Categories

Some reflections on the pen industry for today.

I can find three categories among fountain pen manufacturing companies:

1. Companies that produce all the elements by themselves. Limited to Japan, Pilot-Namiki, Platinum-Nakaya, and Sailor belong to this group.

2. The second group is formed by companies that use nib and feed made by other companies and manufacture the rest—body and filling system. Nebotek, in Japan, is a clear example of this way of working—nibs and feeds are purchased from Bock, the pen body is turned out of the in-house ebonite, and the filling systems are devised and build by themselves.

A Bock nib made of titanium in a Nebotek pen. The section is made of the in-house ebonite (Nikko Ebonite).

3. Finally, pen companies in the third group buy nibs, feeds and filling systems —mostly cartridge/converters— made by some other companies. Their creations are then limited to turning and decorating the pen body and cap. Ohashido, Hakase, Stylo-Art Karuizawa certainly belong to this category. In fact, these companies buy complete pens from the big three Japanese companies and discard barrel and cap: Ohashido uses Sailor parts; Hakase uses Sailor and Pilot’s; Stylo-Art Karuizawa, Pilot and Platinum. Nebotek´s cartridge-converter pens could also be ascribed to this third group.

Hakase pen made of ebony wood. The nib is a size 15 made by Pilot. The ink converter is the CON-70 by Pilot.

A Pilot nib signed by Hakase.

Another Hakase pen. On this case, the nib is a medium size made by Sailor. It is signed by Hakase.

It is fair to question the actual authorship of the pens of the last group—is an Ohashido pen so much more than a Sailor equipped with the same medium size nib? Are Hakase so much better than their Pilot or Sailor equivalents?

The paradox is that, more often than not, those making less (Hakase, Stylo-Art, Ohashido) sell their pens for much more than those manufacturing everything. Two reasons are often cited to justify these higher prices: One is the quality of the final nib tuning as done by the in-house nibmeisters. The second reason values the final beauty of these pens over that of the original Pilot, Platinum or Sailor. These pen-body makers often use urushi-coated ebonite, exotic woods, buffalo horns…

An Ohashido nib made by Sailor. Despite being labeled as S (soft), it is a very rigid nib.

This Ohashido pen is decorated with green lacquer. Note the Sailor ink cartridge.

To the first reason it could be argued that the nib tuning can be made by many other people for much less money. In Japan, it would only take a visit to a Wagner meeting or to a pen clinic organized by those major companies in stationery shops and department stores.

To the second point the argument is easier, but also more personal: did you buy a pen or a jewel with a nib (::1::, ::2::)? Some still remember that the wise man follows the nib instead of the pen, but that might work only for those who write with their fountain pens. And this can be said for any pen brand in a moment in which jewels with nibs are a big part of the business.

Now, the possible conclusions derived from derived from this classification are up to the reader. On my side, I just want be aware of what I buy for our money.

Some more reflections were exposed on the Chronicle "Artisanal".

P. S: Around January 2014, Nebotek pens changed its name to Eboya.

Sailor Profit, Naginata Togi nib – Pilot Blue

Bruno Taut
June-August, 2013
labels: mercado, Pilot, Platinum, Sailor, Stylo-Art Karuizawa, Nebotek, Hakase, Ohashido, Bock

Accidental?

Much to my surprise, my chronicle March Inks has received a lot of attention. That single entry increased the traffic to these texts by a factor of four or five for a couple of days. And fellow blogger Morgana claimed I had discovered these inks for the world—for the world outside Tokyo that is. Thanks, but hard to believe and, certainly, totally unintentional.

Even more so when my text took two weeks to be published: I learned about the Mix-free inks at the Wagner Pen Clinic in January 30th, and I finally published my chronicle on February 14th.

The 60 ml inkwell of the Mix-free range of inks.

However, at least one Japanese website –Office Magazine—had published some news as early as on January 26th on the Platinum event celebrated between January 25th and February 3rd at Itoya’s main shop in Ginza, Tokyo. Among other products, Platinum showed their new gamut of inks and demonstrated their mixing capabilities. But that text was only in Japanese—that obscure language spoken only by 130 million people…

The display table at Itoya's shop.

