Somewhere along the way, without quite remembering how, I ended up having a Gillette Black Beauty Super Adjustable. Only recently did I learn its official name—and to my utter dismay, confirmed by its serial number, that it was manufactured in the fourth quarter of 1962. The same year I was born!
Turns out, this razor is considered one of the best double-edge safety razors ever made. I wish my father were still around so I could ask if it once belonged to him. I never buy second-hand items, certainly not a shaver, so either I didn’t buy it at all, or I picked up one new from an old stock when I lived in the US.
Despite owning such an excellent razor—and having no complaints ever with it—I still bought several others over the years, including the well-known German brand Merkur. Curiosity, after all, never ends.
A couple of days ago, I bought an Indian-made Pink Woolf three-piece closed comb safety razor. That’s where today’s story really begins. To avoid bias, I installed a blade from my existing stock although the new razor came with 10 free blades from another brand. The razor looked lovely—well finished, well packaged, visually convincing.
On most days, I shave against the grain in a single pass for a smooth finish which I insist. On more relaxed days, I do one pass with the grain and one against it.
The first pass with this new razor was astonishing—ultra smooth, buttery, and deeply satisfying. The second pass, however, told a different story. No matter how hard I tried, the sound of the blade cutting stubble never stopped.
Disappointment crept in.
Is this what “Made in India” quality has come to? Can we not even make a simple safety razor that shaves reasonably? Surely, all it would take is a few test shaves—no massive R&D department required.
Still thinking along those lines, I moved on to shaving my head. That’s when things became undeniable. The razor barely cut any hair, even though there was 2–3 days of hair growth, while my beard—which was barely a day old—hardly needed shaving anyway.
This was unacceptable. No razor could be this bad.
I brought it closer and inspected the design.
That’s when I saw it.
I had reverse-fitted the bottom plate.
How dumb was I.
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