At the Museum (III)

(As seen at the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Modern Literature).

YOSHIYA Nobuko (吉屋信子, 1896-1973) was an active, and popular, novelist between the 1910s and the 1970s. She specialized in romance novels and was a pioneer in class-S—a very Japanese genre in which a primary argument are strong bonds between girls. She herself revealed her homosexuality in her novel Two Virgins in the Attic (Yaneura no nishojo, 屋根裏の二處女, 1919).

The Parker 51 with her name engraved on the barrel.

A large number of her pens were on display at the exhibit. Some, indeed interesting: from a Parker 51 engraved with her name to a lever filler in green celluloid by Waterman to a safety pen with a silver overlay by the same company.

A Waterman lever filler in green celluloid.

A Waterman safety pen in red hard rubber with silver overlay.

However, the pens that attracted my attention the most were two frankenpens: an all Montblanc pen with body (model 12) and cap not matching, and an improbable combination of a Montblanc 252 body with a Platinum cap. I guess she was really attached to these pens. Maybe they were excellent writers and she kept using them after having misplaced the caps…

A Montblanc 12 with a mismatched cap.

The impossible frankenpen--a Montblanc 252 with a Platinum cap.

Whether Yoshiya was a collector or a user we do not know. A total of eight pens of her were handled to the museum, including those two chimeras. Enough to choose among!

(Muji aluminum pen – Diamine Teal)

Bruno Taut
March 3rd, 2012
[labels: Montblanc, estilofilia, Japón, evento, Waterman, Parker]

Matching (XI). Unas Reflexiones

I.
Tanto definir lo que es una copia como poder distinguirla del original son tareas arduas. Así lo demuestran tanto los procesos legales como los esfuerzos académicos de estudio de las cuestiones relacionadas con la propiedad intelectual. Y al mismo tiempo, las conclusiones –legales y académicas— son a menudo contradictorias, lo que en nada ayuda a resolver estas cuestiones.

Este bolso, ¿es una copia o es un "homenaje" a una marca francesa? No lleva ni marca ni logotipo reconocible.

II.
Algunos, ingenuamente, asumen que algo que se parezca al original no llega a ser copia si no lleva la marca del mismo. Nada más alejado de la realidad: hay multitud de casos en los que esos productos que no llevan la marca son confiscados y destruidos por las autoridades. Y ese fue el caso, años atrás, de las Inoxcrom, Sailor, Pilot, etc. de inquietante parecido con las supuestas obras maestras de Montblanc.

En otros casos, la copia lleva todos los logotipos y los nombres del original, pero el juez ha dictaminado (según Antena 3, España, 21 de septiembre de 2011) que nadie en su sano juicio consideraría ese producto como original y que, en consecuencia, no había ni engaño ni delito.

Es decir, que los criterios legales son, cuando menos, confusos y hasta contradictorios. Siempre nos queda el recurso de caer en el positivismo legal de que es copia todo aquello que el juez decida como tal. Pero los criterios aplicados y las sentencias dictadas, tan contradictorias, ofrecen pocas pistas fiables de antemano.

Si además ampliamos nuestro horizonte y miramos lo que sucede en otros países, todo se hace todavía más complicado. Lo que en Gran Bretaña era copia, en Japón era legítimo. A. A. Waterman en Estados Unidos; Swan, Sailor o Pilot en Japón; Inoxcrom, Apolón en España…. todas ellas han copiado modelos, tecnologías y nombres de marcas de éxito. Y es que es la copia, más que el producto original, lo que predomina en el mercado.

Inoxcrom 55 frente a Parker 21. ¿Copia u homenaje?

III.
Tanto el modelo copiado como las razones para la copia han cambiado a lo largo de la historia. Una de las razones era la de adquirir una tecnología. De hecho, todas las revoluciones industriales, salvo la británica, se hicieron con la copia de tecnologías y de productos ya desarrollados en otros países. Luego, las barreras legales, arancelarias y judiciales, han hecho el resto, aunque a veces, como sucedió con la industria estilográfica española, no fuera suficiente para garantizar su éxito. Y así, Inoxcrom copió la Parker 21 con su modelo 55; y Apolón copió la Sheaffer con plumín Triumph. Hoy en día varias compañías chinas —Rainbow, Hero— insisten en copiar viejos modelos de Parker.

