Belage Music

Yet another music nib…

A number of three-tined music nibs have appeared on these pages. With the exceptions of a magnificent Waterman’s size 4 and of a bespoke Montblanc modern nib, all were made in Japan after the War. Those music nibs are, in general, quite unassuming and they are associated to usual workhorses and not to luxurious models with lavish decoration or exotic materials. So, regular pens for regular use receive –and received— some of the most exciting nibs (and I am not only meaning mucis nibs).

A collection of music nibs made in Japan.

The Belage was a model Platinum launched in 1979. It was a cartridge converter pen with a wing-flow nib made of steel and of gold. Its design was very clean—basically a continuous steel cylinder from cap to barrel with a narrow plastic tail where the cap could be attached for posting. This design received the “Good Design Award” of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry of Japan.

Three different Platinum Belage. Older on top. Note the plastic tail on the two older units.

However, later versions of the pen had this clean design changed. Now, the barrel is slightly tapered and the cap posts directly on it, with no need of the narrower tail present on the original model.

The newer Belage.

This newer version was also smaller than the original—shorter, thinner, lighter. And its nib is also smaller in dimensions. It is still a wing-flow nib—only smaller. But the point today is that there were three-tined music nibs on these Belage pens. On this case, it is made of 14 K gold.

Front...

... back...

... and inside. Note the two ink channels in the feed.

These are the dimensions of this pen:

Length closed: 130.5 mm
Length open: 120.5 mm
Length posted: 143.0 mm
Diameter: 11.0 mm
Weight: 19.0 g (dry, with converter)

It is possible that the original Belage might have had a music nib. After all, we have already seen a wing-flow nib of that same size with three tines on a pocket pen from the mid 1970s.

A Platinum pocket pen with a wing-flow nib from 1973.

This particular Belage with music nib was manufactured in 1998.

The Belage from 1998.

Platinum pocket pen, Yamada Seisakusho – KWZ Brown #2

Bruno Taut
Nakano, January 26th 2018
etiquetas: plumín, plumín musical, Platinum

Sailor Double Sided Nib

Double side nibs are not new to this blog. Not so long ago we saw a Vanco pen with a beautiful “duet” nib. On more recent years, several of the Sailor’s “specialty nibs” sported that same feature; that is, the nib points are cut and polished to provide a good writing experience both on the regular and on the inverted (upside down) positions.

Older than the Vanco Duet is the Sailor on display today. Everything on it points out at the 1930s as the production date. The pen is a flat top Japanese eyedropper inspired by the fashion set by the Parker Duofold, as was often the case in Japan at the time. It is made of ebonite and is coated with urushi lacquer.

There is an inscription on the pen body: "Sailor / Fountain Pens / PAT. O. 116315", together with the logo of the company.

The nib –the real protagonist of this story— is made of 14 K gold and is labeled as size 30. This number does not say much –or anything at all— about its actual size. If fact, it is very modest in dimensions: its total length is 23 mm, perfectly comparable to sizes 2 or 1 nibs by Pilot at the time.

The size 30 nib by Sailor.

The beak-shaped point of the lower end of the nib.

Its point is carefully cut. On the lower side –regular writing— the point takes the form of a bird beak with a very thin ending, thus drawing a very fine line. The upper side, on the contrary, is cut as a broad nib. The writing sample shows the final effects of these two points.

Writing sample of the double sided nib by Sailor. The square on the paper is 5x5 mm2.

These are the dimensions of the pen:

Length closed: 135 mm
Length open: 120 mm
Length posted: 168 mm
Diameter: 14.0 mm
Weight (dry): 18.5 g
Ink deposit: 2.4 ml

And these are the dimensions of the nib:

Length: 23.2 mm
Shoulder width: 5.8 mm
Weight: about 0.25 g
Material: 14 K gold

The engraving on the nib reads "14 CRT GOLD / Sailor / REGISTERED / PATENT OFFICE / -30-".

The manufacturing date: 11.4. Probably November of 1934.

The nib is dated on the lower side: 11.4. According to the regular way of dating Sailor pens and nibs, this means that the nib was probably manufactured in November of 1934.

