Thoughts on Gillette 7 o’clock Super Platinum (blacks)?

[Proper Irish]

New shaver here, and I think my favorite aspect of the hobby is actually… the blades.
(I’m a bit of a knife & metallurgy nerd so that probably has something to do with it).

So far, I’ve shaved with:

-Gillette 7 o'clock yellow pack
-Gillette 7 o’clock Super platinum black
-Astra SP
-Gillette Silver blue

It’s really eye opening to see how much of a different feel they all have, and how they have their own character.
Different levels of sharpness, smoothness, blade thickness/thinness, etc.

So far I’ve liked the Gillette 7 o’clock Super Platinum blacks the best. They seem to have the best balance of very sharp & very smooth.

Are these considered pretty good blades? I’ve done some searches but can’t find too much on them.
Mine came with a Gillette 7 o’clock Sterling razor (india version of the TECH), so I presume these are made in India?

Just wondering what everyone’s thoughts are on these. Am I off in thinking that they’re good blades?

 

[zoidberg]

New shaver here, and I think my favorite aspect of the hobby is actually… the blades.
(I’m a bit of a knife & metallurgy nerd so that probably has something to do with it).

So far, I’ve shaved with:

-Gillette 7 o'clock yellow pack
-Gillette 7 o’clock Super platinum black
-Astra SP
-Gillette Silver blue

It’s really eye opening to see how much of a different feel they all have, and how they have their own character.
Different levels of sharpness, smoothness, blade thickness/thinness, etc.

So far I’ve liked the Gillette 7 o’clock Super Platinum blacks the best. They seem to have the best balance of very sharp & very smooth.

Are these considered pretty good blades? I’ve done some searches but can’t find too much on them.
Mine came with a Gillette 7 o’clock Sterling razor (india version of the TECH), so I presume these are made in India?

Just wondering what everyone’s thoughts are on these. Am I off in thinking that they’re good blades?

Yes, they are highly regarded. Sometimes referred to as Black Ninjas. They are made in India.

If you like those then try a few other Indian Gillettes, 365 and 7 O'Clock Permasharp Stainless are two very sharp blades, work well in mild razor heads.

 

[Mempho]

I think the Blacks are the sharpest of the 7 O'clocks. Very fine blades indeed

 

[Jay21]

There is lots of positive hype about these blades. I read most of it and bought a tuck in a sample pack and expected a marvelous shave. I was underwhelmed. They weren’t sharp or smooth. Maybe I got a bad batch and YMMV.

 

[Seelector]

Sometimes referred to as Black Ninjas

And that’s a well deserved nicknames for these fantastic blades. They’re one of my favourites if not my top choice.

I remember the first time I used one, and foolishly thought they wouldn’t be very good. I really liked all the blades I tried from the Russian PPI Gillette plant, and thought that these were some sort of el cheapo junk made in India that would be awful. I was wrong wrong wrong! As smooth and sharp as any of the PPI blades, plus the coolness of the black and yellow package. 10/10 blades.

 

[NorthernSoul]

They are very good blades, but have gotten terribly overpriced in recent years. IMHO, they are no longer worth the asking price.

For the money, it's difficult to beat Perma-Sharp (gold/red pack) or Nacet from the Gillette lines. Other makes, you might like BIC Chrome Platinum.

Ninjas don't come from India, BTW.

 

[Proper Irish]

It’s good to hear they’re well regarded, I was worried that maybe I don’t know a good blade from a bad one

My very inexperienced impressions of the razors above were:

-GSB: nice mix of sharpness and smoothness (perhaps a little more sharp than smooth), but doesn’t really stand out in either category. But I liked it okay.
(Only had one shave though)

-Astra SP: Much more smooth than sharp. So smooth that it was hard to get a read on the sharpness.

-Gillette 7 o’clock yellows: Felt sharp, maybe thinner than the others as well? No smoothness to really speak of. At times felt… I don’t know the right word… scratchy maybe?

Gillette 7 o’clock SP blacks: Very sharp, very smooth, great mix of both.
My favorite


I ordered some Nacets, Personna lab blues, Gillette Platinum, Feather, Bic Chrome Platinum and Wizamets to try as well. Looking forward to trying them all (well… I’m a bit weary of the Feathers, ha!).

 

[DesertIguana]

I think the Blacks are the sharpest of the 7 O'clocks. Very fine blades indeed

Ditto.

 

[psfred]

The 7 O'Clock black was the first blade I got more than 100 shaves on, and I can probably still get more since it's still in my Aristocrat.

Top quality blade.

I've found that all modern blades are the same thickness (about 0.004") but the width varies a little. If you are not using an adjustable razor, you will need to match blade width to whatever razor you are using to get the blade feel you prefer.

An adjustable (Gillette Slim or Fatboy or Super, or any of the modern ones) will let you set the razor to get the blade feel you like.

Otherwise, only bevel angle on the blade makes much difference. I find good blades last 70 shaves or so, excellent ones 100 plus (up to 160 on a Personna Israeli Red, now made in Germany) and only really bad blades last less than 50 shaves. Pulling is a result of the blade not riding on the skin in my experience, or being way off the proper angle. Last couple blades I've tried persuaded me that Lord blades have steeper bevels than PPI or most Indian blades, and to get good shaves I have to hold the razor handle much closer to my face.

