Wilkinson Sword

Wilkinson Sword is a British shaving and grooming brand whose roots reach back to a London gunmaking workshop founded in 1772 [3]. Over more than two centuries it moved from firearms to ceremonial swords and finally to razors and blades, the products it is known for today. Since 2015 it has been owned by Edgewell Personal Care, which sells the same product line under the Wilkinson Sword name in Europe and under the Schick name in North America, Japan and other markets [4]. In that sense the brand is no longer an independent company but an active regional identity within a larger personal-care group.

Some retailers list the brand simply as "Wilkinson"; its full name is Wilkinson Sword, a reference to the sword-making heritage that gave the company its identity.

The business was founded in 1772 by the gunmaker Henry Nock. The brand's own account places its origin in London, while Wikipedia describes the guns as "made in Shotley Bridge in County Durham, by Henry Nock in London" [3] — Shotley Bridge being a historic centre of gun and blade making. Both accounts agree on the founder and the year; the difference is one of manufacturing location rather than a dispute over the founding date.

When Nock died in 1804, his son-in-law James Wilkinson took over the business along with its royal appointment. The company passed to James's son Henry Wilkinson in 1824, who added sword production as a second line of work alongside weapons and renamed the firm "James Wilkinson & Son". Henry Wilkinson was also an inventor: in 1844 he devised the Eprouvette, a machine for testing blade quality.

Through the nineteenth century the company built a reputation for ceremonial and presentation swords, and was recognised as sword and gun maker to Queen Victoria [5]. One of its best-known pieces is the "Sword of Stalingrad," crafted in 1943 and presented by Winston Churchill to Josef Stalin to mark the Soviet victory at Stalingrad [5].

The move into shaving came late in the nineteenth century. According to Encyclopedia.com, Wilkinson Sword began producing cut-throat, or straight-edge, razors in 1890, followed by the "Pall Mall" safety razor in 1898 [5]. The brand's own history frames this differently, citing a "Pall Mall Patent Roller Safety Shaver" as the successor to a 1903 model [2]; the two accounts describe overlapping but separately dated milestones rather than a single agreed timeline.

The company's most significant technical contribution came in the mid-twentieth century. Encyclopedia.com records that full-scale manufacturing of the world's first stainless steel razor blade had begun by 1955, with a consumer launch the following year [5]; Wikipedia dates the mass-market introduction of stainless blades to 1962, noting that a single blade could be used for about a week [3]. A German manufacturing arm, Wilkinson Sword GmbH, was established in Solingen in 1961 in partnership with Osberghaus KG, and Solingen has remained a production centre since. Over its long history the firm also made a wide range of unrelated goods, from bayonets and typewriters to bicycles, motorcycles and garden shears. In 1973 it merged with the British Match Corporation to form "Wilkinson Match".

The razor business changed hands repeatedly in the late twentieth century. Wikipedia records ownership passing to Allegheny Ludlum in 1978, then Swedish Match through the 1980s, and Eemland Holdings by the end of the decade. Around 1992 Eemland sold Wilkinson Sword to Warner-Lambert, owner of the Schick razor brand, joining the two under the name Schick-Wilkinson Sword [3]. Pfizer acquired Warner-Lambert in 2000, Energizer bought the shaving business in 2003, and in 2015 Energizer split off its personal-care operations as a new company, Edgewell Personal Care, of which Wilkinson Sword became part [3].

The Schick and Wilkinson Sword names have partly separate corporate histories that later merged; the two now refer to the same product line under different regional labels. Within Edgewell, sister brands include Personna, Hawaiian Tropic, Banana Boat, Cremo and Bulldog. Notably, the brand's own website does not mention Edgewell or Schick, presenting only its heritage story; the ownership chain is documented by third-party sources.

Wilkinson Sword positions itself on long experience with blades, summed up in its tagline "No One Knows Blades Better" [1]. The company presents itself as a heritage British shaving brand, tracing its lineage to the 1772 gun- and sword-maker while emphasising shaving innovation. It reached its 250th anniversary in 2022. Its products sit in the mass-market drugstore tier and are sold both through retailers across Europe and directly on its own website, which offers a subscription option for blade refills.

The brand's range centres on razors and blade refills, alongside face-care and grooming products and shave soap [1]. Several products are described by the company as firsts in their category: the System T70, presented as the world's first razor with an "integrated blade"; the Quattro, described as the world's first four-bladed shaver, developed and produced in Solingen; and the Hydro series, which according to the company helps reduce skin irritation and maintain the skin's moisture during shaving [2].

In January 2026 Wilkinson Sword was signed as the official men's grooming partner of the Williams Formula One team [2].

Wilkinson Sword remains an actively trading brand, with an operating e-commerce site and a men's grooming partnership announced in January 2026 [2]. It is not, however, an independent company: since 2015 it has been a brand within Edgewell Personal Care, serving as the European name for the same products marketed as Schick in North America, Japan and other regions [4].