Storia 20 ml.

Not much has happened recently in the ink department in Japan. In 2016 we saw the reissue of some old Sailor inks; and in 2015 Sailor released the last real new ink—the pigmented series Storia, composed by eight different colors. In parallel, of course, some shops have made their own “original” inks that, in actual terms, are nothing but Sailor dye-based inks (Jentle line of inks). And that is all, and it is not that much.

The new presentation--20 ml bottles is smaller boxes.

The brochure provides general information on the virtues of pigmented inks and includes the capacity and price of the new inkwells.

The new and smaller inkwell.

The December news is just a new presentation of the Storia inks. Now, Sailor offers them also in 20 ml bottles for a lower price—JPY 1000, plus tax. This price is the same per milliliter as the original presentation of 30 ml bottles: JPY 50/ml.

The old presentation of 30 ml bottles.

This new presentation was released on December 23rd --4000 units-- through the network of Sailor Friendly Shops. On January 20th, they will become available through regular retailers… At least in Japan.

Press release available here: http://www.sailor.co.jp/pdf/release/storia20ml_20161221.pdf (retrieved December 29th, 2016).

Clavijo Velasco Ro-iro – Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-jaku

Bruno Taut
Nakano, December 29th 2016
etiquetas: tinta, Sailor, mercado

Madrid in November (2016)

It is over a month now since the 2016 Madrid Pen Show and a review is long overdue.

This was the 13th edition of the Madrid event, and my personal 7th. About 1300 visitors, 65 traders, and three days of gathering together made it the most important in Europe nowadays. Traders came from all over Europe –France, UK, Italy, Germany, Croatia…– and from North America. And on this occasion also there were also visitors, potential buyers, from outside of Spain. This represents a quantum leap forward in the natural evolution of this pen show.

Personally speaking, this was a most interesting event. The Madrid Pen Show is the major celebration of the Spanish fountain pen community, and therefore this is both a commercial event and a social meeting. Both aspects can be seen on one of the classic features of the show—the video made by Mr. José Riofrío.

Now, is there anything really special in this event with respect to other pen shows? What does it make any pen show different from the rest? Guest visitors SBRE Brown and Azizah Asgarali (Gourmet Pens) have some ideas, and some experience on other pen shows (::1::, ::2::, ::3::, ::4::).

Ethernautrix on FPN also attended the show.

Organizer Alfonso Mur, one of the owners of sponsor Iguana Sell, and two illustrious visitors.

Clavijo Velasco Ro-iro – Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-jaku

Bruno Taut
Nakano, December 22th, 2016
etiquetas: Madrid, evento

Family Portait (VII). Integrated Nibs

There is an obvious missing pen on the picture. In fact, the missing pen is the one which started the whole trend—the Parker T1 made in titanium. But for the rest, they are basically all that there is to integrated nibs. From top, clockwise:

-- Pilot M90 (M nib). Manufacturing date, 2009
-- Pilot Murex, black (for man). M nib. Made in 1980.
-- Pilot Murex red (for woman). F nib. Made in 1978.
-- Parker 50, falcon, in brown. Ca. 1980.
-- Hero 849. 1980s.
-- Parker 50, falcon, flighter. Ca. 1980.
-- Pilot Myu with black strips, M nib. Manufacturing date not declared. 1970s.
-- Pilot Myu, plain steel, F nib. Made in 1977.

A detail both interesting and surprising is how the nib points (the iridium) were cut. In this regard, the presumably sophisticated American pen really falls behind the Japanese and Chinese counterparts.

The nib of the Hero 849 was also implemented in the model 850, and in several other branded as Paidi Century. These nibs are all identical.

Platinum 3776 (1978) – Platinum Black

Bruno Taut
Nakano, September 20th, 2016
etiquetas: Hero, Parker, Pilot, plumín