RayClem's Blade Evaluations

Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Platinum (black) - India

Gillette produces four blades under the 7 O'Clock branding. Two of the blades SharpEdge (yellow) and Super Stainless (green) were produced in the PPI Russian plant until Gillette decided to move production elsewhere. The Super Platinum (black) and Permasharp Stainless (green) are produced in India. To further confuse matters, there is a PermaSharp Super blade that was produced in Russia. Today's evaluation features the Super Platinum (black).

I started the shave with the Durablade Sharp Titanium blade in the razor. I rated that blade as 4.25 on sharpness, but by the end of the 1st shave, it was at the 4.5 sharpness level, so the blade was very sharp starting this shave. After a few strokes, I replaced it with the Super Platinum blade. Initially, there was greater blade resistance than with the Sharp Titanium. At that point, I would have rated it as a sharpness of 4. However, as the coating started to wear off, the blade became far sharper, but still remained very smooth. By the end of the shave, the blade was approaching Feather sharpness levels, but was smoother than the Feather. As a result, I was able to get a near BBS shave. When I applied witch hazel after the shave I got zero feedback... zip, zilch, nada. Like my experience with the BIC Chrome Platinum, this is as good as it gets for me, a near BBS shave with zero irritation.

Because the 7 O'Clock Super Platinum (black) blade starts out only mid-sharp, but becomes super sharp during the shave, I am going to rate it as a sharpness of 4.75. This is similar to the Feather blade. However, the progression is quite different. The Feather blade starts out super sharp and fades during the shave. The Super Platinum starts out mid-sharp and becomes super sharp during the shave. If you like super sharp blades, my preference is for the BIC Chrome Platinum as it starts very sharp and gets even sharper. However, I still have a couple of super sharp Russian blades to evaluate: Gillette Nacet and PermaSharp Super.

Since I got zero irritation from the shave, smoothness is rated as 5.
Although these are wonderful blades, they are also expensive blades, currently selling for $32 per 100 blades. Thus, they are only a fair value. However, for those who like sharp smooth blades, they are an option.

The evaluation spreadsheet has been updated with these results.

A couple of pieces of news.

I got notice that the Paradigm Salient razor that is being passed around to forum members will be shipped to me soon for evaluation. When it arrives, I will need to interrupt the blade evaluation series for a few days in order to evaluate the razor and pass it along to the next member in a timely manner. I will resume the blade evaluations as soon as possible.

Also, thanks to forum member DanLaw, I will soon be in possession of two new blades. One is the Tatra Platinum blade. The other is the Tatara blade that was specced by Tatara for use in Tatara razors, but which should also work well in other razors. It is my understanding that both blades are made by Czech Blades. I rated the Czech Tiger blade as sharpness 4, smoothness 4. I am looking forward to evaluating both of the new blades, hoping they will be even sharper and smoother than the Tiger.

Ray....I just picked up the 7 O'Clock Super Platinum (black), in the 100 blade salon pack (metal tin case) for under $25. IMHO, these blades shave nearly identical to the BIC's. I agree that the BIC's actually feel sharper during the first shave...and you confirmed that I am not crazy. For me, Feathers are sharp, but never approach the smoothness of either the BIC's or the 7 O'Clock Super Platinum (black) blades.

Ray....I just picked up the 7 O'Clock Super Platinum (black), in the 100 blade salon pack (metal tin case) for under $25.  IMHO, these blades shave nearly identical to the BIC's.  I agree that the BIC's actually feel sharper during the first shave...and you confirmed that I am not crazy.  For me, Feathers are sharp, but never approach the smoothness of either the BIC's or the 7 O'Clock Super Platinum (black) blades.

Thanks, Jonny.

I got my Super Platinum black blades in a metal tin a few years ago for a lot less than they sell for today. I am glad you found someone who still had some of the tins and sold them without jacking up the price.

I am also glad to see that your results are coinciding with my evaluations. I find BICs to be both super sharp and smooth. The Super Platinums are nearly as sharp, but start out with a little drag out of the wrapper. Fortunately, they remain smooth. Feather are super sharp, which is great for my beard. Unfortunately, they they just are not smooth enough for by face. 

