Thai Pilot Inks

Some months ago I got to know about some Pilot inks made in Thailand, where the company had a manufacturing plant since the 1950s.

There were at least three ink colors manufactured in Thailand—blue, blue-black, and black. I could only get my hands on two of them, and the current analysis is limited to those—blue and black.

Two Pilot inks made in Thailand. Photo courtesy of Papishdama.

The question to answer is obvious—are these Thai inks of the same formulation as those made in Japan?

Two blue inks by Pilot, one is made in Japan; the other, in Thailand.

Smell wise, the Thai inks have a very distinctive phenol odor whereas those made in Japan are almost odor-less. The black ink, though, releases a hint of ammonia.

On paper, both pairs show similar tones. The Thai blue is slightly lighter in color, and the Japanese version occasionally adds some purple sheen. The Thai ink has a higher surface tension.

Re black ink, the Thai one is again slightly lighter and less brilliant than the Japanese  ink.

Mise en place.

Finally, the chromatography shows that the dye composition is different in both pairs. The differences are bigger in the black inks. But the conclusion is clear—Thai and Japanese inks are different formulations.

Chromatographies.

Not much can I say about Pilot in Thailand. It started in 1953, and the manufacturing plant was located in Bangkok. The Thai black ink is dated in 2013, and we can assume that the Pilot plant was open until at least that year. As of today, the Pilot Thailand website (http://www.pilotpen.co.th/) is not active, and there is no reference to Thailand in the Pilot Global site.

Manufacturing date of the Thai black ink--Thai year 2556, which corresponds to AD 2013. Photo courtesy of Papishdama.

My thanks to my friend and ink connoisseur Papishdama.


Note (August 2022): It seems that the Thai Pilot was related to the Korean Pilot, a different company than the Japanese one. Korean Pilot is not operating currently.

Chilton Large – Sailor Yama-dori

Bruno Taut
January 12th, 2022
etiquetas: Tailandia, tinta, Pilot

Brazilian Pilot

In 1954 Pilot opened a manufacturing plant in Brazil, and some marketing efforts followed. Many an example of the ads of Pilot products on local media were reproduced on Pilot Times, the internal communication magazine of the company.

Ad published on Folha da Manha on March 8th, 1955. It was reported on Pilot Times on its March 1956 issue.

As reported on Pilot Times on May 1956.

Those ads show ink, and Super pens as the primary products for the local market. Some reports speak of some pens made in Brazil (the Super 77 model is mentioned as such by Lambrou and Sunami on their book Fountain Pens of Japan). This was not an exception as Pilot had open manufacturing plants in other countries (India, Burma, and Thailand) in 1953.

As reported on Pilot Times on November 1958.

All in all, these Brazilian ads show that there should exist vintage Pilot pens and memorabilia in flea markets, antique shops and in the hands of local traders in Brazil and neighboring countries. But not many of those seemed to be known.

Platinum pocket pen, Yamada Seisakusho soft nib – Wagner 2008 ink

Bruno Taut
Machida, July 3rd, 2013
etiquetas: Pilot, Brasil, India, Birmania, Tailandia