I wonder if all this unannounced presentation –unannounced, at least, for so many— was nothing but a marketing strategy by Platinum. I am sure nobody in the advertisement business ignores how fast news propagate nowadays through the Net. As Brian Goulet said on his Ink Nouveau site, it only takes a cell phone to make breaking news a couple of seconds after the event had taken place.

The objects of desire.

In actual terms, this presentation has raised a lot of expectation among pen enthusiasts, as can be seen on fora (I, II, III). Will this translate into sales? Most likely so, I am afraid.

The question, anyway, remains open: was this strategy accidental or deliberate?

And on a coming text, I will discuss about the actual necessity to have nine inks to mix.

(Twsbi Diamond 530 with a Pilot 5 nib – Sailor Yama-dori)

Bruno Taut
(Madrid, February 18th, 2011)
[labels: Platinum, mercado, evento, tinta]

Number 4

The past Wagner Pen Clinic was a perfect opportunity to see some interesting pens. This Sailor number 4 was one of them.

The "Sailor".

It is a BCHR eyedropper with the regular safety valve operated from the culotte. It dates back, probably, from the 1930s.

The pen, closed.

Disassembled, showing the shut-off valve.

Its overall condition was excellent save for the stains on the gold plated steel nib. The embossed pattern is in perfect condition and, as many a collector favor, the original price sticker remains attached to the pen. A whopping JPY 3 was the price back in the day, but sounds like a good investment. The current owner confessed having paid a lot more for this pen at a Tokyo antique fair.

The gold plated steel nib. Its engraving says "WARRANTED / 14 KT / GOLD / PLATED / MADE IN / JAPAN".

My thanks to Mr. Furuya.

(Sailor Black Pocket Pen 21 – Sailor Black)

Bruno Taut
(Madrid, February 16th, 2011)
[labels: Sailor]

Limited

Yesterday, Sunday 17th, the monthly meeting of the Wagner association took place in the usual form of the pen clinic. It was earlier than usual in the month because this coming weekend the Fuente Pen Show will be celebrated in Ginza.


Fewer people that in previous occasions we could see this time at the clinic. Might it be because of the incoming pen show, or because people run out of pens to fix… Nonetheless, many interesting pens were on display.


Once of them was this most unusually colored Pilot Custom 74.


In year 2005, Itoya marketed a limited release of this Pilot model with silver accents in colors black, red, deep red, deep blue and orange. The regular model has rings and clip in gold.


In this particular pen, the owner had swapped the nib with that of a Custom Heritage 91, equipped with a size 5, rhodiated nib. This makes the either a minor “frankenpen”… or a unique pen. As usual, these limited editions have very small number of available nibs—mostly boring.

On this occasion, Itoya did not market a Romeo pen but a just a regular model with some variations. But it was only available at their shops. I have also reported on the black urushi Capless made for the Maki-e Fair last May—only 10 units were for sale. These are other ways to make exclusive goods to attract customers and aficionados.

My thanks to Mr. Furusawa.

(Pilot Volex – Pilot Black)

Bruno Taut
(Tokyo, October 18th, 2010)
[labels: evento, Mercado, Pilot]

Dissipation

This month’s Wagner Pen Clinic was more crowded than in previous occasions. The weather was very nice in Tokyo this past weekend and it invited to go out after the humid Turkish-bath-like days of this past summer.

To this event, Mr Noguchi, the expert in commemorative editions, brought the pen Sailor marketed on the occasion of its 90th anniversary in 2001. It is called “Mannenhitsu Doraku” (万年筆度楽), which could be translated as Stylographic Dissipation. That really seems an apt name for all us stylophiles.


This is a very beautiful pen. It is made of carefully treated rosewood. Only 200 units were produced.


However beautiful, its main feature is the nib. Sailor opted for one of its specialty nibs created by master Nobuyoshi Nagahara—the two-fold cross nib. This is a very wet and broad nib, a real pleasure for the senses—might this be what Sailor meant by “Stylographic Dissipation”…


One of the usual attendees to these pen clinics is another creative craftsman—Mr. Yamada. So, comparing the Sailor cross nib to the two folded creation by Mr. Yamada based upon the Pelikan Souverän M800, already mentioned in these chronicles, was only natural.

On the left, and on top on the last picture, the Mr. Yamada's re-creation of a Pelikan M800. On the left, bottom on the last picture, the Sailor cross nib by master Nagahara.

