Two years since Kickstarter and getting genuine Gillette parts

It's been exactly two years since the Ockham Razor project launched on Kickstarter.

If you know Kickstarter you'll understand that the start of a campaign is far from the start of the process. This time two years ago I already had a fully-speced razor design (thanks to Nick and Bec!), prototypes, photos, a video, and a manufacturer lined up, but the future was far from certain.

Being my first crowdfunding campaign I really had no idea what to expect. Of course I dreamt that I would raise the money and quickly take over the world with the most beautiful cartridge razor ever made. But at the same time I was extremely nervous that the campaign would fail and the Ockham Razor would never get off the drawing board. 

This was the very first prototype of what was to become the Ockham Razor. I made it by hacking the end of a Gillette razor and gluing it to a piece of aluminium. If the campaign had failed it would probably have remained the only one in the world and I might even still be using it today.

But the campaign succeeded, thanks to the 570 people who backed my idea and everyone who supported us and spread the word about the Ockham Razor.

What now?

I manufactured a second batch of razors recently and they are now available for anyone to buy via the Ockham Razor website. They're also available in a very cool shop in central London, Beast and will soon also be available in other places.

Genuine Gillette parts

An early design decision was to make the razor compatible with standard Gillette Mach 3 blades. These blades are very well-regarded and provide a tried-and-tested close, comfortable shave. And you can buy them anywhere in the world.

The Ockham Razor handle was, and still is, made by us in England. The only other part in the razor is the small plastic assembly that fits in the end where the razor cartridge clips into.

Initially I found a supplier in China for these parts, but dealing with China had it's issues and it made things rather difficult at times.

However, the latest batch of razors is now made with genuine Gillette parts which is really exciting news!

I'd been trying to find a more dependable supplier for the parts for a while, and then late last year I met some guys from Gillette at an event. We were talking and it turned out they had already been thinking about supplying small start-ups like the Ockham Razor Company with parts. One of them even said "hey, you're the Ockham Razor guy!" which was rather nice.

Anyway, it took a while to get the deal signed off, but I'm thrilled to know that the cartridge mechanism is of the best possible quality.

The future

Thanks again to everyone who backed the Kickstarter campaign two years ago and all of you who have bought a razor since. It's so great to hear feedback from people who enjoy using the razor and it makes all the hard work worth it.

I still have plans for more products like a brush, a holder and perhaps a razor cover, so keep an eye out for future updates!

All the best,

Rob.