Curidas Marketing

I finished the year 2019 saying that Japanese brands had a hard time dealing with social media and advertising their products in the Internet. And then, 2020 came and we see Platinum skillfully promoting the soon-to-be-released platinum Curidas on the Internet.

It is hard to pinpoint where and when the first rumors originated, but by the end of December they had reached many of us. Then, actual docs generated by Platinum reached Facebook and the rumor became news. Since then –if not from before-- Platinum has managed the tempo to raise a great anxiety in many of us. Short videos, pics, early sale events, controversies on the price (in the US), plain information... All that repeated, re-broadcasted, and relayed by many of us on social media, blogs, and videos. And now we are waiting for that day in which the pen will be finally and openly for sale.

Part of the teasing campaign--a Curidas at a shop in Tokyo, but just to test!

One of the docs created by Platinum that found its way to the Internet.

Well done, Platinum!

This strategy contrasts with what Pilot has done with the latest version of the Capless—the Capless LS.

It might only be that there is not that much new on this later iteration of the well-known model, but Pilot failed at making it exciting.

The Capless LS as it appeared on the Pilot website.
Source: Pilot press release at https://www.pilot.co.jp/press_release/2019/12/06/post_60.html (retrieved on 4/Jan/2020).

Some might appreciate this absence of induced anxiety about the new release, but I doubt it was a wise move to increase the sales of the new pen.

And so, we are mostly speaking of the Curidas and not of the Capless LS.

Sailor FL Black Luster – Sailor Black

Bruno Taut
Nakano, February 3rd 2020
etiquetas: Pilot, Platinum, capless, redes sociales

Platinum in the Market 2020

During the last months Platinum has released about four new models: the Procyon, several variations of the 3776 Century (allow me this stretch), the Prefounte, and the Curidas.

Two of those are mere variations of well-known and easy available pens. Not much is needed to explain this re the variations of the 3776 in fancy colors and with notable characters. The Prefounte, on its side, is just a fancy Preppy. The other two are indeed new and different to any other model in the catalog: the Procyon and the Curidas.

The Platinum Procyon (2018).

Variations on a well-known theme.

Then, what do all these pens say about Platinum?

My interpretation is that Platinum is focusing on the medium and low end of the market of fountain pens. And this is surprising given the recent activity of Chinese makers, whose manufacturing costs are much lower than those in Japan.

This strategy can work as long as these pens were attractive and original. But that can be said about of pens in any price range. In any event, the hugely expected Curidas could fit this bill, but that is not the case of the Procyon, whose sales are not up to what Platinum expected.

This section of the market is a very tough one, and nothing will be easy for Platinum.

Pilot steel overlay, Yamada seisakusho nib – Sailor Blue-black

Bruno Taut
Nakano, February 3rd 2020
etiquetas: Japón, Platinum, China, mercado

Curidas's Name

Japanese companies –and not only in the stationery industry-- have a hard time naming their products, and I have pointed at some examples in the past.

More often than not, the issue is simple—the Japanese and the overseas names are different: Capless vs. Vanishing Point, Elabo vs. Falcon, Profit vs. 1911, etc.

Some other times, the problem is associated to the lack of consistency among Japanese on how to transliterate their own language into alphabet: Ohashido vs. Ohasido is the most evident of all, but there are more: Fuyu-shôgun vs. Fuyu-syogun, Sho-ro vs. Syo-ro, Doyô vs. Doyou, etc.

And now Platinum goes one step forward with the soon-to-be-released Curidas model. According to the company, the name is related to the Japanese word “kuridasu” (繰り出す, くりだす), that could be translated as to roll out. And the word would be something like “koo-ree-dah-soo”. The other associated word, also according to Platinum, is the English word “curiosity”.

Kuridasu, curiosity; Curidas.

But Japanese are often concerned about how English speakers might pronounce their Japanese words. Or, alternatively, they are worried about sounding too Japanese. Anyway, at the time of writing “Curidas” in Japanese, Platinum changed it to キュリダス, which transcribed to alphabet becomes “kyuridasu”.

Could Platinum at least be consistent?

