14 August 2017

Pilot Custom 743 with Oblique Nibs

Contrary to how it used to be in Germany –but not anymore!—, oblique nibs are a rarity in Japan. Sure enough they exist, and I have shown an example of those in a Pilot Custom 67 on these Chronicles, but they are conspicuously absent from today’s catalogs of the Japanese makers. This absence is all the more striking given the very wide variety of nib points offered on those same catalogs. Some of them are truly exotic -–two and three folded nibs, multiple tines, bent up and down, etc.--, but none of them is slanted, none of them is oblique.

Well, that is the usual situation, but there are exceptions now and then, but they do not make it to the general catalog.

Recently (August 2017), at stationery Itoya in Ginza, three oblique nib points were on display. They are size 15 nibs made by Pilot, and were implemented on the model Custom 743.


Three Custom 743 with unusual nibs ready to be tested. The two pens on the background implement more usual nibs: posting and falcon.

The following table summarizes the characteristics of the nibs.



The (left) OB nib named as L3.

Two of them are left oblique, with cut at angles of 20 and 30 degrees, labeled as L2 and L3 respectively. The third nib is a right oblique at an angle of 20 degrees (R2). The imprint on the nibs shows the original nib out of which the special point as cut: two B nibs and one FM. The results can be seen on the written sample: the L3 --an OFM nib-- draws a finer line than the other two, which are OB nibs.


Writing sample of the three oblique nibs made by Pilot.


The (left) OFM nib (L2), on both sides.


The (right) OB nib (R2), on both sides.

These nibs are a limited release offered by Itoya. They are available while stocks last. There are no differences in the price of the Custom 743 implementing these oblique nibs—JPY 30000, plus tax.

So, there exist some oblique nibs in Japan! In small numbers, with almost clandestine distribution… but they exist.


Pilot Custom 823 – Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-jaku

Bruno Taut
Nakano, August 9th 2017
etiquetas: Pilot, plumín, Itoya

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are these nibs available on the Custom 823 as well?

Bruno Taut said...

No.

BT

jmccarty3 said...

Pilot would sell a lot of these if they made them available worldwide and on the 823 as well as the 743. It would be even more wonderful if they made their nibs interchangeable, as Pelikan does. One wonders why they made these specialized nibs in the first place, when few in Japan will want them, and no one else will be able to get them.

Bruno Taut said...

I am not so optmistic, James McCarty. See, for instance, how Pelikan and Montblanc have eliminated all oblique nibs from their catalogs. AT the end, the community of stylophiles is a small one. Average buyers do not look for exotic points. Having said this, however, I am all for the introduction of these oblique nibs in the general catalog of, on this case, Pilot.

Cheers,

BT

Suman said...

I got one recently and it is imprinted, ES-M. Its a 20 degrees LOB.

Bruno Taut said...

Congrats, Suman. They are hard to find.

BT

Post a Comment

Your comments are welcome and appreciated.