200 Croma Diamant Stainless Steel Double Edge German Razor Blades 200 CT (Made in Germany)

Armed with virtually unlimited budget I've tried out 15+ blades out there and the Croma Diamant came out on top. Close second were Wilkinson Classic (made in Germany). 1. I have somewhat sensitive skin, and I found that German brands tend to be very sharp yet still smooth (do not cause redness). Great German brands include Merkur, Mühle, Timor, Wilkinson Classic and Croma Diamant. All are great, some are much more expensive than others. By the way, I didn't try out Croma (red package), only Croma Diamant. Croma Diamant was not just the smoothest of them all, but also the cheapest when buying in bulk. 2. Personna (Lab Blue Meds, USA) and Personna (red, made in Israel) were very good but not great. 3. Feather (Japan) - super sharp, but caused redness even in a very mild, forgiving razor like Edwin Jagger DE89. 4. Russian-made blades (Astra, Rapira, Voskhod, Gillette Blues, etc.) - remind me of Feather for half the price, super sharp, super aggressive. That said, why would I buy Russian products when Russia is actively attacking us by spreading false information online via bots and stealing our trade secrets? 5. Turkish blades (Derby, Parker) Similar to Personna, but again - Turkey is attacking our Kurdish allies, why buy made in Turkey blades? 6. Korean - (Dorco) Excellent value - super cheap and very good. 7. Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi blades - super cheap - some are somewhat decent (Treet Platinum), some are horrible (Big Ben). 8. Chinese - only tried Gillette Wilkinson - excellent, but not as smooth as Croma Diamant. Very sharp, great for a three day growth. 9 Greece (BIC Chrome Platinum) - somewhat ok. Summary: Do yourself a favor, and try out several brands before settling down. Avoid Russian and Turkish brands. Definitely try out Croma Diamant - they were the best in my tests!

I have purchased at least ten other brands of blades for my dad and none of them have come close to these. These remain sharp longer reducing the annoyance on nicks from a dull blade. Most blades had to be changed after two or three shaves. These blades last for eight or more before needing replaced. The price is also a great value for the number of blades you get. Nothing bad to say about this product.

Newb double edge shaver...I purchased a Viking Double edge razor recently and it's my first DB razor. I really liked the factory Viking blades. While these are an excellent value, I think they are an aggressive blade. These blades tend to cut me if I'm not shaving very lightly. I've been shaving twice with both these and the Viking blades. They are okay, but maybe I'm spoiled by the Viking Blades. If you're an experienced DB shaver these are probably great.

