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Personna Platinum vs Wilkinson Sword

I have a friend who sells shaving gear here in Malaysia. He's also a licensed seller of many blades including Rapira.

From his discussions with several blade manufacturers he learned that both German Personna Platinum as well as the German Wilkies are made in the same factory.

I'm wondering if these 2 are actually the same blades in different printing in packaging. They feel exactly the same for me and both give me 7-8 good shaves.

I previously used the Israeli Red Personna Platinum which were made in Israel. Good blades and sadly these are no longer made in Israel. These definitely feel different from the newer German Personna Platinum blades. The Israeli blades used to give me 5 good shaves. They weren't as smooth at the German ones but had similar sharpness.

So I'm starting to think that both German Wilkies and German made Wilkinson Sword blades are exactly the same with different packaging.

What do you guys think?
 
Similar sure, but they don't feel the same to me. They both give me a good shave, but the Platinum always feels smoother.

I don't notice any difference between German Personna Platinum and the Israeli Reds.
 
No, they moved the production equipment for the IPPs to Germany. The Wilkis were already being made for some time in Germany. If you look up testing of the Wilkis for sharpness, they get deadly sharp underneath a very thick polymer coating. Reports of the new GPPs don't indicate they display this behavior. Even if the underlying blade was the same, the coating process would be completely different.
 
No, they moved the production equipment for the IPPs to Germany. The Wilkis were already being made for some time in Germany. If you look up testing of the Wilkis for sharpness, they get deadly sharp underneath a very thick polymer coating. Reports of the new GPPs don't indicate they display this behavior. Even if the underlying blade was the same, the coating process would be completely different.
Wilkinson Swords seem much sharper to me on the second shave. Maybe that thick coating wearing off. Personnas don't seem to change so much after the first shave.
 

lasta

Blade Biter
To me they are identical. I had an above average shave with the Wilkinson 2 days ago, but I attribute that the 90% face prep, 10% razor/blade.

Woke up early, and had more time to keep the hairs wet.

Hard to be objective about blades between shaves...
 
Edgewell has made Wilkinson Sword blades in Germany for some time, even when Personna, also owned by Edgewell, was making Israeli Reds in the Nazareth plant. When the Nazareth plant was closed, they started making the Personna Platinum Chrome blades in the same facility in Germany where the Wilkinson Sword blades are made. I do not know for certain, but I suspect that Edgewell relocated at least some of the machinery from Israel to Germany.

As far as I can tell, the German Personna Platinum Chrome blades are the same as the ones previously made in Israel, That is why I suspect they are being made on the same machines.

The German Wilkinson Sword blades are similar to the Personna Platinums; but out of the wrapper, I find the Personna blades to be sharper. After the first shave, the difference in sharpness is minor. They are both very good blades, but I prefer the Personna Platinums by a slight margin. I still have a nice stash of the Israeli Reds.

Do not confuse the German Wilkinson Sword blades with the Wilkinson Sword blades made by Gillette in either India or China. The Gillette version is good, but not quite as sharp as the German Wilkies.
 
Edgewell has made Wilkinson Sword blades in Germany for some time, even when Personna, also owned by Edgewell, was making Israeli Reds in the Nazareth plant. When the Nazareth plant was closed, they started making the Personna Platinum Chrome blades in the same facility in Germany where the Wilkinson Sword blades are made. I do not know for certain, but I suspect that Edgewell relocated at least some of the machinery from Israel to Germany.

As far as I can tell, the German Personna Platinum Chrome blades are the same as the ones previously made in Israel, That is why I suspect they are being made on the same machines.

The German Wilkinson Sword blades are similar to the Personna Platinums; but out of the wrapper, I find the Personna blades to be sharper. After the first shave, the difference in sharpness is minor. They are both very good blades, but I prefer the Personna Platinums by a slight margin. I still have a nice stash of the Israeli Reds.

Do not confuse the German Wilkinson Sword blades with the Wilkinson Sword blades made by Gillette in either India or China. The Gillette version is good, but not quite as sharp as the German Wilkies.
Thanks for posting.

The Indian Gillette Wilkinson Sword don’t work well for me. I always thought they were a little rough.

