Indecisiones

(12/julio/2010: Hago correcciones a este texto acerca de las tintas no estacionales y sobre las ediciones especiales para tiendas).

Este texto estaba pendiente desde hace mucho tiempo. Sailor cambió su línea de tintas hace unos meses y yo lo mencioné en mi entrada sobre el mezclador de tintas. Pero quería describir con más detalle las nuevas estrategias de esta marca. No me siento muy feliz con todo esto porque, al fin y al cabo, le doy una publicidad que no se merece cuando sube el precio de algunos productos de un modo exagerado. En fin…

Pilot es, en el mercado japonés, la marca de plumas más visible. Su línea básica Custom 74, con plumines de oro de 14 K que van desde el EF hasta el musical, está presente en el mostrador de la muchas papelerías y de las secciones correspondientes de la mayoría de los grandes almacenes de Tokyo, que es lo que yo conozco. En comparación, Platinum y Sailor eran casi invisibles.

Pero desde hace unos meses Sailor ha aumentado su presencia en las tiendas. Ahora es fácil encontrar su gama Profit 14 –la competencia directa de la Custom 74— codo con codo con su competidor de Pilot. En Occidente, la Profit 14 es la serie más barata, plumín junior de 14 K, del modelo 1911.

Otro campo de batalla es el de la tinta. Empezó con lo que parecía una cambio completo de sus tintas habituales. Así, dejaba de lado las conocidas marrón (brown), marrón rojiza (red brown), verde (green), gris (grey) y amarillo anaranjado (yellow orange) para centrarse en los tres colores serios: negro, azul negro y azul. Y además, este cambio suponía un aumento significativo de precios: de los JPY 600 a los JPY 1000 por la misma cantidad de 50 ml de tinta. Para justificar lo injustificable Sailor habla de que el tintero ahora incorpora un dispositivo que permite aprovechar mejor los restos de tinta al cargar plumas con sistemas de autollenado.

Las tres tintas tradicionales --negro, azul-negro y azul-- que han sobrevivido al cambio en las estrategias comerciales de Sailor.

Y poco más o menos en esas fechas, Sailor sacó al mercado la primera de las series de tintas estacionales, la de invierno. A día de hoy, hay tres series de ellas –invierno, primavera, verano— con cuatro tintas cada una. Estos son los colores y el significado, entre poético y jocoso, de sus nombres.

Invierno:
Shigure: lluvia suave.
Yuki-akari: luz de nieve.
Irori: hogar, en el sentido de fogón, chimenea.
Tokiwa-matsu: pino de Tokiwa, una variedad japonesa.

Primavera:
Waka-uguisu: ruiseñor joven. El uguisu es, en particular, la variedad japonesa Cettia diphone.
Sakura-mori: bosque de cerezos.
Nioi-sumire: fragancia de violetas.
Miruai: azul de pino marítimo.

Verano:
Fuji-musume: la hija de la glicinia (Wisteria floribunda). Este nombre hace referencia a un personaje del festival dedicado a las niñas el 3 de marzo.
Sôten (transliterado erróneamente como souten): azul cielo.
Doyô (transliterado como doyou): fin del verano. Doyô hace referencia a los 18 días previos al cambio de estación. El más popular es el del verano, antes del equinoccio de otoño.
Rikyû-cha: te de Rikyû. Sen Rikyû fue el creador de la ceremonia del te en el s. XVI.

Pero aún hay más. Sailor se ha mostrado muy activa a la hora de colaborar con algunas tiendas para crear tintas exclusivas para ellas. Una de ellas es la serie de la tienda Ishida Bungu en Hokuto, ciudad vecina de Hakodate, en el sur de la isla de Hokkaido.

Tintas para la tienda Ishida Bungu hechas por Sailor. La foto está sacada de la revista Shumi no Bungubako, Vol. 16, (EI Publishing Co., Ltd. 2010).

Son tres tintas:
Hakodate gagome: alga kombu de Hakodate. Color marrón verdoso.
Gotoken: hace referencia al color del curry de Hakodate en la versión de un restaurante muy tradicional. Color marrón.
Hakodate Twilight Blue (sí, en inglés): el azul del atardecer de Hakodate. Color azul oscuro.

Otras tiendas con tintas exclusivas realizdas por Sailor son Maruzen (al menos en su central de Nihonbashi en Tokyo) y Nagasawa, en Kobe.

Tintas permanentes de Sailor. También han subido de precio...

