Wilkinson Super Sword 1960’s Blade

[LHH1]

Recently I found some ‘made in England’ Wilkinson Super Sword stainless steel DE blades that I had purchased in the 1960’s and were in my old Dopp kit.
I used one today and what a fantastic shave! I do not remember these blades being that good years ago, but this was one of my best shaves. The new Wilkinson blades for me are OK, but this 50 year old blade was great. Better than my usual Personna Lab Blues or Wizamet Super Iridium. First shave, but very smooth, sharp with no pulling. I will see how many shaves I will get and if it stays smooth.
Any additional historical Wilkinson blade information would be appreciated!

 

[Dalejr]

Stored properly they should be amazing like you described. Its why a few of us here only use vintage blades.

 

[LHH1]

I wonder what the difference is between the old method of manufacturing vs today.
Also, which vintage blades are regarded as really special?
thanks.

 

[Dalejr]

Variety of reasons. Years ago they were mostly aimed at first world countries with lots of disposable income so they were competing to create the best blades to capture market share. Today they are mainly aimed at third world countries with less income so they need to be cost efficient.

1. Personna 74 are your top vintage blades but expect to pay $5 per blade or more.
2. Wilkinson Sword Light Brigades(Chromium Edge) are your top vintage blades but expect to pay $4 per blade or more.
3. Personna Super Platinum Chrome (came after 74's)
4. London Bridge Super Stainless (supposed to be very similar to Wilkinson Light Brigades)
5. Schick Super Stainless/Super Chromium/Plus Platinum
6. Gillette Spoilers/Gillette Platinum Plus

I'm sure others will chime in with more.

 

[LHH1]

Dalejr,
Thank you for this information, I will check out these options, and where they can be purchased.

 

[BigJ]

Lovely!! Congratulations!!

 

[Zora]

Variety of reasons. Years ago they were mostly aimed at first world countries with lots of disposable income so they were competing to create the best blades to capture market share. Today they are mainly aimed at third world countries with less income so they need to be cost efficient.

1. Personna 74 are your top vintage blades but expect to pay $5 per blade or more.
2. Wilkinson Sword Light Brigades(Chromium Edge) are your top vintage blades but expect to pay $4 per blade or more.
3. Personna Super Platinum Chrome (came after 74's)
4. London Bridge Super Stainless (supposed to be very similar to Wilkinson Light Brigades)
5. Schick Super Stainless/Super Chromium/Plus Platinum
6. Gillette Spoilers/Gillette Platinum Plus

I'm sure others will chime in with more.

Those are the usual suspects, and all very good blades. I happen to prefer the English London Bridges, the Plus Platinum, and Platinum plus as I believe they are the pinnacle of 1960’s-70’s blade technology.

 

[EM313]

I’ve used the Spoilers and I find them to be a nice smooth shave. English made Super Silvers also deserve a shout out. Spoilers seem easy to find, but the $1-2 per blade price noted previously is accurate. I don’t see the Super Silvers much. Not sure why. Age perhaps? I received several packs as an add on to a razor purchase and was pleasantly surprised. They are as smooth and long lasting as my Spoilers. I think mine were made in the 60’s, but I haven’t dated them. I have two packs of the Light Brigades and a pack of the Personna 74 that I sought out after reading comments here on B&B. I’m saving those for a special occasion.

 

[VBH37118]

The Gillette spoiler was the first blade I used when I first started shaving, it was smooth and it worked great. Some time after that my mom bought the Wilkinson Sword blades which also worked great, to me I could not tell the difference. All the Wilkinson Sword blades were the basically the same, fast forward to last year I started using the spoilers and Wilkinson again after 45-50 years to me the Wilkinson is slightly smoother and after using all the different vintage Wilkinson blades I have collected they are all the same with one exception the one in the red hanging card that simply says Wilkinson Sword stainless imo it’s not as smooth. Sorry for long post