At the Museum (III)

(As seen at the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Modern Literature).

YOSHIYA Nobuko (吉屋信子, 1896-1973) was an active, and popular, novelist between the 1910s and the 1970s. She specialized in romance novels and was a pioneer in class-S—a very Japanese genre in which a primary argument are strong bonds between girls. She herself revealed her homosexuality in her novel Two Virgins in the Attic (Yaneura no nishojo, 屋根裏の二處女, 1919).

The Parker 51 with her name engraved on the barrel.

A large number of her pens were on display at the exhibit. Some, indeed interesting: from a Parker 51 engraved with her name to a lever filler in green celluloid by Waterman to a safety pen with a silver overlay by the same company.

A Waterman lever filler in green celluloid.

A Waterman safety pen in red hard rubber with silver overlay.

However, the pens that attracted my attention the most were two frankenpens: an all Montblanc pen with body (model 12) and cap not matching, and an improbable combination of a Montblanc 252 body with a Platinum cap. I guess she was really attached to these pens. Maybe they were excellent writers and she kept using them after having misplaced the caps…

A Montblanc 12 with a mismatched cap.

The impossible frankenpen--a Montblanc 252 with a Platinum cap.

Whether Yoshiya was a collector or a user we do not know. A total of eight pens of her were handled to the museum, including those two chimeras. Enough to choose among!

(Muji aluminum pen – Diamine Teal)

Bruno Taut
March 3rd, 2012
[labels: Montblanc, estilofilia, Japón, evento, Waterman, Parker]

No Logo

On a previous chronicle, I tried to analyze the role of Montblanc in the market of fountain pens. Montblanc, I concluded, sells a brand and a symbol of status devoid of mostly any content. The only detail that really matters on a Montblanc pen is the white star on display.


Japanese company Muji (Mujirushi Ryôhin), on the contrary, uses the opposite strategy. Mujirushi Ryôhin means “no brand, quality goods”, and indeed no brand name and no logotype can be seen on any of this company’s products.

On the left hand side of the cap a lip can be seen. It fits perfectly on the grooves on both section and barrel.

Regarding fountain pens, Muji has marketed a number of models. Many of them are remarkably similar to some made by Ohto. Currently (February 2012), there seems to be only one model available. It is a cartridge-converter pen made of aluminum. Its nib is, most likely, made by Bock in stainless steel. Its design, basically a perfect cylinder, is attractive and functional. The section is knurled for a good grip. Barrel and cap fit very tightly and elegantly both when the pen is closed and when is posted—the cap lip slides inside an ad-hoc groove in the section and in the barrel end.

On this picture, the groove on the barrel can be seen. The lip of the cap fits perfectly inside.

The cap, perfectly attached to the barrel on the posted configuration.

Performance-wise, this pen simply does its job. The nib is rigid and uncharacteristic; on the dry side, but without missing a stroke. It lays what looks like an M point, although there is an F engraved on the nib.


All in all, this is an average pen that honors the selling point of Muji: no brand, good quality. This is not a symbol of status. It is just a pen that writes correctly.

These are its dimensions:
Diameter: 10 mm.
Length closed: 13.8 mm.
Length open: 12.6 mm.
Length posted: 16.2 mm.
Weigth (inked): 20.0 g.

It costs JPY 1100 (tax excluded) in Japan.

(Muji pen in aluminum – Diamine Teal)

Bruno Taut
February 26, 2012
[labels: Muji, Ohto, mercado, Montblanc]

Branding

I finished the previous chronicle with a non-very pleasant sentence about Montblanc pens. But indeed it is not clear whether Montblanc pens are bought to be used or to be displayed.

On another front, I recently encountered this both terrible and brilliant sentence: "Successful corporations must primarily produce brands as opposed to products." (Quoted by Naomi KLEIN in No Logo, 1999).

Assorted Montblanc products.

Et voilà! Montblanc is one of those brands, and Richemont group is the successful corporation behind the undeniable prosperity of the white star. 80% of the market of luxury writing tools is in their hands, and the very sought-after logo is now on goods that have nothing to do with writing: watches, jewelry and leather complements. The success of Montblanc is, after all, on the brand and not on the quality of the product. Montblanc is a symbol of status.

These Japanese copies of Montblanc stopped being a threat when Richemont Group went on to selling a brand instead of a product.