Por su parte, las tintas permanentes, pigmentadas, han aumentado con la inclusión de un azul-negro. En precio también han subido de los antiguos JPY 1500 a los presentes JPY 2000.

Parte de mi provisión de tintas ya anticuadas de Sailor.

Como dije en mi entrada Reflexiones, me pregunto si Sailor se merece tanto tiempo y espacio después de subir sus precios de un modo tan escandaloso. Las tintas normales han subido un 66%, y las permanentes un 33%. Y sin embargo sé que muchos estilófilos caerán en la tentación. Yo, por mi parte, me he aprovisonado de tintas viejas a precios viejos. En Japón, los comercios son honestos y no suben el precio de las antiguas por el hecho de que las nuevas sean más caras. Alguna ventaja tenía que tener vivir aquí.

(Todos los precios reseñados aquí son los reseñados en el catálogo de Sailor. Son precios en yenes, JPY, y sin IVA, un 5 %).

(Pilot Telescopic Pen – Waterman Florida Blue)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, 7-8 de julio de 2010)
[labels: Sailor, Pilot, Platinum, Japón, tinta, estilofilia, Shumi no Bungubako]

White

It seems to be the case that white gold as the nib material is not very common outside Japan. In this country, it is not unusual. We already know how the big three pen companies pay close attention to each other and are fast in copying the neighbor’s trends.

The picture shows six 18 carat white gold nibs by those companies.

From left to right, counter-clock wise: Platinum medium in size 4 —engraved steel body—, Platinum fine in size 4 —polished steel body—, Platinum medium, Pilot Custom Sterling nib in medium point from 1976, Sailor pocket pen with steel body, Sailor pocket pen with plastic section and aluminum body.

Colored gold is an alloy with a gold content given by the number of carats (18 K or 75% in those shown in the pic) and a careful selection of the remaining impurities –25% in this case—. To make it white, these impurities usually include platinum, palladium, nickel, manganese, zinc —or a selection of them— in different proportions.

This is a totally different strategy to that of electroplating the gold, or steel, nib with another metal to give it a different color.

These two Pilot Capless nibs have been problably electroplated. The one on the left, made of 18 K gold, with rhodium. That on the right, in steel, with gold.

(Platinum engraved stainless steel body with 18 K WG nib – Platinum black)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, July 6, 2010)
[labels: Japón, plumín, Pilot, Sailor, Platinum]

Low Cost

Fountain pens can be inordinately expensive. And there are indeed pens that did not seem to be thought as writing utensils but as ornaments and status symbols.

On the other end there are a number of inexpensive pens. Unfortunately, they are often ignored. The picture shows a selection of these inexpensive pens. There might be many others—these I show I could buy them easily without going out of my way.

Low cost pens.

Starting from the left, the first three are Pilot Petit 1. The catalog price (MSRP) is JPY 315 including taxes. They are available in fourteen different colors in cartridges that are specific for these pens. No converter can be used on them. Very smooth writers.

Pilot's Petit 1. It uses the same nib as the disposable V-pen/Varsity pen.

Then comes the Sailor Ink Pen. This is available in 100-yen shop chain called Daiso. It uses Sailor cartridges and converters. The nib is not tipped and this makes it to write a bit like a stub. Smooth writer.

The untipped nib of the Sailor Ink Pen.

The long read and the short black have no brand other than “Produced for Daiso Japan”, written in both English and Japanese. These pens accept Sailor cartridges. The short one, however, does not have room for the converter.

The tipped nib of a 100-yen Daiso pen.

Their quality is not consistent. The first one I tried was very smooth. But I lost it –big loss!— and the next one was a more deficient pen.

The short blue and green pens are basically the same as the black Daiso save for the detail of using international cartridges. This pen also comes in other colors—red, black. The price is the same —JPY 105—, and it can be found in some 100-yen shops other than Daiso.

The Platinum Preppy –here shown in red, yellow, and violet— costs JPY 210. It uses regular Platinum cartridges and converters. This pen's nib can be either F (0.3 mm) or M (0.5 mm). They are nice writers with very reliable flow, but not as smooth as the Petit 1. Their size, however, gives the Preppy a great advantage in terms of comfort.

Platinum Preppy's medium nib and feed.

With time, the cap develops some cracks making the pen impossible to close. Those unhappy with this problem can opt for the newly released Platinum Plaisir (as of July 2010)—same nib in an anodized aluminum body. Hopefully more durable, although the price is five times higher.