The experimentation with fountain pens in Japan has indeed a long history.

Athena (1950s), lever filler – Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue

Bruno Taut
Nakano, January 5th 2018
labels: Sailor, plumín, Vanco, soluciones técnicas

Pilot Custom 743 with Oblique Nibs

Contrary to how it used to be in Germany –but not anymore!—, oblique nibs are a rarity in Japan. Sure enough they exist, and I have shown an example of those in a Pilot Custom 67 on these Chronicles, but they are conspicuously absent from today’s catalogs of the Japanese makers. This absence is all the more striking given the very wide variety of nib points offered on those same catalogs. Some of them are truly exotic -–two and three folded nibs, multiple tines, bent up and down, etc.--, but none of them is slanted, none of them is oblique.

Well, that is the usual situation, but there are exceptions now and then, but they do not make it to the general catalog.

Recently (August 2017), at stationery Itoya in Ginza, three oblique nib points were on display. They are size 15 nibs made by Pilot, and were implemented on the model Custom 743.

Three Custom 743 with unusual nibs ready to be tested. The two pens on the background implement more usual nibs: posting and falcon.

The following table summarizes the characteristics of the nibs.

The (left) OB nib named as L3.

Two of them are left oblique, with cut at angles of 20 and 30 degrees, labeled as L2 and L3 respectively. The third nib is a right oblique at an angle of 20 degrees (R2). The imprint on the nibs shows the original nib out of which the special point as cut: two B nibs and one FM. The results can be seen on the written sample: the L3 --an OFM nib-- draws a finer line than the other two, which are OB nibs.

Writing sample of the three oblique nibs made by Pilot.

The (left) OFM nib (L2), on both sides.

The (right) OB nib (R2), on both sides.

These nibs are a limited release offered by Itoya. They are available while stocks last. There are no differences in the price of the Custom 743 implementing these oblique nibs—JPY 30000, plus tax.

So, there exist some oblique nibs in Japan! In small numbers, with almost clandestine distribution… but they exist.

Pilot Custom 823 – Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-jaku

Bruno Taut
Nakano, August 9th 2017
etiquetas: Pilot, plumín, Itoya

Internal Competition

The big news in the world of fountain pens in 2016 –at least in Japan— was the release of the Pilot Custom Urushi.

The three points of the Custom Urushi (FM, M, B) ready to be tested. And a Custom 845 on the right hand side.

Custom Urushi (top) and Custom 845 (bottom).

The size 30 nib has created a new category in Pilot’s catalog of pens, a category in between sizes 15 and 20, on one side, and size 50 on the other. Sizes 20 and 50 are exclusive to Namiki pens, and are implemented on models Yukari Royale, size 20, and Emperor, size 50, including the Urushi Series in black (ro-iro) and red (shu). Pilot’s size 15 nib is implemented in a number of Custom models: 743, 823, 845, Ichii (一位), Enju (槐). Let us remember, finally, that sizes 15 and 20 are very similar, like KMPN showed on his reference post on the matter.

The insides of the Custom Urushi (top) and of the Custom 845 (bottom). Their ink converters are the same--CON-70.

Nibs 30 (top) and 15 (bottom), side by side.

Externally, the new Pilot Custom Urushi (JPY 88000), as shown on these pages some months ago, is little else than an oversized Custom 845 (JPY 50000). Both pens are coated with urushi, and on both of them the section and the finials on cap and body are made of black plastic. Interestingly enough, both pens use the same ink converter –the CON-70— and, therefore, the bigger size of the Custom Urushi does not enjoy any difference on the filling system.

Cheaper (JPY 30000) Custom models with size 15 nibs –Custom 743 and 823— are all made of plastic and their gold purity is lower: 14 K Au vs the 18 K of the Custom 845, Ichii, Enju, and Custom Urushi. On the higher end, the Yukari Royale-size pens of the Urushi Series (nib size 20) are made of brass and are totally coated with urushi. Their price is JPY 128000.