And that is why Montblanc fakes are so easy and so ubiquitous—their goal is to display the white star, and nothing else. Just like the original product. Whether they write or not is totally irrelevant.

Selling a brand instead of a product has some toll to pay.

(Sailor Profit Realo – Athena Sepia)

Bruno Taut
February 10th, 2012
[labels: mercado, Montblanc]

Profit Realo

Pen review: Sailor Profit Realo with a Cross-music nib.

To a certain extent, this review has already been written and published on these chronicles. The two most distinctive elements of this pen were analyzed, or deconstructed, and put in the context of the current catalog of Sailor pens: Are this nib and this filling system worth the price we would have to pay for them?


I should start this review by saying that this pen is a frankenpen. This combination of nib, a specialty nib by Nagahara, and filling system is not included in the catalog of the brand—specialty nibs are associated to cartridge-converter pens. But this frankenpen allows us to cover several elements that are to be found on a number of Sailor pens.

This Sailor is the regular Realo model and NOT the limited edition from 2006 based on the King of Pen model. Regular Realo pens implement the senior nib size in 21 K gold. Smaller nibs are the junior size –in 14 and 21 K gold--, and bigger, the King of Pen nibs in 21 K gold.


1. Appearance and design. (7.0/10)
This model, the Profit, it a cigar type pen à la Montblanc. Being a Realo implies its filling system was a piston, and its barrel has an ink window. Its very obvious design, the window is framed by two golden rings, is not the most charming one—it makes me miss the more subtle appearance of original Realo made for the 95th anniversary (2006). The ink deposit is on the small size.

The decorative elements on this pen are golden, and this seems to be the only option for Realo models.


2. Construction and quality. (9.0/10)
Very good quality. The plastic material –that precious resin of some other manufacturers—is resistant to scratches. Posted, the cap fits well on the barrel and does not leave any mark. The piston action is very smooth and requires little effort. So far, this has not compromised its seal.



3. Weight and dimensions. (9.0/10)
As I mentioned on the introduction, the regular size Realo is based on the senior size in Sailor’s line of pens. This means that all senior size nibs fit in this pen’s section.

This is a well balanced pen, especially if unposted. These are the dimensions:

Diameter: 16 mm.
Length closed: 142 mm.
Length open: 122 mm.
Length posted: 157 mm.
Weight: 22.0 g.
Ink deposit: 1.0 ml.
Balance open: center of masses at 67 mm to the tip (55%-45%).
Balance posted: center of masses at 89 mm to the tip (57%-43%).

The feed is made of plastic.

4. Nib and writing performance. (9.5/10)
Sailor’s specialty nibs are indeed unique. This Cross-music is the result of overlapping two nibs. The four tines and two slits ensure a juicy and constant flow of ink. There exists a further sophistication for this (and the rest of specialty nibs)—the implementation of an overfeed, by the name of “emperor”, to make sure that the high demand of ink of this nib is met. The emperor has a hefty price—JPY 10,000 to add to the already high price of these nibs.

The 21 K gold nib. The tip is certainly big, but it is also very carefully cut.

The nib point is cut to provide a very broad horizontal line and a fine vertical one. But that is not all—increasing the angle between pen and paper the line becomes thin in all directions.

This nib performs its duty wonderfully (and therefore, there is barely any need of any overfeed), but at a high cost in material, labor and money. Much simpler fude nibs do a very similar job at a lower cost.


5. Filling system and maintenance. (7.0/10)
Sailor Realos are piston fillers, and that attracts the attention of a number of pen aficionados. However, this pen’s ink capacity –1.0 ml— is smaller than that of a Sailor converter (1.2 ml). In a sense, this pen embodies the contradictions of those who demand sophisticated filling systems regardless the ink capacity. Needless to say, Sailor Realos are not the only example of this.

Maintenance wise, any piston filler is a bit more complex than most other systems. Disassembling the piston requires some tools and not all stylophiles have them at hand or are inclined to tinker with their beloved pens.

Nib and feed, though can easily be removed from the section. Cleaning them is so an easy process.

On this picture, the piston can be seen through the window.

6. Cost and value. (6.0/10)
This is an expensive pen. Cross-music nibs are associated to pens whose price is around JPY 50000, and Realos have a tag of JPY 30000. Exchanging the nibs and selling that complete pen we did not want (a cartridge-converter pen with a regular fine or medium nib) helps to lower the price, but by not much. However, this two-fold nib is unique and provides a wonderful writing experience.


