JIS 3232

After showing a luxurious pocket pen, a Yotsubishi with urushi-e decoration, it might be worth to describe a plain and functional workhorse with the same structure.

This particular pen carries a non descriptive name on the cap —”SUPER GOLD LINE”— which might be the brand name or not. The nib, however, is more informative as it is imprinted with the JIS number 3232. It corresponds to the operation of Haruo Kawakami, which, according to Masa Sunami, made parts to order. Therefore this might very well be a nib unit made for a pen produced and manufactured by some unknown company.

A Super Gold Line, according to the inscription on the cap.

Two details strike out as different on this pen if compared to most pocket pens. The first one is that the barrel and the section do not separate on the central ring —now almost just decorative—, but well down in the section. This geometry, though, is not unique—some pocket pens by Morison share this feature.

Two unusual pocket pens--Morison on top, Super Gold Line on bottom.

The other unusual element is a space in the barrel for a seal stone. Again, this is not unique to this pen. In fact, we had seen this in a Swan pen from the 1910s and in a wartime Asahi Tsubasa.

Under the blind cap of the barrel there should be a stone on which to engrave a seal.

Pen-wise we have a stainless steel nib associated to a cartridge filler. Trial and error attaching cartridges led to the old double-spare cartridge by Pilot. However, it is very possible this pen had some dedicated cartridge that could fit inside the barrel.

These are its dimensions:

Length closed: 119 mm
Length open:97 mm
Length posted: 145 mm
Diameter: 12.0 mm
Weight: 11.6 g

The steel nib with the JIS number 3232 registered by Kawakami Haruo. Under the name it reads "S63".

So all in all here we have a workhorse pen with some unusual features in pocket pens. And this pen also informs us of the ways of Haruo Kawakami in the 1960s or early 1970s.

Opus 88 Koloro — Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-jaku

Bruno Taut
Nakano, November 16th 2020
etiquetas: Kawakami Haruo, Morison

Out of Production (II)

When speaking about the problems to find proprietary cartridges to ink a Morison pocket pen, I ended the text with a negative conclusion—those pens, that Morison for instance, lose a lot of value in the second hand market, those pens have become almost useless.

The Morison pocket pen whose cartridges are almost impossible to find.

But there is also a positive conclusion—some brands still provide support for their old products. That is the case of the three big Japanese pen manufacturers with regard to the very popular idea of pocket pens. Current ink cartridges by Pilot, Platinum and Sailor can be used in those pocket pens from the 1960s and 1970s. In fact, cartridges are the only way to ink some of those pens, mostly Platinums and Sailors, as the old converters went out of production. Pilot is particularly exemplary on this—the CON-20 converter fits perfectly on those pocket pens and is a good alternative to cartridges. And Pilot, as well, still produces the CON-W to be used on those old pens (1960s) that needed the long gone double spare cartridges.

The original Pilot Myu-701 and its reissue, M90, can use the CON-20 converter.

The Pilot Capless from 1965 can still be used todays, in absence of double spare cartridges, by using the CON-W converter.

Some could say that the only difference between Morison and the big three is that Morison is out of business. And that is true, but true as well is the fact that some still-active companies did abandon some of their old products. Case in point, the beautiful Waterman C/F pen uses a specific type of cartridge and converter now out of production. And this makes us value a lot more those other companies.

The Waterman C/F, equipped with its converter, now almost as valuable as the pen itself.

For those unfortunate cases we have two options. The obvious is to look for those old cartridges and converters in second hand shops, flea markets and online auctions. The other is to adapt other ink deposits. That is what I did with my pocket Morison. Now it is inked with an adapted Pilot cartridge.

But the bottom line might be that self filling pens and eyedroppers do not have this problem.

Pilot Ladypearl – Diamine Graphite

Bruno Taut
Shinjuku, February 24th, 2013
etiquetas: Morison, Sailor, Platinum, Pilot, Waterman, soluciones técnicas, conversor

Out of Production (I)

I can think of a very big reason to rather self-filling over cartridge-converter. With self-filling pens, the owner will never run out those essential elements, cartridges and converters, to use the pen. An acceptable alternative might be standard/international cartridges whose manufacture is shared by a big number of companies.