Model	nib size material	nib points	filling system ink capacity (ml) (1)	price (JPY) (2)
743	15 14K Au	14 -EF-F-SF-FM-SFM-M-SM- -B-BB-PO-FA-WA-SU-C-	C/C CON-70 - 1.0 ml	30.000
823	15 14K Au	3 F-M-B (3)	plunger - 2.2 ml	30.000
845, Ichii (一位) (4), Enju (槐) (5)	15 18K Au	4 F-M-B-BB (3)	C/C CON-70 - 1.0 ml	50.000
Custom Urushi	30 18K Au	3 FM-M-B	C/C CON-70 - 1.0 ml	88.000
Namiki Urushi #20	20 18K Au	3 F-M-B	C/C CON-70 - 1.0 ml	128.000

NOTES: Data according to Pilot's and Namiki's catalogs.
(1) C/C: cartridge and converter. Other converters (CON-20, CON-40, CON-50) can also be used. Their ink capacities are smaller than that of the CON-70.
(2) Catalog prices without taxes (8% in Japan).
(3) At some shops, Custom 823 and Custom 845 can be found with some other nib points.
(4) Custom Ichii pen only has two nib points available: F and M.
(5) Custom Enju comes in three nib points: F, M, and B.
Comparative chart of the Pilot and Namiki models with nibs of sizes 15, 20, and 30.

Three urushi pens.

The obvious question now is whether the Pilot Custom Urushi might be stealing some of the market of the Namiki pens with nib size 20. Those JPY 40000 of difference in their prices, together with the much bigger nib of the cheaper of Custom Urushi might be hard to overlook when comparing both pens: Custom Urushi and Namiki Urushi Series 20.

The Pilot Custom 823.

And looking at the comparative chart, some might go back to considering the well known Custom 823 as an excellent value. And this might be the right time to speak about that pen in depth.

Sheaffer’s TM Admiral – Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-jaku

Bruno Taut
Shinjuku, June 15 2017
etiquetas: Pilot, plumín, mercado, urushi

On Ban-ei Nibs

On this text, some more notes on Ban-ei (挽栄) pens, including some corrections to my own words.

These pens made by Sakai Eisuke (酒井栄助) and coworkers (Kabutogi, Takahashi, Tsuchida, Kitamura, Nakamura) are difficult to follow. They are, for the most part, unmarked with any brand name, and as a result they are invisible to many aficionados.

Ebonite bodies, often lacquered, occasional maki-e and urushi-e motifs, mostly gold nibs, Japanese eyedropper filling system (albeit with exceptions), teardrop clips… All these are some usual features of Ban-ei pens, but in no case are they exclusive to them.

The only element in Ban-ei pens that carried some sort of marking were the nibs, although not always. Many of these pens implemented nibs made by Kabutogi Ginjiro (兜木銀次郎), and these were more often than not labeled in one way or another—either through some JIS number (3233, 4622, 4922), some of the brands owned by this nibmeister or, more often, through the initials GK.

An Onoto-type pen made by Sakai Eisuke and Kabutogi Ginjiro.

On this case, the nib is labeled with the brand name "Steady", one of the brands registered by the nibmeister Kabutogi Ginjiro. Its JIS number was 3233, but it is not engraved on this particular nib.

A balance model with the wrongly named "Kamakura bori" decoration.

The nib is marked with the JIS no. 4622, associated to the factory Kabutogi Seisakusho Tabata and to the brand name Seilon.

However, Ban-ei pens also implemented a number of other nibs, and many were simply not signed at all. In particular, Ban-ei used Platinum and Sailor nibs. On both cases, the engraving was the same: “WARRANTED / 585 / 14 KARAT / PEN / IRIDIOSUMIN”, but their geometries are different, as can be seen on the picture.

Two Ban-ei pens with very different nibs--Sailor on the left, Platinum on the right. The later belongs to the Danitrio-commissioned series.

Close up of the nibs. Sailor on the left, Platinum on the right. The engraved text is the same --“WARRANTED / 585 / 14 KARAT / PEN / IRIDIOSUMIN”--, but not so is the size of the fonts. The Platinum nib is flatter than the Sailor.

