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Polsilvers made in India for Poland...7 O'Clocks made in Poland for India

Just an odd little "twist" of blade history I thought might be of interest to some.

After the 1992 Gillette takeover of the Wizamet company in Lodz, Poland, Gillette continued making DE blades there for a time, including 7O'Clocks. I believe they were intended for India, as it appears to be Indian script(s) on the wrapper (perhaps Pakistani?). The ad says something about "Try the new 7O'clock II ready to use razor", which I think is referring to a precursor to the "Gillette 7O'clock Ready II" disposable razor currently available in India. It also references using the DE blade with a 7O'Clock razor, a product available in India currently.


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Many of you know that the production of Polsilver/Iridums moved from Poland, then briefly to Czech Republic, but what was new information to me - Polsilver Super Iridium and Polsilver Stainless were also briefly produced in India, before the move to Russia. You can see it has Polish text/distributor on the package.
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this is phenomenal research !

Thats the devnagri script of India on the left translating what the Engliish text says about trying the new razor. The other is probably Urdu (Arabic scrpton the right hand side). Urdu is a mish mash of Indian Hindi and the Arabic and Persian languages from a few centuries ago and commonly spoken language amongst the muslim population of the Indian subcontinent.

This cover has to be from ages ago when this disposable razor came to India. I distinctly remember it from around 30 plus years ago in my teens. I am late 40s today. If I had known then what I know now - I would have stocked a couple of thousand Polsilvers for the rest of my life.
 
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It is interesting that the font on the Polsilver boxes is different from the Polish or Russian production. The word “Żyletki” (razors) has a curved tail on the ‘y’ and, I guess on the ‘t’ as well (but can’t tell from the low resolution pictures). This is one of the identifying features of the supposed Chinese-made fake and sub-standard ‘Polsilvers’ that have been in circulation for a long time. There is a long thread about those on B&B.

The plot thickens, but it may be just a coincidence that the Indian Gillette Polsilvers have this kind of font. I am still convinced that those odd Polsilvers that are still sold in a few places are fakes, since there are other differences on the blades themselves and the blade printing (including inconsistencies) is identical to a generic Chinese blade that you can buy. Plus they are carelessly packaged and do not shave like Polsilvers.

Can we be sure that these Indian Polsilvers are genuine and made in a Gillette factory? And that the Polish made 7 O’Clocks are genuine Gillettes too? It is such a simple matter for someone to buy stocks of Chinese blades and re-package them as Gillettes.

Do you have pictures of the blades? Do they say “Super Iridium (R) Extra Stainless” like the Gillette Polsilvers, or just “Extra Stainless” like the supposed Chinese fakes?
 
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this is phenomenal research !

Thats the devnagri script of India on the left translating what the Engliish text says about trying the new razor. The other is probably Urdu (Arabic scrpton the right hand side). Urdu is a mish mash of Indian Hindi and the Arabic and Persian languages from a few centuries ago and commonly spoken language amongst the muslim population of the Indian subcontinent.

This cover has to be from ages ago when this disposable razor came to India. I distinctly remember it from around 30 plus years ago in my teens. I am late 40s today. If I had known then what I know now - I would have stocked a couple of thousand Polsilvers for the rest of my life.
Quite right - Gillette started producing blades in Poland in 1992, and not for very long. Re missing an opportunity to stock up, don't worry about it - apparently the Indian Polsilvers were not very good quality.
 
On the PolSilver packages there is an inscription ,, 5 + 1 GRATIS ,, this word GRATIS is a romanian word that means free. What are you looking for in Indian blades packages, do Indians know the word GRATIS ? Is this word ,, GRATIS ,, known in languages other than Romanian?
 
The word is also used in Poland (as well as English), and probably many other places in Europe/former colonies. A French loan word in both cases, I'd guess.

Since "gratis" is used in English, it can be assumed that Indians use the word however it is irrelevant - all of the writing on the packaging, including "gratis", is in the Polish language.
 
On the PolSilver packages there is an inscription ,, 5 + 1 GRATIS ,, this word GRATIS is a romanian word that means free. What are you looking for in Indian blades packages, do Indians know the word GRATIS ? Is this word ,, GRATIS ,, known in languages other than Romanian?
It is used in German as well Alin.

Edit: Google says Latin

AdverbEdit

grātiīs (not comparable)

  1. without recompense or compensation, gratis
 
Thanks Hannes ! But the blades are inscribed in Polish for India. Why latin words for India? Wasn't it more normal to write "FREE" in English? ok is latin for free but do the Indians in this inscription understand anything?
 
Thanks Hannes ! But the blades are inscribed in Polish for India. Why latin words for India? Wasn't it more normal to write "FREE" in English? ok is latin for free but do the Indians in this inscription understand anything?
It is used in English but „Free“ seems much more common.

 
The word is also used in Poland (as well as English), and probably many other places in Europe/former colonies. A French loan word in both cases, I'd guess.

Since "gratis" is used in English, it can be assumed that Indians use the word however it is irrelevant - all of the writing on the packaging, including "gratis", is in the Polish language.
GRATIS is not a Polish word. Hence my perplexity.
 
It is used in English but „Free“ seems much more common.

Okay, but what would an English speaker use in a naturally "GRATIS " or ,,FREE,, advertisement?

Those Polsilver packages were made in India by Gillette and written in Polish. Why? to be sold to whom? To the Poles who had sold the factory?

Please, I'm not good at barcodes, in what year are these Polsilvers supposed to be manufactured?
 
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Okay, but what would an English speaker use in a naturally "GRATIS " or ,,FREE,, advertisement?

In my experience, "free" rather than "gratis". As with Gillette India blades marketed in English to Indians:

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They even had "Made in India" red Gillette Stainless and dark blue Platinums for a couple of years. 2003-2004, when the stock of those 2 models made in Czech republic was over. 2 years later P&G bought Gillette and started manufacturing all DE blades for Europe at the PPI.
 
It's not a Romanian word either, then. Or rather it is a Polish word, a Romanian word, an English word etc. It exists in the English dictionary. It is a "loan word".

To clarify again - they were only made in India, not sold there. The language on the packaging is 100% Polish, including the word "gratis".

Similarly, here are some blades made in China. The language on the packaging is Thai. Because they are made for the Thai market.
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Then why did they write 5 + 1 GRATIS on those packages and not 5 + 1 FREE ?
I'm sorry I should end this endless story ,, PolSilver fake or not? ,,
Those Polsilvers in the first post (both the SUPER IRIDIUM and the STAINLESS) are manufactured in India for the Polish market only. That GRATIS word is in Polish.
 
Those Polsilvers in the first post (both the SUPER IRIDIUM and the STAINLESS) are manufactured in India for the Polish market only. That GRATIS word is in Polish.
OK thank you ivan. I did not know that the word GRATIS is also in Polish. My observation was wrong. Case closed. So Gillette produced poor quality blades in India for Poles who were already used to high quality blades made in Poland? Did I get it right or am I wrong again?
 
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