Crónicas Estilográficas: The Many Names of Platinum. Piiton

Platinum dates its origin in 1919 when Shunichi Nakata open a shop in Okayama to sell imported pens. In 1924 he moved to Tokyo and founded the company Nakaya Seisakusho (Nakaya Works), and in 1928 the company was renamed as Platinum Pen Company. However, the name Nakaya Seisakusho remained imprinted on its pens for a number of years. Platinum as a brand name was not the only one used by the company of Mr. Nakata. Some pens destinated to foreign markets were named as 555 and PPP to avoid confusion with the English company Platignum.

Another minor brand name during those early years was Piiton. The following is an example, now hard to find, of those Nakata’s pens from the 1920s.

This Piiton pen is made of ebonite, and has a 14 K gold nib. The filling system is by eyedropper with a shut-off valve, although externally it is an obvious copy of the at the time successful Parker Duofold.

The pen name is clearly imprinted on the pen—on the barrel together with the traditional Platinum globe logo with the initials of the founder; on the nib; and on the clip.