Copia de la Sheaffer Balance bajo el nombre de Hawaiian.

Otras copias buscan más la asociación con una imagen de éxito que les proporcione unos beneficios económicos inmediatos. Es el caso de la Hawaiian Balance en celuloide o de la multitud de copias chinas de las Montblanc modernas. O de las numerosas copias de las viejas Duofold de los años 20.

Copia china de una Montblanc Starwalker.

Claro que si la pluma original pierde su función inicial de escribir, hacer la copia resulta más sencillo: basta con simular el aspecto exterior porque el hecho de escribir con ella es muy secundario.

Sailor Profit. ¿Copia u homenaje a la Meisterstück de Montblanc? En este caso, la copia supera al original.

IV.
En última instancia, nada está claro en este mundo de las copias. Y a falta de una decisión judicial, nuestras circunstancias personales inclinarán la balanza hacia un lado o hacia otro. Tengamos también en cuenta que las legislaciones y los criterios de los jueces son muchas veces contradictorios.

La paradoja última es que la copia es muchas veces mejor que el original.

(Sailor Ballerie – Sailor Miruai)

Bruno Taut
13 de noviembre de 2011
[etiquetas: mercado, Montblanc, Parker, Hawaiian, Inoxcrom, Apolón, Sailor, Pilot, Swan Japan, A. D. Waterman, Rainbow, Hero]

Matching (X)

The controversy is always there: Is that pen original or a copy of another? Which company did father that idea? Sometimes, the answers are clear…

We all have heard the idea that the Japanese did not invent anything but they merely copied other countries’s products. And even thought that might have been true at some point, I do not think a leading country in technology could be accused of not creating anything new. So, the accusation is now directed to China—they just copy and manufacture fake products.

It only takes a quick look at the history of technology to realize that with the single exception of the UK, every country’s industrial revolution started by copying goods and products created previously in more developed areas of the world. And now is the time for China.

So, it should be no surprise to find copies of Western products manufactured in China. And in the case of fountain pens, copying the very successful Parker 51 seems like a rite of passage.

The section is closer to that of a Parker 61, showing the damascene decoration to point out where the nib is.

Such is the case of the pen with which I am writing these lines—a Rainbow 202.


Externally, it is a well constructed pen. It feels solidly made, with good quality materials. All the parts fit well. The cap attaches firmly to both section and barrel through an internal clutch. And there is even a small window between section and barrel to check the ink level. However, disassembling the section and discovering the nib quickly break the spell. Steel nibs are all right, but they need to be made of good quality steel and well manufactured. And as the picture shows, none of those conditions is fulfilled.

No second breathing hole but just a defect on the steel. The only engraving on the nib is a subtle "IRIDIUM" close to the feed.

But, how does it write? I have two units of this pen and one of them is terrible and the other is surprisingly good, drawing a juicy and reliable line. In any of the cases, I would be very concerned about the corrosion that might arise in such bad quality steel.


These are the pen dimensions:
Diameter: 12 mm.
Length capped: 133 mm.
Length uncapped: 127 mm.
Length posted: 144 mm.
Total weight: 18.8 g (empty).
Cap weight: 6.7 g.
Ink deposit: 1.4 ml.

China, as Japan or Italy or Spain did in the past, is learning by copying. And by doing that they run along the thin line of intellectual property rights—just as others did in the past and even today. Condemning or absolving them depends too often on what side of the fence we stand on.

(Rainbow 202 – Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue)

Bruno Taut
July 27th, 2011
[labels: Rainbow, Parker]

Matching (VIII)

The controversy is always there: Is that pen original or a copy of another? Which company did father that idea? Sometimes, the answers are clear…

On the top, Inoxcrom 55. Parker 21 (Mark 1), on the bottom.

