Matching (XXII). Lily 910

The Pilot Capless is one of the modern icons in the world of fountain pens. We know there is over 50 years of history behind that particular brand, and that there are a number of other pens with a similar structure: Lamy, Stipula, Visconti… Some, of course, are better made than others.

I have already shown a Chinese capless pen of acceptable quality named Dagong 56. It has a number of flaws, but it does its job.

The Lily 910.

The Lily 910 is another such example of Chinese capless. At first sight, this is an attractive pen of very clear lines. The steel body is well polished, the connection between body and gripping section smooth and beautiful, the clip is sturdy and flexible, the release mechanism is smooth and reliable… However, a closer inspection reveals an interesting feature that could compromise the actual functionality of the pen.

The filling system is aerometric.

This capless pen has no shutter whatsoever. There is no internal lid on the nose of the pen. The nib, therefore, is constantly exposed to the external environment; it is never confined inside the pen. Two are the consequences, of this simplification of the design. First, in case of an ink leak on the nib, there is no barrier and the stain on the shirt or on the carrying bag is almost certain.

Steel nib, gold plated.

The second issue is that an uncovered nib will be prone to becoming dry and to having very slow starts after some time unused. But, is this the case?

To my surprise, this nib is very resistant to dryness, and when dry, it does not take much to re-start it. This is in fact a very reliable nib, and a very reliable pen.

These are the dimensions of this pen:

Length closed: 144 mm
Length open: 151 mm
Diameter: 12.0 mm
Weight: 28.5 g
Ink deposit: around 1 ml

The writing quality is more than acceptable. Some might say that the nib is too rough, or that it has a lot of feedback. That is always a personal appreciation, and I find it very usable if not pleasant. That lack of smoothness might be the price to pay for a nib to be very resistant to drying.

Writing sample of the Lily 910. Sailor ink, copy paper.

This Lily 910 is one of the better known Chinese capless pens, but there is very little information about its maker. The absence of documentation about Chinese pens in startling and we are bound to rely on the small bit of anecdotal information that now and then arrived in the Net.

Lily 910 and Pilot Capless C-400SS (1971).

Apparently, this pen was made in the city of Hefei, in the province of Anhui in PR of China. But based on this city there are at least two companies producing stationery products: Heifei Wentai Hexagon Co. Ltd. and Hefei Reiz Stationery Co. Ltd. Nothing have I found, though, on the production period of this pen, although some sources mention year 1992. (My best guess is that it belongs to the 1970s or early 1980s.)

On top, the Pilot Capless from 1971; then, the Lily 910; nib unit of the Pilot; nib unit of the Lily.

The noses of both pens. The Pilot pen implements an internal shutter to keep the nib wet when not in use.

If compared to the gamut of Pilot Capless models. this Lily 910 strongly reminds of the Capless model of 1971 (C-400SS).

The conclusion is that the Lily 910 is an interesting and reliable, despite its obvious flaws. However, it cannot really compete with the current more inexpensive versions of the Pilot Capless. Pilot’s is a lot more refined and their prices are quite similar around JPY 10000. The availability of the Chinese model is, on the other hand, quite erratic.

Lily 910 – Wagner’s 2008 ink (by Sailor)

Bruno Taut
Nakano, January 2017
etiquetas: Lily, capless, Pilot

"Made Abroad"

The use of several brand names for, in essence, the same product is a common strategy of manufacturers. We have already seen how Platinum used names as Piiton or 555 or President for some products, particularly outside Japan. Nowadays, Nakaya could be seen as the luxury division of Platinum, much as Namiki with respect to Pilot.

Sailor also used this strategy in the past. Roxy and Seaman were two of those brands.

In the 1930s, one of those secondary brands was “Roxy”, and apparently was used for non-Japanese markets. The pen on display today is a remarkable example.

The barrel clearly say where it was not made: "MADE ABROAD".

The brand name is written on the nib and on the barrel, and on both cases it is followed by a curious lemma: “made abroad”. For the rest, this is a simple eyedropper pen, with no shut-off valve. It is built in the fashion of the popular Duofold models so often copied in Japan at the time, but the “Roxy” has the added appeal of being urushi coated.

The inscription reads "14 CRT GOLD / ROXY / BEST QUALITY / MADE / ABROAD". The nib is not dated.

These are its dimensions:
Length closed: 117 mm
Length open: 107 mm
Length posted: 146 mm
Diameter: 11 mm
Weight: 11.0 g (dry)

A ball clip engraved with the brand name: "ROXY".

