Matching (XXII). A Platon

Historically, the Japanese pen industry has created a mixture of original models and of copies of successful designs from the West. Today’s pen in an example of the later—an obvious copy of the Waterman’s 100 year pen… by Platon.

The company Nakayama Taiyôdô, owner of the brand Platon, was active between 1919 and 1954, and created a number of pens made of celluloid and ebonite, some with maki-e decoration. Platon also implemented a wide variety of filling systems, although this was always a fertile field of experimentation among Japanese manufacturers.

Around 1950, Platon marketed the following pen:

A Platon pen from ca. 1950. JPY 350.

A Japanese eyedropper made of celluloid.

It’s original price was JPY 350. The pen is a Japanese eyedropper made of celluloid following the style of the iconic 100 year model made by Waterman.

The pen implements a steel nib, partially gold plated. The inscription reads "WARRANTED / PLATON / HARDEST / IRIDIUM / <3>".

These are its dimensions:
Length closed: 130 mm
Length open: 120 mm
Length posted: 153 mm
Diameter: 13 mm
Weight: 14.7 g

Even the clip follows the lines of the Waterman original. Both the clip and the cap itself, just above the band, are marked with the brand name: "PLATON".

My thanks to Mr. Sugimoto.

Omas Ogiva Demonstrator – Tomikei Blue

Bruno Taut
Nakano, April 19th 2018
etiquetas: Platon, Waterman

Back to China. II. Integral Nibs

Integral nibs --those made out of the same piece of metal of the section—are rare in the history of pens. Only Parker –models T1 and 50 (Falcon)-, and Pilot –models Myu, M90 and Murex— made to the history books with them.

A collection of integrated nibs by all the makers whoever made them--Pilot, Parker, and Hero.

But the Chinese company Here, under brand names Hero and Paidi, also manufactured some examples, as I reported on these Chronicles (::1::, ::2::). And commentator Tefolium, of the blog "Brown Rice" (茶米（デ—ビ—）ノブログ), added some valuable information to my texts:

The three Paidi Century pens.

Hero 849.

Hero 850.

The Paidi Century pens were made around 2003 at the Jiangyin Craft Factory/Paidi Group of the Shanghai Hero Pen Company. The same company also produced pens with similar integrated nibs branded as Hero (models 849 and 850).

My thanks to Tefolium.

Montblanc 149 – Tomikei Blue

Bruno Taut
Nakano, April 4th 2018
etiquetas: Hero, Pilot, Parker, China

Back to China. I. Capless

This blog does not really have a lot of readers, but sure are they knowledgeable. So much so that sometimes they write some texts on their own.

Such is the case of Tefolium. He is the author of the blog “Brown Rice” (茶米（デ—ビ—）ノブログ), a great source of information on pens made in China. Tefolium passed by and shed a lot of light on the origin of some Chinese pens that showed up on these Chronicles.

According to Tefolium, the Chinese got their hands in the Pilot Capless as early as in 1967, but the political turmoil of the times –the Cultural Revolution and all that followed— prevented them from producing any capless pen until the 1990s.

The two capless pens made in China: a Lily 910 on top, a Dangong 56 on bottom.

Eventually, three Chinese companies filed patents of uncapped pens: Wuhan Pen Factory, Heifei Pen Factory, and Anda Group. However, only the first two produced any such pen.

In 1990, Wuhan Pen Factory made the Dagong 56. And in 1991, Heifei Pen Factory made the Lily 910 (where 910 points out at the year of production). The Anda Group never came with a capless pen.

My thanks to Tefolium, who is the actual author of this text.

Pelikan M200 Cognac – Diamine Graphite

Bruno Taut
Nakano, April 3rd 2018
etiquetas: capless, Pilot, Lily, Wuhan, China