Inoxcrom remains, despite its financial difficulties, as the best known fountain pen company in Spain and one of the few known outside its country of origin. This company was founded in 1942 by Manuel Vaqué as Industrial MAVA in Barcelona, and changed its name to Inoxcrom in 1946. It started by producing nibs for other companies and by assembling pens with imported parts. And by 1955 the company produced the first complete pen—the Inoxcrom 55, a copy of the very successful Parker 21.

Again, on the top, Inoxcrom 55. Parker 21 on the bottom.

This pen had a remarkably constant price in Spain: 100 pesetas for about 18 years—between 1955 and 1973. The competitor Parker 21, about 300 pesetas by 1960.

Advertisement published in La Vanguardia Española (Barcelona) on September 15th, 1961. The Inoxcrom 55's price was significantly lower than that of some imported pens.

The Mark 1 Parker 21 had a larger feed.

The construction quality of both pens was not that different—the 55 model was a reliable product indeed, and became the workhorse of many a student in Spain.

Both pens were aerometric fillers. The Inoxcrom pen had the instructions in Spanish.

Nowadays, in Spain, it is possible to find units of this model for about € 50.

My thanks to Grafopasión members Alberto and Claudio.

(Pilot Decimo, 18 K M nib – Diamine Teal)

Bruno Taut
(April 22nd, 2011)
[labels: Inoxcrom, Parker, España]

Matching (VII)

The controversy is always there: Is that pen original or a copy of another? Which company did father that idea? Sometimes, the answers are clear…

Most pen nibs do write when turned upside down. The ink flow is scarce, the line is thinner, and, more often than not, the feeling is far from being smooth. But the ink is there, ready to be used. So it was only natural that sooner or later someone would try to take benefit of it.

The black Platinum is one centimeter shorter than the Parker model when closed: 12.3 vs 13.3 cm.

The two nibs on display today were designed in the seventies to write on both sides.

Posted, the Platinum becomes 1.3 cm longer than the Parker: 15.3 and 14.0 cm, respectively.

The Parker 180, well known in the West, was in the market between 1977 and 1985 in a number of styles. These pens had two possible nib combinations—either extra fine and medium or fine and broad.

The feeds of both pens are on the right hand side of the nib on this picture.

The Platinum PKW-5000 pocket pen predates the Parker 180 in some years. The nib combination in this case is extra fine and fine, and comes in a formal black pocket pen style, as many other pens in Japan during the 1970s.

Close-up of the tips. The fine line of the Platinum, on the right, looks a lot thinner than that of Parker's.

However, the origin of this type of nib lies in the 1966 Sheaffer’s model called Stylist.

My thanks to Kinno-san.

(Élysée in black with steel nib – Parker washable Blue)

Bruno Taut
In exile, February 27th, 2011
[labels: plumín, Sheaffer, Parker, Platinum]

Business

For some unknown reasons, Parker has recently sent me a survey about writing instruments. Sure thing, these surveys have the goal of understanding what customers want and look for. Now, I wonder where the real business of fountain pens is—is it in pen collectors and heavy users who accumulate pens or is it in occasional users and in people in search of a distinguished present?

The survey started with questions on the number of writing tools over €150 purchased during the previous two years, and on their nature, fountain pen or other. Once decided fountain pens were my object of desire, the questions versed about the personal value ascribed to gold nibs and about how the pen was filled.

Most of those questions could be answered by checking fountain pen fora. But those answers reflect only the opinion of collectors and accumulators. I do not know whether big pen companies check these fora, but these surveys make me think that the business, the big money, relies in the group of occasional buyers with little or no information on pens.

The Parker IM, one of the low end pens in the Parker catalog nowadays.

Only this could explain why Parker does not manufacture any self-filing pen right now, why the gamut of their pens is so boring, or why it is so difficult to find any nib other than F and M, at least in the Spanish market

Parker IM, posted, showing the very rigid steel nib.

Of course, that is a personal opinion. It happens that I cannot help thinking of the modern Duofold as a major treason to a beautiful tradition.

