I was kindly offered some Wizamat Super Iridiums by ooggetuige in exchange for some of my favorites. Because Ooggetuige lives in the Netherlands, his sources differ from my vendors.
I will not deal with the interesting question of whether the Wizamet Super Iridiums (which are difficult to come by here in the US) are different from PolSilver Super Iridiums. This is covered well in these threads:https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/attachments/250-super-iridium-blades__56073_zoom-jpg.798182/iridium super extra stainless blade the same as polsilver?, and https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/blade-wars-polsilver-super-iridium-vs-wizamet-iridium-super.504864/.
Methods. Rather than conduct a double-blinded test, I thought I would do this in 'controlled' fashion using my 'standard, real world' set-up, that I would pick most any morning.
The controls are two other top-tier (IMO) Russian blades that I enjoy, Nacets and GSB. My standard set-up will be my usual prep (warm shower and shampoo), then a badger brush to face-lather one of Haslinger's hard soaps (since it is summer this will be sage, aloe vera or coconut-all top performers).
Then I will load up my daily driver (Wolfman WR1 with WRH2 handle) and go to town. My routine is a three-pass (WTG, XTG, ATG) shave, followed by a favorite summer AS (Lucky Tiger, Floid vigoroso, Proraso green, or Pinaud clubman). Since I typically get an average of 7 shaves with my top blades, each blade will be used for 1 week of daily shaves, then tossed. I plan to alternate the SI with the other options.
Week 1: Wizamet Super Iridium. Out of the gate the SI proved very smooth and comfortable. It was sharp enough, but very forgiving. The blade performed well for the entire week with only a minor fall off on days 6 and 7. Overall, I got 3 BBS, 3 DFS, and 1 C&C shaves, with only 1 small weeper this week. One nice blade!
Week 2: Gillette Silver Blue. The GSB was not quite as smooth on shave 1 as the SI! This could be just my pickiness as I was being very critical. However, the blade smoothed out nicely and provided for shaves 2-5. Very comfortable blade that performed as expected: smooth, sharp and long-lasting. Overall, I got 3 BBS and 4 DFS, no weepers. Perhaps, because this is one of my go-to blades, this appeared a hair (and just a hair) better than the SI. But the two are very close!
Week 3: Wizamet Super Iridium. Almost an exact repeat of Week 1. Smooth out of the gate. Sharp and comfortable with a minor fall-off after day 5. Overall, I got 3 BBS and 4 DFS shaves, with only 1 small weeper this week. One nice blade!
Week 4: Gillette Nacet. The Natet proved smooth and comfortable all week. Nothing to criticize! Totally comfortable blade that performed as expected: smooth, sharp and long-lasting. Overall, I got 3 BBS and 4 DFS, no weepers. Perhaps, because this is one of my go-to blades, this appeared a hair (perhaps not that much) better than the SI. But the two are very close!
Conclusions: It is very difficult for me to criticize any of these top-tier blades. The Wizamet SI is one nice blade! Definitely worth a try for any fan of Russian steel!
I will not deal with the interesting question of whether the Wizamet Super Iridiums (which are difficult to come by here in the US) are different from PolSilver Super Iridiums. This is covered well in these threads:https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/attachments/250-super-iridium-blades__56073_zoom-jpg.798182/iridium super extra stainless blade the same as polsilver?, and https://www.badgerandblade.com/forum/threads/blade-wars-polsilver-super-iridium-vs-wizamet-iridium-super.504864/.
Methods. Rather than conduct a double-blinded test, I thought I would do this in 'controlled' fashion using my 'standard, real world' set-up, that I would pick most any morning.
The controls are two other top-tier (IMO) Russian blades that I enjoy, Nacets and GSB. My standard set-up will be my usual prep (warm shower and shampoo), then a badger brush to face-lather one of Haslinger's hard soaps (since it is summer this will be sage, aloe vera or coconut-all top performers).
Then I will load up my daily driver (Wolfman WR1 with WRH2 handle) and go to town. My routine is a three-pass (WTG, XTG, ATG) shave, followed by a favorite summer AS (Lucky Tiger, Floid vigoroso, Proraso green, or Pinaud clubman). Since I typically get an average of 7 shaves with my top blades, each blade will be used for 1 week of daily shaves, then tossed. I plan to alternate the SI with the other options.
Week 1: Wizamet Super Iridium. Out of the gate the SI proved very smooth and comfortable. It was sharp enough, but very forgiving. The blade performed well for the entire week with only a minor fall off on days 6 and 7. Overall, I got 3 BBS, 3 DFS, and 1 C&C shaves, with only 1 small weeper this week. One nice blade!
Week 2: Gillette Silver Blue. The GSB was not quite as smooth on shave 1 as the SI! This could be just my pickiness as I was being very critical. However, the blade smoothed out nicely and provided for shaves 2-5. Very comfortable blade that performed as expected: smooth, sharp and long-lasting. Overall, I got 3 BBS and 4 DFS, no weepers. Perhaps, because this is one of my go-to blades, this appeared a hair (and just a hair) better than the SI. But the two are very close!
Week 3: Wizamet Super Iridium. Almost an exact repeat of Week 1. Smooth out of the gate. Sharp and comfortable with a minor fall-off after day 5. Overall, I got 3 BBS and 4 DFS shaves, with only 1 small weeper this week. One nice blade!
Week 4: Gillette Nacet. The Natet proved smooth and comfortable all week. Nothing to criticize! Totally comfortable blade that performed as expected: smooth, sharp and long-lasting. Overall, I got 3 BBS and 4 DFS, no weepers. Perhaps, because this is one of my go-to blades, this appeared a hair (perhaps not that much) better than the SI. But the two are very close!
Conclusions: It is very difficult for me to criticize any of these top-tier blades. The Wizamet SI is one nice blade! Definitely worth a try for any fan of Russian steel!
