When do you feel that Gillette peaked with their razor design?

[Fletch]

I was curious on to what you guys think about this. Gillette has been around "forever" and probably every adult male in the US and likely many other countries have, at some point in their life, shaved with some kind of Gillette razor.

Naturally for marketing purposes they need to keep evolving in one way or another to coming up with something that makes their other razor seem pale in comparison to what you're currently using. But I was wondering if anyone feels that they basically "peaked" with a particular design or maybe a couple designs that really are "the best a man can get". What say you gents?

 

[GDCarrington]

Fatboy and Slim 1960s

 

[Granaura]

Some days I feel that the technology peaked with an injector razor with a Personna 74 blade...

I shaved with it today and man.. I don't know if it can be beaten.... So simple to use... so smooth...

 

[datel]

Gillette Aristocrat.
I just had to add the Tech, I just love that little thing.

 

[michiganlover]

The late 1960's Super Adjustable with the metal adjustment plate.

After this razor, Gillette took a downward spiral into cheapening their razors, and build quality of course suffered. Later Super Adjustables would have a plastic adjustment plate instead for example.

 

[americanarmsdealer]

+1 for the Fatboy and Slim. So I guess my answer states that they've been in decline for the last 50 years.

 

[bythbook]

New Deluxe... what's that - the 1930s?

All this new-fangled TTO business is just a fad.


...don't even talk to me about those "adjustable" abominations.

*hmph*

 

[mblakele]

I feel that Gillette had four distinct eras of razor design:

* 1903-30, during which I favor the New Improved
* 1931-38, with Gaisman's influence and the NEW
* 1939-71, with the TTOs and adjustables
* 1972-present, but who cares?

I present this delineation with apologies to anyone who is looking for a birth-quarter razor from the post-1971 era. Gillette did make some good DE razors after that, but all new design work seemed to be focused on the new cartridge systems.

 

[Eddieb208]

The "Toggle"...it is one of the heaviest that they made and the style made it quite unique. The red dot, adjustment capability, and toggle feature to facilitate rinsing the blade = one nice shaving tool.

 

[Walter Sobchak]

I would agree with the Fatboy/Slim era. They're both fantastic shavers and very nicely built, IMO. After that we see the stresses of a modern economy start to take their toll on design and implementation. Just my take.

 

[Mike'sWorld]

I have a number of Gillette razors from the fifties and some of more modern vintage. The earlier razors are more solidly built and have far less slack and slop in the TTO mechanism. Putting aside for the moment how it shaves, my red tip is much more solid feeling than my 70's era SS.

 

[tomviolence]

The NEW Improved models of the 20's are a peak for the 3 piece types.
The 1940's TTO Aristocrat
And yes, the Fatboy and slim adjustables are certainly top of the game there.

If I had the desert island choice of one, I'd go for the NEW Improved. Simple, functional, beautiful.

I am ignoring the ABC series ....

 

[AmishFury]

i say 1938

i might sing a different tune when my NEW arrives but for now i stick with this answer

 

[SiBurning]

Before they went to 3 blades they kind of got caught admitting that more blades would give a worse shave. It was admitted in an interview, so there's plausible deniability. There's also a research document where they (or maybe it was Schick) had already proven the twin blade theory was wrong. I wish someone could find these documents online, since I don't seem to have them and can't find them anymore.

I do think there's still a lot of room for improvement, particularly in applying blade coatings.

 

[GDCarrington]

Before they went to 3 blades they kind of got caught admitting that more blades would give a worse shave. It was admitted in an interview, so there's plausible deniability. There's also a research document where they (or maybe it was Schick) had already proven the twin blade theory was wrong. I wish someone could find these documents online, since I don't seem to have them and can't find them anymore.

I do think there's still a lot of room for improvement, particularly in applying blade coatings.

Try this commercial from Bic in 1982

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2271904&postcount=53

 

[Gruder]

The NEW.

 

[SiBurning]

Try this commercial from Bic in 1982

http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showpost.php?p=2271904&postcount=53

Cool. Unfortunately, the commercial just refers to some electron microscope scan, which could be anything. There was some more direct and credible evidence that leaked out.

 

[WinstonSmith]

I can't say I find anything made after the NEW a real improvement, though some are quite the opposite.

 

[the beav]

I'd say the design peaked just before they started using cheaper materials. That is, when they from using brass/nickel to aluminum/black paint on the super speeds and adjustables. Of course the Techmatic had already been introduced in 1965, paving the way for plastic razors in the future.

 

[rosborne]

I have to say I'm a fan of the RED TIP and the 40's SS. Haven't tried a Fat Boy. Like the Slim but doesn't get much use in my routine.