In the mid 1990s, as we have already seen on these Chronicles, the company Danitrio commissioned some pens to the old troupe of artisans. On this occasion, the pens were properly labeled as “Ban-ei - 挽栄” on the cap lip, thus eliminating the anonymity of the previous works. Regarding the nibs of these pens, there is some conflicting information. For the most part, the nibs of the Danitrio Ban-ei pens are Platinum, but there is also a small batch of nibs carrying a special engraving: 復刻手造万年筆 (fukkoku tezukuri mannenhitsu), reissue hand-made fountain pen. The geometry of these nibs differs greatly from those made by Platinum. It is, in fact, very close to the geometry of the nibs signed with the initials GK.

Danitrio founder Bernard Lyn suggests on this book Maki-e, an Art for the Soul (Dani International Corporation, 2003) that it was Kabutogi’s son, by the name of Toshiya, the new nibmeister of the Ban-ei team after his father (Gingiro) had passed away. And I reproduced this idea on these same pages. However, further investigations in Tokyo pointed out that Kabutogi Toshiya was not a nibmeister and could not be the artisan behind those nibs. Sure enough, he had good contacts in Tokyo and probably access to old spare parts. The consequence of all this, then, is that we might need to add a pinch of salt to the claim that those nibs had been made by Kabutogi’s son.

Four Ban-ei pens. Clockwise from the red urushi pen: Danitrio Ban-ei with the special engraving (復刻手造万年筆) nib, balance model with "nashiji" decoration and GK nib, Danitrio Ban-ei with "nashiji" decoration and Platinum nib, and balance model with maki-e decoration (rabbit and moon motif) and Sailor nib.

Close up of the previous pens. Note the similar geometry of the two nibs on the back--the one with the special engraving and the GK nib. Both are very cylindrical and have heart-shaped breathing holes.

In fact, Mr. Eizo Fujii never mentions the figure of Kabutogi Toshiya on his article “The fountain pens of Sakai Eisuke” (Shumi-no Bungubaku, 34, p. 120-124). On it, Mr Fujii mentions Kabutogi Ginjiro and Platinum as the sources for the nibs of the Danitrio Ban-ei pens.

Lambrou and Sunami, on their side, speak of early Ban-ei pens equipped with nibs manufactured by Ishikawa Kinpen Seisakusho (JIS no. 3231), from Tokyo. This company provided nibs to a number of makers, including Ferme.

A Ban-ei with a Henckel nib made of steel.

A Henckel nib (JIS no. 3417). There are no records of any collaboration between Henckel and Sakai Eisuke, but there are a number of Ban-ei pens out there with this same nib.

Finally, there are some Ban-ei pens sporting exotic nibs. Certainly, many of them are the result of absurd combinations often driven by necessity. But some others are not so easy to diagnose. A case in point is a group of Ban-ei pens implementing steel nibs manufactured by Henckel (JIS no. 3417). There are no records, apparently, of such collaboration, but it is also unusual to see a number of pens with the very same nib. Some aficionados have suggested that these Henckel nibs were attached to remaining Ban-en bodies that were never put to sale.

The obvious conclusion is the variety of sources to the nibs implemented by Sakai Eisuke and collaborators. Those made by nibmeister Kabutogi Ginjiro are indeed relevant and even common, but by no means are those GK nibs the only ones; not to mention that this nibmeister was very prolific and worked for a number of brands.

In any event, what matters here is that Ban-ei pens are still a mystery. But that might be the fate a small and artisanal operation with few written records. And some people indeed feel the strong appeal of these almost anonymous pens.


References:
Bernard LYN. Maki-e, an Art for the Soul. Dani International Corporation, 2003.
Eizo FUJII. “酒井栄助の万年筆” (Sakai Eisuke no mannenhitsu; The fountain pens of Sakai Eisuke). Shumi-no Bungubaku, 34, p. 120-124 (2015).
A. LAMBROU & M. SUNAMI. Fountain Pens of Japan. Andreas Lambrou Publishers Ltd., 2012.

