Heritage 92

Para Kinno-san, amigo.

Pen review: Pilot Custom Heritage 92.

A common complaint among stylophiles fond of Japanese pens is the lack of exciting filling systems in modern pens—cartridge/converter is the system of choice among Japanese companies. The primary exception to this rule are the oversized and expensive Namiki eyedroppers. In recent years, however, some self-filling pens have shown up in the market. The plunger filler Pilot Custom 823, and the piston filler Sailor Realo were these newcomers among the three big Japanese companies. The much smaller company Katoseisakusho also produces some piston fillers, but those pens are seldom spotted in stationary shops in Tokyo.

Such was the pen scene up to this past October when Pilot released another demonstrator pen with a self-filling mechanism—the Custom Heritage 92.

The Pilot Custom Heritage 92.

1. Appearance and design. (8.5/10)
This pen is a perfect transparent demonstrator with silver accents. The 14 K gold nib is rhodiated. Shape-wise, this pen is basically a torpedo with flat ends.

The clip has a new design that departs from the classic ball-ended Pilot clip. There is no inscription on it, and the Pilot brand is signed only on the nib.

The nib inside the cap. The translucent gray sheet is clearly visible.

Inside the cap, the nib is covered by a grayish translucent plastic, probably to hide both ink stains and condensation.


2. Construction and quality. (9.0/10)
Everything fits and works perfectly out of the box. The cap adjusts tightly to the barrel end, and the piston is very smooth in its function.

The pen, posted.

The pen, so far, has little use, but its construction materials look very correct and do not show any scratch.


3. Weight and dimensions. (8.0/10)
This pen is basically a Custom 74 with a piston filling system and flat ends. The Heritage 92 is heavier than its cartridge/converter relative. It is well balanced, especially if unposted.

Dimensions:
Length capped: 137 mm.
Length open: 121 mm.
Length posted: 151 mm.
Diameter: 13.5 mm
Weight: 20 g (dry).

Custom 74 and Custom Heritage 92, side by side.

4. Nib and writing performance. (7.0/10)
This pen, as the Custom 74, uses size-5 14 K gold nibs, but only four of the eleven possible points are available on the Heritage 92: F, FM, M and B. I can see no real reasons for this policy. Pilot seems unable to combine exciting nibs with interesting filling systems.

The nib and the feed.

This unit in particular is equipped with an FM nib. Thin, smooth, and with a nicely wet flow. But also rigid and uncharacteristic. There is no problem in swapping nibs among Pilot pens with size-5 nibs other than the possible change in color.

In conclusion, good writing nib, albeit boring; very small selection of nibs.


5. Filling system and maintenance. (8.0/10)
The selling point of this pen is the filling system—a piston filler à la Pelikan. And indeed this pen looks like a Pelikan.

The piston, half way.

The piston knob.

The piston works very smoothly and holds about 1.2 ml of ink, which is only 0.2 ml more than the 1.0 ml capacity of the Pilot CON-70 converter available for most of the Custom series of pens. And this capacity is smaller than that of similar piston fillers by Pelikan or Twsbi. Being a self-filler, this pen is harder to clean than a cartridge converter, but the nib and feed set can easily be removed from the section.

A different issue is the coloration the barrel might acquire in direct contact with inks. Not much can be said as of now as this is a newly released pen.


6. Cost and value. (5.5/10)
In the Japanese market, this pen costs JPY 15000 (plus 5% tax)—JPY 5000 more expensive than the very similar Custom 74 or Custom Heritage 91. The 92’s looks and filling mechanism are more exciting, but the nib selection is also a lot more limited with no possibility to choose music or coarse or soft nibs. And should we want a demonstrator, we could also get the transparent version of the Custom 74.

If compared to other brands, Twsbi and Pelikan offer similar products. Twsbi 530’s price is less than one third of the Pilot´s; and the Pelikan M200 costs, in Japan, JPY 10000 (plus 5% tax). Both of them use steel nibs.

Therefore, I tend to think that those extra JPY 5000 are a steep overprice for a piston whose performance is comparable to that of the converter CON-70.


7. Conclusion. (46.5/60=77.5/100)
Nice looking pen, but the piston filler comes at an extra cost of JPY 5000, and is associated to a very limited number of nibs. Other than this, the Custom Heritage 92 is a nice writer with a good supply of ink.