“Made abroad” instead of “made in Japan”. And this poses an obvious question—abroad, but with respect to where? Where were Japanese companies selling their goods in the pre-war and war years? Was this inscription intended to hide its Japanese origin? Some other pen at the time did not bother hiding that information.


My thanks to Mr. Sugimoto.

Sailor Kan-reki – PGary’s Red Black

Bruno Taut
Nakano, January 16th 2017
etiquetas: Sailor, Roxy, mercado

Shijin

NOTE: On January 13th (2017) I have made some minor additions to this text following the indications of some commentators.


Pilot has often used the anniversary pens as a mean to test the market and introduce new models and styles into their pen catalog. On these Chronicles we have already seen some examples. The Custom 65 (1983, 65th anniversary of Pilot) started the path for balance Custom such as 67, 74, etc. The flat top model of 1988, 70th anniversary, gave rise to the short lived Custom 72 and to a number of pens made for somehow special occasions. The urushi coated model of the 75th anniversary (1993) was the forerunner of the vest type (in Pilot jargon) Custom 845.

For its 80th anniversary, Pilot launched several pens. On the most luxurious side there was a trio of flat tops lavishly decorated with maki-e. That was the “Miyabi” set, with a price of JPY 800,000 each pen. More affordable –a lot more— was the set of pens of this Chronicle.

The two Shijin pens.

These pens are a balance model of intermediate size between the Custom series (nib sizes 3, 5, 10, 15) and the Emperor size (nib size 50) jumbo pen. This anniversary pen introduced a new nib that was later labeled as 20. It is about the same size as the 15, but with a different geometry. Its filling system is by cartridges and converters.

The nibs are, in actual terms, of size 20 (Pilot/Namiki system), made of 18 K gold. On the top left corner, the decorated cap band of the black pen.

Inside, a converter (on the pic) or a cartridge. On this case, the converter CON-70 is painted in black. Despite the rumor, it is not lacquered. On the pen body, the collective signature of the group of maki-e artisans of Pilot or kokkokai. Right under it, not visible on the pic, the unit number of this pen is engraved. This is, after all, a limited edition.

Externally, these 80th anniversary pens are coated with urushi and a decorative band on the cap made with the technique of “togidashi maki-e“. This band depicts four mythological animals gods (Shijin, 四神) of the Chinese tradition, also common in Japan.

Two colors were available –red (shu urushi, 朱) and black (ro-iro urushi, 呂色). 1918 numbered units of both combined, black pens numbered first. They are signed collectively by the “kokkokai” (國光會), the guild of maki-e craftsmen of Pilot instead of by any of them in particular. 1918, let us remember, is the year when Pilot started its business.

These two anniversary pens were the prototypes of the Yukari Royale series branded as Namiki. The first Yukari Royale would show up in the market in February of 2003, while the urushi lacquered versions were only available in Sept of 2007. The Yukari Royale, with a size 20 nib, is the other quintessential Namiki pen together with the size 50 jumbo. The other nib sizes used by Namiki, 5 and 10, are also implemented on Pilot models.

The basic Yukari Royale pens are decorated in plain black and red urushi, and in fact Pilot/Namiki does not call them “Yukari Royale” but “Urushi Collection No. 20”. The differences between these are the old Pilot Shijin pens are purely cosmetic: the Namiki carry no decorative band on the cap, the nib simply says Namiki, and the clip is gold plated instead of lacquered.

On top, the old Shijin pen from 1998. On bottom, the currently produced Namiki Urushi No. 20. In essence, these two pens are identical--same brass-made pen with urushi decoration.

The nibs of the pens of the previous picture are engraved differently. After all, one is a Pilot; the other, a Namiki. In both cases, the feeds are made of plastic (like in any other Pilot/Namiki pen currently on production).

These are the dimensions of the Shijin pens:
Length closed: 149 mm
Length open: 134 mm
Length posted: 174 mm
Diameter: 17 mm
Weight: 45 g (black unit, dry, with converter)
Ink deposit: 0.9 ml (cartridge), 1.0 ml (CON-70 converter).

The original price of this limited edition was JPY 80,000 (plus tax, 5% at the time). The current price of the “Namiki Urushi Collection No. 20” is JPY 128,000 (plus 8% of taxes).

The red Shijin pen was on display at the Pilot Museum in Tokyo, the defunct and sadly missed Pen Station. The reference of the Shijin pen is the FF-8MR (plus -BM for the black pen, or -RM for the red), and its price was JPY 80,000. The second reference corresponds to the Miyabi pens, whose price was JPY 800,000.

Pilot 80th anniversary in shu urushi – PGary’s Red Black

Bruno Taut
Nakano, January 9th 2017
etiquetas: Pilot, maki-e, urushi