King C. Gillette Safety Razor with Chrome Plated Handle and 5 Platinum Coated Double Edge Safety Razor Blade Refills

Gillette invented this kind of razor 120 years ago and it was so good it’s going strong in 2021. From its inception, disposable blade shaving has always made its money on the blades and given away the handle for a pittance. DE blades have long since been commoditized and there is very little profit left in them. There’s a little margin left in the brushes, soaps and creams that accompany this way of shaving but the razors and blades themselves are emblematic of their own thin profit margins. So it was gratifying to see Gillette delve into its heritage with little prospect of market reward. They didn’t go with one of their classic razor designs—a twist-to-open Super Speed, perhaps, or one of the great flat bottom Tech razors from their British factories. They still have the designs in the archives, but the tooling is long gone as are any employees with experience manufacturing those great old brass razors. So they looked around at current DE razor production for a good design. The one they chose, Germany’s Merkur, has been in production with basically the exact same head design for over 80 years and is considered by many to be the best DE razor in current production. Oh, there are plenty of fancier metals being used for razors: Stainless, bronze, titanium, aluminum, brass. But you can’t argue with the shaving geometry of the Merkur design. They nailed it. So Gillette licensed it from Merkur for production under the Gillette label and here we are. Every guy likes something a little different. I’ve got an awful lot of vintage Gillette razors, and this thing, a Merkur, is better for me than all of them. I don’t need another razor, so I ignored the introduction of the King C. But a couple weeks ago it popped up on Amazon Fresh for $9.95. A new Merkur 34c sells on Amazon for $40 and I don’t own one, so I thought about buying the King C. for the first time. Decided to buy and it was in my hands about 19 hours later. I popped one of my favorite Voskhod blades in it for the next day’s shave. Shaved with it. Meh. It was tuggy and a bit rough. I put that down to the blade pairing and switched out the Voskhod for a Feather. I’m not going to say I got the best shave of my life. I often get great shaves. This was a great shave though, and not from a $100 Rockwell or a $200 Karve stainless. It was from a $9.95 pot metal Gillette Merkur clone. That is remarkable. Those other razors are expensive because stainless steel is hard to machine into a razor. Theoretically they’re going to last a lot longer than this razor. But you are missing out on nothing as far as the shave is concerned, and as long as you don’t drop it and break it or strip the threads I see no reason it shouldn’t last a lifetime. Walgreens and CVS sell this razor for $20 all day. If you’re seeing it here for $20 just hit the Buy button. I’ve been shaving this way for years and I can’t think of a better way to switch from cartridges. All the Chinese razors you can buy on this site will do the job but most of them won’t do it this well. You get comfort and safety here along with enough efficiency to get soft and smooth in 3 passes or fewer—that’s a lot fewer blades going over the same patch of skin than with a multi-blade cartridge. Less irritation. A word about the handle: The chromed brass handle of this razor is an interesting design choice. You might like it. I found it a little too long and a little too heavy and a bit slippery too. I don’t care about slippery. Just touch my wet fingers on my alum block and presto, no slippery problems. But you might not like it. I switched it out for a generic stainless bulldog handle I had in a drawer. It was just a tad lighter but quite a bit shorter with a lot of knurling. It really improved the mechanics of this razor for me. As always, YMMV. You don’t need a different handle or Feather blades to get a good shave from the King C. Gillette safety razor. It is now my top recommendation for a first safety razor. I’m kind of a shaving geek. I get up 20 minutes earlier than I used to on shaving days (I shave 4 days a week) just to enjoy the ambience and feel of a high quality grooming experience. I’ve spent wayyyy more money than I ever spent on Gillette cartridges so I didn’t wind up saving money with my cheap DE razor and 7¢ Astra blades (which BTW work GREAT in the King C). I have so many razors, blades, soaps, creams, brushes, aftershave splashes and balms, even a $30 “shaving towel” from Lancaster Razor Works which I love and would buy again in a heartbeat. So I’m a very sick man. But I’m also capable of telling you a few things from experience. One is that you might not like this razor. In ten years of trying everything I could get my hands on, I found out that some of the stuff most of the guys lusted after, I absolutely hated. And vice versa. In all this time I’ve found ways to get free samples of soaps, creams and splashes so I can try before buying. But they won’t send you a free razor. So finding my favorite razors was about buying and reselling a lot of them. It was a pain and I still have a drawerful of razors that have to go. I won’t be using them but they’ll all be somebody’s favorite. Haven’t found any shortcuts. But what a find this razor was for me after spending thousands on much nicer razors that frankly were not a good fit for my skin and whiskers and technique. I cannot make any guarantees for you with this razor, because your experience will differ from mine. THAT I guarantee. I can say this is a pretty mild razor that tends to work better with sharper blades. Works great with Feather, sharpest in the world. But I typically use Astra SP, the green packaging, because I can get them on Amazon for about 1/4 the price of Feathers and they do a wonderful job for me in this razor. For you maybe. Maybe not. But a lot of guys like this combination. Haven’t tried the KCG branded blades in it. I’m sure they’re fine but overpriced. Astra, Feather, Nacet, Personna (Israeli “red” ones or USA “lab blue”), and many others are worth a try. They are amazingly cheap and you can buy 5 or 10 to give them a proper trial for you to see what works best. There are huge differences and you WILL have your favorites. If you’re not ready to go both feet into wet shaving with a brush and shaving soap, try the Crēmo brand shave gel in a tube. It’s in all the stores and does a good job. It’s very costly per shave like the goo in the push button cans but it smells better and shaves better. Give yourself a chance with a cheap synthetic brush from RazoRock or Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements, and a tube of Proraso green shaving cream or a tub of cream from Taylor of Old Bond Street. Try the grapefruit scent, or Royal Forest. Watch some YouTube videos on how to lather these creams properly for a good shave without wasting product. It doesn’t take much. You might think a tub of Taylor’s is expensive until you see how long it lasts. Heck, a tube of Palmolive cream is a great place to start and that stuff is cheap. The reason you should have a brush and a shaving soap or cream designed to lather with a brush and water is simple: multiple passes. You won’t get baby smooth in one pass with a DE razor. If you’re using Edge gel in a can you’ll blow through that stuff lathering up multiple times. A brush holds enough lather for all the passes you need for the smoothness you want. Good luck.

