Wilkinson Sword Blades - Codes and Designs

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There seems to be little known about what Wilkinson Sword blade ranges were made in England, and how long each type was produced.

This thread is here so that if anyone can shed more light onto which ranges were available when, and what the various codes printed on the DE blades mean, they will hopefully send me a personal message here on the forum and I can update this thread accordingly.

This place is for information on the double edge blades made by Wilkinson Sword in England - before production moved to Solingen in Germany and the blades changed their characteristics somewhat.

Over time I hope to update or create a new blade review spreadsheet for the different types, complete with photos of the pack labels and any info on approximate years of manufacture.

Of course, I'd always welcome any blades being sent to me to review :) - just drop me a PM.


What we do know, or believe to be true:

Wilkinson Sword came out with stainless double edge blades in 1962.

Production in England ended in 2000.



Photos of the pack designs and blades contained therein will follow shortly.
 
RE: Wilkinson Sword Blades - Codes and Product N

E&OE and everything here presented in good faith, to the best of my ability, and hopefully to get some info from some former WS employees or other experts out there!

1962-1971
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A simple search of the web reveals stainless Wilkies were introduced in 1962, and the pricing indicates pre-decimilisation in 1971 (assuming these were not, for example, intended for sale in pre-dollar Australia (1966)).

Note there are no production codes on the blades or packaging.




Having a price in "p" rather than "d" dates these blades to 1971 or later:
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Note: no barcode on the pack. Barcodes started to become adopted in the UK from 1984 but were by no means widespread by then.

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What do the codes F and J mean?




Having a half-penny price dates these blades to on or before 1984 and after 1971:
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A recent thread here on the Shaving Room suggested this pack design came from circa 1973:
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Non-retail blades here:
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You may be able to see the illegible remnants of a black stamp at the bottom of the box; at the time I purchased these the same seller had an identical box but the stamp was more clearly visible, and it had a month and year stamped on it. The year was 1985.




These appear to be the most modern blades I have that are still produced in England. Could these be from the 1990s?
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Note the above blades don't have "Made in England" stamped on them, although these particular blades are made in England. Some blister packs of possibly a similar age state "made in EU"(no photo of this as of yet - I need to find them in the shaving den!)

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What does this production code mean?
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US Market Wilkies

This blade type has a US patent filing date of 1959:
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... and same patent here:
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Re-reading Jamie's old thread, which I linked to above, those New Chromium blades I pictured appear to be the Light Brigade version. Dodgy extolls their virtues and they had an interesting blister pack design and were offered at BP garages in the sixties.

I don't have the blister pack for these but I do have a photo I took a few years back; I'll update the thread when I find it.


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Here are some which say "made in EU" but at the time they were made in England and Germany. Perhaps it was easier for package designing purposes to say EU when blades were coming out of both Solingen and Cramlington?



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Perhaps 1980s, based on package design? Not much to go on I know, but these had a barcode.


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I find that some blister packs that say made in EU on them have made in England printed on their blades. Others have no place of manufacture on the blades.
 
I red somewhere that the Ctamlington production line was shipped complete to India where it's still in use, I think I saw it on the B&B wiki site but can't find it now :{ [BLACK HEART SUIT]
 
Cheers. I recall something about that, too. I believe the people behind Lord use some old WS machinery in Egypt, too, but am not certain.

Would like to see some WS made Falcon blades. I believe these were sold in Brazil; not sure if they came from Cramlington or not.
 
In the 1990s the blade tray had a different shape because it was designed to fit a wall bracket which the razor was sold in. The bracket could be screwed to the wall to hold the razor (WS Classic), and the blade tray fitted into a space on the bracket.
 
And these?




They shave to me like a dream. Some have said however that they believe these are not the same as the 'Light Brigades', but I can sense little if any difference.
 
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One would think that a former R&D engineer or senior employee from Wilkinson, Gillette or Personna, would meander onto a wet shaving forum and enlighten us. Alas, I have not seen nor heard of this. One man posts on another forum who while not seeming to work for Gillette, does occasionally drop a nugget or two of info regarding modern Russian production. However, for all anyone knows he could be an Internet 'poseur'. I am sure all this could be explained in layman's terms quite easily by someone in the know. I don't however think that on modern blades the hone is as important as the sputtering & coating which is indeed technical.

Here's another 'Wilkie' that is purported to be the same blade as the one I posted above:



Yet another that was introd in 1974 per here:






I think we can envision a lineage here based upon:

A. metals advertised, e.g., stainless & chromium
B. packaging used
C. geographic location listed on front and/or back of said packaging.

Wilkinson Sword, Inc. was a New Jersey (U.S.A.) Domestic Profit Corporation filed on August 1, 1963.
Wilkinson Sword, Inc. was a Georgia (U.S.A) Foreign Profit Corporation filed on January 22, 1982.

The next photo is a big clue:



Notice how blade container has changed to a silver color that resembles the later ones that did not have the 'Light Brigade' packaging. ;) Therefore, it is my belief that anything made later that has chromium in the name is indeed the same technology as that utilized in the LB blades. My personal 'facial' experiences have borne this out as well.

This LB packaging (different graphic) had a black front placard that is IMO the earlier of the two:



The company's packaging was apparently constantly evolving due to many factors, e.g., more plastic usage, bar codes, etc., moreso than the blades.

I think that when you look at all these factors now you can pretty well narrow down what you have in hand.

Here's another LB that has the earlier NJ address and the same graphic as the used on later silver color placards. I am theorizing they used several different graphics for these blades, yet the address on rear & color of placard are the real clues:




Yet another NJ chromium that is interesting:




Notice that it has chromium in the name, the NJ address & the silver placard, BUT it has a barcode which means Wilkinson was using barcodes before 1982.
 
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Better yet, see if there is a cross correlation. I am thinking there is. I am not saying my theory is perfect, but perhaps with luck it's a base that can be refined.

FWIW, today I shaved with an NOS 'Wilkie' with a black placard and Stainless Steel in red letters on it. The blade says Stainless Super Sword Edge. Incredible blade & shave. ;)
 
Hiya,

I could come up with 8-10 different version vintage Wilkinson packs if I looked around carefully in the arsenal and other places. I have used em all over the years but can't remember how each one fit. None were bad and some were certainly better than other. A couple are excellent and in my rotation.

Not all old Super Sword Edge blades shave the same and neither do the different 'Chromium' versions, but the ones that do fit me are about perfect.

The Light Brigade is one I could easily use every day and should be tried just to see what's up. As good a blade as I have shaved with........very smooth and sharp and forgiving.

Martin

Oh, keep in mind my opinion might not quite match up with yours.
 
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FWIW, today I shaved with an NOS 'Wilkie' with a black placard and Stainless Steel in red letters on it. The blade says Stainless Super Sword Edge. Incredible blade & shave. ;)

Heh, now you got my curiosity going,

There's a few unopened packs of those laying around and I can't remember what they might shave like if others were used in the past. Have to try and find an open pack and give one a try.

Far as a Light Brigade goes, NTS has a good shot of those....package/front/back blade/wrapper pics. The wrapper saying Chromium doesn't always hold the same blade.
 
...Not all old Super Sword Edge blades shave the same and neither do the different 'Chromium' versions...

Oh, keep in mind my opinion might not quite match up with yours.

dodgy, like the OP I am just trying to make some sense of the mystery that appears to be the historical lineage of these blades. Any & all help/opinions are equal in my eyes and with luck we all may be able to figure this out. ;)

Expand a little on your opinion that the different Chromium versions are not equal. Photos would help as well, please.
 
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