I ordered some random tucks of different blades recently and I was supposed to receive a Crystal but I was sent this tuck of Personna Platinum Chrome. I have attached a photo. When I check Amazon it says these are Israeli made but there is a slightly different package that the Razor Blade Club lists as made in Germany. I am getting my best shaves yet with these blades that say Personna in red and I am tempted to buy a 100 pack. Do these blades shave the same? Is there a place to order just the red ones? I am scared to order a hundred and not get the ones I want.
Personna Question
- Thread starter South Dakota Guy
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- #2
OK I think I found the answer. West Coast Shaving shows them as Israeli Reds in UK packaging. They say it is the same blade. Interesting because if you buy them in the standard red packaging they cost $27 per hundred but in the UK packaging they cost $19 per hundred. I think the other picture is the German Personnas.
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- #3
You are right. The package on the left has the Israeli blades packaged for sale in the UK. The package on the right has the German blades made to the same specifications. They should be very close, if not exactly the same blade.
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- #5
I really had an Aha moment today. I previously used Derby Extra, Astra SP, Kai, Feather, Bic Chrome Platinum but I started using these Personnas on Sunday and my shaves have been the closest and most comfortable yet with Rockwell 6S. This morning I decided to go for a third pass on my neck, ATG and I experienced my first BBS shave ever. Not only that, I had no pain or irritation that I always got when I tried it with the other blades. This blade has been so good I am only going to keep trying other blades with great reluctance.
If my memory is still working, Personna blades were the best I used back when I was in college. I suspect they have not changed all that much, the Lab Blue I'm working on is a great blade, and yes, it shaves close and smooth. I'm on shave 98 today, and it finally has stopped topping some of my skin bumps, so no weepers.
Israeli Reds (the pack on the left) are my favourite blade out of the 30 or so blades I have tried. Consistently excellent.
I don't think I've run into a Personna I didn't like.
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- #9
I am so impressed that even though I have like 15 other different blades coming I just ordered a 200 blade pack from Jeff Bezos at 11.5 cents a blade. That aughta hold me for a bit.
Same 2x200 packs for me recently from my buddy Jeff. $21US or so for 200 in Canada. Can’t beat that for great blades IMO.
Congratulations!!
The ‘Israeli reds’ are top-tier for me also. So good that I stocked up when I learned they were moving production to Germany. Word on the street (B&B actually) is that the German blades are also terrific!
Feathers for my Techs, Personna (Red, Lab Blue, Med Prep) for almost everything else.
Gave up on trying to figger out all the various UFO Pesonna ¢rap and just bought some Lab Blues. They shave great and I don't have to be concerned with where they're made or what color they're supposed to be.
The Personna manufacturing and marketing plan is quite convoluted.
At one time Personna owned the razor blade manufacturing facility in Verona, VA. It primarily made blades for the industrial, laboratory, and medical field. Edgewell, who owns the Personna brand among others, spun off the Verona plant as a company now called AccuTec Blades. This plant continues to produce blades for the same basic markets as it did when it was part of Personna. It is the sole razor blade manufacturing facility remaining in the USA. It still produces blades under the Gem and Personna brands. The Personna blades produced in this plant are those we know as Personna Lab Blues and Med Preps as the primary use of these blades is for laboratory and medical use. However, shavers have found these blades to be excellent blades. The blades are stamped Made in USA. The Lab Blues are described as "Comfort Coated", which means they have a thicker coating than most blades. That means that the initial shave with these blades is super smooth, but perhaps not as sharp. I have a really tough beard find these blades tug on the first shave. By the second shave, the coating has started to wear off and the blade is sharper, so for me, the second shave is better than the first. Others might prefer the smoothness of the initial shave.
For many years, the plant in Nazareth, Israel made several different blades. The flagship blade was the Platinum Chrome blade that shavers fondly call Israeli Reds. However, for the UK market the blades came in blue packaging rather than red. These same blades were also sold in private brand packaging for a variety of retailers. Thus, in the USA, you could find these blades in multiple packaging.
The Israeli plant also produced blades called Crystal or Israeli Personnas. These blades are stamped Super+ Platinum and also bear a USA patent number that dates back to the mid-1960s when Personna was the first company to introduce coated stainless steel blades.
There are other blades that come out of the Israeli plant, but I have not used them. I do not know whether there are the same as one of the two above or slightly different designs.
