Pilot Capless - 1964 - C-300SW and variations

Introduction:

Pilot was quick to react to the limited success of the expensive C-600MW, and released a cheaper Capless less than one year after the previous model. The price was initially halved, and soon afterwards it was further reduced to JPY 2000. It is questionable whether these pens were different models or not. Their nib units are perfectly compatible.

C-300SW.

C-300GW.

C-200SW.

Features:

Codes.	C-300SW, C-300GW, C-200SW. The first one, from March 1964, has a silver trim and the push button is totally metallic. The C-300GW golden trimmed, and keeps the all metal push button. Finally, the C-200SW –from August 1964— is silver trimmed, and the push button is made of plastic with a metallic crown. In year 1969 there was another version of the C-300GW with nib units with B points.
Original_price.	JPY 3000 (C-300SW and C-300GW) and JPY 2000 (C-200SW).
Production_years.	1964-1971 (?)
Nib_unit.	Type II. Gold 14 K. There are three variations on this type.
Filling_system	Double spare cartridge, 2 units. CON-W can be used.
Opening_system.	"Knock system" (push button). The button has two positions. The first one, the first knock, releases the nib. The second retracts it. If, when closed, pushed the button deep inside, the nib will return to the closed position.

C-200SW.

Dimensions:

	C-300SW / C-300GW	C-200SW
Length closed	142.5 mm	143 mm
Length open	137 mm	137 mm
Diameter	12 mm	12 mm
Weight	19.0 g	18.4 g

Nib unit:

Type II. In 14 K gold. There are three variations, labeled as IIa, IIb and IIc, with the same dimensions and perfectly interchangeable. These labels do not reflect possible changes in the color of the feeds--either black or transparent. IIa unit is usually associated to models C-300SW and C-300GW, and model C-200SW can be seen with both IIb and IIc types. However, it is very likely that there existed exceptions to this rule.

Type IIa, usually associated to model C-300SW and C-300GW.

Type IIb, seen on model C-200SW.

Type IIc, usually associated to model C-200SW.

The differences among the three types of nib units are on the nibs. From top to bottom, types IIc, IIb, and IIa.

Additional data.

These models were made in a very wide number of colors. In fact, Pilot is not aware of how many color variations were released.

Nibs and bodies are engraved with the production place and date.

Assorted C-200SW and C-300GW models.

Back to the "Pilot Capless - 50 years" page.

Bruno Taut
Yokohama, January 2014
etiquetas: Pilot, Capless