Platinum Riviere.

The last two pens are Platinum Riviere. These are available from Daiso shops for JPY 105. They have smooth M nibs, although different from those in the Preppy. These are on the dry side. Riviere uses Platinum cartridges and converters.

Cheap pens in a 100-yen shop. From left to right: Platinum cartridges in red; Daiso's short pen (Mini); three Platinum Riviere in different colors; disposable pens in three colors; Daiso's full size pens in black and red; and red ink cartridges for these Daiso pens (Sailor compatible).

Sometimes I wonder… er... Well, I’ll leave it at this point.

(Nakaya Aka-tamenuri – Platinum Brown)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, July 3, 2010)
[labels: Pilot, Platinum, Sailor, Japón, Daiso]

Luxe

Pen review. Platinum Silver Cap pocket pen.


1. General impression. Introduction. (8/10)
This is a pocket pen. Its short barrel and long cap says so, but it also seems a long pocket pen as well. It is also a luxury pen—the cap is made of silver, and the nib, of white 18 K gold.

This pen, I guess, dates back to the 1970s, the heyday of pocket pens. A time when the three major pen companies in Japan made luxury products in small containers.


2. Appearance. (7/10)
Silver and black are the colors of this pen. And despite the silver cap, it does not look ostentatious. Might it be because of the natural patina of silver, in my opinion, this pen is more “shibui” than “hade”.

Barrel and section are made of plastic, but the overall impression is of good quality. The clip, in black plastic, seems to be the less attractive detail on this pen. Cheap is the word for the clip.


3. Design, size, weight. (6.5/10)
As it was already mentioned, this is a pocket pen. The main feature of this particular one is the sterling silver cap that makes it heavier than most of its size. For instance, a Platinum pocket pen of similar dimensions weights only 11 grams versus the 18 grams of this one with silver cap.

But this silver cap accounts for more than 60% of the total weight of the pen. This alone would make this pen quite unbalanced when posted for writing. However, this unbalance is far from extreme. The cap reaching relatively low on the pen, close to the nib, distributes the cap weight more evenly than in a regular sized pen.

These are the physical dimensions:
Diameter: 12 mm.
Length capped: 126 mm.
Length uncapped: 106 mm.
Length posted: 149 mm.
Weight: 18 g.

In comparison, a smaller Platinum pocket pen is just 116 mm long when capped and weights only 11 g.

The adjustment between cap and body —capped or posted— is excellent with no sign of becoming loose, or of wear despite its age.


4. Nib and writing performance. (7.5/10)
The nib is an 18 K white gold medium. Barely flexible. Very smooth. Excellent constant ink flow. This is a nib for those who favor smoothness and reliability over line variation and expressivity and character.



5. Filling system. (8/10)
Platinum used to manufacture short converters for their pocket pens, but that is not the case anymore. Therefore, Platinum pocket pen owners are bound to use Platinum proprietary cartridges.

Nonetheless, there exist the possibility of modifying the current converter to use it in these short pens.

There are also adapters to use international cartridges. I have no experience, but I understand they become very firmly attached to the pen, transforming it into an "international cartridge" pen to all effect. And there are aerometric converters that fit inside of these Platinum pocket pens in combination with this adapter.


6. Cost and value. (7.5/10)
Pocket pens are not expensive in the Japanese second hand market, and this pen is a good value given the nice appearance and the nib performance.


7. Conclusion. (44/60 = 74/100)
Nice looking pen although not the best pocket pen in the market. Scores high on looks and performance. Balance and size take points away.

(Platinum Silver Cap pocket pen – Platinum brown, cartridge)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, June 30 2010)
[labels: Japón, Platinum]

Oldies

On the previous post, I spoke about how to modify the current Platinum converter to use it in the old Platinum pocket pens from the seventies. That is an unnecessary worry when dealing with Pilot pocket pens and other old pens by this company.

On this picture, the whole gamut of Pilot converters is displayed:

All four Pilot converters.

The long CON-70 converter is, to many pen enthusiasts, the best converter in the market. It has a great capacity and it has a very efficient filling process—it becomes almost completely full. The catalog (MSRP) price is JPY 735 in Japan.

CON-70.

My experience with it is mixed. I do not like the idea of pushing down a button while the precious nib of my pen is so close to the bottom end of the inkwell. Not to mention that I do not fully understand how this converter works.

