List of sharpest DE blades

Alex7 said:
Can anyone link a list of the sharpest DE blades?
Click to expand...

Although a long time ago, Squire's blade reviews over at SMF, in my view proved to be spot on...


"Now you can easily find Squire's helpful reviews again. I'll summarize his favorites here, starting from best and in approximate order: Feather, Super Iridium, 7 O'Clock SharpEdge yellow box, Wilkinson (British - out of prod), Wilkinson (India - current prod), 7 O'Clock Permasharp green box (India), Polsilver, Kai, Derby, Treet Classic Dura Sharp Coated, Gillette "Swedish," 7 O'Clock Super Stainless green box (Russia), Astra Keramic, Gillette Bleue Extra, Crystal (Personna), Supermax Platinum, Bic (Greece).

With the Treet blades you need to be careful to get the right ones, because there is so much overlap with their names. And one thing I got in general - "platinum" doesn't guarantee a superior blade, though some of the best ones use platinum".

The Tweet and Lord Blade reviews on TSR are excellent and a also another great reference source...
 
An attempt at some empirical process which might be of some use ...

www.refinedshave.com

Razor Blade Sharpness Summary with Comparison Chart

This post is to serve as a quick reference as a Razor Blade Sharpness Summary which includes a Razor Blade Sharpness Comparison Chart. To see more in depth how the testing works, check out Razor Bl…
www.refinedshave.com www.refinedshave.com

Personally, my top 20 sharpest goes along the lines of ...

BIC Chrome Platinum < if you want something more than the Nacet
Gillette Nacet Stainless < I'd like to put Gillette Rhino as well, but think it's the same blade
Personna Platinum Chrome < super-sharp and super-smooth
Lord Platinum Class < and Racer/ASCO
Permasharp Super
Silver Star Super Stainless
Super Shave X
Gillette Winner Superior Platinum
Gillette Super Thin (Thai) < not Viet, which seems far less sharp
Wilkinson Sword (Germany)
Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Platinum
Euromax Platinum
Shark Platinum < just a tick below the premium Lord brands
Statum Platinum Chrome
Gillette Super Blue & London Bridge < possibly the same blade
Feather Hi-Stainless
Racer/ASCO Super Stainless
Derby Premium
Gillette 7 O'Clock Permasharp Stainless (Green)
BIC Astor < start and finish the list with BIC, eh?

Top 10 in the list are seethingly sharp, the next 10 are very sharp.
 
pjgh said:
An attempt at some empirical process which might be of some use ...

www.refinedshave.com

Razor Blade Sharpness Summary with Comparison Chart

This post is to serve as a quick reference as a Razor Blade Sharpness Summary which includes a Razor Blade Sharpness Comparison Chart. To see more in depth how the testing works, check out Razor Bl…
www.refinedshave.com www.refinedshave.com

Personally, my top 20 sharpest goes along the lines of ...

BIC Chrome Platinum < if you want something more than the Nacet
Gillette Nacet Stainless < I'd like to put Gillette Rhino as well, but think it's the same blade
Personna Platinum Chrome < super-sharp and super-smooth
Lord Platinum Class < and Racer/ASCO
Permasharp Super
Silver Star Super Stainless
Super Shave X
Gillette Winner Superior Platinum
Gillette Super Thin (Thai) < not Viet, which seems far less sharp
Wilkinson Sword (Germany)
Gillette 7 O'Clock Super Platinum
Euromax Platinum
Shark Platinum < just a tick below the premium Lord brands
Statum Platinum Chrome
Gillette Super Blue & London Bridge < possibly the same blade
Feather Hi-Stainless
Racer/ASCO Super Stainless
Derby Premium
Gillette 7 O'Clock Permasharp Stainless (Green)
BIC Astor < start and finish the list with BIC, eh?

Top 10 in the list are seethingly sharp, the next 10 are very sharp.
Click to expand...
Where is Treet Platinum in the list? Does this mean that you realise, as do I, that sharpness alone is insufficient for a good shave?
 
... and even when smoothness is slightly lagging behind the sharpness, the blade can still be a lot of fun. I'm thinking of many of the new(er) breed of Indian blades, which I lovingly refer to as like shaving with a playful tiger. There's a very present fierceness, but they don't break the skin.
 
Alex7 said:
Can anyone link a list of the sharpest DE blades?
Click to expand...

A subjective answer based on personal experience, that ignores all other metrics:

Tier 1: Feather Hi-Stainless

Tier 2: BIC Chrome, Kai

Tier 3: Gillette Nacet, Schick Stainless, Sharp Titanium, Schick Plus Platinum (NOS - USA & Netherlands)

Tier 4: Treet Dura-sharp (Carbon Steel), Gillette Minora Stainless, Gillette Super Blue (China), Gillette Super Silver (NOS - England), Personna Super Platinum Chrome (NOS), Wilkinson Sword & London Bridge (NOS early 1970's - England), Gillette Stainless (St Petersburg), Gillette Super Nacet & Goal (China), Gillette 7 O'Clock Yellow, Gillette Perma-sharp, Wilkinson Sword (Brazil), Gillette Platinum (NOS - England), Gillette Spoiler (NOS - USA)

Tier 5: Many and I only use infrequently

Although there are a few honourable exceptions, Gillette (India), Lord and Gillette (Russia - Platinum), Personna (Israel) and Mostochlehmash (Russia) are not sharp enough for me
 
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I'm not too happy with the original question. It's hard to believe that a manufacturer would not aim for sharpness in a blade. We know that there is a standard size for DE blades, and they are pressed out by machine. Then the sharpening process begins. I have often wondered if the various ways of sharpening can result in more or less metal removed, resulting in a blade which seems mild or not. We often say that a different razor will suit a blade more.
If two of us have a new pencil and a sharpener each, and proceed to produce a sharp lead, the sharper pencil will be shorter.
I'm suggesting that a blade not considered sharp should be tried in a razor considered aggressive. The blade might be sharper, but hardly protruding from the razor due to how much metal was removed by sharpening. Sorry if this long winded.
 
Assuming a competent manufacturer using fit-for-purpose machinery

The angle of the bevel
The sputtering (plating used on the edge e.g. platinum etc)
The type and amount of coating used (e.g. Teflon etc)

can all impact on sharpness and the other key metrics of a blade; longevity and smoothness

Tweak one variable and it can impact positively on one metric, but negatively on another

Some blades prioritise sharpness, whilst others prioritise one or both of the other metrics, whilst trying to be at least acceptable on all. The most straightforward example is stainless e.g. Nacet, Minora Stainless and Perma-sharp and platinum e.g. Rubie, Gillette Platinum and Silver Blue manufactured by Gillette in St Petersburg. The former don't have platinum sputtering and are sharper, the latter do and are a little less sharp (but still fit for purpose), but are generally recognised to be a little smoother

Now back to my pint...
 
I recently dug out a Feather blade from my old stock (2016) and had a shave with it after many years of using Astra SP almost exclusively.

I could feel that the Feather was noticably a little "sharper", but could also feel some degree of "dragging" and my face was a little more unsettled afterwards.

So these tiny differences in production do make a difference to the feel and the "Sharpest" blade may not be the easiest to live with.

As ever, try many different blades to see how they work for you.

I have to say I feel happy that i tried Astra SP way back then and got a great, clean, comfortable shave every time so stuck with them.

But it can be different for everyone.
 
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