Wizamet, what happened?

[APBinNCA]

I was all excited to try these, just got them in the mail. Good thing I only ordered 10, they clearly have a QC problem. So far, I have opened 4 of them and they all have the same uneven grind in the same place. The problem is this crooked run has produced a clearly visible fang below where the bevel is uneven. There is also random chunks missing along the edge along with a wire edge in other spots. Once again, naked eye. I don't have magnification handy. Frankly, this is the kind of quality we were seeing out of Indian Wilkis several years ago, not from Petersburg products. I am going to shave with the forth one, but I am not looking forward to it. I can't fairly judge these based on this box nor can I confidently order 250. So now I have to order another trial amount from another vendor. I am kind of speechless considering the praise heaped on these, does anybody even give a blade a quick glance before putting them in their razor? Maybe I should just stick with Polsilvers.

 

[samasourus]

Mine seem okay.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

Where did you buy them? Can you post a photo of the packet and a blade? I just wonder if they are possibly fake, as it is unusual to hear of production issues with Gillette or other well-established manufacturers.

 

[APBinNCA]

Where did you buy them? Can you post a photo of the packet and a blade? I just wonder if they are possibly fake, as it is unusual to hear of production issues with Gillette or other well-established manufacturers.

I am pretty sure they are genuine, but I think it best that I don't point a finger where I got them. They are from a well know reseller, but I don't know his source so I need to inform him first. I will get a photo up. This is probably the hazard of not buying from one of the two well vetted sellers, but I didn't want to have to buy 250 to try them.


Looking at the box, I discovered that they are 2017 production so no conclusion can be drawn about current production. Sorry everybody!

 

[Calm_Shaver]

Could just be a bad box of 10 in the 250 pack. I would open another box in the 250 pack and try a different blade.

Purchased mine from Wizashave couple years back. They seem identical to PolSilver.

 

[APBinNCA]

Update!
I had a great shave in spite of the defects. I will look through the remaining blades and hope I can find maybe 3 that aren't too dangerous. At this point, I am going to recommend anybody thinking about trying these to just pay up to SuperIridium or Wizashave and get 50. The cost is ridiculous, but it is the only way to be sure you get current production blades and not 5 year old, potentially dross, blades. I don't think there is an excuse for selling 5 year old stock of these considering the popularity, they are still being made as far as I know.

 

[lasta]

Update!
I had a great shave in spite of the defects. I will look through the remaining blades and hope I can find maybe 3 that aren't too dangerous. At this point, I am going to recommend anybody thinking about trying these to just pay up to SuperIridium or Wizashave and get 50. The cost is ridiculous, but it is the only way to be sure you get current production blades and not 5 year old, potentially dross, blades. I don't think there is an excuse for selling 5 year old stock of these considering the popularity, they are still being made as far as I know.

Hmm, I thought you are a fan of vintage blades! What's wrong with 5 year olds?

 

[Ivo4u2]

Happy my wizamet tucks rarely disappoints

 

[tehnothing]

The 250 pack I am using now is from 2017. I have had no quality issues. I have been using them for a few years now.

 

[muzichead]

I was all excited to try these, just got them in the mail. Good thing I only ordered 10, they clearly have a QC problem. So far, I have opened 4 of them and they all have the same uneven grind in the same place.

Did you actually try to shave with any of the 4 you opened? I can't see any problems from the pic you posted...

At this point, I am going to recommend anybody thinking about trying these to just pay up to SuperIridium or Wizashave and get 50.

You can actually buy in qty's of 10, 50, 100, 250, and 1000 from Wizashave on Ebay... Of course the more you buy the pricing is more favorable also!!

 

[APBinNCA]

Did you actually try to shave with any of the 4 you opened? I can't see any problems from the pic you posted...

You can actually buy in qty's of 10, 50, 100, 250, and 1000 from Wizashave on Ebay... Of course the more you buy the pricing is more favorable also!!