This Gillette was not my first choice, however I am very pleased with it. I used a Harry's for a number of years, which I recently dropped in the shower and snapped the last replacement blade I had. Having never been totally impressed with the Harry's shave quality (really just liked the look and affordability of the cartridges), I tried a different brand from the grocery store, which ended up in the trash after two days. So while reluctantly ordering replacement blades for my Harry's after that, I stumbled upon safety razors. I've always been drawn to vintage, old-timey stuff, and was interested in them, though I went ahead and ordered the Harry's blades as planned. But there I was, back looking at safety razors the next day. After going through many pages of razors and reading about them, I decided I would get a Muhle R89. This was based on the design, reviews, and it being closed comb, which I'd read was a good choice for beginners. Unfortunately, it wouldn't ship very quickly, I was getting impatient waiting for the Harry's blades as well, and had nothing else to shave with. The Gillette kept coming up, and while it looked the part, it certainly didn't seem as cool as getting a Muhle or Parker or something. But as it was able to be delivered the next day and cost about the same as the package of Harry's razors that were now delayed in shipment, I figured why not try it for that price. This Gillette is everything I wanted, other than it not being the brand I was originally set on. The brand shouldn't be as important as the features and performance, and I love the solid metal parts, the weight of it, and the polished chrome finish, even the little KCG insignia on the top. I couldn't wait to try it out and used it within about 15 minutes of it being delivered. I found it really easy to install the blade, easy to use, and got a great shave. It was a little intimidating to switch razor type, especially after having a short and unsuccessful stint using a straight razor when I was younger, but I had no trouble shaving with this razor. I watched several YouTube videos on safety razor technique, which I would recommend doing, but there seems to be a tendency to demo them as a full barbershop-style experience: brush, mug, shave soap and other products. Don't feel like you need to do that. I used regular shave gel and aftershave and it was pretty comparable in technique as well as duration to my regular shaving routine. At some point I might still get the Muhle that I had been set on, but am overall totally happy with the Gillette I ended up with. I think this is a very good product and would recommend it, especially if you are new to safety razors. It is nice looking, well made, easy to use, and not a big investment if you decide it isn't for you.

After a year of shaving with a double edge razor, I came back to this one and find it’s a perfect balance for me of efficiency and comfort. My only gripe is the slightlyslippery handle. The head is a very nice mild but effective saver, allowing me to go against the grain on my neck without irritation, which my more aggressive razors can’t do. I have a Rockwell 6C and vintage Gillette Slim Adjustable and keep finding the King C Gillette is a great every day razor. For the price it’s impossible to beat in my opinion. If you’re new to double edges safety razors, this is the perfect starting point.

I admit that I was taken in by the multi-blade cartridge razor propaganda. From the first time I started shaving, I was using a multi-blade cartridge. The TV promised a closer safer shave, after all. These old single-blade safety razors? Those were what my father used because the newer stuff hadn't been invented yet. So anyhow, I have been dissatisfied for some time with both the quality of shave my electric razor gave me, and the expense of the multi-blade cartridges. So I thought, "what about the old school safety razors?" 11c per blade when you buy them in bulk -- way cheaper than the multi-blade cartridges. But surely they would cut me all up and make me hurt? But worth a try, I decided. So I bought this razor. So first thing I did was wet my face with a warm washcloth and then rub standard shaving jell on the parts of the face that I wanted to shave until they were nice and wet with gel lather. Then I started shaving. Hmm. Tilt it this way until the blade actually touches my face and... I'm shaving? That's all there is to it? Just... tilt it until the blade touches your face with the tiniest bit of drag, and shave? Yep, that's all there is to it. I did *not* shred my face. Between the shaving gel and the slickness of this razor, it slid just fine, giving me a nice clean shave with one of the blades that came with the razor without shredding my face. And while buying this handle was more expensive than I expected, the long term costs will be much lower than the multi-blade monstrosities that I was previously using. Recommended, definitely. The multi-blade propaganda was a lie! Note: this is a simple razor that did not come with any kind of instructions. You just unscrew the handle, take the top cap off, plop the blade on the pegs, and screw it back together. There are more complicated safety razors that e.g. have a clamshell that will open up when you twist a lever in order to let you load the blade, but this does the job and should last a long time because there's basically no moving parts.