Sheaffer 1250 – Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-jaku

Bruno Taut
Nakano, June 14th, 2017
etiquetas: Ban-ei, Platinum, Sailor, plumín, Sakai Eisuke, nibmeister Kabutogi Ginjiro, Danitrio, Ishikawa Kinpen Seisakusho, Ferme, Henckel

Crisis of Growth?

Sailor has made a couple of shocking announcements in the last months. First was the suspension of the production of specialty nibs, including the basis for them all, the Naginata Togi nib. Then came the news of the discontinuation of the possibility of re-ordering original inks created with the invaluable help of Mr. Ishimaru, Sailor’s ink mixer. However, the creation of these personalized inks is still possible at the ink workshops regularly organized by Sailor throughout Japan.

My original ink, named Hiroko's Green.

Why would any company eliminate two of the elements that truly separated it from the rest? Why is Sailor giving up on his features of distinction in the market of fountain pens?

The issue with ink seems to be that many a user have been selling those original inks online at a premium cost, but I wonder if that should pose any problem for Sailor. More relevant could be that the ink production might have reached its limits with the popularization of some shop-original inks, particularly those by Nagasawa and by Bung-Box.

A Naginata Togi nib.

The Cross-Music nib.

That seems, in fact, to be the problem of the specialty nibs—the troubles of Mr. Nagahara to cope with the demand. Increasing the price of those nibs could ease the problem, but that is also an almost irreversible step.

Then, in summary, is Sailor suffering a growth crisis?


My thanks to Tinjapan.

Sailor Profit, Naginata Togi – Tomikei Blue

Bruno Taut
Nakano, April 18 2017
etiquetas: Sailor, tinta, plumín, mercado

Family Portait (VII). Integrated Nibs

There is an obvious missing pen on the picture. In fact, the missing pen is the one which started the whole trend—the Parker T1 made in titanium. But for the rest, they are basically all that there is to integrated nibs. From top, clockwise:

-- Pilot M90 (M nib). Manufacturing date, 2009
-- Pilot Murex, black (for man). M nib. Made in 1980.
-- Pilot Murex red (for woman). F nib. Made in 1978.
-- Parker 50, falcon, in brown. Ca. 1980.
-- Hero 849. 1980s.
-- Parker 50, falcon, flighter. Ca. 1980.
-- Pilot Myu with black strips, M nib. Manufacturing date not declared. 1970s.
-- Pilot Myu, plain steel, F nib. Made in 1977.

A detail both interesting and surprising is how the nib points (the iridium) were cut. In this regard, the presumably sophisticated American pen really falls behind the Japanese and Chinese counterparts.

The nib of the Hero 849 was also implemented in the model 850, and in several other branded as Paidi Century. These nibs are all identical.

Platinum 3776 (1978) – Platinum Black

Bruno Taut
Nakano, September 20th, 2016
etiquetas: Hero, Parker, Pilot, plumín

Another Music Nib

Ah, the fascination for the third tine…

Today’s pen is a so far unknown model. We can date it, however, to have been made in the second half of the 1970s. The actual production dates are April of 1977 for the nib, and May 16 of 1977 for the body.

Its inlaid nib certainly reminds of a good number of units present in some Custom and some Elite (::1::, ::2::) models, but this pen carries no inscription on the actual model name. Anyway, this three-tined ni bis particularly interesting and unusual due to its inlaid geometry. It is made of 18 K gold.

As for the filling system, this pen uses Pilot cartridges (single spare) and converters –CON-20, CON-40, CON-50. Converter CON-70 does not fit in the barrel.

These are the dimensions of the pen:

Length closed: 135 mm
Length open: 121 mm
Length posted: 150.5 mm
Diameter: 13.5 mm
Weight: 17.2 g (dry, with CON-50)
Ink deposit: between 0.4 ml (CON-40) and 0.9 ml (cartridge)

Pilot Muy-701 – Montblanc White Forest
Bruno Taut
Shinjuku, Oct 16th 2016
etiquetas: Pilot, plumín, plumín musical