Boots DE Blades

I bought these on a whim yesterday: http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-Double-Edge-Replacement-Razor-Blades-10-Pack_12444/

£2.55 for 10 blades (about $4.23 at today's rate) - not cheap, but I thought I'd see what they were like. I keep loose blades in a plastic container at home, but as I'm going on holiday soon I figured they would come in handy.

Does anyone know what they are? They say "Made in Israel" on the packaging, and it mentions Wilkinson Sword as well, so I presume they're some kind of rebranded Wilkinson blade.

The blades come in a standard plastic dispenser. They have no markings on them at all, and come wrapped in completely unmarked waxed paper.

Front:



Back:

Personna. To me they shave about the same as the "Crystals", but some say they are made to a different specification.

Interesting. I didn't know Personna were related to Wilkinson Sword!

aytri said:

Interesting. I didn't know Personna were related to Wilkinson Sword!

Click to expand...

They're not - it's just that these Israeli Personnas are compatible with the Wilkinson Sword DE razor which is still on sale in UK.
Incidentally, Boots own brand blades from the 70s and 80s are English Wilkinson Swords and they are awesome!

Ah I see. So if I try them out and decide I like them and want to buy in bulk, Personna Crystals are the closest thing out there?

Yes, although I am not sure how easy it is to buy Crystals in the UK. I see them on one or two vendor sites, but marked "out of stock".

This has nothing much to do with modern blades, but there could be a link between Personna in Israel and the 1970s incarnation of Wilkinson-Sword. A USA company called PermaSharp or Perma Sharp or UFI once had a plant in Israel, and in 1976 Wilkinson-Sword bought UFI. When Schick and Gillette later split up Wilkinson-Sword, that equipment in Israel might have ended up with Personna. It could also have been moved elsewhere, but the labeling on modern Crystals looks strikingly like the 1960s-1970s PermaSharp blades: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/381989-NOS-Walgreens-Super-Platinum has some photos of both.