7. Conclusion. (47.5/60=79/100)
Expensive pen with a unique nib and a small self-filling ink deposit. Other Sailor pens provide similar features at lower prices by simplifying the nib or the filling system.

No company nowadays compete with Sailor in the market of innovative and complex nibs. Montblanc pens, the obvious model for the Profit, are not cheap either, but Montblanc’s nibs are nowhere near the beautiful sophistication of this Cross-music.

(Sailor Profit Realo – Athena Sepia)

Bruno Taut
February 9th, 2012
[labels: Sailor, soluciones técnicas, plumín, Montblanc]

At the Museum (II)

(As seen at the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Modern Literature).


The pens I am showing today belonged to INOUE Yasushi (井上靖, 1907 – 1991). These are two Montblanc 146 from different times. The band aid on one of them shows that the writer really worked with it and that he was not concerned about the looks of the pen. I also had the chance to test this pen’s writing –really smooth, probably after years of use. It is probably a B point, which contradicts the idea of Japanese needing fine points to write very complex ideograms.


Inoue, like many other Japanese, preferred German brands over the rest, Japanese or not. This exhibit in Yokohama indeed showed that.

(Sailor Profit Realo – Athena Sepia)

Bruno Taut
February 7th, 2012
[labels: Montblanc, estilofilia, Japón]

100 g/sq m

I had this text pending for some time. Hong-Kong-based company Daycraft had sent me a sample of its very appealing line of notebooks for me to enjoy and analyze. Travels and other circumstances kept me away from them and only now I could put my hands on them

The one under analysis today is the model named Daycraft Illusions Notebook—an A5 size with white 100g/sq m lined paper. Its 88 sheets (176 pages) are securely sewed together and are attached to a very colorful flexible cover that includes a pocket on the back.

The psychodelic cover.

But how does this heavy paper react to fountain pens? Well but not exceedingly well. We could think that a density of 100 g/sq m would be a good argument for an excellent performance, but density is not everything. The coating of the paper is indeed a very important element.

The reaction of the paper to the ink is based on two factors: evaporation and absorption. The ink must either be absorbed by the paper or, if kept over the paper, should lose its solvents, mostly water, by evaporation. Then, a very absorbent paper needs to be thick and heavy to prevent the ink from bleeding to the opposite page. But in very glossy, non-absorbing papers, the problem is a very long drying time with the risk of smearing.

On a side note, I will add that the absorbed ink also loses its solvents through evaporation, but in this situation the surface exposed is much bigger and the evaporation is quicker.

Six pens and five inks. Only one--the very wet Sailor Fude pen--creates a problem.

Bleed through of a very wet Sailor Fude pen with Waterman South Sea Blue ink.

The 100 g/sq m paper by Daycraft is very absorbing and creates no problem in drying and smearing. But wet inks and nibs do bleed through it, although this is not an issue for the vast majority of nibs.

Final verdict: Nice looking notebook. Heavy and good quality paper. However, wet nibs and inks can create minor problems.

(Sailor Profit Realo – Athena Sepia)

Bruno Taut
February 7th, 2012
[labels: papelería, Daycraft]

At the Museum (I)

The Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Modern Literature holds these days an original exhibit on Writers and Their Pens (from January 14th to February 26th). It is focused mostly on Japanese writers active on the second half of the twentieth century, albeit with some exceptions such as the very notable of SOSEKI Natsume (1867-1916).


Indeed, such a museum is a museum of fetishes. What truly matters of a writer is the final work. However, it is also fair to wonder how the tool would affect the work of art—would Tanizaki have written In Praise of Shadows ((陰翳礼讃, In'ei Raisan) on a keyboard? I guess not. “Elegance is frigid”, he said…

All stylophiles are fetishists. We value the tool over its actual function. What about writers themselves? Are they fetishists or mere users? An exhibit like this helps us to understand this question, no matter how irrelevant it might be to appreciate their work.

This is the first chronicle on some of the pens I had the chance to see and feel at the Museum.


Today I am showing this nice leather pen holder that belonged to SATOMI Ton (1888-1983). It was bought from the very prestigious shop of T. Tanizawa in Ginza, Tokyo. Inside, a Pelikan 400.


My thanks to Mr Niikura and Mr. Tarusawa, and to Mr. Kibo, chairman of the Museum.