 

[reformedshavr]

They are fantastic - for me, they work best with razors that fall in the mild-medium category.
I agree with NorthernSoul that they have become overpriced. A blade that I like with similar characteristics are the Lord Silver Stars

 

[Joezamboni]

Rough first shave, no matter how much I revisited them. while they performed well they didn’t stand out above blades like my discontinued Polsilver SIs and USA Gillette platinums. Then the already mentioned Permasharps (non Indian market) and Russian Platinum “Swedes.”

I think we had the heyday for blades by Gillette in this hobby. We’ll see what Chinese manufacturing does since that seems to be where it’s going.

 

[ErkRusselReserve]

Bic Chrome Platinums should be next on your list. Sharpest and Smoothest DE blades IME. Japanese Steel on European Equipment sputtered with Chrome and Platinum. As good as it gets, but make sure you buy them from reputable sellers, there are fakes.

DE doesn't get too exotic. There are a couple Titanium coated blades that I have not found to be too impressive (Sharp Titanium). The next exotic blades are the Artist Club Kai Captain Mild Pinks. This is as exotic as you will get with replaceable blades:

KAI Group

It is the official website of KAI Group.

www.kai-group.com

If you go looking for vintage blades, there are Personna 74 Tungsten Steel blades out there. Hard to get and I cannot really comment on them but they are said to be sharp and long lasting. They are a deep rabbit hole as there are various versions of them with different coatings/metallurgy.

 

[Dave himself]

New shaver here, and I think my favorite aspect of the hobby is actually… the blades.
(I’m a bit of a knife & metallurgy nerd so that probably has something to do with it).

So far, I’ve shaved with:

-Gillette 7 o'clock yellow pack
-Gillette 7 o’clock Super platinum black
-Astra SP
-Gillette Silver blue

It’s really eye opening to see how much of a different feel they all have, and how they have their own character.
Different levels of sharpness, smoothness, blade thickness/thinness, etc.

So far I’ve liked the Gillette 7 o’clock Super Platinum blacks the best. They seem to have the best balance of very sharp & very smooth.

Are these considered pretty good blades? I’ve done some searches but can’t find too much on them.
Mine came with a Gillette 7 o’clock Sterling razor (india version of the TECH), so I presume these are made in India?

Just wondering what everyone’s thoughts are on these. Am I off in thinking that they’re good blades?

It really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about a blade, it's about how well they work for you. Blades are definitely one of the YMMV parts of wet shaving.

 

[ErkRusselReserve]

For a metal nerd, this is pure juice:

Scanning Electron Microscope Blade Edge Images

I've been brushing up on my SEM skills at work over the last few day and decided to bring in some razor blades to practice with this morning. I ran 6 different Gillette blades at 150X magnification and thought some of you may be interested in these results. I have a ton of different blades and...

www.badgerandblade.com

 

[Goblin]

New shaver here, and I think my favorite aspect of the hobby is actually… the blades.

I agree with you. I really like trying new blades. It's a good way to have fun with the hobby without spending a fortune, although the range of blades that actually work best for me is unfortunately rather narrow.

I like the black Super Plats, although I think they are quite expensive for what they are. Smooth, but pretty much a one-and-done blade for me, which at £25 per 100 means it's hard to justify a bulk buy (although I do have 100 en route).

I said in another thread that my top-to-bottom ranking of the 7OC blades at the moment probably looks like this:

When I started, the 7OC Sharp Edge was a very popular blade and considered almost as sharp as Feathers, but they completely banjaxed them about 6 years ago and the current ones are nowhere near as sharp. The Russian greens and Indian blacks are both solid blades, but I recently got around to opening a tuck of the Indian greens that I have had lying around for months and I was impressed by their sharpness - sharper than any of the other 7OC offerings, and still only £11 per 100. I ordered 300 from RBC, to build up some stores before Royal Mail stops shipping blades at the beginning of April.

 

[Proper Irish]

For a metal nerd, this is pure juice:

Scanning Electron Microscope Blade Edge Images

I've been brushing up on my SEM skills at work over the last few day and decided to bring in some razor blades to practice with this morning. I ran 6 different Gillette blades at 150X magnification and thought some of you may be interested in these results. I have a ton of different blades and...

www.badgerandblade.com

This is fantastic, thank you for sharing this! Looking forward to reading the whole thread later when I have time.
A quick read through of the first few pages, boy those Astra SP’s sure look good under the scope!

 

[Curkio]

Yellow then Black then Green for me in order of preference.

 

[Cal]

Ninjas don't come from India, BTW.

Really!? Where do they come from then, please?

 

[NorthernSoul]

Really!? Where do they come from then, please?

From the movies, I think. Usually featuring Japanese swords. Hii-yaah!

There were Japanese mercenaries trained in stealth and espionage, called shinobi .

 

[Salty_Shaver]

They are very good blades, but have gotten terribly overpriced in recent years. IMHO, they are no longer worth the asking price.

For the money, it's difficult to beat Perma-Sharp (gold/red pack) or Nacet from the Gillette lines. Other makes, you might like BIC Chrome Platinum.

Ninjas don't come from India, BTW.

Yes I agree they are now over priced but nowhere near feather blades that are basically over hyped. Perma sharp is one of my favorites.