Derby Premium? (Derby Black)

margor64peroez · Oct 29, 2016

I was looking at Connaught Shaving's ebay site this morning and saw they had a listing for Derby Premium DE Blades. This is a new one to me. Here's the link to the page:

Derby PREMIUM Double Edge Stainless Steel Razor Blades

(Note to moderators - link above does not go to an auction).

Has anybody heard anything about these? Or tried them? I dislike the ordinary Derby's quite intensely, I found that they tugged, and cut and scraped but that what they did not do was provide a smooth close shave. I'm intrigued at the thought that they might be trying to go upmarket with a premium product but before I buy any I thought I'd ask here.

Especially interested in comments from people who've actually used them.

PS: Yes I have read this Badger & Blade posting: NEW Derby Premium blades on the market

Speedwell68 · Oct 30, 2016

£4 for 10, for that kind of money I'd want them to shave me and cook breakfast afterwards.

adamchur · Oct 30, 2016

The price for 100 isn't too bad - £13.99 or 15,55
But I'm never likely to find out if they're any good for 3 very good reasons....

1. I hate Derby Extra with a passion because they are the only blades that cause a rection to the coating that leaves my face hot, red, puffy, sweaty and itchy.
I love Derby Shaving Soap Sticks, but too many times bitten, forever shy as far as Derby blades are concerned.

2. I can take my pick of decent blades like Bic Chrome Platinum, Indian Gillette 7 O'Clock Permasharp, Racer Super Class Platinum, German Wilkinson Sword, Personna Platinum Chrome or Zaza Super Stainless for less money - and guarantee 100% that I'll get good, consistent shaves with them because they're tried, tested and proven blades

3. IMHO Derby blades are the blades of the Devil

margor64peroez · Oct 30, 2016

Speedwell68 said:
£4 for 10, for that kind of money I'd want them to shave me and cook breakfast afterwards.

I agree completely the prices are ludicrous for small quantities, if I'm going to buy any it'll be in bulk - they get quite reasonable on a per-blade basis if you buy 200 of them but who wants 195 blades you can't abide? And as a matter of principle I never PIF or do pass arounds of stuff I don't like or wouldn't use so I'd be stuck with the damned things. Hence this posting.

margor64peroez · Oct 30, 2016

adamchur said:
The price for 100 isn't too bad - £13.99 or €15,55
But I'm never likely to find out if they're any good for 3 very good reasons....

2. I can take my pick of decent blades like Bic Chrome Platinum, Indian Gillette 7 O'Clock Permasharp, Racer Super Class Platinum, German Wilkinson Sword, Personna Platinum Chrome or Zaza Super Stainless for less money - and guarantee 100% that I'll get good, consistent shaves with them because they're tried, tested and proven blades

Have you tried Treet Durasharp Carbon Steel? I standardised on them and on Feathers literally decades ago. I buy the Treets in batches of 400 from Connaught Shaving - which works out at about €0.06 per shave if you only use them once. I tend to chuck 'em after one shave because at that price I can't be bothered to take them out of the razor and dry them. But I have done so very successfully taking them out and flipping them over for both a Feather ASD2 and a Gillette Black beauty which I use set at 3,6,and 9 for my first second and third shaves respectively*, I've also used them in Jones Shake-Sharps with one shave per (numbered) surface with very satisfactory results.

Postage between Denmark and Spain is entirely affordable so If you're curious, send me a pm with your address and I'll cheerfully send you a tuck of 10 of the things free, gratis, and for nothing

.

*In fact I shaved this morning in exactly this way.

Speedwell68 · Oct 31, 2016

I can get two packs of five Wilkinson Sword Classics for £1.60. These are going to have to go along way to be better than those.

margor64peroez · Oct 31, 2016

Speedwell68 said:
I can get two packs of five Wilkinson Sword Classics for £1.60. These are going to have to go along way to be better than those.

I did see a guy on ebay uk who is starting up and offered 100 very cheaply with free post within the UK. I hear you about the Wikinsons - I can get them in a supermarket for DKK 10. Call it £1 that's really quite cheap by Danish standards.

Stevieboy1966 · Oct 31, 2016

Well I just took delivery of 200 I bought of the bay for £11.78 including free delivery. I used one this morning in my Rockwell 6s on plate no 4. This is my daily razor along with a 50:50 mix of i grams and Cyril R Salter citrus. This produces a rich protective lather that never fails to cushion me perfectly although as ever YMMV. As to the performance of the blade it was a complete surprise. I have used Derby Extra before but restrict them to the more aggressive settings on my adjustables. This new Derby Premium was sharp, smooth and comfortable definitely a better performance than the Derby Extra. Using witch hazel after my usual 3 pass shave not a hint of feedback or burn nor when I applied my usual Ted Baker Skinwear aftershave. It's now 6 hours since I shaved and i have no problems no irritation or burn just a smooth comfortable shave. Previously I have only achieved this using Bolzano blades. I will repeat the shave over the next couple of days and update as I do.

Stevieboy1966 · Oct 31, 2016

Guess I was lucky as I now see most of the sellers on the bay are now selling the Derby Premium at £8.00 per 100.

Speedwell68 · Nov 1, 2016

margor64peroez said:
I did see a guy on ebay uk who is starting up and offered 100 very cheaply with free post within the UK. I hear you about the Wikinsons - I can get them in a supermarket for DKK 10. Call it £1 that's really quite cheap by Danish standards.

