Indian Gillette Wilkinson Sword blades

Just used one of these for the first time tonight...
WOW, I love these blades!

I understand that the Indian and German Wilkinsons are really completely different blades, with the German blades being definitively inferior.

Totally in love with these Indian blades, though!

Nice to know. I've got a pack I haven't opened yet.

I'm also a big fan of the Indian Gillette/Wilkies. Do you have the Indian or Shanghai made blades?

The second blade I tried after Derby. The difference was night and day. A great blade.

A classic case of "YMMV". To me, the Gillette Wilkinsons are "meh". I'll slip them in the rotation once in a while, but won't reorder. On the other hand, I have something like 800 Indian Gillette 7 O'Clock Greens ("Permasharp" -- there's also a Russian 7 O'Clock Green called "Super Stainless" that I've never tried) that are probably my favorite.

I agree. I think the Gillette Wilkinsons are good blades.

They are a nice blade. Make sure you get the Indian made ones - not the made in China.

Can anyone tell me the way to identify the different countries of origin on these? I bought mine at Shoppers contained in a yellow cardboard package and they are in a black plastic container of 10 blades. Unfortunately, there is no country of origin printed on them. Does anyone know how I can figure out where they were made?

dabrock said:

Can anyone tell me the way to identify the different countries of origin on these? I bought mine at Shoppers contained in a yellow cardboard package and they are in a black plastic container of 10 blades. Unfortunately, there is no country of origin printed on them. Does anyone know how I can figure out where they were made?

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Hi,

Are you sure you're talking about Gillette Wilkinson Swords, as opposed to regular Wilkinson Swords? The Wilkinson Sword brand name is owned by Gillette in India; everywhere else in the world, it's owned by Energizer, the parent company of Schick and Personna. The Gillette Wilkinson Swords are made in a Gillette plant in India. The Energizer-owned plain Wilkinson Sword blades have been made exclusively in Germany since around 2000, and the pack I bought in 2013 was in an oversized black plastic tuck, which sounds like what you're asking about. The Gillette Wilkinson Swords will state the country of manufacture (India or China) on the (carboard) tuck.

That pretty much covers current possibilities; the old 20th century Wilkinson Sword blades made in England have a very high reputation here on B&B, and if my memory from 40 years ago is accurate, I found them pretty good as a High School beginning shaver, plus they came on a blister card with a picture of the cavalry charge at the Battle of Omdurman on it, a type of "plus factor" that only Shark blades have in the current market ("The box has a picture of a frikkin' shark on it!").

If you'd like to try a Gillette Wilkinson Sword blade, I'd be happy to mail you one or two in a regular envelope; pm me your mailing address.

Looks like I have the German Wilkies, PM sent and thanks!

I'm the opposite, I much prefer the German Wilkies to the Indian ones.

I picked up some of these at Pasteur's last year. I am surprised at how well they perform for the cost. I'm a fan.

A B&B brother PIF'd me a huge sampler of blades. I'm not sure where these Wilkies are from, but judging from the superlative shave I just accomplished, I'm guessing the dwarves forged them for the gods of Valhalla. Or possibly elves. Absolutely flawless results.

yup and yup good blades!

I did my first shave today with one. A good blade, not the best I've tried, but certainly a keeper.

I shaved with an Indian Wilkinson Sword and this is what it did to me



No blade before or since has done anything like that (though the Astra SP comes close). I've tried the British, German and even the Chinese Wilkinsons and they rate in my book as excellent, good and average respectively. But the Indian blades? Never again!

Reading this thread kinda confuses me? If it is the Indian Gillette Wilkinsons you're talking about, it's one of my favorites.

Cash_Stronomer said:

Reading this thread kinda confuses me? If it is the Indian Gillette Wilkinsons you're talking about, it's one of my favorites.
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I have a pack of the ones in your picture but the ones I have are made in China but intended for the Indian market. My pic shows what look like the same as yours at the top but the Indian made ones at the bottom are the ones that did the damage.

I am pretty certain that the Wilkie blade I have used this week is German. I got three amazing shaves and this morning was great until the against the grain pass. When you feel that tug you should just switch to a new blade immediately. But do I? No.

Luckily they print the 'Made In' on them, packs are pretty well exactly the same!
There's a dollar shop over this way that sells the India's so luckily I can bike over and get them