RayClem's Blade Evaluations

Ray, sorry if this is already mentioned above, but do you know what year Gillette started moving production of their Russian-made blades to India?

The first I heard of the move was about a year ago. However, I do not know when the move began. P&G, the owner of Gillette, still has a large presence within Russia supplying a variety of products within the Russian Federation. The PPI facility is probably still producing razor blades  for use within that Federation and to countries like China and Iran who have friendly relations with Russia. It is only NATO countries that have restricted imports from Russia. 

Astra SP have moved to India. King C Gillette have moved to the Gillette factory in Shanghai, China. Those are the only two former Russian blades that I can confirm have moved elsewhere. I remember when the Edgewell/Personna plant in Israel closed. Although Personna Platinum blades produced in Germany started to show up in retailers within a few months, stocks of Israeli blades lingered for a few years. Thus, Russian blades might be available for some time, but as stocks become scarce, prices will rise.

Moving Gillette blade production from Russia to India and China is not necessarily a bad thing for quality. I understand that much of the machinery at the PPI plant was pretty old. The equipment in China and India is much newer. Thus, quality might improve over time. Some of the best blades produced by Gillette were made in the PPI plant. Over time, the other facilities should be able to make products just as good as PPI, or even better, but is might not happen overnight as new equipment might need to be installed and new employees need to be trained. 

Another question is which products will be continued into the future. Astra SP is one of Gillette's best sellers. Thus, it was one of the first products to move to India. King C Gillette blades are the flagship blade, so it was one of the first to move to China. Blade having lesser presence in the world market might be discontinued. One product I am concerned about is the Wizamet Super Iridium blades. Russia is the primary supplier of Iridium to the world. I do not know how easily Gillette will be able to get the supply of iridium they need to produce Wizamet blades outside Russia. 

Only time will tell how the blade market will change.

For those who are not aware, Supermax Personal Care, the Indian producer of several brands of DE blade has closed its production facilities, is considered insolvent, and has filed for bankruptcy. I suspect this closure will have a bigger impact on India and the rest of South Asia than in other markets. Nonetheless, if you are a fan of Supermax blades, you might want to stock up. Currently, blades seem to be available at a variety of sources. While prices are still reasonable, they are starting to rise. In my spreadsheet, I listed Supermax Blue Diamond platinum blades at $10/100 blades. They now sell for $15.

RayClem , is it likely that most blades made in India are made by the same factory? I know when I was selling guitars, this was kind of how guitars were done. There weren't many factories and the companies basically jobbed the guitars out to those factories. A lot of companies had guitars coming out of the same factory. Gibson was the only company that actually bought a factory in China to manufacture their Epiphone line. I saw a variety of different 10 pack tux of blades for like $.55 on the TRC website that were all made in India. I'm wondering if it would be something even worth picking up when or if I did an order with them for you to evaluate, or if it's all likely they could be very similar if not the same.

RayClem , is it likely that most blades made in India are made by the same factory? I know when I was selling guitars, this was kind of how guitars were done. There weren't many factories and the companies basically jobbed the guitars out to those factories. A lot of companies had guitars coming out of the same factory. Gibson was the only company that actually bought a factory in China to manufacture their Epiphone line. I saw a variety of different 10 pack tux of blades for like $.55 on the TRC website that were all made in India. I'm wondering if it would be something even worth picking up when or if I did an order with them for you to evaluate, or if it's all likely they could be very similar if not the same.

Remember that there are nearly 1.5 billion people in India. I do not know what percentage of the population shaves, but there are still a lot of shavers. Thus, they can go through a lot of blades each year. I am not certain of the number of razor blade manufacturers in India. Here are a few I have heard of:

Gillette India
Supermax Personal Care (now in receivership)
Malhotra Shaving- makers of blades such as Laser and Topaz. They make more than 3 billion blades a year. 
RK Industries  who makes the blades sold by Henson
I am not sure who makes the Euromax blades, but they are made in India

If I interpreted the facts correctly, Supermax and Malhotra Marketing were initially part of the same company founded soon after WWII. A family disagreement led to the split that formed the two competitors. Personally, I tend to prefer the Topaz and Laser blades above the Supermax blades.

Thank you for your detailed response.

I was asking because (after reading one of your other posts above regarding having a blade made in a new factory but still using the packaging indicating the previous plant) I have firmly believed (it's not even a question to me, and continue to believe) they drastically changed the Gillette Platinum blades, even though they stayed in the same box and still say they're made in the St. Petersburg plant.

I've read others say that all they did was change from the blank ink to the etched branding on the blade (which of course is a cosmetic upgrade)... but to me, they are absolutely not the same blade. I've been using the GPs for over ten years ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY. (Other than some time with Polsilver, which I find very similar to the GPs, except that I get one additional comfortable shave with the black ink GPs than I do with the Polsilvers... Yes I realize that's not a popular opinion, but I'm sticking to it, considering my deep experience with both).

Regarding the "etched" GPs, they aren't nearly as smooth as the "black ink" GPs, especially after the first shave... And obviously that means I get more shaves from the black ink ones.

On the package, there is ONE way to tell whether they are the black ink ones or the etched ones... The etched ones have a long serial code on the one end/side of the package, but the blank ink ones don't. (Once you're inside, the glue dots on the etched ones are much more of a hassle... now I know why people hate glue dots... Never understood that before using these.)

And a different tangent... These GPs are different from the ones above.

