Gillette Rubie Platinum Plus

I was the one that found the fact there were fakes of these blades floating around. You could imagine my horror when I shaved with a blade which I believed to be from the same equipment as Super Iridiums and 7OC Yellows, yet found them to be quite terrible.... words could not describe!

The real blades shave much better, but I would agree with some of the sentiments here. There is a peculiar property to these blades which I have never been able to quite put my finger on. I must admit that I have not shaved with them for quite a while, so I should run a few blades through and see if I can come up with some decent observations for you all.

Mitsimonsta said:

I was the one that found the fact there were fakes of these blades floating around. You could imagine my horror when I shaved with a blade which I believed to be from the same equipment as Super Iridiums and 7OC Yellows, yet found them to be quite terrible.... words could not describe!

The real blades shave much better, but I would agree with some of the sentiments here. There is a peculiar property to these blades which I have never been able to quite put my finger on. I must admit that I have not shaved with them for quite a while, so I should run a few blades through and see if I can come up with some decent observations for you all.

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please do.

Yes, Mitsimonsta, please do! And will you be getting your microscope up and running soon? I keep checking Paste & Cut.

john parker said:

Yes, Mitsimonsta, please do! And will you be getting your microscope up and running soon? I keep checking Paste & Cut.

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I did get my 'microscope', however it turned out to be a very low quality item. The sensor noise made any detail virtually impossible to detect and for our purpose a complete waste of money. My son loves playing with it though.

I am working on trying to get access to a higher quality item in a laboratory on a regular basis.

Okay, had a shave this morning. Was away from home so things were a little different, and the lather was a bit off due to differences in water, different face prep etc. The axe today was a Slim dialled in at 6.

I think the biggest issue I have with these blades is while they have good feedback, I could not get a good glide from the blade. It also felt slightly rough to me today also, however I was contending with an extra day of growth though.

I will echo the 'Lack of sharpness' brigade, that is what I found. A bit patchy in the result, still a marked improvement on 3 days growth but certainly not the result I expected. Will not leave it at that, will keep going on them and see if I can get a better lather and make these work for me.

Another shave this morning, second run with the Rubie. Everything the same, but lather was back to my normal effort.

I think the fact I had less stubble worked in my favour this morning. The slight lack of sharpness was much less apparent than Saturday morning's debacle. Better glide from the lather most definitely helped too.

I think the difference with these blades is that they are meant to be Gillette's answer to Reds/Crystals, and possibly Derby. Less sharp, but with greater smoothness. I think they missed that boat, however I do find that the shave is much more comfortable than some other Gillette Blades like Yellows. I find that constantly shaving with Yellows gets me irritation unless I rotate.

If you have trouble shaving every day due to irritation, then maybe grab some of these and try shaving every day.

I just bought a pack of Rubie Platinum Plus online from a well known vendor. The first attempt was ... well ... terrible. The most tugging I've ever had. It was incapable of cutting through my beard. Felt like it pulled half of the whiskers off instead of cutting through them. Granted, I changed shaving cream yesterday morning too, trying Palmolive standard issue, the European tube. I will try again with a fresh blade and the CO Bigelow that I have used until yesterday. Could it have been a bum blade? Is it the cream? I can't believe the great reviews here, considering how useless was my attempt yesterday.

However - no nicks, which was nice, because I'm coming off of a few weeks with Feathers, which I find to be lightsaber-sharp and smooth for the first shave or two, but after that very prone to giving me nicks on the ATG stroke.

bmacqueens said:

I just bought a pack of Rubie Platinum Plus online from a well known vendor. The first attempt was ... well ... terrible. The most tugging I've ever had. It was incapable of cutting through my beard. Felt like it pulled half of the whiskers off instead of cutting through them. Granted, I changed shaving cream yesterday morning too, trying Palmolive standard issue, the European tube. I will try again with a fresh blade and the CO Bigelow that I have used until yesterday. Could it have been a bum blade? Is it the cream? I can't believe the great reviews here, considering how useless was my attempt yesterday.

However - no nicks, which was nice, because I'm coming off of a few weeks with Feathers, which I find to be lightsaber-sharp and smooth for the first shave or two, but after that very prone to giving me nicks on the ATG stroke.

