These are the Wilkinson Sword blades made by gillette in india



Price: I think I paid $1 for a 5 pack, but they are floating around out there on the interwebs for some ridiculously cheap price. It's a 10



Quality: They seem well enough made. Come double wrapped. Don't really see the point of this category since its a very short lived product. It's a 5



Sharpness: This is the blades HUGE shortcoming. People find the wally Wilks to be rather dull. Please, those are like a feather compared to these things. I usually use a blade 3 times, maybe 4. This thing was done after 1 shave. The second shave was like trying to cut a flank steak with a butter knife. Sharpness gets a very generous 3



Longevity: I can use this for 1 shave, thats it. This should be a 0, but I'll give it a 3



Smoothness: The blade is actually rather smooth. One of it's few strong points. 7



Packaging: I like the minimalist cardboard box. It takes up less room, it is more eco friendly, and it lets me dispose of the blade in my see through blade bank. Can't really ask for more: 10



Conclusion: I really wanted to like this blade. It is so cheap, and I like wilkinsons, but these are just awful. I have a course beard, but I don't find the German Wilkinsons to be that bad. Not the sharpest, but not dull by any means. These are outright dull. If you have a light beard, maybe you can use these. But if your beard has any grit to it at all, don't even bother with these.



The 5 pack I bought came with a Black Super Platinum, and needless to say I wasn't disappointed that I only got 4 of these particular blades

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-Nick

I got a tuck of these in a sampler. Not the worst I ever used but I was expecting something a bit smoother/sharper. If I corked them they were OK, but I don't want blades that need to be corked. All the blades I like or love are fine right out-of-the-box. The exception was the Vidyut Zorrik which was a bit rough but smoothed out nicely after the third stroke or so.
My advice: Keep searching; the world offers many varieties!

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Michael G.

These work well for me and are cheap. I have a nice little stock of them.

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Rocco

These Wilkinson Sword blades made by Gillette India Limited seem to be the most commonly available blades in India. And there is good reason: they sell for 10 rupees a tuck -- about 25 U.S. cents, and provide a good, consistent shave. They are better than many other Indian brand blades at about the same price.



The package pictured here reading "Save Rs. 5.40," i.e., save 5 rupees, contains four Wilkinson blades and one Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Platinum blade, which normally costs about 40 rs. per five blade tuck. However, the more common package contains five Wilkinson Sword blades at the same 10 rs. price. (The new package says "Save Rs. 7.00." Most times when an Indian package touts some savings, it is meaningless because they have already temporarily raised the price, only to discount it. However, the 10 rupees for this pack is the same price as for the tucks without the 7 O'clock blade.)



As many of you may know, the old British Wilkinson company is no more, and the rights to the name were purchased by different companies around the world; in India, Gillette owns the rights. But I think there is more here than just a name. I have long been a fan of Wilkinson blades for their moderate price combined with sharpness and longevity, and was sad to see their demise.



It seems to me there is an almost distinctive feel to a Wilkinson blade. And after using these for quite a while, I have come to the suspicion that Gillette not only retained the name, but probably allowed the factory to continue to manufacture blades using the same formula and standards as Wilkinson. I mean, why mess with a good thing? I asked a barber, and he said Wilkinson blades have been around for decades, and quite popular. So Gillette would have wanted people to continue buying the Wilkinson blades, while pricing the Gillette blades at 3x to 4x the Wilkinson price, so there was no direct competition.



Now, at about five cents a blade, I am not about to try to force five or 10 days out of one blade. Would you? I remember the old days before all the twin blade razors, etc., when you pushed your DE blade as far as it would go. But when I finally looked at the package of these DE blades in India -- they are usually placed out of reach of customers -- and saw the price, I was floored!



I mean, India is DE blade heaven, at least in terms of price. You poor suckers have to pay a hefty premium to the middleman for shipping, etc. So the root retail price becomes secondary. And a blade that might cost 20 or 40 rs. might only cost you an extra 25 percent. So it is reasonable to go for the premium blades, if they really are better, which is not a given in India. It is a big mistake to assume there is a direct correlation between price and quality of blades here. And so it follows that it is a mistake to assume because an Indian blade is relatively cheap, by foreign standards, that it is of poor quality. I have tried the Super Max stainless steel blades, and while I respect Super Max in general, I think these Wilkinson Sword blades are better, smoother, and cheaper.



These Wilkinson Sword blades have been the blades I have used most often, my everyday blade, and I am really quite happy with them. They always give a good shave. And every now and then I get a blade that seems to last forever, for a week or more. Go figure. That's the way Wilkinson blades used to be, if any of you remember the genuine British article.



If I had only these blades to shave with for the rest of my life, I could be content. But that does not mean they are the best blades in the world, or even the best value, once you pay the shipping premium. What I am saying is I do not agree with the earlier harsh criticisms. These also seem to make a good beginner blade for new DE shavers because they are not super sharp and provide a smooth, gentle shave.



The bottom line: I have never gotten a bad shave from these Indian Gillette Wilkinson blades. They have excellent quality control. If you have had bad results, I suspect either you need to switch razors or shave creams, or you used a non-Indian Wilkinson blade. I see on Amazon the pack pictured is not the same as the Indian blades. The Indian blades only come in the cardboard tucks, with blue, red and yellow printing.



I recently got some new packs, made this summer. It seems the already good quality has improved, though I need to try some more blades. If this is so, and you were unhappy before, it might be worth trying them again, as long as you get fresh Indian blades, made this year. Look for the "Save Rs. 7.00" deal. Frankly, my first impressions with this new pack are extremely positive.