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King C Gillette blades, absurd smoothness

I haven’t paid much attention to the DE blade forum as I settled on my favorite blades and stocked up some years ago. So these flew well under my radar. I was at the local Target store the other week and thought Id see what they had for shaving gear. I saw the King Gillette blades on the rack and it made me ponder how long it’s been since I purchased a DE blade at a brick and mortar. Maybe 2 decades or so. They are overpriced and over packaged for the US market but I figured why not? It’s only 5 bucks.

A few days ago the Gillette Yellow in my EJ 316 lost its edge so I popped in a King. I was quite surprised. It’s combo of sharpened and smoothness was similar to a fresh Yellow. Not exactly the same blade, but in the same catagory. I can’t speak to longevity of this blade yet, but the first few shaves have been excellent.

I see myself picking up more of these in coming months.
 
To my surprise over the past several weeks the KCG blades have risen to the top of the DE blade mountain for me, so I got curious and decided to try them against the other Russian Gillettes in my collection. I would switch blades half way through a shave so I could get a good comparison. I used the same soap (Haslinger tallow) and razor (EJ 3one6) for every shave. The blades I compared the KCG to were (in no particular order);

- 7 oClock Yellows
- Astra SP
- Platinums (dark blue printing)
- Platinums (light blue box)
- Silver Blue
- Nacet
- 7 oClock Greens

To me the Platinums in the light blue box feel exactly the same as the KCG's. Their were notable differences in all of the other blades and none of the others had the same combo of sharp and smooth as the KCG / light blue Platinums. I'm going to stock up on some light blue platinums and if I run across a sweet deal on KCG's they will be gobbled up quickly because they have earned a premanent spot in my shave den.
 
To my surprise over the past several weeks the KCG blades have risen to the top of the DE blade mountain for me, so I got curious and decided to try them against the other Russian Gillettes in my collection. I would switch blades half way through a shave so I could get a good comparison. I used the same soap (Haslinger tallow) and razor (EJ 3one6) for every shave. The blades I compared the KCG to were (in no particular order);

- 7 oClock Yellows
- Astra SP
- Platinums (dark blue printing)
- Platinums (light blue box)
- Silver Blue
- Nacet
- 7 oClock Greens

To me the Platinums in the light blue box feel exactly the same as the KCG's. Their were notable differences in all of the other blades and none of the others had the same combo of sharp and smooth as the KCG / light blue Platinums. I'm going to stock up on some light blue platinums and if I run across a sweet deal on KCG's they will be gobbled up quickly because they have earned a premanent spot in my shave den.

Thanks for the comparison. I don't have most of what you listed (only the Nacet and dark blue Platinum). I did come across a store that was clearing out KCG products on DEEP discounts, so ended up with about 70 blades for less than $12 CAD. Snagged the 4 razors they had for $8.54 each too.
 
Thanks for the comparison. I don't have most of what you listed (only the Nacet and dark blue Platinum). I did come across a store that was clearing out KCG products on DEEP discounts, so ended up with about 70 blades for less than $12 CAD. Snagged the 4 razors they had for $8.54 each too.

In my experience the dark blue platinums are very different than light blue. The dark blue are not nearly as sharp for me.

Nice find on the KCGs. I’m going to keep my eyes open. I’ve no doubt in the future they will be available for much less than the current price point.
 
I tried them and like them allot. This is what I am going to compare other blades against since these have given me an unexpected great shave. I get it if you have found something just as good but I am not going to let the price of the blade be the one thing that keeps me from getting the best shave. How much do we spend on all the other shaving products In our dens. I am not going to get upset over a few cent on each of my shaves.
 
I tried them and like them allot. This is what I am going to compare other blades against since these have given me an unexpected great shave. I get it if you have found something just as good but I am not going to let the price of the blade be the one thing that keeps me from getting the best shave. How much do we spend on all the other shaving products In our dens. I am not going to get upset over a few cent on each of my shaves.

Nor would I be concerned about a few cents for a blade. I wanted to find which Gillette blade was repackaged for the US market because, at least in my location, they are only available in one store and I’ve no doubt that store will stop carrying them soon enough. I figured by finding the same blade in a different package I could just order 100 onlind and be done with it. Call it a public service effort on my part. 👍
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
they are on my "will buy and use" list.
Same
I’m sure it’s been covered but are these blades made in st Pete? Like the others
I also wasn’t aware of different color tucks on the Gillette platinum blades. I recently tried GP but can’t recall the color of the box now. Is the difference the Silver blues? Or is that different?
 
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I’m sure it’s been covered but are these blades made in st Pete?
The package is marked "made in Russia"; nothing more specific. However, since these are a Gillette/P & G product, and we know they are made in Russia, it is seems safe to conclude that they are produced in the P & G plant in St. Petersburg.
 

Rhody

I'm a Lumberjack.
Online (the River) had them at .60 cents per blade. Someone answering a question on that site says they are the Gillette platinum blades rebranded that are $17/per 100. So we’re taking about some hefty mark up here at $60/100. I might pop a $6 pack in an order sometime but only Gillette could figure out this type of profit margin.
 
... only Gillette could figure out this type of profit margin.
You've got that right. These blades are one of the products in the retro-labeled King C Gillette line that is positioned as a sort of high-end, boutique line of shaving and bead grooming products. And, of course, priced accordingly. Placed on the shelf at the local Walgreens alongside the entire King C collection of high-priced carts, shaving gel, beard oil, etc., $6 for 10 DE blades probably doesn't look too bad to the uninitiated.
 
If it's just a rebranded Platinum, then that's going to be disappointing. I'll have to try it soon given how so many claim it's super smooth.
 
I would be interested in trying this blade if the price were more realistic. I can almost do a one-and-done with a good blade for that kind of money. Yes, I’m still trying to convince myself I’m saving money by DE shaving.
Jack
 
I would be interested in trying this blade if the price were more realistic. I can almost do a one-and-done with a good blade for that kind of money. Yes, I’m still trying to convince myself I’m saving money by DE shaving.
Jack
There are so many good blades that can be had for under 10, so it's gotta be special. Gillette Platinum ain't that, so it's going to be amusing if I find that it's similar to that blade. The Diamond Edge I thought was better and that routinely could be had in bulk for about $5 per 100
 
Do we really believe that Gillette invested the time/money making a new de blade when they could rebrand one of their other blades made in St. P?
 
Yep. I like them in my Feather Popular (and, in fact, I wrote a post about that as well). But they are expensive (and all that I had access to at the time). As I am a newbie DE shaver, I'm looking forward to trying more reasonably priced Gillette blades that aren't rebranded as KCG.
 
Do we really believe that Gillette invested the time/money making a new de blade when they could rebrand one of their other blades made in St. P?

No, but unless you can get Gillette to tell you which blade they rebranded, trying to determine which one is experimental guesswork.

And it's even possible that they took an existing blade, rebranded it, and changed the grind angles. That would change the feel of it.
 
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