The writing experiences with those pens are difficult to judge, and personal preferences will play the most important role in this call. What is very different, and very significant is the filling system on each of those pens. The Pelikan uses its traditional piston filling system whose ink capacity is about 2 ml. On the other side, Sailor chose a cartridge/converter system with an ink capacity of about 0.6 ml for the converter, and 0.9 for the cartridge. These values are fairly small when dealing with ink guzzlers like these nibs.

The somehow disappointing insides of a beautiful pen.

That is a major problem among Japanese pen manufacturers. And only recently this is changing with pens like the Sailor Realo and the Pilot Custom 823. Now, these two companies have the possibility to combine exciting nibs with interesting –and generous— filling systems.

With thanks to Mr. Noguchi.

(Waterman Lever Filler made in Canada – Sailor Red Brown)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, September 28, 2010)
[labels: evento, plumín, Sailor, Pilot]

Verdict

Some weeks ago I published a Chronicle entitled Champion on which I spoke about flexible nibs on Japanese pens. My conclusion was that the Pilot’s Falcon nib in size 10 was significantly more flexible than the rest. And I bought it.


But as some other have reported (I, II), this pen has some serious problems. The nib is certainly impressive—flexible and smooth. But its feed is not up to the challenge. The feed is simply unable to supply all the ink the nib demands.

So, I took it to the Wagner Pen Clinic. I asked several attendees what they thought about this pen. At the end, they concluded that the problem laid mainly on the way the nib flexes—it does so very suddenly breaking the ink drop in the process.


So, before taking any drastic decision by hand of nibmeister Mr. Yamada –his works are impressive as well as radical—, I decided to see what Pilot’s technical service had to say. Therefore, to the Pilot Pen Station I went. In there, in Kyobashi area, Pilot has its technical service.

I had the opportunity to talk to a technician and to a salesman. I explained my problem, and I showed how often my pen ran out of ink to them. Their explanation was very frustrating.


They claimed that this pen was not thought to be pressed down against the paper. Actually, the technician pointed out that I pressed the nib too much against the paper. “Well, I said, I bought this pen for its capability to flex and to change the line width”. “You should write with very little pressure”, they replied… But this does not make much sense—to write lightly, Pilot has a number of nibs that create no problem at all. They handed some of them for me to try —fine, soft fine, soft fine medium nibs—, and sure they are reliable and nice to use, but they provide barely any line variation. So, what is the real point of a falcon nib if not to flex it?

In my opinion, Pilot has failed terribly with this nib, and they know it. However, they do not accept it publicly. Their last suggestion was to attend a Pilot pen clinic at some department store and see what they have to say. Puzzled I am: if the pen was right, why would they suggest to attend a workshop to fix the unbroken pen? But this is Japan and this might be their way to subtly acknowledge their mistake.

Very short-sighted this is on their side. Pilot has a big number of pens and the company takes its pride –fountain pen wise— in the large variety of nibs. Mistakes are always possible and, even, unavoidable. But not supporting their products and their customers is very bad for their reputation.

I will attend some of those events and will report on them. But so far, the verdict on Pilot regarding this falcon nib is not satisfactory.

(Pilot Custom 742 with FA nib, holding my breath to write – Pilot Iroshizuku Yama Budo)

Bruno Taut
Inagi, September 1, 2010
[labels: Pilot, plumín]

Post data: The results of attending the above-mentioned Pilot Pen Clinic can be seen on this chronicle: Inadequate (September 21, 2010).

Realo

Japanese pens are well renown by the quality of their nibs, and quite rightly so although with some exceptions I will speak about in a near future. However, it seems that this devotion for the nibs –some say— has the price of not paying much attention to the filling systems.

Most Japanese pens use the very convenient and simple system of the cartridge and converter. But for many stylophiles, this system is simply not good enough. This system, they argue, eliminates the ritual of filling the pen with ink; something that some enthusiasts consider a very important element in the pleasure of using a fountain pen.

Limited edition of the first Realo. On the cap, the number of the pen, the 424 over a total of 500, can be seen.

Sailor’s market strategy includes the Realo model—a piston filler based on the Profit and Professional Gear models. However, the first Realo was a limited edition of 500 units based on their biggest pen—the King of Pen. It commemorated the 95th anniversary of the company in 2006.

The ring with the inscription on the 95th anniversary of Sailor.

