Vintage Collection Knowledge / Vintage Grooming Knowledge / Gillette GII Plus
Product ProfileGillette GII Plus
Identification notes for Gillette GII Plus cartridge packs — the lubricating-strip update to the fixed-head GII cartridge. Card livery, barcode and batch codes, distributor markets, and how it lines up against the base GII entry already on file.
Seven-point verification standard
- 1. Identification — card layout, barcode, batch code logged
- 2. Manufacturing — pending: cross-reference batch code and the unusual top code to a date range
- 3. Packaging — one card front and back photographed; other print runs not yet on hand
- 4. Compatibility — pending: confirm against a physical GII handle
- 5. Rarity — pending: no comparison sample size yet
- 6. Collectability — pending
- 7. References — primary photography only; secondary sources not yet added
What GII Plus is
GII Plus sits alongside base GII the same way Contour Plus sits alongside Contour: a lubricating-strip version of an existing fixed-head cartridge. The front-of-pack graphic shows a downward arrow over the blades in the same visual language Gillette used for strip call-outs elsewhere in the range — but unlike Contour Plus, which prints "Lubrastrip®" directly on the card, this GII Plus sample doesn't name the strip on the front. That's flagged under Identification below as worth confirming once a second sample or a strip name is spotted elsewhere.
This entry currently documents a single physical sample, photographed front and back, and is cross-referenced against the base GII entry already on file rather than treated in isolation.
Card front
The GII Plus card uses a mustard-yellow ground with a fine grid pattern, framed in purple — a distinct livery from both base GII (solid purple/white/yellow) and the Contour family (grey/red or grey/orange). The wordmark reads "Gillette" in purple, "GII" in purple, and "Plus" in white with a purple outline. A small corner icon in the top right repeats the "1/2" blade callout used on the base GII front, while the main graphic on the cartridge window is a purple downward arrow pointing at the blades. The tray holds 5 cartridges, with "Gillette" embossed on the leftmost pod, matching the base GII tray design.
Card back
The back uses the same two-step instructional pictogram as base GII (remove spent cartridge, seat new one) rather than the four-step sequence used across the Contour family — consistent with both being fixed-head, non-pivoting cartridges. Below that sits a "Made by" block with Finnish/Swedish and Greek translations, a four-column distributor list, a Gillette Series cross-sell graphic, a barcode, and a batch code.
Sample on hand
- Cartridge count
- 5
- Livery
- Mustard-yellow grid ground, purple border frame
- Instructional graphic
- "1 / 2" blade callout icon, top right corner (matches base GII front)
- Strip graphic
- Purple downward arrow over the blades; no strip brand name printed
- Top code
- 3.09.4.2 – 94/1699
- Barcode
- 3 014260 208943
- Batch / print code
- 170008376 1
- Language set
- Finnish/Swedish and Greek translations on the "Made by" block
- Distributor markets
- Annecy, Berlin, Brussels, Espoo-Esbo, København Ø, Lisboa, London TW7 5NP, Madrid, Milano, Oslo, Rijswijk ZH, Stockholm, Wien, Zürich, Dublin (Daelgate Ltd.) — plus Metamorfosi (Greece)
Top code differs in format from every other sample on file. "3.09.4.2 – 94/1699" doesn't match the short numeric corner codes (e.g. "3832 / 3" on base GII, "7607 / 23" on Contour) seen elsewhere — it reads more like a print-approval or specification reference than a batch code. Left as an open question under Manufacturing rather than guessed at.
Cross-sell lineup matches Contour's Back 1 exactly — Cool Wave After Shave, Gel, Shaving Foam, Shave Gel Concentrate, After Shave Gel — rather than base GII's own back, which shows the same Gillette Series range but without a directly comparable check done yet. Combined with the shared Finnish/Swedish/Greek translation set, this suggests GII Plus and that Contour print run came from the same distribution period, despite being different cartridge systems.
What this cartridge fits
As with base GII, the card doesn't state compatibility beyond the product name itself. Given the shared fixed-head design and matching two-step pictogram, GII Plus cartridges are expected to fit the same handles as base GII — not yet confirmed here against a physical handle, and flagged as pending under Compatibility in the checklist above.
Sources
- Primary: one Gillette GII Plus five-cartridge card, photographed front and back and transcribed directly for this entry, August 2026.
- Cross-referenced against the Gillette GII and Gillette Contour entries already on file for this hub.
- Secondary sources — manufacturer archives, collector forums, dated retail listings — have not yet been added; see the verification checklist above.