Razor and Blade Combination Test Razor: The Mergress (modified Merkur Progress) Adjustable Goal: To find the best blade for each razor. Method: Compare one blade to another on alternative shaving days. This is not a definitive double blind test, but it will give me, I believe, a good idea as to which blades work best, delivering a smooth, irritation free shave. The best each razor can do and the best blade for that razor. Initial set up: For consistency, I have decided to use the same procedures and products for each shave, limiting the variables. I am using the Mergress adjustable razor. This is probably my favorite razor right now. I've already discovered that increasing the aggressiveness of the setting as the shave continues produces the best results regardless of blade. Now which blade (or perhaps blades) is best? I might find that certain blades are practically indistinguishable from each other. I shave WTG at setting #3, XTG at setting #4 and AGT at setting #5. Final cleanup, touch up, buffing and J-hooking is done at setting #5.5, the most aggressive possible with this shaver. I thoroughly rinse the head of the razor between passes. I clean my face and wet the beard by washing with a glycerin soap (Van de Hagen). I rinse off the soap, wet it thoroughly and apply two drops of a Maggard Pre-Shave Oil, orange scent. I use an Arko shave stick applied directly to the beard and lather with a Stirling Synthetic “Kong” brush. I rinse and lather again between passes. I remove the blade from the razor when I'm done. I dry it with a microfiber cloth. Naturally I dry the razor. I finish with an Alum block which is a good indicator of razor burn or irritation. The procedure is to test one blade against another, on alternate days. After three shaves (total six days) I declare a winner. I've found that some blades still are usable after three or even four shaves, but their efficiency drops off markedly. So I've decided not to worry about how long they last. They're so cheap (depending on the blade I'm spending 6 to 22 cents per blade, with the average being about 9 cents each) that I'd rather throw them out, once shave quality drops off than try to see how long they last for. This way I'll know what works best in each of the razors I own. Blade One Croma Diamant: Made in Germany. These blades cost 8.5 cents each. There's a YouTube about how they are made. It seems to be a well organized process with good quality control. Findings and Impression: Shave One: This blade felt a little scratchy on all passes. It doesn't feel that smooth. Moderately sharp. However, the shave was remarkably free of irritation. It is very nearly BSS. Not quite but very close. Had to work a little ATG and on the final pass but still very, very little irritation or razor burn, after using the alum block. So results defy the subjective feel of comfort as I shave. Pretty good on the chin, under the nose and along the jaw line, the toughest areas, in terms of smoothness without irritation. Blade Two Rapira Platinum Lux: Made in Moscow, Russia. These blades cost 9 cents each. Findings and Impression: Shave One: Blade seems sharp and smooth. Far less scratchy than the Croma. I got a truly BSS. No rough patches. No nicks, cuts, or weepers. No razor burn, or irritation around the neck. The alum provided no painful feedback, post shave. I could have got away with a shave with no touch ups. I felt confident AGT whereas I was wary with the Croma, because it felt like it was going to jump and bite me. It's hard for me not to say even at this point that the Rapira Platinum Lux feels better in every way. It's sharper, yet smoother. On the final touch-ups I had to do far less work to remove rough spots, and ultimately got a closer, smoother shave. Excellent along the jaw line, under the nose and far smoother on the chin than the Croma. If I had to choose which blade to use right now, it would be the Rapira Platinum Lux without any doubt. It seems superior in every way. I'll continue the test for another two shaves on each, but I'm not looking forward to using the Croma tomorrow! Ah the sacrifices one makes for shaving art and science! Blade One Croma Diamant: Shave Two: This blade now feels a little smoother, not quite as bumpy. It doesn't drag, but not very smooth. ATG is the biggest test. I'm reluctant to make that pass, because it feels that however I hold the razor to my face the blade is going to bite me. Going ATG on the chin and especially under the nose feels too scary with this blade. I have to make more strokes and passes to get a smooth shave. The shave is acceptably smooth but not quite BSS. The blade is duller than the Rapira Platinum Lux, and so more touch up is required. I got two very small weepers on the neck. It feels like it is hard to get a very close shave with this blade. However, on the positive side, it's not at all bad. Very little irritation, some on the neck. The shave is still very smooth and not cutting up my face, even with the razor at setting 5.5, maximum aggression. Blade two has the edge, but it's not a huge gap. The Croma may do better in a different razor. Perhaps a slant, or an aggressive open comb. Right now I'm certain I would go with the Rapira. Blade Two Rapira Platinum Lux: Shave Two: The blade continues to feel smooth and sharp. No skipping, or dragging. WTG and XTG were both very smooth. ATG was a little more bumpy but still very smooth. ATG feels much more comfortable than the Croma, and I'm happy to do it, not scared like the other blade. After three passes, most surfaces were very smooth. I could easily have left it there. I did a final touch up of some slightly rough areas on the chin, jawline and neck. This blade feels much more comfortable ATG on the chin and under the nose at setting #5.5. Feedback from the Alum block was minimal, no razor burn. No nicks, cuts, or weepers. BSS and smoother in all the most difficult areas than the Croma. It's hard to see how the Croma can win. I'm reluctant to do a third shave with the Croma, because the Rapira Platinum Lux after two shaves is clearly the better blade in this razor. It's hard to see how the Rapira could drop off in quality markedly for the next shave and the Croma could surge ahead. I recently purchased 700 of the Rapira Platinum Lux for 5.7 cents per blade. So this makes it my cheapest blade by far too. At even just three shaves per blade this is less than tuppence a shave. I now have 900 of these blade altogether. If I shave everyday and use the blade just three times that's over seven years of shaving. I'll be 60 before I run out of these! It's really hard for me to see how a blade in this razor could be much better. I'll continue the test though. Blade One Croma Diamant: Shave Three I must confess I was not looking forward to this shave. However I was pleasantly surprised. The blade was a little bit rough yet despite this feel, actual performance was very good. It did not give me a BSS but it was very, very close. I made multiple touch up passes on the neck, jawline and chin to see how close I could get. Those areas did get very smooth and the blade produced no irritation, despite multiple passes. I continued to be surprised at how well the blade performed. Whilst it had clearly lost some sharpness, and never felt that smooth, it gave a very, very close shave. The most important thing about its performance was that it produced no irritation, nicks, cuts, weepers or burn, despite multiple passes in tough, coarse growth areas. Very little feedback from the Alum block too. These areas remained quite smooth for more than 8 hours; very acceptable for my beard. This is a case where objective assessment defies subjective feel somewhat. I'm used to blades that feel smoother and sharper, yet this blade did deliver a very good result. I'm not sure that I would want to use it for a fourth shave because I don't want to work so hard to get a smooth shave. However I feel in a pinch I probably could use it one, two or more times, since there was no tugging, pulling or skipping. For a three shave test this feels like one would get three very close, mostly irritation-free and nick free shaves for less than three cents per shave. Still a great bargain when paired with this German made and American modified razor. The Croma Diamant is a very good blade. If it's all I had I would have no complaints. But the Rapira is superior so far. I'll see how the Rapira shapes up tomorrow. Blade Two Rapira Platinum Lux: Shave Three: First observation: Even after 24 hours the shave from the Croma remains not too bad! Of course all areas are rough, but better than the results of some razors after 24 hours. On this third shave this blade is still smooth and sharp. Noticeably smoother than the Croma and much sharper as well. Every pass is easier and smoother. No nicks, cuts, weepers, or razor burn. There appears to be no drop off in blade efficiency from the second shave. If anything smoother. After three passes I had a very close shave. I wanted to see how close I could get with this blade without causing burn or irritation. I did quite a bit of touch up on the difficult areas, neck, jawline and chin. I had the Mergress set at its maximum setting for this, #5.5. The result was a BSS, with no irritation. The blade remain smooth, yet sharp, and never bit me. I felt a lot of confidence going AGT because I never felt the blade tug, skip, or that it would jump and nick me. No problem ATGunder the nose, or ATG on the chin Even though this is a three shave test, I would happily use this blade for a fourth shave because I have detected no drop off in its efficiency both in smoothness and sharpness. Conclusions: The Croma Diamant is a very good blade. Not the sharpest or smoothest perhaps, but one that produces three close shave with very little burn, or irritation. If I had only these blades, I'd be happy, especially at the bargain prices they are available for. The Rapira Platinum Lux is however clearly the superior blade. It's sharper, far smoother, and my guess is that it will last longer. I don't really want to use the Croma for a fourth shave. No problem doing so with the Rapira Platinum Lux. Now here is the kicker: Buying in bulk (500 plus) the Rapira Platinum is also cheaper, so clearly the better bargain! So I have to declare the Rapira the clear winner. If I only had this blade to shave with, I'd be very, very happy.