And the whole mess is served. We will see the name of this pen written both as Curidas and Kyuridasu. And both of them are correct.

Pilot with steel overlay, Yamada Seisakusho – Sailor Blue-black

Bruno Taut
Shinjuku, January 22nd, 2020
etiquetas: Platinum, japonés, capless

War (I)

In the pen realm many of us tend to forget the historical context to which each pen is born. We like to live in a sort of perfect world where the miseries of life, or of History, are somehow hidden in a dark background. At the same time, though, we use some historical landmarks to date pens, the most common of which is the pre-war/post-war label. War is just short for “early 1940s”, and few actually think of real meaning of the word war.

Then, History slaps on your face.

The following pen is a Platinum from 1940 with a very interesting and unique decoration in maki-e techniques: “Soldier going to Manchuria”, by Rosui, the headmaster of the maki-e craftsmen of Platinum's.

Not much to add to the caption. This pen was part of the exhibit organized by Platinum in January of 2019 at Itoya in Ginza to cellebrate its 100th anniversary.

Japan had invaded Manchuria in 1931, and created the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932. This territory was a source of tensions as it was the Japanese base to invade China. Some scholars speak of the Marco Polo Incident (July 1937) and the Battle of Beiping-Tianjin as the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, and even of the Second World War. Therefore, by 1940, after a number of conflicts with the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of Mongolia, and China, the need for Japanese troops became urgent.

Close up of the soldier carrying the Japanese flag taken from one of the panels at the exhibit.

So, given this situation in Japan at the time, it is only natural to see patriotic motifs on these decorated pens.

And they remind us that pens are not alien to the historical moment in which they were created.

Parker 61 – Unknown blue-black ink

Bruno Taut
Shinjuku, December 30th, 2019
etiquetas: Japón, Platinum, evento

Retractable 2020

I finished 2019 saying that there had been very little new in Japan in the pen scene, and 2020 starts in a very different way.

On the last days of 2019 we saw Pilot marketing its latest variation on the Capless family—the Capless LS. Its novelty is a new mechanism to release the nib by a push button without making any noise. The nib units are the same as on the other members of the family. The LS is, in actual terms, a hybrid between the Capless-Décimo and the Fermo.

The Capless family (save variations on body color and trim) until this past December. Now there is a new model,the LS.

The newly released Capless LS.
Source: Pilot press release at https://www.pilot.co.jp/press_release/2019/12/06/post_60.html (retrieved on 4/Jan/2020).

And the price is also a combination of both the regular Capless –JPY 15000—and the Fermo –JPY 20000—: JPY 35000, plus taxes.

But more exciting news are those of Platinum's: this company will release its own version of a capless model in March of 2020. Its name will be “Curidas”, after the Japanese word “kuridasu” (繰り出す, くりだす)--to roll out.

This document has been published on a number of social media, including Facebook. Intentional leak?

The Curidas will be an inexpensive model –JPY 7000— aimed at the business market, according to the leaked leaflet, although some other sources speak of the student market.

The lineup includes five different body colors, all of them transparent. There will be two or three nib points on steel nibs. The pen clip will be detachable.

The big question is whether the nib is a totally new unit or an adaptation of one of the several steel nibs Platinum currently manufactures. The filtration (intentional?) did not go that far.

Pilot Short – Bril Turquoise Blue

Bruno Taut
Kusatsu, January 3rd 2020
etiquetas: Pilot, Platinum, capless, mercado

Tokyo Pen Trends 2019

(This review is part of a collective initiative to summarize and analyze the relevant events of 2019 in the pen scene. The other members are Fudefan and Inky.Rocks:
Fudefan's take on 2019: https://www.fudefan.com/2019/12/2019-in-review/
Inky.Rocks' video: https://youtu.be/L2M372smNEg ).


A lot might have happened, pen wise- in this year of 2019, but not everything is equally interesting, and each of us has a different view on those. These are my selection and of the relevant events, and my reflections on them.

1. Pen Scene.
2019 was the year of the 100th anniversary of Platinum. This company managed the celebration a lot better than Pilot, whose centenary was celebrated in 2018, but Platinum quickly lost momentum after a promising start.