The comparison I need to make is German Wilkinson Sword Classic vs German Personna Platinum Chrome.
 
For me they are very close, doubt I could tell the difference in a blind test.

I also use the Chinese and Indian versions. Good enough though for me the German ones are better.
 

lasta

Blade Biter
I just did a side by side comparison. Mind you, I'm not the best at judging blades, I couldn't tell between a GSB and Gillette Platinum if you put a gun to my head, and I've used GSB almost exclusively for close to 7 years

Material difference is indistinguishable.
Grind is identical.
Shaving feels the same.
If you show me the gun used to point at my head; the cut between blade sides are more uniform with the Wilkinson than the Personna. But that could be batch variation

Both are inferior to Gillettes.
 
I have used the german personnas* and I am using the german wilkinsons. The wilkies are on my buy list, the personnas aren't any more. Although I haven't had them at the same time, it never crossed my mind that they would be identical. The personna always felt sharp, but on my skin I have other blades that feel much smoother. The wilkinson feels magically smooth, and just sharp enough (I prefer the sharp blades, consider that).

*with personna you can never be sure what you actually get, that is one of the reasons I abandoned them. there are so many blades that work just as well and are free of the "personna controversy"...

Ps. GSB vs Gillette Platinums:
GSB used to be one of my favorites, sharp and smooth, I noted back then. Then finally I got some Platinum light blues, what a letdown, the harshest blades I used up to that point. I used all 5 in the tuck in different razors, then put it on my "never again" list. Despite all the high praise on this forum, it just does not work for me, YMMV in action.
 

lasta

Blade Biter
I have used the german personnas* and I am using the german wilkinsons. The wilkies are on my buy list, the personnas aren't any more. Although I haven't had them at the same time, it never crossed my mind that they would be identical. The personna always felt sharp, but on my skin I have other blades that feel much smoother. The wilkinson feels magically smooth, and just sharp enough (I prefer the sharp blades, consider that).

*with personna you can never be sure what you actually get, that is one of the reasons I abandoned them. there are so many blades that work just as well and are free of the "personna controversy"...

Ps. GSB vs Gillette Platinums:
GSB used to be one of my favorites, sharp and smooth, I noted back then. Then finally I got some Platinum light blues, what a letdown, the harshest blades I used up to that point. I used all 5 in the tuck in different razors, then put it on my "never again" list. Despite all the high praise on this forum, it just does not work for me, YMMV in action.

If you are worried about the "Personna controversy", you should stay even further away from them Wilkies.

At one point in time Wilkinsons were/are made in: England, Germany, China, India, and Brazil (maybe Egypt and Argentina at some point in the past), sometimes concurrently. The brand is also owned by 2 companies, sometimes with distribution overlaps. Ie: in Australia, one used to be able get Indian and Brazilian made Wilkinsons.

While Personna's were only a US/Israel problem or more recently US/Germany.

After wrapping your head around Wilkies, Personna is not much of a controversy.
 
at least in the EU it is pretty straightforward now. you can buy them at the drugstore or any online handler, and you get the same package: a slightly oversized black plastic tuck with 10 blades of "german" wilkies. (I have seen the exact same packing, but only 5 blades in it online).
 
I have a friend who sells shaving gear here in Malaysia. He's also a licensed seller of many blades including Rapira.

From his discussions with several blade manufacturers he learned that both German Personna Platinum as well as the German Wilkies are made in the same factory.

I'm wondering if these 2 are actually the same blades in different printing in packaging. They feel exactly the same for me and both give me 7-8 good shaves.

I previously used the Israeli Red Personna Platinum which were made in Israel. Good blades and sadly these are no longer made in Israel. These definitely feel different from the newer German Personna Platinum blades. The Israeli blades used to give me 5 good shaves. They weren't as smooth at the German ones but had similar sharpness.

So I'm starting to think that both German Wilkies and German made Wilkinson Sword blades are exactly the same with different packaging.

What do you guys think?
Personna Platinum and the german Wilkinson Sword blades are definetly not the same blade with different packaging imo. The Platinum feels way milder on my face, I prefer the german Wilkies though due to their sharpness.
 
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