I have always been interested in switching to something that provides a better , faster and cheaper shave. I generally always used the Mach 3 and though I like it, unfortunately each razor head does not last too long and gets worse each time. It is both relatively expensive and when I run out takes me some time to order it again or remember to purchase. So I've always been interested in trying safety razors as many swear by them and claim them to be much better than alternative methods. I originally tried the cheapest one I found which was the vanderhagen or whatever its called. The cheapest one which is like 12 bucks or so on Amazon. Though I have seen some decent reviews of it on you tube I was kind of disappointed with that one. It seemed to have a bit of a learning curve and requires you to hold it at a particular angle to get good results and I did even cut myself with it a few times and it was just a slow and not good shave for me. So I was very disappointed and went back to the Mach 3. However upon hearing reviews and recommendations of the king c gillete being much better and good for beginners I decided to give this one a try and am very happy I did. This one has a special shape which makes it automatically conform to the proper angle that it requires. This makes it really easy to get started with it and did not have any learning curve for me. I found it to be just as good and quick of a shave as the mach3 and being far cheaper for the blades I can just order a bunch at a time and not worry about it for like a year. All in all the shave is very comparable to the Mach 3 as far as ease of use and shaving speed goes but I would say that it is not as super close of a shave or at least maybe I have not gotten a hang of the right strategy for that yet. But I do not like to have an extremely close shave anyway and do not mind a bit of stubble so it works perfectly fine for me. All in all I am happy to switch to this razor after using the Mach 3 for most my life. Even though it is a bit different and takes a bit of getting used to it is still as easy and fast to shave plus cheaper so really the perfect combination.

It's been a few years and it still looks, feels, and functions like new. Way cheaper than disposable razors, and gives a nice clean shave.

I really wanted to love the King C. Gillette Safety Razor because it honestly looks fantastic sitting on the bathroom counter. It has a premium, classic design and a nice weight to it that immediately catches the eye. Unfortunately, the actual performance just doesn't match the aesthetics. I found that it doesn't perform very well at all and simply doesn't deliver a close, smooth shave. I had to do multiple passes, and it still left a lot to be desired. If you are buying it purely for the looks, it's a great piece, but as a functional daily shaving tool, it performs poorly for me. Three stars for the design, but I wouldn't recommend it for the actual shave.

Woman here. Wanted to try this because I'm tired of using microblades and other facial products that only last about a week. Once you learn how to use a safety razor, you've pretty much got your work cut out for you. This glides like butter with the right product and gets a nice clean shave on my face and pretty much everywhere else I need to use it. Don't let the gender specific labeling confuse you, safety razors are definitely for everyone!

Atendeu as expectativas, pela relação custo benefício.

Now i am not worried about blood or cut!

I'm new to using safety razors for shaving. I can't really say much other than how much I love this thing, it's my first safety razor and it's been very nice to use. It's comfortable in my hand, has a weight to it which I like, it feels sturdy and well built. I bought a pack of Astra blades to go with it and not going to lie, I'm actually amazed on how much money I've wasted over the years on disposable razors with the ridiculous pricing they have on them. While, this does not provide an extremely close shave like my gillete fusion blades do, it does provide a clean enough and comfortable shave which does not take very long to do and it does not irritate my skin at all. This is the primary selling point for me as I have hated shaving all my life because I would always get my skin extremely irritated after using disposable blades, likely because they just cause too much friction specially after the first use of the blades which seem to deteriorate much faster than these safety razors. If you dry the blades on the safety razor after each use you can use them 3-4 more times before you start noticing dullness which is absolutely great considering they cost less than $0.30 a piece. That's less than 10 cents a shave. I've used it using shaving cream but I've also used it with just soap on my face and that's perfectly fine, I'm sure people have better techniques on how to use this, but it in the end it's not rocket science, it's a blade, against your skin. I don't see what a more expensive handle really does for you other than angle adjustments, but I guess technique has more to do with that than anything else. If you're frustrated with disposable blades and their pricing along with how bad they deal with your skin, don't think further and just get one of these. A handle + 100 blades is less than the cost of 8 fusion blades from gillete so that's just a point of comparison.

I got a bit of nostalgia so I decided to go back to safety shavers. None were giving that nice smooth shaving until I got the Gillette. This one is the best despite being the cheapest of them all - I have 7 in total.

Estoy satisfecho, llevo un mes de uso con este rastrillo y es una maravilla, se siente algo pesado, lo cual me agrada, igual con el tiempo te acostumbras y dejas de notarlo. Las navajas que incluye tienen excelente filo, no jalan los bellos y se logra una afeitada suave y fácil. Me encanta, tengo otro rastrillo clásico pero de menor calidad y más económico y hay una enorme diferencia, claro, este es más costoso, pero vale la pena, el afeitado es aún más seguro porque el filo de las ojas está expuesto lo suficiente para ser seguro.