(Platinum 3776 – Waterman Havana)

Bruno Taut
(In exile, December 20th, 2010)
[labels: Mercado, Parker]

Matching (IV)

The controversy is always there: Is that pen original or a copy of another? Which company did father that idea? Well, this time the story is well known and well documented.

In April 1970 Parker released the very unique T1—nib and section were made out of the same piece of titanium. It was the perfect streamlined pen. But titanium was difficult to work with and the whole production process was very expensive. The T1 was phased out in 1971, after only 104000 units produced. Few of those are said to write satisfactorily. Its rarity, nonetheless, has made this pen highly valued among collectors.

Pilot Myu-701.

In 1971, Pilot, in Japan, released an all steel pocket pen with a similar nib—the Pilot Myu-701. This time, the pen worked very well and remained in production for about ten years. It is arguably the most successful pocket pen, that very Japanese invention from the late sixties.

Pilot MuRex (top), and Parker 50 (bottom).

A full sized evolution of the Myu-701, by the name of MuRex (or MR) was marketed in 1977. The nib has a very different design, showing somehow a less clean profile. The section, on its side, has a rugged area to provide a better grip. A later model (1978) of the MuRex had the decorative elements in red instead of black, and some changes in the clip, while it kept nib and section untouched.

Parker 50 "Falcon" (top), and Pilot Myu with black stripes (bottom).

Parker, by chance or by plan, created in 1978 the Parker 50, nicknamed as “Falcon”. In a sense, it was a new attempt to create the T1, but in steel, following the teachings of Pilot. This model showed a big improvement over the titanium predecessor—it actually wrote and was a lot less fragile.

Parker 50 "Falcon".

There is a newcomer to this story. In 2008, Pilot decided to commemorate its 90th anniversary with by recreating the 1970’s Myu under the name of M90. Although the M90 is not an exact copy of the old Myu, it certainly preserves the streamlined spirit of the design.

Pilot Myu-701 (top), and Pilot M90 (bottom).

Writing-wise, in my personal experience, Pilot’s Myu, MuRex and M90 win hands down over the Parker 50.

My thanks to Kinno-san.

(Parker 50 “Falcon” – Pilot Iroshizuku Sho-ro)

Bruno Taut
(In exile, December 11th, 2010)
[labels: Parker, Pilot]

Matching (I)

The controversy is always there: Is that pen original or a copy of another? Which company did father that idea?

I have already spoken in these chronicles about some cases of plagiarism, or coincidence, or inspiration…—the torpedo type of pens á la Montblanc Meisterstück, the capless idea behind the Pilot model, the black pocket pens made by the big three Japanese companies… And there are many other examples. After all, nihil noui sub sole.

Today’s matching couple are two telescopic pens with very different birthplaces. Telescopic pens can be made longer from their compact dimensions in order to become normal in size when expanded. A more detailed analysis of a telescopic pen, a Pilot Short pen with golden nib, can be seen on the Chronicle entitled "Origami".

Capped and contracted.

The older is a Pilot Short Pen originally released in 1968. It came with golden or steel nibs. It uses Pilot cartridges and the CON-20 converter.

Capped and expanded.

The second pen is a Parker Esprit, initially sold as Rotring Esprit during the 1990s. The end of the century sees how Sanford (Newell Rubbermaid’s stationery division) buys Rotring in 1998 and Parker in 2000. Some years later, the Rotring pen is modified to be marketed as a Parker model. As a result, the Esprit now uses short Parker proprietary cartridges instead of the short international ones used by the Rotring predecessor.

Uncapped and expanded.

As is often the case, the Pilot pen is rarely seen outside Japan, whereas the Rotring and Parker pens enjoyed a much wider distribution.

The nibs are very different--semi-hooded on the Pilot, uncovered on the Parker. Pilot Pen also came with a 14 K gold nib, although not in the pen displayed on the picture.

Copy, homage, inspiration or mere coincidence?

My thanks to Kinno-san.

