King C Gillette blades now made in China

[purecro]

Thanks for all the information CJB3. That stinks. The King C's (Made in Russia) where amongst my favorite blades to use and the blades you like, I like as well, I have not used a GSB the but the as a reference, the Russian-made Wizamets, Gillette Platinums (I have really taken a liking to the Light Blue Plantiums, like them alot, sharp and smooth for me) and Japanese-made Feathers and KAIs are amongst my favorite blades so yea that tells me what I need to know.

I hope the Indian made blades of Gillette will be better, its why I stocked up on the Russian made blades (may add some more of the other blades I haven't tried yet) just to make sure in case the Indian made ones are not very good, we shall see.

 

[CJB3]

Thanks for all the information CJB3. That stinks. The King C's (Made in Russia) where amongst my favorite blades to use and the blades you like, I like as well, I have not used a GSB the but the as a reference, the Russian-made Wizamets, Gillette Platinums (I have really taken a liking to the Light Blue Plantiums, like them alot, sharp and smooth for me) and Japanese-made Feathers and KAIs are amongst my favorite blades so yea that tells me what I need to know.

I hope the Indian made blades of Gillette will be better, its why I stocked up on the Russian made blades (may add some more of the other blades I haven't tried yet) just to make sure in case the Indian made ones are not very good, we shall see.

Indian blades, IME, can be pretty good, so here’s hoping.

 

[ShavingPrimate]

Indian blades, IME, can be pretty good, so here’s hoping.

Yes, they can. The 7-O'clock Black's are perhaps my favorite blades. The Gillette made Indian Wilkinson Sword blades are both decent and inexpensive.

Along with India, the Treet blades, made in Pakistan, produce some nice blades as well.

 

[CJB3]

I’ve still got a few tucks of the PPI KCGs and pulled one out today for a wonderful shave. These blades were always too expensive, IMO, but I bought them occasionally for a treat.

The PPI Platinums always seemed very similar to me as well. I just bought 200 of them on the bay. At this point, I have over 1000 PPI blades, so I’m probably set for a while—especially since I like to switch off with Japanese blades.

 

[NiOOH]

Could this signal the end of the PPI production? KCG was by far P&Gs most expensive blade, distributed in Europe and US. If they moved this to China, what's left for the rest of them?

 

[geneaut]

Could this signal the end of the PPI production? KCG was by far P&Gs most expensive blade, distributed in Europe and US. If they moved this to China, what's left for the rest of them?

Hard to tell. Gillette often seems very random with output from that plant, so I always hesitate to make any conclusions.

 

[Dtownvino]

German Personna, lab blue Personna, and Timor blades in my future when I need to repurchase.

 

[NiOOH]

Hard to tell. Gillette often seems very random with output from that plant, so I always hesitate to make any conclusions.

It has never been random with official imports. Here, in the EU, the KCGs have only been made in Russia ever since they appeared on the market 3-4 years ago. The only other officially distributed DE blade is Platinum. I'll check on both, just to see what's the status now.

 

[geneaut]

It has never been random with official imports. Here, in the EU, the KCGs have only been made in Russia ever since they appeared on the market 3-4 years ago. The only other officially distributed DE blade is Platinum. I'll check on both, just to see what's the status now.

Iridiums, for example, have been random coming from that plant. They are in production, they are out of production, they are Polsilvers, they are Wizamets.

We woke up one day and the blue packaged 7 O'clock Super Platinums were just gone, leaving only the Indian produced black labels.

It is very difficult to find Sputniks these days.

 

[Andris83]

It is funny how different companies/cultures work. Gillette has more blade brands than we can count. Feather produces one type of DE blade for the planet, (one of) the best. (in terms of quality, not perceived shaving quality.)

 

[NiOOH]

Iridiums, for example, have been random coming from that plant. They are in production, they are out of production, they are Polsilvers, they are Wizamets.

We woke up one day and the blue packaged 7 O'clock Super Platinums were just gone, leaving only the Indian produced black labels.

It is very difficult to find Sputniks these days.

Iridiums and 7 O'cs are not officially distributed in the US and most of EU. All of these sub/brands (Nacet, Minora, Astra, Perma Sharp...) that we talk about are more or less grey imports. They were not meant for the EU and US market, and you'll not find them on the official Gillette sites for these regions. KCG is the only DE blade listed on the US and German sites for example.

P&G has been criticized for keeping most of its operations in Russia after February 2022. It could be, that they have decided to quit manufacturing DE blades there altogether, or keep the production only for markets outside US and EU.