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Are you certain that they are genuine? They are one of the sharpest blades but there are fakes knocking about. If the packets have cellophane wrappers on then they are genuine.

Yes, genuine. Had the cellophane wrapper. Also, the printing was good, not poor, as detailed in another story that I found online. Well, I tried again today, with a fresh blade and the CO Bigelow. It was a better experience, but still not what I was expecting. The COB made things a lot better because the eucalyptus and menthol are strong topical analgesics for shaving - you don't feel anything because they numb the surface of the skin while you are shaving. But the blade just wasn't what I thought it would be. Oh well. YMMV. I'll use up the package and not try that version again.

bmacqueens said:

Yes, genuine. Had the cellophane wrapper. Also, the printing was good, not poor, as detailed in another story that I found online.

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That would have been my story.

I am also underwhemed by these blades. I mean they are okay, but there are plenty of other blades which I would prefer at this price point of ~35c/blade. I can get 7OC Blues cheaper than that..... and are a much better shave in comparision.

Maybe I just have not found the right razor for these blades yet. The Slim and Fatboy usually bring out the best in blades, but they were seriously underwhelming shaves. Put in a PermaSharp Super in them and it's like you lathered up with butter.

I'm probably going to offload my 200-odd blades.

Mitsimonsta, I would have agreed with you about the 7OC Russian Blues right up until the last two I used - they barely cut whiskers! Maybe bad blades, because the first three or four I used were excellent. Used my last Rubie this morning in my Super Speed; DFS. Like the Perma Sharp Platinums for staying power and smoothness, but they do not cut as close as the Yellows or the Rubies.

wulfgar1976 said:

Are you certain that they are genuine? They are one of the sharpest blades but there are fakes knocking about. If the packets have cellophane wrappers on then they are genuine.

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My blades are genuine, but I have one pack of those fake blades my pack has Place of Origin: Made in USA. Has Chinese writing and UPC code says it was made in China. LOL

my Latvian girlfriend got me some packs of gillette rubie platium plus (yes, genuine), for a nice price in Latvia. she said it was some of the "best" and most expensive DE blades they had in the shop, but still very cheap compared to Norway.

shaved some with them on and off (saving the packs a bit til she can bring me a truckload of more), and i am impressed. have used derby til now, because i think Feather is a bit unforgiving and too sharp for everyday shaving for me. but these blades was really a good middle way, sharper than Derby but not as insane sharp as feathers. not only sharp, but i get a smooth shave and less irritation than the sharper blades. also lasts me a shave more than derby (even i change before i get the bad "last shaves" ). think these blades are excellent, and will start using them more often when she can get me some more.

I picked some up in Russia, and i thought they were better than personna's and Derby's, they certainly stay sharper for longer and give a slightly closer shave meaning less passes and less irritation. harashaw..da!

I want to try the Rubies.. I've been using a blade that has very similar packaging(probably just to confuse people).. the Rapira Platinum Lux. The Lux is a very good blade IMO. It's a smooth, close cutter. Anyone compare these two?

Where can I buy these and they aren't fake? I've seen a lot about fake ones being sold.

Order off Ebay from a known Russian seller. He has no incentive to get fakes as the Rubies are easy to find in Russia.

coase said:

Order off Ebay from a known Russian seller. He has no incentive to get fakes as the Rubies are easy to find in Russia.

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How do I know if it's a known seller? I'm kinda new to the bay.

stoof2010 said:

How do I know if it's a known seller? I'm kinda new to the bay.

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check their feedbacks. If he has been selling on ebay consistently with good feedbacks, you can probably trust that seller.
If you search, you will also find smaller quantities for sale as well. try them out first in small quantity if you don't want to commit

parachutefactory said:

check their feedbacks. If he has been selling on ebay consistently with good feedbacks, you can probably trust that seller.
If you search, you will also find smaller quantities for sale as well. try them out first in small quantity if you don't want to commit

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That's the best part. You never commit. Just get a better deal on large quantity, then if you don't like them, you just PIF them or sell them or half and half.