Over the years Gillette PPI Russia has made a number of variations of the Gillette Platinum blades. They are all good blades, but for my tough beard and sensitive skin, the new blades in the deep blue packaging with white lettering are the ones that I prefer. I rated the older black letter blades sharpness 4, smoothness 4. I rated the new blue blades 4.5 sharpness, 4.5 smoothness. I consider the older blades to be mid-sharp, which means they are ideal for a wide range of shavers. I consider the new blades to be very sharp, which makes them better suited for those with heavy, tough beards.

Of course, blade performance depends a lot on the razor in which it is used. I would choose the older, mid-sharp blade if I were shaving with a more aggressive razor. The new blue blade might work best in a mid-aggressive razor like the Karve C plate razor I used for the evaluations. Super Sharp blades (4.75-5.0 sharpness) are best used in less aggressive razors unless the skin is less sensitive. For my preference, I would match the older black ink GP blade in a Karve D or E plate razor and use the new blue GP blade in the Karve C plate. The super sharp Gillette Nacet Platinum (discontinued) or 7 O'Clock Super Platinum (black) would pair nicely with a Karve A or B plate (which I do not have) or with a Timeless 0.68 (which I do have).

I would definitely rate them differently, but just my opinion. They're the smoothest blades I've come across (easily, that's why I settled on them so early) and also pretty much just as sharp as Feather. But I've even come across a test that someone posted and it was the sharpest rated (scientifically) out of the 12 or so blades tested which included Bic CP and Feather.

I would definitely rate them differently, but just my opinion. They're the smoothest blades I've come across (easily, that's why I settled on them so early) and also pretty much just as sharp as Feather. But I've even come across a test that someone posted and it was the sharpest rated (scientifically) out of the 12 or so blades tested which included Bic CP and Feather.

Please try to find the site that rated them scientifically. I would like to see it. 

The Refined Shave site rated blade sharpness using the Bess sharpness tester. The site has been down the past few days. I do not know if they are shut down for good or just temporarily. On that site, BIC CP blades were rated the sharpest, just like I rated them. Feather blades start out sharper than BIC, but after one shave, the BIC are sharper. The Gillette Platinum blades rated somewhere around 42 is my memory is correct. That is in the mid-sharp range. 

I have seen some rating charts that call Astra SP blades very sharp, but that certainly has never been by finding. Nor was it the finding of the Refined Shave site. They were at the low end of the mid-sharp range.

There are many people who love the old Gillette Platinum blades. There are also many who love Astra SP. Unfortunately, Astra SP just are not sharp enough for my beard and Gillette Platinum only work in more aggressive razors. I like blades as sharp and as smooth as you can possibly get.

When honing straight razors, many shavers indicate that they can shave off an 8K Norton synthetic hone or a Belgian Coticule natural stone. Neither of those hones produces an edge sharp enough for my beard. When honing a straight razor, I consider a 12K Naniwa to be a prefinisher while many people would consider it to be a finisher. I like to finish on natural hones that are around 15K. I even have a Suehiro Gokumyo 20K that contains abrasives of 0.5 micron diameter. However, after honing the edge, I like to polish it further using pasted strops using CBN polishing compounds of 0.5, 0.25 and 0.1 micron. That makes a super sharp, super smooth edge. Unfortunately, since the edge is so thin, it will only last for about six shaves before the edge needs to be refreshed, at least using the G20K and the pasted strops. The BIC CP blades provide a similar type of edge that I love.

I would definitely rate them differently, but just my opinion. They're the smoothest blades I've come across (easily, that's why I settled on them so early) and also pretty much just as sharp as Feather. But I've even come across a test that someone posted and it was the sharpest rated (scientifically) out of the 12 or so blades tested which included Bic CP and Feather.

Please try to find the site that rated them scientifically. I would like to see it. 

The Refined Shave site rated blade sharpness using the Bess sharpness tester. The site has been down the past few days. I do not know if they are shut down for good or just temporarily. On that site, BIC CP blades were rated the sharpest, just like I rated them. Feather blades start out sharper than BIC, but after one shave, the BIC are sharper. The Gillette Platinum blades rated somewhere around 42 is my memory is correct. That is in the mid-sharp range. 

I have seen some rating charts that call Astra SP blades very sharp, but that certainly has never been by finding. Nor was it the finding of the Refined Shave site. They were at the low end of the mid-sharp range.

There are many people who love the old Gillette Platinum blades. There are also many who love Astra SP. Unfortunately, Astra SP just are not sharp enough for my beard and Gillette Platinum only work in more aggressive razors. I like blades as sharp and as smooth as you can possibly get.

When honing straight razors, many shavers indicate that they can shave off an 8K Norton synthetic hone or a Belgian Coticule natural stone. Neither of those hones produces an edge sharp enough for my beard. When honing a straight razor, I consider a 12K Naniwa to be a prefinisher while many people would consider it to be a finisher. I like to finish on natural hones that are around 15K. I even have a Suehiro Gokumyo 20K that contains abrasives of 0.5 micron diameter. However, after honing the edge, I like to polish it further using pasted strops using CBN polishing compounds of 0.5, 0.25 and 0.1 micron. That makes a super sharp, super smooth edge. Unfortunately, since the edge is so thin, it will only last for about six shaves before the edge needs to be refreshed, at least using the G20K and the pasted strops. The BIC CP blades provide a similar type of edge that I love.

I saw it in passing, I have no clue where. It kinda surprised me.
Agree Astra SPs are useless.
I've been using Bic recently too and don't notice them any sharper than the GPs. But they don't last as long. I like them though.