 

[geneaut]

Iridiums and 7 O'cs are not officially distributed in the US and most of EU. All of these sub/brands (Nacet, Minora, Astra, Perma Sharp...) that we talk about are more or less grey imports. They were not meant for the EU and US market, and you'll not find them on the official Gillette sites for these regions. KCG is the only DE blade listed on the US and German sites for example.

P&G has been criticized for keeping most of its operations in Russia after February 2022. It could be, that they have decided to quit manufacturing DE blades there altogether, or keep the production only for markets outside US and EU.

I never said those blades were marketed in the ( or for ) the US. I just said that the plant has always been random with its production. Moving or canceling products is not new, even at other plants ( Gillette Wilkinson Swords, for example, being manufactured in China and sometimes India).

I'm sure their decisions make perfect sense to them, but as a customer, it's hard to follow at times. I suspect they don't care to communicate with their ultimate end users or see the need to.

They are not as bad as Personna at least

 

[NiOOH]

Yeah, the decision to move production or even kill a brand would depend on sales mostly.
They have many brands, some originally Gillette, some acquired by P&G. Polsilver is a typical example. A polish brand that was very popular in Central and Eastern Europe in the 70's-80's. P&G acquired Polsilver name, together with the factories in Poland where these were manufactured. They moved the production to Russia and for about 15 years marketed the blade in Central and Eastern Europe. The sales must have fallen, because they killed the brand. AFAIK, Polsilver is no more. Now they officially import KCG and Platinum in these regions.

 

[Jopo]

It has never been random with official imports. Here, in the EU, the KCGs have only been made in Russia ever since they appeared on the market 3-4 years ago. The only other officially distributed DE blade is Platinum. I'll check on both, just to see what's the status now.

Are the Astras not still distiributed in Czech, Slovakia, Hungary?

 

[ivan_101]

Are the Astras not still distiributed in Czech, Slovakia, Hungary?

I wouldn't be surprised if P&G decided to not officially market Astras in those 3 countries any more. The recent trend is that the light Blue Platinums and KCG remain the only products in Europe.

 

[NiOOH]

Are the Astras not still distiributed in Czech, Slovakia, Hungary?

Just checked. Not listed on the Gillette CZ site. Pretty much all over Europe KCG is the only DE blade officially listed, even in Russia. I remember when Polsilver was still available, they were listed on the Polish site. Now it is KCG only.

 

[ivan_101]

Just checked. Not listed on the Gillette CZ site. Pretty much all over Europe KCG is the only DE blade officially listed, even in Russia. I remember when Polsilver was still available, they were listed on the Polish site. Now it is KCG only.

Gillette will not list blades like the Astra or the light blue Platinums on the European countries' sites. These are a niche product intended (mostly) for barbers. P&G doesn't want to promote a product with a terribly low profit margin.
On some European sites they don't even have the KCG DE blades listed.

 

[NiOOH]

Gillette will not list blades like the Astra or the light blue Platinums on the European countries' sites. These are a niche product intended (mostly) for barbers. P&G doesn't want to promote a product with a terribly low profit margin.
On some European sites they don't even have the KCG DE blades listed.

I think barbers in Europe can only use single use razors, but yes Gillette doesn't list them although they may be obtained from the official Gillette importers. Here, in Bulgaria Platinums are distributed by the official importer for instance.

 

[Jopo]

Yeah, the decision to move production or even kill a brand would depend on sales mostly.
They have many brands, some originally Gillette, some acquired by P&G. Polsilver is a typical example. A polish brand that was very popular in Central and Eastern Europe in the 70's-80's. P&G acquired Polsilver name, together with the factories in Poland where these were manufactured. They moved the production to Russia and for about 15 years marketed the blade in Central and Eastern Europe. The sales must have fallen, because they killed the brand. AFAIK, Polsilver is no more. Now they officially import KCG and Platinum in these regions.

I don't think P&G acquired any DE brands. Many of the brands were acquired by Gillette, not originally Gillette. For example Polsilver, Rubie, Astra, Nacet, Permasharp, 7oclock, Minora, Flying Eagle, Sputnik. They didn't used to carry the Gillette logo on the front label until more recently. Some still don't, such as Flying Eagle, Astra, Wilkinson Sword in Brazil, Minora in Colombia. The brands were bought by Gillette and sold at a lower price than Gillette branded blades.

Polsilver was acquired by Gillette. Polsilvers were then produced by Gillette in Poland, then Czech Repbulic, then India, and finally Russia, if I recall correctly.

 

[NiOOH]

I don't think P&G acquired any DE brands.

Well, Gillette has been a property of P&G since 2005.