Production moved to India. Now what?

I've used many Indian made blades and have gotten great shaves with them so I'm not the least bit concerned that the quality of the blades formerly made in Russia will be a problem. I find SuperMax, Gillette 365, Laser and others made in India just fine.

You might want to check out my thread on DE blade evaluations. I recognized that some people have relied on Gillette/PPI blades from Russia and are now wondering what to do. While Gillette made some excellent blades in St. Petersburg, they also make some nice blades in India and China and elsewhere. Furthermore, there are a number of blade manufacturers around the world that made excellent blades. The challenge is finding the ones that work the best for your beard, your face, and your razors as each factor is important. Hopefully, my evaluations might provide some guidance in finding alternatives until production of former PPI blades is up and running. At this point, I understand Astra SP blades are being made in India and King C Gillette blades are being made in China. I do not know the status of other PPI brands.

https://damnfineshave.com/thread-rayclem...valuations

I'm in agreement here. While the production may move to India, it's still a Gillette blade. They're still putting their name on it, so you can have some level of confidence that they'll try to adhere to the same quality.

My go-to blades currently are Personna Comfort coated. They're "made in the USA", which is to say Mexico (from the rumors I've read). I can't say I haven't had SOME bad blades, but in general, they're really good quality. Personna is a big name in blades, they have a reputation,  and apparently strive to live up to it.

At least that's how I'm seeing it.

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Made in the USA packaged in Mexico.

I’ve tried a few Gillettes made in India.  I did not care for them the same way I do Russian made Gillettes.  

Personna happen to be a preferred alternative (both German and US made). 

I’m not crazy about Feathers.

I’ve tried a few Gillettes made in India.  I did not care for them the same way I do Russian made Gillettes.  

Personna happen to be a preferred alternative (both German and US made). 

I’m not crazy about Feathers.

The PPI plant made a wide variety of blades. Some brands like Sputnik were destined for sale within the Russian Federation. Astra blades were originally made in the Czech Republic before Gillette purchased the brand from Czech Blades and moved production to Russia. Now Czech Blades is rebuilding their reputation.
I understand that Astra SP blades are already being produced in India.

Production of 7 O'Clock blades has been around for more than a century, but Gillette purchased the brand so long ago that the origin seems to have been forgotten. Blades have been made under the 7 O'Clock brand in both Russia and India. The very best 7 O'Clock blade is arguably the Super Platinum (black) blade made in India. Thus, the Indian factory should have no problem producing the Sharpedge (yellow) and Super Stainless (green). I doubt they will have any issue with the Gillette Silver Blue and Gillette Platinum blades. The challenge might be producing the super sharp Permasharp Super, Nacet and Minora blades. 

Presumably, Gillette left behind the blade manufacturing and packaging machinery at PPI. They still produce blades for use within the Russian Federation. Thus, the question is whether they will have to purchase and install machinery in the plant in India to produce the various brands or whether there is excess capacity. My suspicion is that some of the least profitable brands might be eliminated. However, I have no idea which those might be.

I was a satisfied Astra user when I learned of the "winding down" of the Russian plant. I searched shaving supply web sites for Russian-made Astra greens and ordered 100 from WCS two weeks ago. First used one of these new blades a week ago and had a very rough experience. Then I looked at the fine print on the package and saw "Made in India." I gave the blade two more shaves to see if I simply had a bad day. Nope - it's the blade. I called WCS today. The representative was extremely courteous and I received an immediate full refund due to the mislabeling on their web site. QCS has already updated its web site to show the correct country of origin. I see that WCS gets some flak from forum members based on its pricing but I can say that the customer service is top notch.

Based on information from around this forum, I have ordered five-packs of platinum-coated Tiger, Tatra, Derby Premium (black package) and Bolzano blades from Razor Blades Club. I remain ever hopeful. Happy Holidays to all.

Update 1/17/24: Tiger and Tatra are terrifically comfortable and sharp. The Bolzano is very sharp and reasonably comfortable - I need a bit more practice. I did not enjoy the Derby Premium; I think it's the coating (not platinum).

Got about 3-4 years worth of Russian Silver Blues and Nacets, will switch to Personna Blues once those are finished.

I have a stock of Silver Blues and Blue 7 O'clocks, along with some Astras and misc Russian blades. I have the 7 O'Clock Blacks and they are nice, but not as nice as the Russian blades.

I bought Indian made Astra SPs and I don’t find them to be noticeably different than the Russian ones. They may last a little less but I usually toss a blade after 5 shaves, and I can definitely get at least 4 good shaves out of the Indian ones.