Thread: Gillette Silver Blue - Different feelings from different batches?

I was wondering if anyone of you have had a similar experience. Two years ago, my mother brought some Gillette Silver Blue from abroad. It's been my goto blade for almost two years. With about 3 packs left, I bought 200 blades from an eBay seller from Montreal. I opened a pack today, and was suprised to see that the second wrapping paper was different. If you look at the picture, the one I had before (top) has a more opaque second wrapping paper.

The "new" blade also shaves differently. While it seems to cut well, there is less tactile and audio feedback.

This is just some guessing but it could be possible that Gillette has moved where the blades are made in the last few years. The SB blades I have and bought this spring have the wrapper of your newer blades. IIRC SB blades were made at a Czech plant but production was moved to Russia. No clue when the change of venue happened.

Bob

In my case, both were made the same place. At least that's what the packaging say. If it were just the packaging itself, I would not have created this thread. The feeling while shaving with my Edwin Jagger DE89 was different. It's as if the razor has lost its aggressiveness. Now, could it be that the blades are sharper and thus cut with less effort? I am waiting for some Feather blades to arrive. I can then compare.

Originally Posted by patricksrp

In my case, both were made the same place. At least that's what the packaging say. If it were just the packaging itself, I would not have created this thread. The feeling while shaving with my Edwin Jagger DE89 was different. It's as if the razor has lost its aggressiveness. Now, could it be that the blades are sharper and thus cut with less effort? I am waiting for some Feather blades to arrive. I can then compare.

Yea, that is why I mentioned they moved the production facilities to Russia. The blade shaves differently for you which you might expect from a blade produced on different machinery. The change of packaging could just be a simple change in supplier.

I use Feathers too and I find the difference between them and SBs is more a matter of smoothness than sharpness. The SBs give a less harsh shave in my Muhle R41/Fatip/Merkur Slant than the Feathers do but I'd say just as close. Anyway everyone has a different face so your experience with Feather blades may be entirely different from mine.

Bob

Sorry, I should have said that both my old and new batches are from Russia. That said, you have a point about the machinery. Maybe they did renew their tools. Thanks for your input.

Could also be just plain old batch to batch variation also. Depends how tight their tolerance range is and how good their quality control is in enforcing whatever standard is set.

Bob

I made two orders of 100 blades. I am hoping that the next batch will behave differently. If not, I just have to adjust my shaving angle. It's not as bad as I am making it to look like. I did get a close shave. I just like the feedback. It's the same when I am shifting gears when driving. I like to listen to the engine sound rather than relying on the tachometer.

I just opened a SB to check and mine is the earlier opaque inner wrapper. I bought 100 of those, and 100 of the platinum. Both are good but IIRC I liked the SB best. Been awhile since I shaved with either of them. The old Gillette 'Swedes' were great. They had Copenhagen on the outside of the pack, but were made in Russia as well IIRC.

I wrote to the seller, and he said that Gillette has moved to the more transparent to all its blades. I cannot confirm that sicne I have not used the other Gillette blades.

Today's shave was better. I had to change the angle of the razor a bit. I guess I will have to adjust. I don't really have a choice since I bought 200 of these blades :-)