Hello dears! I am from Belarus, the culture of shaving is poorly developed, so I turn to the experts at this forum. I have 15 years of shaving Gillette Slalom Plus Sport, I decided to buy a new pen. There is such an option as in the picture. Is this the original Gillette? What's the approximate year?


Thank you in advance for your answers!

It's a bit different but approximates a 1980s (I think) U.S. version, one of the later ones. I think..

Thank you very much for your reply! As far as I understand Atra - a model for the U.S. market, Contour - for Europe, Vector - for Asia?

I had that same razor. Best cartridge razor I ever owned. Excellent handle.
BTW, welcome to TSD.

Best looking Atra handle I've seen.

The Atra is the best of the cartridge razors, I think.

Many thanks to all for the answers and attention to my topic! Is there a clear difference between the handles of Atra from Atra Plus?

The Atra and the Contour are identical, the Slalom is the same as a Vector. The Vector is not an Atra. It is it's cheap ugly poorly constructed looking cousin.
The Slalom Russian blades were great.

It looks like chromed plastic, is it?

My Contour handle (Atra for Americans) is aluminium and still going strong.

I don't use it that much really ... when I need a cartridge razor, e.g. when flying, I usually take a G2 (Trac for Americans) with me.

Thanks for your reply.
In 2003 I bought gillette slalom plus sport. In the picture it is no different from the contour, the quality is excellent.

In January of this year bought two modern slalom (year 2015), the quality is worse - light, the material is not stainless steel. Bought from the remains of the store, all that in the picture (along with the blades) cost $11.

Now I expect the original slalom from Moscow.

Only blades made in China (as in the second picture) are sold in Minsk. Recently found the production of Germany (possibly fake) as in the last photo.

It's nice to see Contour badged Slalom's, the equivalent packaged carts were good. I have no idea when they were downgraded to cheap Vectors.

Gillette made an irreversible error in abandoning the original Atra IMO.
The Mach III drove me to an electric.

The contour was my first Razor, before that i used electric.

My dad lent it to me but after researching how much replacement blades cost (a cringe worthy amount), i bit the bullet and bought my first safety razor in the middle of last year.

Ive never looked back. Ill still use the contour as a travel razor but only when wherever im traveling doesnt have de blades since the blades are often restricted especially onboard aircraft.

The contour is a great razor, in my opinion miles better than modern gillettes like the fusion.

The only issue ive ever had was that they tended to clog, but not a huge issue if you know how to unclog a razor. I used to run it over the palm of my hand in the opposite direction you would when shaving and this unclogged it like a charm.



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They still produced the Atra carts. They didn't abandon the Atra.

Gillette (and others) do currently supply cartridges that fit Atra handles. So, Atra handles are not currently orphaned. This was not the case at numerous retailers where I looked in vain back then.

Anyhow, I thought I was clearly pointing to the "original Atra".

Last time I looked all the current carts fitting the original Atra have the lube or comfort strips added. As I recall the original Atra cart head had a smaller and more nimble profile with no such additions. Of course we are talking about the late 1970's here, so your recollection could be better than mine.

I gave seen vintage NOS Atra Carts around for sale. But, please don't wait up for me to buy them just to prove my original statement.

If Gillette had not made the "product improvements" they did, that drove me away, this conversation would not be happening.

In Europe we had, or possibly have the option of Contour or Contour Plus.
A lot of products are still available in Europe, which are no longer available in the US. I can only assume that it's because there were not enough of you buying them.

It is the beauty of living in the USA, marketing.

But I would not assume that the original Atra carts disappeared due to lack of demand.

I seldom travel these days, but if I needed to fly and did not want to check a bag, I'd probably use a Gillette Guard (mfg for 3rd world countries I've read). Supposed to be great shavers