Swedish Gillettes and the DE Sampler Packs

So I have a bit of news today. As many of you know, I've been waiting quite some time for my latest order of Gillettes to arrive. They finally came yesterday, but while I was packing up orders last night (while watching the latest The Office), I noticed the cities listed on the back of the packs were different. Ack! We've come to know the Swedish Gillettes by the listing of Scandinavian distribution cities on the back of the package. These, however, had English cities. I was horrified and very frustrated, thinking I had boxes and boxes of sub-standard blades.

However, I immediately tried them out and was surprised. They actually shaved like Swedish Gillettes. If you've been around long enough, you'll know I'm one of the most particular about what is and what is not a "Swedish" Gillette, and I've tried most of the contenders. Additionally, the Swedish Gillette is easily my blade of choice and use them 90% of the time. I had not, until yesterday, tried "English" Gillettes. These originated from one of the main distribution companies in England, the same one where many of the well known retail sources obtain their Swedish Gillettes. They were ordered the same way, with the same specifics as I've always ordered. I'm not exactly sure what changed, but I'm trying to get to the bottom of it. In the mean time, if not exactly the same (which I'm not yet convinced) these are very nice blades and is what I will be carrying until I can find another source.

I'm going to be asking a few long-time users of the Gillettes to see if they'll to a test for me. If any of you are long-time users and can give an unbiased, blind test for me, let me know and I'll send a few of you a pack.

I've contacted everyone that has an outstanding order with some options. If you have not heard from me, please contact me through PM or from the site.

I'll keep everyone posted as I find out more information.

How odd. I've never heard of British Gillettes.....

-Mo

moses said:

How odd. I've never heard of British Gillettes.....

-Mo

Click to expand...

Me neither, which is why I'm wondering if it was just a packaging change, seeing as you find these mostly in England anyways.

John, what are the cities mentioned on the back? Are these blades the same as the ones from Surrey UK that are in the ShaveWiki? If not could you add them to the ShaveWiki with pic and all? Or just send me the info/pic and I'll look into it. I had a discussion about "Euro" or British Gillettes in this thread...

Robert, the cities are the same as the "British" Gillettes in the wiki. However, the box for the blades is different, exactly the same as the Swedish Gillettes. Very odd. Someone brought up in a a question about P&G making some changes now that they own Gillette. Personally, I always thought it a little odd that the Swedish Gillettes were usually found in England. Regardless, I'll be sending out a pack or two more for feedback. In the mean time, I'm going to be working on another source or two for information.

Well the one thing I learned from working on that Wikipage is that blades are a real big mess. Good luck figuring it out. Keep us posted on what you come up with and how the blades are received (haven't even gotten to the "Swedes" myself yet). I can get Gillette Platinum blades in Sweden (don't know what cities are on the back though), but they cost close to $8 for 5 blades.

Like many others here I found the Swedes to be the best all round blade and in the UK they were easily obtainable at John Lewis (department store). However when I went to get some more they had none in stock and did not have any for a couple of months. The other week I was in there and I saw two packs on the shelf so I just grabbed them as I was just pleased to get 10 more blades.

When I got home I noticed the back now has Proctor & Gamble Weybridge, Surrey UK (P&G UK headquarters) on them. I still had one pack of "original swedes" left so was able to compare the packaging and everything is exactly the same otherwise.

I shaved with the "UK" blade this week and I cannot tell any differnece between the two and, even bought some more this past weekend, so I reckon it's just a packaging (the cardboard backing) swap which also accounts for the temporary out of stock in JL. Hope this helps.

mactrack said:

Like many others here I found the Swedes to be the best all round blade and in the UK they were easily obtainable at John Lewis (department store). However when I went to get some more they had none in stock and did not have any for a couple of months. The other week I was in there and I saw two packs on the shelf so I just grabbed them as I was just pleased to get 10 more blades.

When I got home I noticed the back now has Proctor & Gamble Weybridge, Surrey UK (P&G UK headquarters) on them. I still had one pack of "original swedes" left so was able to compare the packaging and everything is exactly the same otherwise.

I shaved with the "UK" blade this week and I cannot tell any differnece between the two and, even bought some more this past weekend, so I reckon it's just a packaging (the cardboard backing) swap which also accounts for the temporary out of stock in JL. Hope this helps.

Click to expand...

Excellent! Those are the same blades as I just received. Yes, they have P&G on the back, now. There was recently a perceived drop in supply from the main distributor in England. I was concerned the blades were in fact NOS all along, and we had finally depleted the supply. The distributor checked with P&G and replied that they were not NOS, and they were still making them. I think the short-term drop in supply was probably due to the repackaging. I'm thinking the "Swedish" moniker needs to be dropped and replaced with something else.

You had me worried. The Swedes work the best for me, and just having discovered that, I was worried that my small 5 pack would be the end of it.

As far as I understand it, the British Gillette's have also been referred to as "Euro" Gillette's. Only problem is that there are many European Gillette's but I guess it could work anyway.

Flaxorca said:

As far as I understand it, the British Gillette's have also been referred to as "Euro" Gillette's. Only problem is that there are many European Gillette's but I guess it could work anyway.

Click to expand...

I think the difference is that they now say P&G and the blade box is plastic, just like the Swedish Gillettes.

Well then I guess they'll just have to be called Platinums... If they are actually the same as Swedes word will get out soon enough no matter what people call them, Surrey's has a nice ring to it as well... Is there a factory there? BTW there are also platinum plus blades, but those are from Brazil, so probably not all that common.

John sent, I shaved.

The sky is not falling, the blade is still the same Swedish Jet goodness.

Buy with confidence.

Your Mileage Will Not Vary.

Doc Mottern said:

John sent, I shaved.

The sky is not falling, the blade is still the same Swedish Jet goodness.

Buy with confidence.

Your Mileage Will Not Vary.

Click to expand...

That's great news.

John - Has this recent change shed any light on where these blades are actually manufactured? It seems odd that this mystery persists. Does your English wholesale distributor have any idea?

It would be a great puzzle to solve

Chuck

gagarin said:

That's great news.

John - Has this recent change shed any light on where these blades are actually manufactured? It seems odd that this mystery persists. Does your English wholesale distributor have any idea?

It would be a great puzzle to solve

Chuck

Click to expand...

Not a clue. P&G won't say, which is rather disappointing.

I also took these blades out for a test ride and found them to be Swede worthy.

I found some more information today. Digging through my stock, I came across some boxes of the original Swedish variety. The come in boxes of 10 packs of 5. The outside boxes of both Gillettes (Swedish and the new P&G English) are identical. Same GIN and SAP numbers. This leads me even further to believe it was just a repackage.

letterk said:

I found some more information today. Digging through my stock, I came across some boxes of the original Swedish variety. The come in boxes of 10 packs of 5. The outside boxes of both Gillettes (Swedish and the new P&G English) are identical. Same GIN and SAP numbers. This leads me even further to believe it was just a repackage.

Click to expand...

Excellent news John, I am very happy to here this.

Regards,

Also, the UPC is the same.

About a year or so ago, John sent me some Gillettes to try. I believe they were made in Greece, or at least had Greek writing on them. They were nice, sort of Derby quality, but no Swedes. The Swedish Gillettes are the best product to come from that country since the bikini team.

There are so many different variations in packaging, and the Gillettes can range from sublime to atrocious. What's great about this site is having so many knowledgeable folks trying out all of these products to make sure you get what you pay for.

If these guys say they're the real deal, Im in.