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.