Only afterwards, upon seeing the success of the self-filling system, Sailor created the more affordable Realo we now see in the catalog and in the shops. But the differences between these two pens are… a bit sad. If only, because the original King of Pen Realo is very difficult to find nowadays.

A comparison between the current Realo and the original limited edition. Note the differences in the ink windows—those in the original Realo are similar to the Montblanc 149 windows. The difference in the nib size is remarkable.

I had the chance to take these pictures on the last Wagner Pen Clinic. My thanks to Mr. Noguchi.

(Pilot Custom 74 with music nib – Sailor Red Brown)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, September 2, 2010)
[labels: Sailor, evento, Japón]

Knock

The Platinum Knock-18 is one of those mysterious fountain pens. The books say it existed, you can even see some pictures of it in the Internet, but it is quite unlikely to run into it for real.

The Platinum Knock 18.

Last Sunday, at the monthly Wagner Pen Clinic I had the chance to put my hands in one of them.

The Knock 19 compared to the 1965 Pilot Capless model. The later, in red, is about 1 cm longer.

The push buttons are totally different. While the Pilot has a relatively small button entering the barrel, in the Platinum pen, the whole barrel is the button.

Transparent feeders on both nibs. Platinum nib moves further out from the section than Pilot's.

The openings for the nibs. Both are closed when the pen is not in use, although that cannot be seen on the pic.

Pilot marketed its first Capless model in 1963 at a whooping price of JPY 6000, which could be something in the order of JPY 60000 nowadays. Given the limited success, a JPY 3000 version was released the following year –aiming at students, some sources say— and it became a real success. Platinum then made its own model –this Knock 18— trying to take benefit of the new trend. This model was short-lived due to patent infringement issues.

My thanks to Mr. Niikura, who allowed me to inspect his never inked pen.

(Platinum 3776 music nib – Sailor Red Brown)

Bruno Taut
Inagi, August 31, 2010
labels: Pilot, evento, Platinum

Drilling

This coming Sunday 29th, the August meeting of the Wagner Association will take place at the Subaru building in Ebisu, Tokyo. And now, checking my notes of the July Pen Clinic I see some pens worth to mention here.

On a previous entry I spoke about the creations of Mr. Yamada. This time I focused my attention on his modification of a Pilot Custom 823.


On these chronicles and in some other discussion fora, pen users have complained about the boring looks of the pens equipped with more interesting nibs. The case of Pilot is very significant. This company makes as much as 15 different nibs –actually, many more--, of which five or six really stand off the common trend of purely symmetric points. But these interesting nibs only come in black torpedo pens.

Mr. Yamada’s way to correct this problem is quite radical—and inspiring. He modifies the nibs by thinning the nib plate and by drilling holes on them with the final goal of making those rigid nibs more flexible. When needed, he also works on the feeds.


On its side, the Custom 823 model is often praised by its self-filling system (one of the few self-filling pens in the Japanese pen scene) and by its huge ink capacity. On its cons, the small selection of nibs: F, M, and B.


Then, he chose this interesting pen to create a more exciting writer. The result, looks aside, is not spectacular. Maybe because the baseline of this nib is a B, quite broad by default. Therefore, the apparent increase in the line-width is compared to an already wide line. To create more striking results, a fine nib would be more suitable.


There is, however, another alternative to this DIY (do it yourself) approach. Pilot’s size 15 nibs come also as a flexible falcon (FA). Exchanging the nib and feed in a Custom 823 is easy—just grab them firmly and yank them out of the section. A different story might be where and how to find this extra nib and feed.

The discussion on how efficient the falcon nib actually is should be the topic of another chronicle.

(Pilot Custom 742 music nib – Sailor Red Brown)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, August 21, 2010)
[labels: plumín, evento, Pilot, Tokyo]

90

Pilot Company celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2008. To commemorate this event, many of us know, Pilot created the limited edition M90 fountain pen. Limited but not so limited—9000 units, Pilot says, made it widely available.


Much less known is the fact that Pilot also lunched two other fountain pens. The most exclusive one is a maki-e Emperor size of which only 90 units were crafted.


More widely available was a raden –maki-e with small pieces of shells— pen. There were 900 of them. And during the past Wagner pen clinic I had the opportunity to test and photograph this raden pen.

(Platinum WG Tang Dynasty – Platinum Black)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, August1 2010)
[labels: Pilot, evento]