I still have a number of blades to go. I have never used Tatra or Tatara blades, so that will be an adventure. I am hoping I find them sharp and smooth.  I find the Wilkinson Sword Classic (German) blades to be similar in sharpness to the Super Platinums, but because they have a PTFE coating similar to the Personna lab blues, I prefer the smoothness afforded by the platinum coating of the Super Platinums.

Many folks love the PPI Gillette Platinums and Gillette Silver Blues, which will be evaluated in a few weeks. Two blades that compete quite well in sharpness with BIC Chrome Platinum and 7 O'Clock Super Platinum are the Gillette Nacet Stainless and the PermaSharp Super. Unfortunately, the later two blades are not quite as smooth as the first two. But stay tuned for further testing.

Wilkinson Sword Classic – Germany

Edgewell Personal Care sells shaving products under three primary brands. The Personna brand is used in many countries. The Schick brand is used primarily in Asia. The Wilkinson Sword brand is used in Europe and North America. P&G Gillette owns the rights to the Wilkinson Sword brand in other regions.

I have already reviewed the Gillette branded Wilkinson Sword blade made in India. I believe they can also be made in China. That blade received ratings of 3.5 for sharpness and 3.5 for smoothness, but at a price of $10 per 100 blades is a good value for shavers who do not need very sharp, very smooth blades.

The Wilkinson Sword Classic blade is made in Germany. It is the European cousin of the Personna lab blue blade made in USA. The WS Classic blade sells for $21 per 100 blades, more than twice that of the Gillette counterpart. Thus, it needs to be a superior blade.

I started today’s shave with the 7 O’Clock Super Platinum blade blade in the razor. That is a super sharp, yet smooth blade. My first few strokes were effortless. At that point, I put the German made Wilkinson Sword Classic blade into the razor. Like the Super Platinum just out of the wrapper, the first few strokes of the WS Classic blade were met with some resistance as the blade is only mid-sharp to start. However, like the Super Platinum, the blade soon began to get sharper as the coating wore off. The blade became very sharp during the shave, but not quite Feather-sharp. Unlike the Personna lab blue, the blade becomes very sharp while maintaining most of its smoothness.

I was not quite able to get a near BBS shave, especially under my chin where the skin tends to sag. It was certainly a DFS. When I applied witch hazel after the shave, I got minimal feedback. Thus, I am going to rate this blade 4.5 on sharpness and 4.5 on smoothness. This makes it similar in performance and price to the Personna Platinum Chrome blade produced in the same factory in Germany. However, since the Wilkinson Sword Classic blade is PTFE coated and the Personna blade is platinum coated, there might be a difference in blade longevity. That was not tested during this evaluation.

I have update the spreadsheet with these results. You can find the spreadsheet here:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/71ttt15wy...qo8eb&dl=0

If USPS does its job, I should receive the Paradigm Salient pass-around razor in tomorrow’s mail. If so, I will take the next two shaves evaluating that razor. I plan to do a face-off shave against the Karve C-plate I have been using for the blade evaluations. On Sunday’s shave, I will start with fresh Wizamet blades in both razors.

On Sunday and again today, I was evaluating the Paradigm Salient razor. If you are interested, you can check out the thread. I used Wizamet Super iridium blades for the evaluation and they still performed well, very sharp and super smooth.

I will use the Parker Premium Platinum blade for my Thanksgiving Day shave. I am hoping the sample Tatra and Tatara blades will arrive by Friday so I can start that evaluation on Saturday. If not, I will skip over them and try the Shark Super Stainless. I think I might also have a Shark Super Chrome.

In previous attempts to use these Shark blades, I did not find them sharp enough for my beard, but we will try again for the sake of the evaluation. Although I did not enjoy shaving with the Astra SP and Kai blades, at least they were sharp and smooth enough that I could use them, even if I did not get a great shave. If past experience holds, I might not be able to complete the shave with the Shark blades. I find the same issue with Derby Extra blades. They tend to pull beard hair out rather than sever them. I gave away my Derby blades and have no plans to try them again.

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving to all, no matter where you might live. I realize that today is a holiday in the USA, but many countries around the world celebrate a day of thanksgiving, even though it might be on an alternate date. Specific dates are generally set based on the close of the harvest season. Canada has a shorter growing season and celebrates in October. The world is quite messy right now, so there are many concerns. However, despite those concerns, we still have a lot to be thankful for. With all the options in razors, blades, brushes, soaps and aftershaves, wet shavers have a lot to be thankful for. I am thankful I have had an opportunity to experience so many great products.