In Japan, the only new pen released in 2019 was the Pilot Custom NS (the Procyon, let us remember, was released in 2018). The NS is the first steel nib in the Custom family, and its price is about 20% lower than that the Custom 74 with a gold nib. Is this a correct strategy in the Japanese market?

Other than this Custom NS, there have not been any new pen—all there is are rehashed pens, minor cosmetic changes on well known models. The Prime, the Platinum pen to commemorate its 100th anniversary, is little else than a 3776 in silver costume. Sailor, on its side, is mastering the art of generating original models –this is the name they use— to be sold exclusively at a certain shop. It seems a very successful system to raise the attention of customers by creating a false sense of scarcity.

A sample of Platinum 3776 Centuries. All of them are essentially the same pen.

As this, The Prime, is also a 3776 in disguise. The Prime was the pen Platinum released to celebrate its 100th anniversary.
Anyway, not much new.

(The Capless LS has just been released in Japan and barely speaks about what went on along 2019. However, this is something new in the pen scene in Japan.)

In contrast, Taiwanese and Chinese pens are becoming a lot more active and innovative. They are offering new recreations of old filling systems with new models almost every month in the case of pens from the PR of China. Their distribution is also becoming more open and all those pens are easier to purchase.

This Wing Sung, obviously inspired on the Twsbi Vac700, in an example of the activity of many Chinese brands.

2. Ink Scene.
More colors more expensive. And the inflation continues.

The only positive side effect is the surge of small ink companies—Krishna in India, Trouble Maker in Philippines, Three Oysters in South Korea, Kala in Taiwan... But only time will say whether there is enough room for so many people. Or enough customers for so many colors...

But the radical approach to this would be to return to those old colors in unassuming inkwells for about JPY 400 per 30 ml: good and inexpensive ink.

When initially marketed, Irishizuku's inks were very expensive. Now they are among the most inexpensive in the Japanese market. And even cheaper are the regular Pilot inks (the inkwell on the right): JPY 400 (plus tax) for 30 ml. This is the radical approach to the present inflation in inks and their prices.

3. Paper.
Paper, or good quality paper, is also becoming a luxury good. But the production costs might be at the heart of this phenomenon. The paper industry relies heavily on the economy of scale and a small community like that of fountain pen aficionados is unable to generate a big demand. The result--producing small batches to fulfill the demand of such small group is inherently expensive.

"Fountain Pen Friendly Paper Collection", by Yamamoto Paper. Some of those included on this pad are no longer available because some mills are no longer in business.

The alternative, for the time being, could be to go back to old Japanese scholar notebooks, some of which are made of good quality paper, albeit not labeled or advertised as “fountain pen friendly”. Kokuyo Campus, and regular Tsubame notebooks are two obvious options easily available.

This Tsubame paper is excellent and inexpensive. There are other rulings...

4. Events.
The Tokyo International Pen Show (TIPS) is here to stay after a very successful second edition. Its main feature –from my perspective— was the ability of gather people from far away locations. TIPS acted as the meeting point for aficionados from places as far away as Spain and Australia, and that despite being more of a stationery salon than of a pen show.

Tokyo International Pen Show. Not a pen show, but a meeting point.

In contrast, the active Tokyo pen community seems isolated and detached from the rest of the World.


5. Social Media.
I am new to this environment, and I am therefore very naïve –or simply skeptical- about it. However, it is hard to miss the huge activity on social media, and the personal connections created through them. The result is a much better connected pen community where parochial attitudes –like those of Japanese brands- are bound to fail.

Japanese companies have not understood anything related to social media, and behave following patterns anchored in the twentieth century, with segregated and separated markets. They do not seem to understand online shopping across borders.

On the contrary, Chinese and Taiwanese pen companies have embraced this new world and are taking benefit from their constant presence on them.


I am sure there is a lot more that could be said about this year 2019, but this is what called my attention.

