Wilkinson Sword Classic

M

Millay

Messages
376
OK Its plastic its cheap but its a great mild razor.

This is a two peice razor, where the top screws of from the base to allow changing of the blade, once a blade is in there you can barly see it jus the a millimitre or two of the cutting edge is visible, whilst plastic the bar has a metal pole inside that gives it a little weight that is really needed.

I love the shave of this razor, its the first DE razor I ever used and pretty much no matter what blade i put in i rarely cut myself whilst a little mild for most and perhaps its not going to give you the best of shave but as a starter razor it wins hands down. I recently shaved with it after having used a feather portable and gillette new and was amazed at how middle and forgiving this razor is.

Conclusion
For less than £5 with a pack of acceptable blades thrown in i cant recommend this more highly for starting out in the world of DE shaving, also if you are in need of a shave on the road and dont have your kit they are sold in almost all UK supermarkets.
 
My first DE too, used it on and off for around a year before buying a 'proper' razor from Ollie.Agree with the mildness and found it a great starter razor.Very cheap and readily available.Might give it a go again for old times sake ;)
 
I have one still in it's placca wrapping - so far I've not felt the need to open it (bloody hell! there are 5 blades in there - that's 15 more days on to the shavocalypse!)

From what I hear it's an Indian razor made by Treet and there are at least two variants of it across Europe (our plasticky one and a more metally one in the Balkans) - not that Indian is bad, but Parker is Indian and that was like Russian roulette :D
 
Im not to sure about where they are made, I know they have been linked to treet but im not sure who owns the design as i beleive this one is made in germany by wilkinson sword gmbh i would have to look at a packet to be sure...
 
This is a great razor for the price (about £4). I also bought this as my first DE when I just wanted to try DE shaving out.
After trying the blades that came with it, I got some Tesco blades instead. I'm not a fan of the German Wilks.

Pete
 
hunnymonster said:
Doesn't say on the package where it's made - has a customer service address in Solingen, but no declaration of origin.
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After our conversation on here last night i emailed wilkinson sword and they replied this morning confirming both the razor and blades are produced in germany
 
Pete said:
The Wilkinson razor does look like this one
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I totally agree, but it is not unusual for a product design to be licensed and used by different companies, The treet is made in india i believe using the same design. Now the question remains who came up with the design in the first place, I would put money on wilkinson sword as they have sold a classic style razor for donkeys years.

What im trying to say is that the Wilkinson Sword is not a re-badged treet as it is manufactured by wilkinson sword.
 
Millay said:
I totally agree, but it is not unusual for a product design to be licensed and used by different companies
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Particularly not WS - they entered into a lot of joint ventures across the developing world - Lord for one benefited from a technology transfer from WS, so you can be sure there are others out there with similar links.

On a side note, I read somewhere that WS India is part of Gillette... so I wonder if Treet is what we think of as WS in India?
 
Yes you are right, i beleive the gillette ws thing in india is purly brand licensing but im not sure.

I have noted that some companies proclaim to be using old wilkinson sword machinery from the uk for the manufacture of there products.
 
To resurrect an old topic, I saw one of these on offer in the local emporium of tat for £3 and thought it would be rude not to.

Initially, I was quite surprised at the heft of the item... the metal in the handle does a good job of adding some weight. And whilst it is presented in its plastic glory, the head design is well thought out, with the blade being kept dead straight and the sides that poke out on most razors well hidden.

I loaded it with one of the blades it came with - I've recently discovered I quite like Wilkinson blades - and whilst it is a mild razor, it seems to either cut whiskers or not. Whilst that might seem to be stating the obvious, when your angle is wrong, it does not seem to get at the skin at all and therefore cuts down the irritation. And it also seems that as long as you get a good angle, you get a good shave.

This hobby amazes me - I can use my more expensive kit or my budget stuff and get an equally pleasurable and quality shave.

One final thing, this razor will hopefully be the start of the slippery slope for a lot of folk... and in my opinion, it gives a quality shave that will get lots more folk into this hobby of ours.
 
This was the first DE razor I bought and tried too, I saw it in Boots while waiting for a Gillette to arrive from ebay and at the price it was a no-brainer. I seem to have got a duff one though, first shaves I had with it were fantastic, capable of getting close while not being to aggressive. As someone above says, go a bit too far on your angle of attack and the bulging head lifts the blade off your face thus escaping the worst results - for me that meant more passes to get a good shave, but with minimal irritation it's a trade I'd be happy with. I tried it again on friday and again tonight after having a spell with my Gillette and I couldn't get the blade lined up straight, it felt very weird (may have been a duff blade - I'll give it one more try and if it's the same then I'll shelve it). I still got a decent result but for now I think I'll be giving this a miss in favour of the Gillette. Definitely worth a try given the price though - there was absolutely nothing wrong with those first shaves I did, and if I could get it feeling like that again then I'd have no issues with recommending it. It also feels good to hold - all the weight is in the handle which might sound bad, but I quite liked the fact that I was in control of getting it close rather than using the weight of the head, it was good for experimenting with angles while using very very light pressure.
 
I did use the WS Classic from around 1992 to 2000. That was when it came with a plastic wall mounting, which housed the razor and the blades. This is why the razor blades come in a slightly larger tray compared to the normal regular sized tray. The only problem is that the handle can unscrew during shaving but this may be due to the plastic thread wearing out after a few years. This razor works really well with the older English made WS blades which most small shops used to sell years ago. I used to use it with the older Body Shop coconut shaving cream, and the results were great.
 
I used this one from around 1992 to 2000. It always delivered good shaves. It used to come with a plastic wall mounting for the razor and blades - this is why the WS Classic blade tray is larger than usual. But the razor worked best with the older English made WS blades, for a smooth clean shave. In those days I used Body Shop coconut shave cream which they made at the time, and [/i]the WS shaving brush.

The only thing to watch out for is the handle, because it can come loose after a while. It could be due to the plastic construction, but I think it is a great little razor, and am glad it is still around - minus the plastic wall mounting.
 
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