Yes, I did mention above that I used the forth one and now have 2 shaves on it. There is a very obvious unevenness with the bevel that you can tell it didn’t feed through correctly. That doesn’t concern me for shaving as it created a smile at the corner. What was concerning is only visible with a a torch shining on the edge. You can see where the shiny spots and pits are on the edge. The ones that have bad features that I am not comfortable with will get corked and re-inspected.

The complaint about price comes from reading the Wizamet threads from the beginning. Namely, these aren’t expensive blades like Feathers in their intended market. I have only found lower quantities from Wizashave now that I checked and 40 cents a blade is completely absurd when they are under 20 each for a full box. It tells me that they don’t want people to try them first, just blindly buy box after box like everybody else. For $20, I can get a 100 pack of any of blades coming out of this same factory or another 250 Personnas for less than $30. They are clearly making easy money and good for them.

 

[muzichead]

What was concerning is only visible with a a torch shining on the edge. You can see where the shiny spots and pits are on the edge.

Is this something you do regularly for all the blades you buy? Seems a little excessive!!

 

[APBinNCA]

Is this something you do regularly for all the blades you buy? Seems a little excessive!!

No, that's how off the grind was on the corner that something didn't look right! I got burned by the Astras like several here and don't instinctively trust Petersburg products.

 

[South Dakota Guy]

Yes, I did mention above that I used the forth one and now have 2 shaves on it. There is a very obvious unevenness with the bevel that you can tell it didn’t feed through correctly. That doesn’t concern me for shaving as it created a smile at the corner. What was concerning is only visible with a a torch shining on the edge. You can see where the shiny spots and pits are on the edge. The ones that have bad features that I am not comfortable with will get corked and re-inspected.

The complaint about price comes from reading the Wizamet threads from the beginning. Namely, these aren’t expensive blades like Feathers in their intended market. I have only found lower quantities from Wizashave now that I checked and 40 cents a blade is completely absurd when they are under 20 each for a full box. It tells me that they don’t want people to try them first, just blindly buy box after box like everybody else. For $20, I can get a 100 pack of any of blades coming out of this same factory or another 250 Personnas for less than $30. They are clearly making easy money and good for them.

Near as I can tell, Wizamets were never intended for sale in North America. It is the middlemen like Wizashave that determine the pricing. The first 250 pack I bought from Wizashave in 2020 around Black Friday were dated in 2019. The other two 250 packs I purchased in early 2021 from the same vendor were dated 2020. It's interesting that 2017 dated ones are now appearing.

 

[APBinNCA]

Near as I can tell, Wizamets were never intended for sale in North America. It is the middlemen like Wizashave that determine the pricing. The first 250 back I bought from Wizashave in 2020 around Black Friday were dated in 2019. The other two 250 packs I purchased in early 2021 from the same vendor were dated 2020. It's interesting that 2017 dated ones are now appearing.

Thank you for giving me those dates. I am not saying 2017 in itself is a bad year, but the fact that blades from then are showing up now gives me concern where these may have come from. As I suspected, retailers shouldn't have anything left older than 2019. Personal supply bought a few years ago is a different story. You know as well as I how well made the Israeli blades are and that is my reference. At this cost, they should be visibly as good.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

Not sure if this has much bearing but Gillette appears to produce Wizamets in their St Petersburg factory once a year in batches that are dated either November or December. The ones I have (which I bought from Connaught early last year) are dated 14/12/19 (printed on one end of the packet).

Checking mine against the photos posted earlier, I cannot see any difference in the fonts or printing on the packet and blades. I don’t see anything that would indicate they aren’t genuine. Possibly it is just a rare production fault or damage that has occured during storage or transport.

I would try a blade from another packet, and then let the vendor know the extent of the faults in what you received. No doubt the vendor will send replacements.

 

[APBinNCA]

Well here is the part where I

Thanks everybody, stress does weird things to the brain that make no sense in hind sight! Mine are 29/07/20, I saw 2017 somewhere and didn't realise my error until the above posts. I am so glad I didn't name the vendor. Based on the date, he probably got them from Wizashave or Superiridium himself. I will add another pack to a future order and try again, but with the premium price over Personnas I am in no hurry.