Thanks. I have seen them in 100 packs, but I try to keep things as local as possible. The internet is killing local traders and there is a small shop very close to me that keeps in Wilkinson Sword Blades, Palmolive soap/cream, Erasmic and a whole myriad of aftershaves/balms at good prices.

margor64peroez · Nov 1, 2016

Speedwell68 said:
Thanks. I have seen them in 100 packs, but I try to keep things as local as possible. The internet is killing local traders and there is a small shop very close to me that keeps in Wilkinson Sword Blades, Palmolive soap/cream, Erasmic and a whole myriad of aftershaves/balms at good prices.

Localism's a good policy which I follow where practicable, that small shop sounds like a gem, long may it last.

Stevieboy1966 · Nov 1, 2016

Well I just had my second shave with the Derby Premium blade. I repeated yesterday's shave exactly and had no problems just a smooth comfortable shave with no burn or irritation. They certainly appear to be a Premium product when compared to the Derby Extra, of course YMMV.

Manolo Tusk · Nov 1, 2016

How do they compare to Astra SP? These look to be UK only, as far as I can tell, but out of curiosity I plugged the cost into a currency converter and found that 100 run about the same cost per blade as Astra SP, while 200 ends up costing a little less than Derby Extras do in Canada for 100s.

margor64peroez · Nov 1, 2016

Stevieboy1966 said:
Well I just had my second shave with the Derby Premium blade. I repeated yesterday's shave exactly and had no problems just a smooth comfortable shave with no burn or irritation. They certainly appear to be a Premium product when compared to the Derby Extra, of course YMMV.

That's interesting - can you compare them with anything other than Derby Extras ? Such as Astras, or Polsilvers, or Rapira, for example.

Stevieboy1966 · Nov 2, 2016

Well it's the third shave for the Derby Premium. Again a repeat of my first shave. All I can say is I am impressed. It's been another flawless shave with no irritation or burn. To compare against other blades they feel much smoother and as sharp as an Astra SP. it's as smooth as a Bolzano but feels sharper. Compared to a plo silvers it feels a whole lot sharper and much smoother in use. Don't know if it's right but these blades feel thinner and much more flexible than the Derby Extra kind of like the Dorco prime which I know is thinner unfortunately I don't have a way to accurately measure them.

Manolo Tusk · Nov 2, 2016

Stevieboy1966 said:
Well it's the third shave for the Derby Premium. Again a repeat of my first shave. All I can say is I am impressed. It's been another flawless shave with no irritation or burn. To compare against other blades they feel much smoother and as sharp as an Astra SP. it's as smooth as a Bolzano but feels sharper. Compared to a plo silvers it feels a whole lot sharper and much smoother in use. Don't know if it's right but these blades feel thinner and much more flexible than the Derby Extra kind of like the Dorco prime which I know is thinner unfortunately I don't have a way to accurately measure them.

Looking at the prices on that site, they charge less for Derby Premium than Astra SP. They aren't charging much more for these than for Derby Extra. Your tastes might differ from the norm - I know most people consider the Polsilvers sharper than Astra SPs.

Aside from one 7'O Clock Sharpedge, I've only tried Astra SPs and Derby Extras. I have given Derby Extra's 3 separate chances - I was dumb enough to buy a hundred on the basis that the volume discount was huge - and hate them. The first couple times I nicked myself and figured "must be me" but the third time I was careful and still hated it. No nicks, but dull and very irritating - the only razor burn (mild, but still) I've gotten from a DE blade so far. I like Astra SPs enough to have ordered another 100 and I'm not even 2 packs into my first 100.

So I suppose what I'm wondering is, if they were able to make a blade significantly better than Derby Extras for barely more money - the cost increase for 100 is barely over 4 dollars Canadian, converting the pounds on that site - why didn't they earlier? It appears that while Derby Extras look OK if you Google reviews, most people I've seen commenting here dislike them. A lot of people are probably going to stay away from these based on their experiences with Derby Extras.

bkatbamna · Nov 2, 2016

adamchur said:
The price for 100 isn't too bad - £13.99 or €15,55
But I'm never likely to find out if they're any good for 3 very good reasons....

1. I hate Derby Extra with a passion because they are the only blades that cause a rection to the coating that leaves my face hot, red, puffy, sweaty and itchy.
I love Derby Shaving Soap Sticks, but too many times bitten, forever shy as far as Derby blades are concerned.

2. I can take my pick of decent blades like Bic Chrome Platinum, Indian Gillette 7 O'Clock Permasharp, Racer Super Class Platinum, German Wilkinson Sword, Personna Platinum Chrome or Zaza Super Stainless for less money - and guarantee 100% that I'll get good, consistent shaves with them because they're tried, tested and proven blades

3. IMHO Derby blades are the blades of the Devil

C'mon, don't beat around the bush, tell us what you really think of Derby blades.

adamchur · Nov 2, 2016

bkatbamna said:
C'mon, don't beat around the bush, tell us what you really think of Derby blades.

Stevieboy1966 · Nov 3, 2016

Well I had a 4th very comfortable shave with the Derby Premium. I can only say for me they turned out to be a real surprise. As ever YMMV like most blades they will suit some and not others. For me they are a worthwhile investment.

Jaidmaster · Nov 4, 2016

Sounds like these might be worth trying! Thanks for the review.
I wonder if they will be available locally like Derby Extra?

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