfort Coated" in the US and the Personna Platinum in Europe.
Then we, the wet-shavers, are inquisitive and curious people and we like to shave with blades intended for other purposes. Personna Blue Labs are intended for industrial applications and the well-loved Med-Preps are intended for hair-transplants amongst other blood-shedding things. But we like to use them all and later we complain how confusing they are.
Let's all think about how many variants of Colgate toothpaste are produced around the world. People don't get confused because they don't search for the the Jordan or the Thai ebay seller to get their exotic variant (or maybe there's a teeth brushing forum I'm not aware of). They just buy what is available in their local store. Because that's how it is intended.
I just tried my first GSB this morning and it gave me a comfortable and close shave in my Timeless SS .68 razor. I tried the 7 O'Clock Super Stainless last week in the same razor and also got comfortable close shaves. However that razor may work better with more blades than the average razor. It clamps the blades close to the edge and it has neutral blade exposure. The yellows, blacks and platinums are to be tested in the coming weeks.
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