Old (1970s) Pilot Elite pocket pens with inset nibs.
The pen itself is a cartridge-converter with inset nib made of 14 K gold in three different points: EF, F, and M. Two different finishes exist—an all black pen, and a burgundy unit with a metallic finish cap. On both cases, the decoration is gold plated.
The two public models of the Elite 95s, released in June of 2013.
But, is this all? No, there is a third version of the Elite 95s. A version that was never available in the market—a corporate edition made for the shareholders of Pilot Corporation in 2015. These "high-end" writing tools are presents offered to those owning more than 1000 shares of the company, which as of today, March 2018, is worth more than JPY 5,000,000 (over JPY 5000/share). For those owning between 100 and 1000 shares, the gift is a more boring "practical writing set" composed mostly of ball-pens, brushes and markers. These contents and their conditions can change every fiscal year. in fact, at the time of the release of this blue Elite 95, the requirement was lower--just 500 shares were needed for a "high-end writing tool".
An unusual Elite 95s--the corporate edition.
This secret pen shares the cap with the dark red version, but its body color is dark blue. The package included a 15 ml inkwell of Tsuki-yo ink of the Iroshizuku line of inks. By the way, the box containing pen and ink is that of the initial release of the Iroshizuku Mini inkwells.
The boxed set.
The whole collection of Pilot Elite 95s. The rarity and the regulars.
Needless to say, this private blue Elite 95s is nothing but an anecdote when compared to the black and red public releases. But collectors love rarities.
Conway-Stewart Dinkie 550 – Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue
Bruno Taut
Nakano, March 5th 2018
etiquetas: Pilot
Bruno Taut
Nakano, March 5th 2018
etiquetas: Pilot
5 comments:
I really like the short/long pocket size pens that all three manufacturers made in the past. They are very portable, well made with great nibs, and once extended become full size pens. It's a bit strange that they stop making them, since apparently there's a market for them. Great to see that the pen now is in the Pilot catalog. The dark blue is a great color ! As always, thank you for the informative post
Thank you, Nikos! It is always great to see you around.
By the way, I have just added some additional information on the gifts for the shareholders.
BT
Thank you for the additional information. It's a very thoughtful shareholder gift. Of course that's just the opinion of an obsessive collector. Perhaps most shareholders would prefer an extra dividend instead of a pen. No matter what, it's great to see these pens make a comeback! Thanks for your hard work!
Hello Bruno! I am Yu Sheng from Pocket Pen Chronicle. I really enjoy your informative articles and I have learnt a lot from your blog.
Last year, I luckily got a blue Elite 95S. I looked into its history and discovered that only 500 shares were needed to get a blue 95S in December of 2014. After Pilot split its stock 2-for-1 in 30th June 2015, the requirement of getting a “high-end” writing tools was changed to more than 1000 shares. Maybe you could make a correction to your article.
Thank you for sharing so much fountain pen related information!
Thanks, Yu Sheng. Correction added.
BT
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