WiPens Toledo – Montblanc Irish Green

Bruno Taut
Nakano, December 8th 2019
etiquetas: Japón, China, Taiwan, mercado, evento, redes sociales, Pilot, Platinum, Sailor, tinta

Japanese Skylines

After reviewing a couple of Japanese copies of the Wahl-Eversharp Doric it is only natural continue with another copy of an iconic American pen—the Wahl-Eversharp Skyline (1941-1948).

Platinum did make such a copy, as we can see on the pics.

Wahl-Eversharp or not?

According to Masa Sunami, Platinum marketed this pen in 1948 in the Uruguayan market. And the pens here shown were indeed sent to Uruguay, as the import sticker clearly shows. On it we can read that it had been imported and taxed in conformity with the law passed on September 15th of 1952.

Quite a faithful copy...

The sticker from the tax office of the República Oriental del Uruguay.

In contrast, it seems that Platinum does not have records of these international operations –Platinum in Uruguay, Presidente in Spain, Joker in Greece, Hifra in South Africa--, and these labels and pens are the few actual documents anyone can have. However, they pose many more questions—why Uruguay? Were they sold in any other country? How big the production was? Between which years were these models manufactured?…

These Japanese Skylines are very close to the original model, as can be seen on the pictures. The differences are on the filling system —aerometric on the Platinum, lateral lever filler on the Wahl-Eversharp—, and on the nibs —more cylindrical and made of steel on the Platinum.

Skyline Standard on the front, and four Platinum copies on the back. Platinum bodies are engraved: " PLATINUM / TRADE (logo) MARK / R. NO. 374902 ".

Steel vs. gold. Steel for the Platinum copy, gold for the original Wahl-Eversharp. Note the number on the Platinum nib: P.96216. I do not know what it means.

These are the dimensions

	.Platinum "Skyline".	.Wahl-Eversharp Skyline Standard.
.Length closed (mm) __	132	132
.Length open (mm) __	117	125
.Length posted (mm) __	135	146
.Max Diameter (mm) __	14.6	14.6
.Weight, dry (g) __	16.0	16.0

My thanks to Mr. Sunami

Yamada raden and ivory – Noodler's Beaver

Bruno Taut
Nakano, December 17th 2019
etiquetas: Wahl Eversharp, Platinum, Uruguay

DNCONSTAN PLATINUM

In 1973, Platinum released a series of pens called Amazonas. Their selling point was that they were coated with leather of the star-fingered toad.

In actual terms, we see forty-something years later, this was just one of the series of leather-coated pens Platinum marketed mostly between 1967 and 1979, and even beyond that as there is still a leather pen in the catalog of the brand. Most of those used sheep leather, some with some additional painted decoration, but there were also models with leather from more exotic animals: crocodile, lizard, snake...

Some of the Amazonas pens on a picture by Platinum. https://www.platinum-pen.co.jp/e_platinum_history_top.html.

The pens of the Amazonas series (PAM-8000 in the internal coding of Platinum) cost JPY 8000. They came in five colors: pink, red, green, light brown and dark brown. Pen-wise, they were cartridge-converters, with 18 K gold nibs with a  fingernail geometry. The dimensions are as follows:

Length closed: 134 mm
Length open: 120 mm
Length posted: 147 mm
Diameter: 13.0 mm
Weight: 20.7 g (dry, with converter)

On the picture we case see two examples of these leather coated pens: one in pink and in another in light brown. The first is a very regular model with a F nib.

Two of the leather-coated series of pens.

The pink Amazonas (possibly) with an F nib.

The light brown unit, on the contrary, is special in several ways. First, because of the three-tined music nib, and this is remarkable in itself as most of these special editions limit their range of nibs to the usual triad of F, M, and B.

An unusual light brown lather pen.

The unusual music nib of the light brown leather-coated pen.

And then, we find an unusual imprint on the cap.

The original imprint on the cap: "DNCONSTAN PLATINUM".

This engraving represents a Byzantine coin. It shows a profile bust and part of the usual inscription in those coins: “DNCONSTAN”. It should follow with TINUSPPAV showing that those coins could belong to the mid 7th century, the period when Constans II and Constatin IV reigned in Byzantium; or to the mid 4th century, the times of Constatius II (vid note infra). But on this pen, the second part reads “PLATINUM”. So, “DNCONSTAN PLATINUM”.

