Formal

Pen review. Platinum black pocket pen with soft fine nib.


1. General impression. Introduction. (6/10)
This is a formal pocket pen, black with gold accents. Very typical in he conservative attitude of the Japanese white collar worker –the sarariman (salary-man). The big three Japanese pen companies made similar pens in the seventies—small, black, formal.


2. Design. (8/10)
This is a handy and convenient pocket pen—short and compact when capped, and regular size and comfortable when posted for writing. Pens like this need to be posted to write comfortably unless the user’s hands were very small.


Clip and central rings are made in plastic, painted in gold color. The quality, however, seems good. The adjustment between cap and section and between cap and barrel is perfect despite its age. The V-mark engraved in the barrel has lost its color and is barely visible.


3. Size, weight. (8.5/10)
This is a regular sized pocket pen. It is light and well balanced.

These are the physical dimensions:
Diameter: 12 mm.
Length capped: 118 mm.
Length uncapped: 100 mm.
Length posted: 147 mm.
Weight: 11 g.


4. Nib writing and performance. (8/10)
The nib is a nominally soft fine in 18 K gold. Not really flexible, but it shows some nice springiness. But in actual terms, there is barely any line variation when pressing down. Springy, maybe; flexible this is not.


I rather very smooth nibs, but the feedback –some might call it toothiness— this pens shows is perfectly bearable. The flux in this very thin writer is perfect—it never misses a bite and it does not become dry easily. This is, in my opinion, the great virtue of Platinum pens—perfect flow.


5. Filling system. (7.5/10)
All I said about the Silver Cap Platinum filling system applies here.

Platinum stopped producing the pocket pen converters long ago and we are bound to use Platinum cartridges or to modify the current converters. A third option is to use the international cartridge adapter with those cartridges or with a short aerometric converter.

At the end, what used to be a problem has become a virtue by means of the inventiveness and resources of the users of these pens. But this is not the merit of the manufacturer.


6. Cost and value. (8.5/10)
Cheap pen in the second hand market in Japan. Great writer. Excellent value.


7. Conclusion. (46.5/60 = 77.5/100)
Boring looking pen, at least for those who are used to pocket pens. But inside there is a very reliable and pleasant writer.

This pen scores high in the design, nib and value departments. Looks took points away

(Platinum Black Pocket Pen – Platinum blue black)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, July 06 2010)
[labels: Platinum, Japón]