ADDENDUM March 17th, 2011: A correction was added--the CON-70 converter has a capacity of only 1.0 ml instead of the 1.4 ml some sources claimed, and a careful measurement of the ink deposit showed a capacity of only 1.2 ml.

(Pilot Custom Heritage 92 – Pelikan Turquoise)

Bruno Taut
(Madrid, November 11th, 2010)
[labels: Pilot, Pelikan, Twsbi]

Ink Price

This one is a chronicle bound to become obsolete, although prices in Japan are remarkably stable over the last years. But nonetheless I wanted to offer some information on the costs of inks nowadays.

Ink prices are highly dependent on the market, thus defying globalization trends to homogenize them. A clear case in point are the Pilot Iroshizuku inks—their price in Europe is almost twice that in Japan. Reasons for that? Please, ask Pilot directly.

So, here I am publishing a list of ink prices in the Japanese market. I show only the catalog (MSRP) price. Needless to say, this list is far from complete—there are some other brands for sale in Japan, and there are other presentations of these inks. Among the first, I can think of the Hakase Real Sepia ink at JPY 6300 per 50 ml. Of the second, the recent release of a three-20-milliliter inkwells by Pilot.

Prices in Japenese Yen (JPY) for inkwells. VAT in Japan is 5%. Please, click on the table to enlarge it:

Now it is up to the reader to decide what to do with this information.

(Pilot Elite pocket pen with script nib – Sailor Red Brown)

Bruno Taut
(Madrid, November 7th, 2010)
[labels: tinta, mercado, Japón]

Ink Tankers

(This chronicle has been modified and corrected on March 13, 2012).

My first real encounter with jumbo pens was reported on these chronicles. That was a Platinum-Nakaya –the nib said so— eyedropper whose dimensions were about 35 mm in diameter, and 135 mm in length when capped.

Big enough I thought. Thick to ease the stress on the fingers and not overly big. Its ink deposit could store up to 15 ml—enough to write a very long novel. Let’s not forget that 15 ml of ink add 15 g to the weight of the pen—a significant value indeed.

Two jumbo pens together with a Pilot Super 100. The lengths of these three pens, from top to bottom, are 166 mm, 186 mm, and 132 mm.

The nib of the first of the pens on the previous picture compared to the Pilot music nib of the Super 100. The inscription on the Jumbo nibs reads HIGH CLASS / HARDEST IRIDIUM / USA STAYEL / SPECIAL / PEN. I wonder if "stayel" was a misspelling for steel.

Later, though, I have encountered other jumbo pens that dwarfed that Platinum-Nakaya.

One of the pens showing the safety valve.

All three of them are eyedroppers with safety valves to seal the gigantic ink deposits. Their dimensions range between 150 mm for the New Clip (vid infra) and the 180 mm for the bigger in the group. The girth is also generous: between 25 and 32 mm.

This third jumbo pen is branded as "New Clip". Its length, 152 mm.

I did not have the chance to weight them but light they were not. The ink they could store, of course, is an important factor in the weight and in the balance of the pen. The second of the pens could hold up to 35 ml of ink; the New Clip, 20 ml.

The New Clip's nib compared to the Pilot music nib. The engraving on the former says "Special / Iridium /Pen".

New Clip was one of the brands stamped on the clips manufactured by the company Fukunaka Seisakusho in the 1920s and 1930s. This company also produced some maki-e pens in the 1930s. These jumbo pens might date from some time in the 1930s.

With thanks to Mr. Ishikawa.

(Pilot Super 100 with music nib – Parker Blue)

Bruno Taut
(Madrid, November 3rd, 2010)
[labels: marca desconocida, New Clip, Fukunaka Seisakusho, Japón]

Glamour

Pen review. Platinum Glamour (PGM-3400).

Jumbo pens were a very Japanese product popular in the thirties and forties. The point of their oversized dimensions was to make them comfortable for older people with problems to grab thin –or regular sized— pens. After the war, these pens lost the favor of the market, although they remained on production in small quantities, sometimes intended as souvenirs.

Today’s pen appeared in the Platinum catalog sometime in the seventies. The argument, the company said, was “ergonomically designed for extended writing periods”. Dating the pen precisely, however, does not seem that easy: the nib has a small engraving with the figure 1262, which means December of Showa year 62, i. e. December 1987.

Looking at this pen, we cannot help thinking of the already reviewed Tombow Zoom 828 (the “Egg”). These two pens, though, are not real jumbo pens—they are not overly big but just thick.