This pen was made in 1975, according to the date on the nib.

Was this a special pen? What is the meaning of this engraving? I have no answers to these questions, and the only thing I can do is to document this rarity.


NOTE on 06/Nov/2019: A couple of days after I published this text a very kind and informed reader sent a comment correcting my many mistakes. You can read it fully on the comments, and here I extract the important elements:

(...) The coin on the pen says D N CONSTAN in the first part of the inscription; I can't read the second half of the legend, but I can believe from the picture it's PLATINVUM. That word replaces the second half of the legend, which is missing.

The coin doesn't say ON but DN: D is Dominus, N is for Noster (Our Lord). We can't tell what the rest would have been, but the coin for Constans II in the Wikipedia link is a good guess: it splits in the same place. That one reads, D(ominus) N(oster) Constan (break) tinus P(ater) P(atriae) AUG(ustus), with the final G apparently blurred into the edge.

The D N and the P P AUG are very well established elements of late Roman coins--Pater Patriae is Father of the Fatherland, Augustus is the late antique title for what we call the Roman Emperor. It is a common inscription to find. If one wanted to identify potential models, the Roman Imperial Coinage volumes would be of use--they list legends in an index, as I recall.

In my opinion, this iconography isn't that of the 7th c. but (of) the 4th--it looks like someone from Constantine I's family, my best guess being his son Constantius II's, from the 350s. See here (...) a gold solidus with a similar bust and inscription.

Now why that particular coin is there--that I'd like to know! Who embossed the leather? Did they, like Constantius, have Arian leanings?


NOTE on 01/Aug/2020: Commenter Jyrki Muona suggested that my text implied that these pens belonged to the Amazonas series sporting some exotic leather. That could be the case of the pink unit, but is less likely so for the light brown pen with the coin decoration. In any event, it is difficult on both cases to determin the actual origin of their coatings. I have corrected my text to eliminate that ambiguity. Thanks!


My thanks to Poplicola-san. And to M Gubbins and to J. Muona.

Opus 88 with Kanwrite nib – De Atramentis Beethoven

Bruno Taut
Nakano, November 2nd 2019
etiquetas: Platinum, music nib

Katana or Fude

I am responsible for what I write, not for what others understand (::1::).

Some months ago I wrote about how at certain stationery shop in Tokyo the clerks in the fountain pen section did not call the Nakaya pen pouch "kimono" but "katana bukuro".

However, some people took my words as incorrect or as a complete speculation.

Well, none of the above.

The shop was Itoya's headquarters in Ginza (Tokyo) and the clerk's words implied that in that shop they spoke of the pen pouches as "katana bukuro". That conversation took place in October of 2018.

Katana bukuro, tô tai, fude ire?

More recently I posed the question to some other people in Tokyo. Among them, a journalist specialized in the stationery market with several publications under her obi. The result was similar: "kimono" is totally unheard in Japan to name a pen pouch.

'How do people call them then?'
'There is not a clear name', they replied.

And after thinking for a while the journalist continued.

'Some people call those pouches "tô tai".

"Tô tai" is just the onyomi (Sino-Japanese) pronunciation of 刀袋, whose kunyomi (native Japanese) pronunciation is "katana bukuro".

So be it.

And most people understand when you simply say 筆入れ, "fude ire", which translates as pen container.

But not "kimono". At least not in Japan.

Montblanc 149 – Aurora Black

Bruno Taut
Nakano, March 18th 2019
Etiquetas: Platinum, Japón, japonés, Itoya

The Namiki Effect

Stylophiles are a special bunch. Driven by our anachronistic passion we often crave for certain features: gold nibs, self-filling mechanisms (as opposed to cartridges and converters), ebonite feeds, some specific materials like celluloid or ebonite,… And we demand those features for pens over certain price. Or, in other words, we might despise pens over certain price if they didn't offer some of them.

But the market might be telling us that we are mistaken. Just a quick look at today's catalogs shows how many luxury brands offer nothing but cartridge-converter pens with plastic feeds. Materials and gold nibs are less of a problem, though.

