Crystal Razor Blade Review
The Crystal Razor Blade was not in the initial batch of blades that I purchased for testing, but was specifically requested by a reader. I was able to track down a pack at my local shave shop.
While looking for the Crystal Razor Blades to purchase I found that there is the blue package that you see in this review, and there is also a black version that comes carded, also known as a blister package (basically a cardboard sheet with the product in plastic). The blister pack specifically says Crystal while the blue package does not say Crystal anywhere.
Comparing pictures of the 2 blades themselves, they do appear to be exactly the same, both showing Super + Platinum and stamped with Pat. No. 3071856.
Fresh out of the pack the sharpness measured 44, which is right about average. For information on what this means check out Razor Blade Sharpness Testing. You can click this link to see a Razor Blade Sharpness Comparison Chart with the other blades tested so far.
The first shave with the Crystal razor blade surprised me. It’s not so much the fact that it was a great shave (it was really great), but the fact that I don’t hear this blade being mentioned more often. I had an excellent 3 pass shave with no irritation and almost zero feedback with my Osma Alum Block.
Note that I shave my head as well as my face and have a pretty thick growth – except for the top of my head. This means that one of my shaves might equal two of someone that just shaves their face, or even more if they have a thinner beard.
After the first shave, the sharpness increased to 37. You will notice in the other razor blade reviews as well that most blades so far tend to sharpen up with use. This was consistent with how I felt about the Crystal razor blade, it was very smooth and felt sharp.
The second shave was basically the same as the first. I had another fantastic shave that was just as good as the first, with just slightly more feedback on the alum but barely any at all.
After the second shave the sharpness decreased just slightly to 38, which for all intents and purposes is the same as 37. I was very impressed how smooth the Crystal stayed through the second shave while retaining the same sharpness.
I looked at some reviews online after my tests and found many great reviews. This was very consistent with my experience and my only disappointment is that I did not find the Crystal razor blades sooner.
Initial Sharpness = 44
Average Sharpness = 40
Edge Retention = 0.86
Smoothness = 5/5
Overall Subjective Rating = 5/5
Platinum Chrome Coated. Made in Israel.
I was on vacation the week before testing this blade and had a wedding to go to. Because of this, I was using fresh Derby blades the entire week to make sure I had no irritation for the wedding pictures. While using a fresh Derby almost guarantees me no irritation, it is not the closest shave that I get.
This factor may have played into my Crystal razor blade experience (a full week of just reasonably close for and then BBS with the Crystal all over), but either way I was blown away. I had two amazing shaves and would recommend that everyone tries this blade.
Check out more Razor Blade Reviews or look into how the Razor Blade Sharpness Testing works.
Have you tried Crystal Razor Blades? Be sure to leave your overall rating, the community appreciates your vote!