A Morison pocket pen from the 1970s.

The risk is clear—should the maker of that particular pen disappear, its proprietary cartridges and converters might also become extinct from stationery shops. That is the case of the following Morison. It is a well made pocket pen with a semi-hooded 18 K gold nib. But it uses Morison-proprietary cartridges, long gone and very hard to find after the company stopped the production of pens in the early 1990s.

In an attempt to ink this pen, I tried to use Sailor slim cartridges (for the Chalana model). These are thin enough, but too long to fit inside the barrel. On the side, the plastic tassie of the barrel.

Some other models of this brand can use Platinum cartridges, and in fact, the cartridge nipple of this pen accepts Platinum cartridges, but not the rest of the pen. Its body is too small –both short and narrow— to host it. And neither can this Morison be used as eyedropper as the tassie at the back of the barrel does not seal the body and can easily be removed.

Therefore, this pen is not usable without the proper –and missing—cartridge or converter. And it is frustrating as the pen is in perfect working conditions with only minor cosmetic defects. This issue obviously reduces the value of this pen in the second hand market.

Platinum P-300, music nib – Diamine Graphite

Bruno Taut
Taito (Tokyo), January 27-29th, 2013
etiquetas: Morison, conversor

Pilot Super Ultra 500

(Note for non-Spanish speakers: I wrote this text for a pen forum in Spanish. However, the final result made me think it was worth to publish it as one of my chronicles, despite most of the information here included had already been published in here. One of the reasons is that there is very little information in Spanish about this pen).

1953 es un año muy importante en la historia de las plumas estilográficas en Japón. En ese año se adoptan dos decisiones de gran relevancia:

La primera es la adopción de un sistema de control sobre el material de los plumines. Esta medida del Ministerio de Industria japonés nunca fue obligatoria, pero las grandes empresas –Pilot, Platinum, Sailor, SSS— la adoptaron rápidamente. El resultado fue que muchas empresas pequeñas, con productos de menor calidad, cerraron ante la imposibilidad de competir con ellas.

La segunda medida fue el final del embargo sobre el uso de oro para plumines. Desde el año 1939 el uso del oro para artículos de consumo había estado prohibido y las estilográficas se vieron obligadas a utilizar plumines de acero inoxidable. Son los llamados plumines shiro, que significa blanco en japonés.

En consecuencia, en ese año 1953 el mercado quedó abierto para nuevos productos y con más garantías de calidad. En ese año, Pilot lanzó al mercado el modelo 53R. En ella, los plumines (de oro y de acero) y los alimentadores son visibles. Respecto al sistema de llenado, son dos los métodos preferentes: cuentagotas con válvula de sellado y palanca lateral que acciona un saco de goma. Ocasionalmente también se emplea un sistema de pistón pulsado llamado sistema A (A-shiki) y alguna fuentes hablan de que también se empleó el sistema del bebedor (nomikomi-shiki) en ellas.

Un ejemplo del modelo 53R. Se trata de una pluma con llenado por palanca, por lo que estrictamente es del modelo 53R-T.

Pero esta pluma 53R no es, en el fondo, más que una recreación del modelo R anterior a la Guerra. Y es en el año 1955 cuando finalmente Pilot lanza al mercado una nueva pluma. Se trata de un diseño de un joven ingeniero, Shigeki Chiba. Sus ganas de comerse el mundo no le granjearon muchas simpatías en la compañía y le envían a las líneas de producción para que aprendiera lo que era posible y lo que no era posible hacer. Y de su mano salió el diseño de la Pilot Super. Es una pluma que muestra el plumín mientras que oculta el alimentador dentro de la boquilla. Es la configuración que muchos llaman “en uña”. Es un estilo que ya había iniciado Platinum con sus plumas “Honest”, aunque sin llegar a ocultar completamente el alimentador.