An expensive Pilot. Cartridge-converter and plastic feed.

Luxury pens of Platinum-Nakaya and Sailor are cartridge-converters. Pilot-Namiki does offer Japanese eyedroppers, but only for the biggest nib size. All the others, with nibs sizes 5, 10, and 20, are cartridge-converters despite how expensive they are.

An expensive Hakase.

Then, small makers like Eboya, Hakase, Ohashido, Stylo-Art Karuizawa, all focussed on higher-end pens only offer cartridge-converter pens. The only exception to this trend might be Masahiro and the newly-arrived Iwase Seisakusho.

Now, are these two brands –Masahiro and Iwase Seisakusho— on the right path or the success of all the other brands shows the opposite? How important are those details like ebonite feed and self-filling mechanisms in the final price –and in the final value-- of the pen?

A Masahiro pen. Expensive, but it implements an ebonite feed, a self-filling mechanism, an ebonite body, and a gold nib.

The market might be telling us that we stylophiles are still a minority in the business. Or it might only be that I am very mistaken about what we demand, and cartridge and converters and plastic feeds are perfectly all right even on very expensive pens.

Or it might be that we are very easy targets. After all, every pen has its charm, and all those cravings are not so important.

And that is the Namiki effect--expensive pens can be, in essence, very simple. Namiki has proven it through years in the market.

Iwase Seisakusho prototype – Takeda Jimuki Hisoku

Bruno Taut
Bunkyo, February 9th 2019
etiquetas: estilofilia, mercado, makie, Eboya, Hakase, StyloArt Karuizawa, Masahiro, Sailor, Ohashido, Iwase Seisakusho, Pilot, Platinum

Even Rarer

Long time ago I wrote about one of those mysterious pens—a pen that is known to exist but that is so rare that has become almost mythical. That was the Platinum Knock, Platinum's take on the idea of a capless pen.

Platinum Knock-18. 18 K gold nib, JPY 3000, 1965.

That pen, marketed initially in 1965, was short lived due to the threats of Pilot to start legal actions. However, there were two versions of the pen: the initial one from 1965, and a second variation with a lighter cut-out clip in 1966.

The two versions of the Platinum Knock. From a panel at the temporary exhibition at Itoya Ginza (January-February 2019).

And now, thanks to a temporary exhibition on the history of Platinum hold at Itoya Ginza in Tokyo we can see that there existed an even rarer pen—the demonstrator version of the capless Platinum Knock.

The demonstrator version. Did it ever make its way to the street, even in the hands of a salesman?

So, let this be heard—there are transparent versions of the Platinum Knock, even if they were only prototypes.

Iwase Seisakusho prototype – Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue

Bruno Taut
Bunkyo, Janaury 20th 2019
Etiquetas: evento, Platinum, Pilot, capless

Katana or Kimono?

A play in one act. Based on actual events.

Characters: He, She, a Clerk.

A big stationery shop in Tokyo, buying a Nakaya.

The kimono? Maybe not.

HE: Among the pen community, the silk pen case is known as “the kimono”.
SHE: No Japanese would ever call that a kimono.

SHE: (Facing the clerk.) What is the name of that pen case?
CLERK: We call it “katana bukuro”.
HE: A bag for the sword?
SHE: I told you—no one in Japan calls it a kimono.
HE: Did anyone in Japan hear about pens being mightier than swords?


Afterword:

A “katana bukuro”, a bag for the sword. Besides the obvious meaning, it is also an ornament carried by women in their kimono at their wedding. Apparently, Japanese women needed some form of self-defense on those dire situations... The irony is that the “katana bukuro” is merely ornamental and inside there is nothing but a cylindrical cardboard instead of the traditional dagger, the “kaiken”.

The ornamental (and empty) "katana bukuro" with the elaborate knot and the two tassels.

A pen would be a better filling—provided the name of the bag changed accordingly.

Pilot Custom Heritage 912 – Wagner 2008 ink

Bruno Taut
Shinjuku, October 30th 2018
Etiquetas: Platinum, Japón