From Sakai to Pilot

In the 1980s Pilot renovated the fountain pen lineup. It all started with the Pilot 65 in 1983—the first modern balance Pilot, save the Art Silvern pens of the 1960s.

Pilot 65, and its insides.

Those new balance pens were modeled after some pre-war models, thus predating some alleged master pieces. In fact, Pilot commissioned lathe master Sakai Eisuke (酒井栄助), of Ban-ei fame, to create some prototypes.

Such is the case of the following unit—a balance Pilot made of ebonite, coated with urushi. Its filling system is a Japanese eyedropper. It was made in 1983 according to the date on the nib.

A Pilot pen by Sakai Eisuke.

The engraving on the body follows the pattern seen on pen in the 1938-1944 time window:

“PILOT” / THE PILOT PEN (P logo) MFG. CO. LTD / MADE IN JAPAN.

Its dimensions are slightly bigger than the later-produced Custom models with size 5 and 10 nibs. One such example of them is the following pen with the maki-e decoration in the form of East Asian phoenix (Hôô, 鳳凰), signed collectively by the Kokkokai, the Pilot guild of maki-e artisans. Its nib is dated October of 1988, and the filling system is a pulsated piston, an early version of what later would become the converter CON-70 (some additional information on my chronicle "Carving").

Pilot Hôô. A maki-e decorated size 10 pen.

	.Sakai´s pen.	.Pilot´s Hôô.
Length closed (mm)	146	142
Length open (mm)	124	127
Length posted (mm)	176	165
Max diameter (mm)	15.0	14.0
Weight, dry (g)	18.6	20.3
Ink deposit (ml)	2.5	1.4

This model set the structure of contemporary maki-e decorated pen we still see today—balance models with nibs 5 and 10 (Pilot numbering).

But at the same time, in those late 1980s, Pilot made a number of urushi-e decorated pens. Masa Sunami, on his book Fountain Pens of Japan (2012), speaks about them as “museum pieces”. These were very limited runs –between 5 and 20 units— of pens decorated with Tsugaru-nuri decoration in sizes 10 and 50. They are indeed rarities worth of some special attention, and of a Chronicle.

Museum pieces. Picture courtesy of Ottomarkiv.

My thanks to Ottomarkiv and to Masa Sunami.

Moonman A1 – Montblanc Burgundy Red

Bruno Taut
December 8th, 2022
labels: Pilot, Ban-ei, maki-e, Sakai Eisuke