The major inconvenience of this converter is its size—it only fits in full size pens. This is the reason behind the other models.

The CON-50 is a piston filler of much smaller capacity. This seems to be the standard converter in a number of markets for the range of modern Pilot Capless pens. The price in Japan is JPY 525 (MSRP).

CON-50.

This is the converter I like less. The ink tends to stick to its walls instead of flowing freely to the feed. This is clearly a surface tension problem associated to the material of the ink deposit. On the positive side, being transparent it is possible to check how much ink is left in the pen.

The CON-20 is an aerometric filler. This is most basic, cheap and reliable of the whole lot. This converter works in almost any Pilot pen, including the pocket pens from the seventies. The price, JPY 210 (MSRP).

CON-20.

Its main inconvenient is not being able to check the amount of ink in the pen.

The last converter is an oldie—the CON-W. Oldie, but still on production. This is the converter to be used in Pilot fountain pens manufactured up to some time in the mid sixties. Those pens used the so called “double spare” type of cartridge that went out of production in the mid seventies. It consisted on two smaller cartridges that allowed the pen user to have a full spare one always inside the pen—much in the fashion of the small international cartridge. On some pens using these cartridges, you can either use one full size cartridge or two small size ones inside the barrel.

CON-W, on top, and CON-20.

The CON-W is very similar to the CON-20 save for the nipple—narrower on the former. The price in Japan is JPN 735 (MSRP).

1964 model Pilot Capless (manufactured on December 1965). This model requires a CON-W converter.

The most interesting detail of this story is the fact that Pilot still produces converters for pens long gone from the production line, pens from the sixties. This is certainly a very nice detail for the user of those old pens. No need of reusing old cartridges or modifying other converters to fit in those pens. Quite different from the practice of other companies.

ADDENDUM March 17th, 2011: Information on the actual capacities of these converters can be found on the chronicle "Pilot Converters".

(Pilot Telescopic Pen – Waterman Florida Blue)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, June 28, 2010)
[labels: Pilot, Platinum, conversor]

DIY

Para mis amigos estilófilos del Foro de Relojes.

Platinum pocket pens are easy to find in the second hand market in Japan. Originally, these pens could be used with either cartridges –Platinum proprietary cartridges— or converters. But this company stopped producing the short aerometric converters suitable for their pocket pens and now we are bound to refill their cartridges.

However, there is an easy way to adapt a current platinum converter to fit in a pocket size pen.

The first picture shows all the parts of the converter. On the top side, the modified, short converter. The original, regular length, at the bottom. To disassemble the Platinum converter, simply unscrew the golden metal part from the transparent ink deposit.

The only piece that needs to be modified is the hollow cylindrical handle that operates the internal screw and moves the piston up and down. This screw must NOT be cut—those last threads make the piston to reach the bottom end of the converter.

The modified cylinder is 7 mm. shorter than the original.

The final picture shows how the screw can pass through the cylindrical handle. When used in a pocket pen, this screw should not be pulled all the way out—just to the end of the cylinder. Needless to say, the converter will not be filled to its maximum.

In a number of pocket pens, this converter has the whole transparent window hidden by the pen section, thus hiding the amount of remaining ink. But modified, this converter can be used in any Platinum pen.

(Platinum Silver Cap pocket pen – Platinum Brown)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, June 26 2010)
[labels: Platinum, conversor, soluciones técnicas]

Geometry

Some days ago I spoke on these chronicles of the gold content in nibs. I inserted a link to some texts written by Prof. Antonios Zavaliangos in which he spoke of nib materials and flexible nibs. These can be made, he concluded, out of any of the usual materials—gold, steel, titanium…

This past weekend, I already spoke about it, the monthly Wagner Pen Clinic was celebrated. We pen enthusiasts met and shared our beloved objects. Nib-polishing master Peko-san came with a small selection of vintage Pilot pens--among other wonders.

One of them, the bright green celluloid one, sported this steel nib:

Please, note the shape of the breathing hole.

Line variation achievable with this nib.

Yes, a stainless steel nib.

That pens dates back to late 1950s, I guess. Certainly later than 1954, when the Japanese Ministry of industry introduced the guidelines for metallurgy –affecting pen nibs— and the JIS (Japan Industrial Standards) logo that can be seen on this pen.

Geometry matters more than material.

(Platinum Preppy 0.5 – Platinum Carbon Ink, cartridge)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, June 24, 2010)
[labels: plumín, Pilot, evento]