Do any of the fine people in the B&B family know a good resource for Sputnik blades? Would really like to try them.
Sputnik Blades
- Thread starter KyLegend45
- Start date
They are challenging to source lately.
Sputnik Cnythnk Double Edge Razor Blades
Sputnik Cnythnk Double Edge Razor Blades- Available today from $4.99
www.westcoastshaving.com
they've been hard to find lately .... PM me your address and I'll send you a few USPS.
- Thread starter
- #5
Thank youSputnik Cnythnk Double Edge Razor Blades
Sputnik Cnythnk Double Edge Razor Blades- Available today from $4.99
I found them on the bay, but 30 usd for 100 pieces were a bit too much for me.
I was also looking for them.
Question for you. Are Sputniks always made in Russia by Gillette?
Question for you. Are Sputniks always made in Russia by Gillette?
- Thread starter
- #8
I'm not sure on that answer, maybe someone else in the B&B family knows
I have these blades in sufficient quantity. But, unfortunately, it is problematic to deliver them from Russia.
lasta
Blade Biter
Not sure how far back they go, but Sputniks have been made since the USSR still existed.
I have some carbon steel ones that stated made in Leningrad.
Yeah, but if I remember correctly I had read in the forum that the Sputnik brand had been bought by Gillette over the last two decades.
Gillette owns the brand, indeed. The brand was produced by the Leninets company originally, which then entered into partnership with Gillette
From a Russian article, from 2000 (translated):
"Gillette officials said they chose to build the factory in St. Petersburg largely because of a 10-year relationship with the Leninets holding company. Leninets, once a major avionicssupplier, was the Soviet Union's second-largest producer of double-edge blades.
Leninets and Gillette entered into a joint venture, Petersburg Products International, in 1990. By 1993, the two were producing blades and razors, with Gillette controlling a 78 percent share of the company, up from its initial 65 percent. In 1996, the company attained 25 percent of the razor and blade market in the CIS.
At this point, Gillette decided to go it alone and build its own modern production facility."
The PPI plant/Gillette used to put out a Sputnik Super Platinum version too:
The picture shows stainless steel, not carbon steel ？
lasta
Blade Biter
I was referring to another blade. I noticed Sputniks had the same circular logos as some carbon steel Nevas I had.
I suspect the original Sputniks were carbon steel, there were very few stainless blades on the market anywhere before Wilkinson Sword introduced a commercially viable one in the early 60's. I remember my Grandpa being sceptical of stainless blades in the late 60's.
Very old brand in Russia/USSR, and now with the current political situation unlikely to be available in the West.
Very nice blades, typical of anything from PPI, or in fact any Gillette factory since the Indiana and Chinese blades seem to be as good as the Russian ones.
Very old brand in Russia/USSR, and now with the current political situation unlikely to be available in the West.
Very nice blades, typical of anything from PPI, or in fact any Gillette factory since the Indiana and Chinese blades seem to be as good as the Russian ones.
Please note that the packaging says "for technical purposes". That is, these blades were not designed for shaving. In the USSR, they sharpened pencils or corrected errors in drawings.
I have Sputnik blades made in Leningrad.
Odd - manufacturer listed on the back of those vintage Sputnik blades say factory "Neva". These vintage Neva blades say LMO "Sputnik" on the back. Both Leninets brands.
Neighbouring addresses listed - Zastavskaya Street 5 and Zastavskaya Street 3-a
Here we can see a trademark for that triangle symbol - the owner is Leninets
Neva brand is named for a famous historical Russian ship, you can see a ship on the packet of Neva blades. Which also appeared on Sputnik blades:
A more modern iteration of Sputnik made in USSR, with Neva ship:
Compare to the current Gillette Sputnik, which maintains the same colour scheme:
The ship has been replaced with what I assume would be a reference to the famous Sputnik satellite, for which the Sputnik brand was named:
UUSR pack of Sputnik blades featuring the Sputnik satellite:
Note: This pack lists a different company with a Moscow address. This article references Sputnik blades being originally manufactured at the Sputnik plant, which then became part of Leninets.
If we look closely at the above pack, it would seem that the current Gillette pack shows a representation of the Sputnik satellite exiting USSR into space - "Red Russia"/White representing the curvature of the earth/Blue is space
You are not quite right about the boat on the packaging of the Neva and Sputnik blades. This ship adorns the spire of the Admiralty in St. Petersburg. The boat on the spire of the building is one of the symbols of St. Petersburg. It is most likely that the prototype of the ship was the battleship Ingermanland, the most modern at that time and the former most beloved warship of Peter I, built in 1712-1715 and sailing under the standard of Peter I. In addition to the historical importance of the Ingermanland, in favor of the version that it served as the prototype of the Admiralty ship, there is a complete similarity of their silhouettes, rigging and gun device. The outdated version that the prototype of the Admiralty ship was the frigate Eagle is refuted by the inconsistency of the ship's architecture (the main and mizzen masts of the frigate Eagle were located close to each other, and not at a proportional distance, as on the Ingermanland and the Admiralty ship). It is also unlikely that the Eagle was used as a prototype, due to the lack of reliable images of it (except for a single small engraving) and the inglorious death of the frigate. According to legend, the three flags on the masts of the ship were made of pure red gold, and Peter I's personal bussol was kept in the bow. The original ship stood on the spire until 1815, when it was replaced with a new one during repairs, while the original van Bolos ship was lost. The second ship stood for 71 years: in 1886, during the next repair of the spire, it was removed and replaced with an exact copy; the original, weighing 65 kg, length 192 cm and height 158 cm, was placed in the exposition of the Maritime Museum located here.
NEVA was NEVA, Sputnik was Sputnik. Neva was carbon, Sputnik - stainless.
Yes, they were both made in Leningrad by the same plant back in the days, but that's where the common things end. I have shaved with both in the 80s. You don't want to try a Neva, trust me. Sputniks back then were mediocre at best, nothing in common with the current Sputnik production.
