Brazilian Capless (II)

NOTE (April 23rd, 2023): I have added a couple of sentences and a picture of the instruction sheet to show the lack of mention to ink cartridges re how to ink the Brazilian Capless.


There is nothing like reading the pen.

Some months ago I published a text on the very obscure Pilot Capless made in Brazil. Now I have on such pen in my hands and can look further into the details.

The Brazilian Capless. A revolutionary pen, apparently.

A direct comparison between these two pens shows some subtle differences:

Brazilian on top (teal), Japanese on bottom (red).

– The Brazilian pen implements a steel nib, and both nib and body are labeled as products of the “Industria Brasileira” (imprints “IND. BRAS.” and “IND. BRASILEIRA").

On its side, the Japanese Capless sports a 14 K gold nib marked with the JIS logo and the imprint “MADE IN JAPAN”.

The Brazilian engraving is fainter than the Japanese. Note also the old Pilot logo --with the L underlining the O-- on the Brazilian nib.

– The central rings on these Capless are different. It is a groove on the Japanese pen, and it is flat on the Brazilian.

The very different central ring. Brazilian on top, Japanese on bottom.

– Contrary to what I had said, the Brazilian pen does use a converter. It is a form of CON-W, as the nipple corresponds to a double-spare cartridge.

In this regard, both the Japanese and the Brazilian Capless are not different. However, the Japanese pen was not marketed with the converter attached.

The nib unit with the red tail corresponds to the Brazilian pen, with the converter attached. The Japanese unit shows a metallic sheath to cover the cartriges and provide the necessary length for the release mechanism to operate.

We could question then whether double-spare cartridges were actually marketed in Brazil or these pens –and others like later Capless and the model 77- relied solely on inkwells as ink supply. In fact, the instruction sheet of this Capless pen does not mention the use of cartridges at all.

Instruction shet of the Brazilian Capless written, obviously, in Portuguese. To fill the pen, it says, immerse the nib in the inkwell and pump ink into it. There is no mention to any type of cartridge to ink the pen.

All this is relevant because there exist the question of whether this Brazilian Capless was actually made in Brazil or merely assembled in Brazil out of parts sent out from Japan. An obvious third option would have been that the whole pen had been manufactured in Japan and sent to Brazil for the local market.

So far it is not possible to know which one of those possibilities was the right one. Only a peek onto the Brazilian records of Pilot do Brasil would give us a complete answer, but they seem to be off-limits now. In Japan, Pilot does not have records related to the foreign production.

But the details above described, especially those on the different central ring, do point out at a different manufacturing line for the Brazilian Capless.

Because in the absence of records there is nothing like reading the pen. Instruction sheets are also helpful.


My thanks to TM.

Parker 51 aerometric, burgundy – Tomikei Blue (Sailor)

Bruno Taut
April 20th 2023
etiquetas: Pilot, Capless, Brasil