I'm no expert when it comes to shaving with double edge razors (or any other type of razor for that matter) but I do know what it feels like to shave without razor burn and still get a nice, close shave. I've used these twice - with two different shave creams - and the results have been fantastic! No nicks, no burn, no problems. I've used these with the Parker 65R razor Parker 65R Super Heavyweight Double Edge Safety Razor & 5 Shark Super Chrome Blades for reference. For the price I don't see how you can go wrong giving these blades a try.

I figure I've tried maybe eight brands of blades in the two years I've been shaving with a double edge razor. These Croma Diamant blades dragged more than any others, by a lot. They also gave me the least close shave of any. For comparison, my favorite blades are SuperMax Super Platinum, followed by Gillette 7 O'Clock, particularly the black label. I'm happy with Derby and Dorco blades. Some others I don't like as well. (I find Feathers *too* sharp; I tend to nick myself when the Feather blade is new. Red Personnas seem to give me some razor burn. Etc.) But none have dragged like these. If this helps in your consideration of my experience compared to your own, I use a 1960's Gillette Slim Adjustable Razor (after having tried several others). Considering these are supposed to be made in Germany, I think they may be counterfeit. It's hard to believe Germany would turn out anything this bad. These Croma Diamant blades got several good reviews here on Amazon; the reviews on the Badger & Blade forum, while mixed, as one would expect, included some that were very positive. I find it hard to believe that these are the same blades. Perhaps there is variation depending on the seller. I bought these from Discount Jungle. I've returned them, hopefully for a refund. I'll review Discount Jungle separately from the blades, depending on how they treat the refund request. But at least with respect to the Croma Diamant blades that I tried (I tried two, just to be sure), I can't say anything positive.

These blades are nothing special. Yes, they are made in Germany but the quality is not there. Avoid.

These razors are the sharpest I’ve ever used. They’ll last me for a very long time, since each one stays sharp for a considerable number of uses. Well made, and would definitely recommend.