For the past couple of shaves, I was evaluating the Paradigm Salient razor. Now it is time to get back to the blade evaluations. Today's shave uses the Parker Premium Platinum blade. That blade shares many things in common with Derby Premium blades. Both are made in Turkey, both are thin blades, both have a Chromium, Ceramic, Platinum, Tungsten and Polymer coating. My suspicion is that the Parker blades are Derby Premium blades in private label packaging and selling at a higher price.

I loaded a fresh Parker Premium Platinum blade into my Karve C-plate razor. After lathering my face, I began my shave. The first few strokes WTG through my two-day beard were met with moderate resistance. While the blade did become somewhat sharper during the shave, it still was not quite sharp enough for me to achieve a near-BBS shave. A DFS was the best I could accomplish. When applying witch hazel after the shave, I experienced significant feedback. This was a disappointment as I expected the Parker blades to be similar in performance to the less expensive Derby Premium. Based on the results of the shave, I rate the Parker Premium Platinum blades as 4 sharpness, and 4 smoothness.

Since the blade did seem to become sharper during the shave, I plan to use the same blade again for Saturday's shave to see if my results improve.

The blade evaluation spreadsheet has been updated with the preliminary rating on the Parker blade and can be found here:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/71ttt15wy...qo8eb&dl=0

Hopefully, by using the Parker blade a second time, that will insure that the Tatra and Tatara blades generously sent by DanLaw will have time to arrive for evaluation.

The markings 8095 are on the box,the blades have no markings.
I went back and purchased 6 packs of 10…and after shaving with my third blade today #16 I noticed the blade now started to feel a bit duller so after 1/4 pass I went AGT twice and BBS shave with a little touch up on the neck,amazing!!!.always 3 passes WTG..XTG..ATG….after throwing out my fat boys when I purchased my Karve 10 months back this blade has me so excited I purchased a
rex razor just to see if it,s the razor matching perfectly or the blades are this good….yeah 2 fat boys! trashed before I knew they could have been rejuvenated to new..oh well….smooth is an understatement with these.I’m going back and cleaning out the store…must be at least a dozen packs left.

The markings 8095 are on the box,the blades have no markings.
I went back and purchased 6 packs of 10…and after shaving with my third blade today #16 I noticed the blade now started to feel a bit duller so after 1/4 pass I went AGT twice and BBS shave with a little touch up on the neck,amazing!!!.always 3 passes WTG..XTG..ATG….after throwing out my fat boys when I purchased my Karve  10 months back this blade has me so excited I purchased a
rex razor just to see if it,s the razor matching perfectly or the blades are this good….yeah 2 fat boys! trashed before I knew they could have been rejuvenated to new..oh well….smooth is an understatement with these.I’m going back and cleaning out the store…must be at least a dozen packs left.

For those   who might have gotten confused by Karveme post, it is a reference to Jaguar 8095 blades that have no markings on the blade. The only other blades I have used with no markings are  Kai, but from the performance, I have no idea which blades they might be or where they might have been manufactured as information is sparse.

Update on Parker Premium Platinum blades.

On the 1st shave with these blades, I was able to achieve a DFS shave with only minor irritation, but I felt like the blade was capable of more. Thus, I decided to use the blade for a second shave. I am glad I did so as I got a much better shave. With my usual 4 pass shave and two days of beard growth, I was able to achieve a near-BBS shave with minimal irritation. Thus, while it was still not ideal, it was certainly acceptable. Based on this shave, I would rate the blade 4.5 sharpness and 4.5 smoothness.

Averaging the results of this second shave with the results from the first, I am updating the ratings to 4.25 sharpness, 4.25 smoothness. The evaluation spreadsheet has been updated. This result puts the Parker blades in the same sharpness level as Shark Platinum and Durablade Sharp Titanium. While the other two blades are a little better value, either is a reasonable choice for those who do not need the sharpest blades.

I am still waiting for delivery of the Tatra and Tatara samples. Hopefully, they will arrive in today's mail. If so, I plan to evaluate the Tatara starting Monday.
If the blades fail to arrive today, I still have the Shark Super Chrome and Shark Super Stainless to evaluate.