(Pilot Super Ultra 500 – Athena Sepia)

Bruno Taut
February 6th, 2012
[labels: Pelikan, estilofilia, evento, Japón]

Fora

Blogs and fora are the main channels that keep any cyber-community connected. Both allow, although in different degrees, the exchange of information. Blogs like this one have obvious authors and that exchange of information is mostly unidirectional—from the author to the readers; but there is some room, through comments, for some bidirectional exchange. But it is on fora where most of discussions and most information are shared.

Now, we wanted to believe that fora are free and open to accept any discussion, but it is actually not like that. After all, fora belong to some people who have their own legitimate interests, and sooner or later, forum administrators show them. The temptation of limiting —censoring is the unpleasant way to say it— the expression of ideas in order to protect those interests is hard to avoid. Fora become an extension of their business activities and there are certain limits not to be trespassed… But some of them can become ridiculous and question the role of the forum as an agora to learn.

On what grounds can an honest question on the safety of Noodler’s Baystate Blue be banned? Why does questioning the Japanese origin of Danitrio make the moderator –and Danitrio salesman— lock the thread? Why did asking what a fake is trigger bitter responses from a forum administrator?

All these forum policies and all those reactions of forum administrators reveal agendas and interests. And even if legitimate, they are annoying and misleading. Nobody asked us to participate on those fora, and we all agreed on abiding by some rules the forum organizer set in the beginning; and, by the same token, we could quit and leave any time. However, fora need participants and participants need places to discuss and learn.

The bottom line might be not to be misled by the apparent freedom of fora—they are not free.

(Pilot Super Ultra 500 – Athena Sepia)

Bruno Taut
February 1st, 2012
[labels: fora, Mercado, metabitácora]

Cross-music

The cross-music nib is one of the specialty nibs created by nibmeister Nagahara. Being a cross nib means that it is composed by two overlapping nibs. Therefore, it has four tines and two slits, and the space between the nibs acts as an additional reservoir of ink. The primary result is a fairly wet nib with a broad line… if so we wanted.

The two-fold cross-music nib on the left and a fude nib (55 degrees) on the right. The fude nib is not tipped.

The second characteristic of the cross-music is the way the point is cut: the vertical lines are very fine, and the horizontal strokes are very broad. However, grabbing the pen at a high angle with respect to the paper generates a fine line drawn only by the upper nib of the set.

Steel fude nib on the left, and gold cross-music on the right.

This way of writing is very similar to that of fude nibs, also made by Sailor, and by some other Asian brands. The problem is the price difference between them.

Writing samples. The color rendition of the scanned page is very inaccurate. The angles shown on the image are those between pen and paper.

Needless to say, the cross-music nib is a lot more complex than any fude, and its price reflects this in a quite dramatic way. For similar looking pens –Sailor’s Profit in senior size, 21 K gold nibs, cartridge-converter filling system—the cross-music nib has an overprice of JPY 15000: JPY 50000 for the cross-music, and JPY 35000 for the naginata fude. And if we were interested mostly on the function, there are even cheaper options: fude pens by Sailor with steel nibs bended at angles of 40 or 55 degrees are available for only JPY 1000.

The cross-music nib in a Profit Realo, on top, and, on bottom, a Fude pen (55 degrees) in a balance model by Sailor.

Chasing the nib over the pen has some interesting consequences. The cross-music nib, though, is truly exciting.

(Sailor ふでDEまんねん, 40 degrees – Waterman South Sea Blue)

Bruno Taut
January 29, 2012
[etiquetas: plumín, Sailor]

Metablog

About what you wanted to learn, start teaching. Surely I can’t teach much, but this old academic sentence describes my intention when I started this blog. I wanted to share experiences and I wanted to learn about fountain pens, and I indeed succeeded—I shared and I learned.

But this blog has its own life. I started writing about Japanese pens out of simple physical proximity, and then I realized the limited information available on them. And suddenly these chronicles became specialized in mannenhitsu, 万年筆,—it was easier to say something original about Japanese Swan or SSS than about Sheaffer, for instance.

A Japanese Swan from the 1910s.

The blog’s life is also determined by those who visit and even read these texts, and the reactions they inspire. Not many comments I receive, and then I turned my eyes to secondary sources of information—number and origin of the hits. Some texts I never thought as truly interesting became very popular; and, reversely, some contributions about which I felt particularly happy barely received any attention. Among the first, the text on the new line of Platinum inks is a perfect example: I had written it about two weeks before I published it. Due to some personal constraints I could not work on these pages for some time and publishing that text was a quick way to say I was still active. Quick and efficient, as the number of hits increased sharply.