Una selección de plumas de la serie Super de Pilot. Todas las mostradas tienen sistemas de autollenado. En versiones posteriores, algunas de ellas pasaron a ser de cartucho/conversor.

La foto muestra los tres sistemas de autollenado de las primeras Pilot Super. Arriba, sistema de llenado por saco en forma de acordeón; en el medio, el sistema de manguera (hose-system); abajo, sistema aerométrico. En las dos últimas se puede ver la geometría típica del plumín en uña. La pluma superior es el modelo Super 500G.

La serie Super, en cualquier caso, se convierte en la pluma fundamental de Pilot. En ella hay desde modelos muy baratos con plumines de acero hasta productos de gran lujo con decoración maki-e. Respecto a los sistemas de llenado, el método más empleado es el de manguera (hose-system), pero hay otras dos opciones: aerométrico para plumas pequeñas y de saco en acordeón para algunas de las más lujosas (modelo Super 500G).

Modelo Super con decoración maki-e. Se trata del diseño seirei-nuri, exclusivo de Pilot.

La obsesión de Shigeki Chiba, sin embargo, eran los plumines enrasados y finalmente logra un diseño que atrae la atención de la dirección. Es la Super Ultra 500 y se erige como el modelo más lujoso de toda la serie cuando se lanza en 1959.

La Pilot Super Ultra 500.

El plumín enrasado de la Super Ultra 500.

El sistema de llenado es el más habitual de la serie Super: el sistema de manguera (hose-system). Pero el capuchón metálico del saco está dorado.

Este diseño conserva el sistema de llenado típico (el mencionado sistema de manguera) de la serie Super, pero el resto se hace mucho más refinado para hacer un producto de lujo. El acabado de la pluma es lacado en negro con apliques (anillos, prendedor) chapados en oro de 14 quilates. Incluso la vaina del saco del sistema de llenado está dorado. Hubo algunas variaciones, menos habituales, con el cuerpo de color gris y con el capuchón completamente recubierto de oro.

El diseño del capuchón sigue las líneas del plumín enrasado. Este detalle hace decir a muchos que el capuchón negro es más atractivo que el modelo más lujoso con todo el capuchón dorado.

Detalle del alimentador y de la parte inferior del plumín.

Dos de las versiones de la Super Ultra 500 expuestas en el museo de Pilot, Pen Station, en Tokyo.

La pluma en sí era muy cara de producir y se mantuvo en el mercado durante menos de dos años. Es una de las pocas plumas japonesas realmente apreciadas en el país de origen. Es buscada y admirada, pero no es fácil de encontrar y, en consecuencia, sus precios son altos.

A pesar de su limitada difusión, la Super Ultra 500 marcó una tendencia estética. La admiración despertada impulsó a otras marcas a hacer plumas con un aire similar. A esas plumas; de Platinum, de Morison, de Navy; de las llama, genéricamente, modelos Ultra.

Plumín y boquilla de la pluma Gold 200 de la marca Navy.

La Super Ultra 500 original, de 1959, y la réplica de 1995.

En el año 1995 Pilot hizo una réplica en una edición limitada de 350 unidades con el nombre de Pilot Ultra (número de catálogo, FU-6MR-BM). Esta nueva versión cargaba por cartucho y conversor.

Teclado español de 87 teclas.
(Sí, ésta es mi primera crónica escrita directamente en el teclado).

Bruno Taut
Yokohama, 15 de enero de 2013
etiquetas: Pilot, Navy, Platinum, estilofilia, Morison

Gold Fever

Some days ago I wrote about Danitrio and the utter absurdity of using 24 K gold (pure gold within a 1% error) for their nibs. That made me think about the actual gold content of nibs.

The purpose of using gold lies in its properties as a noble metal, i.e. its great resistance to corrosion. And the rest of properties are second to that. In fact, as Prof. Antonios Zavaliangos (Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA) says, flexible nibs can be made out of almost any material usually employed in the fabrication of nibs.