Edgewell announced back in 2108 that the Israeli plant would be closing and production would move to other facilities. However, Edgewell has neither confirmed the plant closure, nor indicated that it would remain open. The last shipment of razor blades from Israel directly to the USA was in March 2020. That is a drastic reduction in shipments from earlier years. That could be an indication that production in the Nazareth plant has ceased, but it could also mean that the plant is shipping their product to other facilities around the globe for packaging and distribution.
In the mean time, Personna Platinum Chrome blades produced in Germany have been showing up in the global marketplace. Edgewell has produced Wilkinson Sword Classic blades in Germany for some time, so they may be producing the Personna blades on the Wilkinson equipment, or they may have relocated some equipment from Israel to Germany. Again, there has been no confirmation.
I have used the Personna Platinum Chrome blades made in Germany and consider them to be equal to the Israeli made blades. Thus, whether you get the Israeli Reds, the Israeli blades in blue UK packaging, or the German made blades, they are all great blades.
At one time Personna owned the razor blade manufacturing facility in Verona, VA. It primarily made blades for the industrial, laboratory, and medical field. Edgewell, who owns the Personna brand among others, spun off the Verona plant as a company now called AccuTec Blades. This plant continues to produce blades for the same basic markets as it did when it was part of Personna. It is the sole razor blade manufacturing facility remaining in the USA. It still produces blades under the Gem and Personna brands. The Personna blades produced in this plant are those we know as Personna Lab Blues and Med Preps as the primary use of these blades is for laboratory and medical use. However, shavers have found these blades to be excellent blades. The blades are stamped Made in USA. The Lab Blues are described as "Comfort Coated", which means they have a thicker coating than most blades. That means that the initial shave with these blades is super smooth, but perhaps not as sharp. I have a really tough beard find these blades tug on the first shave. By the second shave, the coating has started to wear off and the blade is sharper, so for me, the second shave is better than the first. Others might prefer the smoothness of the initial shave.
For many years, the plant in Nazareth, Israel made several different blades. The flagship blade was the Platinum Chrome blade that shavers fondly call Israeli Reds. However, for the UK market the blades came in blue packaging rather than red. These same blades were also sold in private brand packaging for a variety of retailers. Thus, in the USA, you could find these blades in multiple packaging.
The Israeli plant also produced blades called Crystal or Israeli Personnas. These blades are stamped Super+ Platinum and also bear a USA patent number that dates back to the mid-1960s when Personna was the first company to introduce coated stainless steel blades.
There are other blades that come out of the Israeli plant, but I have not used them. I do not know whether there are the same as one of the two above or slightly different designs.
Edgewell announced back in 2108 that the Israeli plant would be closing and production would move to other facilities. However, Edgewell has neither confirmed the plant closure, nor indicated that it would remain open. The last shipment of razor blades from Israel directly to the USA was in March 2020. That is a drastic reduction in shipments from earlier years. That could be an indication that production in the Nazareth plant has ceased, but it could also mean that the plant is shipping their product to other facilities around the globe for packaging and distribution.
In the mean time, Personna Platinum Chrome blades produced in Germany have been showing up in the global marketplace. Edgewell has produced Wilkinson Sword Classic blades in Germany for some time, so they may be producing the Personna blades on the Wilkinson equipment, or they may have relocated some equipment from Israel to Germany. Again, there has been no confirmation.
I have used the Personna Platinum Chrome blades made in Germany and consider them to be equal to the Israeli made blades. Thus, whether you get the Israeli Reds, the Israeli blades in blue UK packaging, or the German made blades, they are all great blades.
I love the Personna Reds and the German blades have been shipped.
Enjoy your shaves.
Enjoy your shaves.
Those Israeli Reds (the left photo) have been my daily shaver for over a decade. I always order 100 at a time, and they last me at least 2 years (I get a week's worth of shaves out of a blade, at least, and I get lazy sometimes and don't shave as regularly as I should). They're a good deal at $19 for a 100 pack, but sadly, that's a big price jump from the last time I bought them, about a year ago....100 blades used to be $12!
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- #17
That’s a lot of good info. Maybe it should be a sticky!
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- #18
If you buy a 200 pack from the world’s largest online retailer then it is less than $12 per 100 pack. Not saying we should use a supplier that doesn’t support the forum but if your financial situation is such that you need to save every dollar then it is an option.
Too many confusing labels and qualities of blades from too many reputed countries. I'll just stick to my Lab Blades and call them good.
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