Although not an exotic pen, little information can be found online about the brand Athena.

Among the second, I am particularly happy about those texts on the Presidente and Joker pens. Nothing seemed to be known on their Japanese origin, and I think my friends and I made some modest but original contributions.

But such is life. At the end, we write mostly for ourselves, and any feedback is a nice surprise. Then, I will continue writing as long as I enjoy it.

With thanks to all those who showed up on these chronicles: Leigh, Kostas, Anele, Kinno, Readymade, Peninkcillin, Merino, pitquim, La Tortuga Vacumática, Julie, Kurazaybo, Nina, Bleubug, Kugel149, MANC... And to all those friends who shared their knowledge and pens with me.

(Waterman, lever filler, made in Canada – Sailor Hiroko’s Green)

Bruno Taut
January 22nd, 2012
[labels: metabitácora]

Second Chance

Even though a number of pens go through some changes over their production years, few of them see re-editions after having been discontinued. Now, how faithful to the original these re-editions are is a different point—little resemblance there seems to be between the modern Parker Duofolds and those from the 1920s and 1930s, for instance. Another example was the Parker 100 trying to re-create the venerable Parker 51.

Myu-701 on the top, and M90 on the bottom.

The Pilot M90 followed this pattern as a re-issue of the iconic Myu-701 from the 1970s. In 2008, on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the company, 9000 units were released. Then, how do both pens compare?

M90 on the top, and Myu-701 on the bottom.

There are indeed some differences between these two models, but the overall aspect of the newer model is remarkably similar to the original. Other than the small size variations, they differ on the following details:

There are also some differences on the feeds. M90 on the left, Myu on the right.

Nib. Both pens implement integrated steel nibs. However, those on the M90 are springier than those of the Myu. Pilot, on its catalog, called these M90 nibs as “soft” (SF and SM). Only two points were available on this pen, F and M, versus the three points of the Myu.

M90 on the left, Myu on the right.

Cap jewel. The M90 sports and bright blue jewel that gives this pen a fancier look. This stone is often the bigger source of disappointment among those users who got the M90 as a replacement for the harder-to-find Myu.

The blue jewel belongs to the newer M90. The Myu-701 has a softer look.

Section clutch and central ring. As was described on the review of the Myu-701, one of the weak points of the original pen laid on the central ring. Occasionally, at opening the barrel, the ring would unscrew from the section leaving the clutch exposed. The newer M90 solved this problem—now the clutch is integrated in the ring, and the ring cannot be removed (not easily, at least) from the section. The price for this is a significant increase in the weight of the pen.

Close-up of the central rings, with the barrels slightly off. That of the M90, on the left, is wider and thicker, and integrates the clutch. On the Myu, on the right, the clutch is attached to the section. The production dates are clearly visible: August 2008 for the M90, December 1980 for the Myu.

The new design of the ring also prevents the usual scratches on section and barrel caused by the cap. On the M90, the clutch secures the cap on both closed and posted configurations. On the Myu, the posted configuration relied solely on the tight fit between barrel and cap and was responsible for those scratches.

M90 on the top. It cost JPY 12000 (without taxes) in 2008. Myu-701 on the bottom. It still has the price sticker--JPY 3500 (without taxes) in 1980.

Clip. The M90 clip, while preserving the basic design of the Myu, is longer and has a clear arc shape. This causes to be stiffer, and makes the pen to look bigger. The new clip is subtly engraved with the model name.

The rest of features are mostly the same, including the filling system by Pilot proprietary cartridges and by the converter CON-20, the only one fitting inside the sections of these two pens.

These are their dimensions

................................................Myu-701...............M90
Diameter:..................................11 mm...............12 mm
Length capped:......................119 mm..............119 mm
Length open:..........................105 mm..............105 mm
Length posted:.......................143 mm..............140 mm
Dry weight with CON-20:.........20.5 g.................26.3 g

The overall impression is that Pilot took benefit of this second chance to improve the weak points of the original Myu-701, mostly on the central ring and the clutch. These improvements, however, had some cost and the question of whether the M90 is better of worse than the Myu-701 remains open in many a forum.

(Pilot Prera, M nib, eyedropper – Senator Regent Royal Blue)

Bruno Taut
January 18th, 2011
[labels: Pilot]