Japanese pocket pens from the 1970s with differnt nib materials. From top to bottom, left to right, Platinum with fine steel nib, Pilot Myu 701 with fine steel, Morison with fine 14 K, Platinum with medium 14 K, Pilot Telescopic with medium 14 K, Platinum with medium white gold (WG) 18 K, Sailor with fine WG 18 K, Pilot Elite with fine 18 K, Sailor 21 with fine 21 K, and Sailor 23 with 23 K gold nib.

The actual gold content in nibs, we all know, is very variable. Some early nibs, on dip pens many of them, had as little as 9 K (37.5%). Sheaffer itself made a 9 K gold nib in 1955 for the British market. However, some legislation forced this content up in order to being allowed the use of the term "gold" to describe those nibs. Italy and France are very clear: 75% of gold content (18 K) is the minimum in anything called gold. Marketing and the old “more is better” were successful and even nowadays people speak of the “added value” of 18 K over 14 K gold on their nibs.

A relatively inexpensive Fit de Bayard with a 18 K (ct, in french) gold nib. Very nicely springy.

During the early 1970s, the big three Japanese pen companies competed for the market by increasing the gold content in their nibs. Platinum and Pilot reached 22 K (91.7%); Sailor topped them with a 23 K (95.8%) nib, as can be seen on the picture. The trend was a dead end and in three years the companies went back to the usual 14 K and 18 K gold contents. The exception was Sailor, still using 21 K gold in many of its luxury pens together with 14 K gold for cheaper ones. Their argument is still the same—higher corrosion resistance with higher gold content.

California-based Danitrio seems to be the only brand still suffering the gold fever. Only that could explain their interest in producing –or implementing, as they do not manufacture theirs— 100% gold nibs. But that much gold makes the nib quite soft and prone to plastic deformation. The option to avoid that risk is to make them very rigid. However, there is always the concern of whether those Danitrios were pens or mere decorative jewels.

Already mentioned Prof. Antonios Zavaliangos also wrote a very interesting analysis on the materials usually employed to manufacture nibs. The summary of all that is that 14 K gold shows a nice balance between resistance to corrosion, elasticity, ease of manufacturing, etc. It is no coincidence that most of the flexible nibs out there are made of this alloy with 58.5% of gold.

Now the question lies in whether we want or appreciate a flexible nib or not. But that topic is a long one, and almost philosophic.

(Soennecken 110 – Noodler’s Old Dutch)

Bruno Taut
(Tokyo, June 2, 2010)
[labels: Danitrio, plumín, Pilot, Sailor, Platinum, Bayard, Morison]

Pockets

Pocket pens are a genuine Japanese invention. These are pens with very long sections and caps, and very short barrels. The cap, however, fits tightly on the barrel when posted making a full size pen to write. Indeed, these pens need to be posted to use them comfortably. Pilot was the company that launched this idea in 1968, and the rest of Japanese companies followed suit soon afterwards. (This is not correct—the first pocket pen was released by Sailor in 1963).

Some Pilot, Platinum, Sailor and Morison pocket pens.

One of the most successful models was, needless to say, the Pilot Myu 701, to the point to become a cult pen about thirty-something years after it was released. Pilot Company itself contributed to this situation by taking it as the inspiration for the M90 model designed and marketed to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the firm.

All look alike: Pilot, Platinum and Sailor. Just a coincidence?

These pens came in a number of styles and materials, making them expensive or cheap. There was no status associated to the fact of using a small pen, and you could indeed find beautiful nibs in 21 or 18 K gold as well as small steel nibs. At the same time, the trends were often copied by the rest of Japanese manufacturers, always having a close eye on their direct competitors.

The nibs of the six pens shown in the previous pic.

These pens are truly interesting to follow, and –more often than not— inexpensive to buy. Unfortunately, they seem confined to the Japanese market.

(Platinum WG full size – Platinum black cartridge)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, May 15, 2010)
[labels: Japón, Pilot, Sailor, Platinum, Morison]

(Note: Among the pens shown on the pictures there is one that is not properly a pocket pen. Can anyone out there point it out? I will speak about it as soon as I take some decent pictures of it.)