(Parker Esprit – Parker Black)

Bruno Taut
(Madrid, November 18th, 2010)
[labels: Rotring, Parker, Pilot]

Torelló

Spanish fountain pens are basically unknown outside Spain. Their history, actually, has not yet been written and it might very well be the history of a frustration—that of the inability to generate any successful industrial enterprise. But among those failures and frustrations some pen companies created very interesting products in Spain.

Such was the case of the company Súper T, based in the city of Torelló, in Barcelona province. Manuel Portús Ribas created this company in 1942, and it was active until 1976, five years after the death of its founder.

October 1953. Súper T ad of pen models 20, 40, 60, and 80. Collected by Grafopasión member Claudio.

Súper T manufactured basically two models, named Gester and Olimpia. The first is known to be in production since 1943. There were four basic versions of it –20, 40, 60 and 80—, three of which remained in the company catalog until the mid 1970s. The very luxurious Gester 80 –“a gift for a prince”, the ads said— had a solid gold cap and disappeared from the catalog around 1957. That model is now very rare and highly sought after by collectors.

Delta de Oro prize. Photo courtesy of Olga Portus.

The Olimpia model took its name after the Olympic Games in 1960. This pen received the “Delta de Oro” prize of design in 1961 given by the Catalan Associació de Disseny Industrial del Foment de les Arts Decoratives (ADI-FAD). It was on production until the company disappeared.

Ad from September 1953 of Parker ink manufactured in Torelló. Advertisement collected by Grafopasión member Claudio.

During the 1950s Manuel Portus received an offer from Parker to buy the company. Apparently, the American company was interested in the gold plating system used by Súper T—it provided very high quality results on caps. The parties did not reach an agreement, but as a result of the negotiations, Súper T started manufacturing Parker ink –Quink— in Torelló, Spain.

Manuel Portús died in 1971 and the company passed onto his son Juan Manuel. The decline of the company started, coincidentally, at that time. The early 1970s economic crisis and the popularization of ball pens pushed Súper T into reducing production costs. The excellent quality of previous years vanished rather quickly.

Finally, the company closed down in 1976.

My thanks to fellow Grafopasión forum members Alberto, Claudio and Olga.

(Súper T Gester 20– Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-peki)

Bruno Taut
(Madrid, November 17th, 2010)
[labels: España, Súper T, Parker, fora]

Exclusivity

Making goods scarce, I said, is a way to increase the buying anxiety and, therefore, the pace at which those goods are sold. Some may also argue that this strategy has the added benefit of increasing the size of the market by releasing more new models and attracting the attention of potential customers more often.

Another strategy is the creation of exclusive goods: products that are sold only at very specific shops, either own by the manufacturer or by some retailer.

Such is the case, again, of Sailor. As was mentioned before (chronicle “Indecisiones”), Sailor inks are now present in several stationery shops in Japan as inks made exclusively for them: Maruzen in Nihonbashi (Tokyo), Ishidabungu en Hokuto (Hokkaido), Nagasawa in Kobe (Hyogo), etc. Some otaku will pilgrim through all of them, in search of the complete ink works by Sailor…


Maruzen, on its side, has its own line of pens and of inks available only at their shops under the name of Athena. The pens are currently made by Pilot, but in the past other important companies –de la Rue in 1913, Sailor in some recent years— also played that role. It is also worth to mention some commemorative pens Maruzen commissioned—the Parker Rashin to celebrate the 135th anniversary of the shop is a recent example (2004).

Itoya also had its own pen brands –Mighty and Romeo— that are now very scarce and sought after by collectors. In 2005, however, Itoya released the Pilot-made Romeo 2005 still available at their Ginza main branch.

Itoya's Romeo 2005. A Pilot made edition exclusively for this shop. (Photo taken from Itoya's website).

I guess these strategies pay off. And that means that some stylophiles and customers are really enticed by this sense of exclusivity: “You have to go there to get this!” And there some go in search of the Holy Grail—no matter it might be made of clay.

(Pilot Elite pocket pen with crosshatched silver cap – Sailor Red Brown)

Bruno Taut
(Tokyo, October 7th, 2010)
[labels: Japón, Mercado, Sailor, Pilot, Parker]

P. S: Edited on October 15th to add information on Romeo pens.