1. Appearance and design. (7.0/10)
This Platinum Glamour looks indeed original—short and thick, and with a rugged body. In black plastic and golden rings, this pen seemed to be bounded to become a classic Montblanc-like torpedo, but the rugged surface gives the pen an original appearance.

Now, whether this design appeals to your personal taste is a different matter. I, for one, am not very fond of its looks.



2. Construction and quality. (9.0/10)
The plastic seems of good quality and despite the age of this pen, it does not show much wear. Cap and body fit well both capped and posted.


3. Weight and dimensions. (7.5/10)
This is a short and thick pen. Too short to use it comfortably if unposted. The thickness provides a very comfortable grip.

Dimensions:
Diameter: 19 mm
Length capped: 100 mm
Length uncapped: 87 mm
Length posted: 126 mm
Weight: 27 g

Despite its weight, this pen is very nicely balanced when posted, and this configuration seems the only one apt for writing given its dimensions.

A major disadvantage of this pen is also given by its generous girth—this makes it uncomfortable to carry in any shirt pocket.


4. Nib and performance. (8.0/10)
This pen existed both with gold-plated steel and with solid gold nibs. This one in particular has a 14 K gold medium nib. Interestingly enough, this Platinum nib has the point indication in alphabetic characters, contrary to the usual policy of the company, save for music nibs.


This nib is very smooth and quite wet. At the same time, it is a hard nail with no hint of flex or line variation.


5. Filling system. Maintenance. (8.0/10)
This Platinum pen uses, interestingly enough, short international cartridges instead of those made by the company. Re converters, only those short aerometric ones might fit inside this short barrel.


The barrel is made entirely in plastic, molded in one single piece and with no metal part in touch with the ink. Therefore, there seem to be no problem in transforming this pen into an eyedropper of very generous ink capacity.

Nib and feed can easily be extracted by yanking them out of the section. Therefore, maintenance and cleaning of this pen are very easy.


6. Cost and value. (6.0/10)
This pen is becoming expensive in the second hand market. It is indeed a very nice writer, reliable and dependable. But I wonder how much we are actually paying for the unusual looks. A bit too much, I think.


7. Conclusion. (45.5/60 = 76/100)
As already stated, this is a nice writer in an unusual outfit. Comfortable and well balanced in its main task—writing. The negative elements are the stiff nib, even if pleasant, and the price.

(Platinum Glamour – Waterman Havana)

Bruno Taut
(Tokyo, October 25th, 2010)
[labels: Platinum, Japón]

Three-pack

Pilot was the first manufacturer in Japan to create luxury inks in unusual colors. The Iroshizuku line is a big success world-wide despite the outrageous prices in certain markets. For instance, EUR 34 in Spain, USD 35 in the US…

The price in Japan is a lot more reasonable at JPY 1575 for those 50 ml. inkwells. More expensive, though, than the Sailor inks, and comparable to those of some imported fancy ones. However, making them even more expensive is always easy.


The new Pilot offer is a pack of three 20-ml. inkwells of three Iroshizuku inks for JPY 3150. But that is also the price of two full bottles –a total of 100 ml.

I have few doubts about the success of this offer. After all, many stylophiles rather variety over quantity.

(Platinum Glamour – Waterman Havana)

Bruno Taut
(Tokyo, October 24th, 2010)
[labels: Pilot, tinta, mercado, Japón]

Marine

Ryosuke Namiki founded the Namiki Manufacturing Company with the financial help of his friend Masao Wada in 1918. Namiki had graduated from the Tokyo Nautical School and had worked as a captain of a merchant ship. So, his life had been closely associated to the sea before embarking on the pen business.


According to Mr. Niikura, the pen in the picture was manufactured in the nineteen-twenties.

The engraving on the barrel.

It is an eyedropper pen -therefore, an O-shiki (O-式)- with a safety valve, as was common in Japan at the time. Its name is “kai-koku” (海国), Sea Country. These words are written on the nib in Roman characters, and on the barrel in Chinese ideograms.

The gold nib and its engravings: KAIKOKU and 14KGOLD.
The safety valve, half open.

This nib is a 14 K gold, semiflexible. An overfeed supplies all the ink it might need.

With thanks to Mr. Niikura.

(Pilot Short Pen – Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-guri)

Bruno Taut
(Tokyo, October 22th, 2010)
[labels: Pilot, Japón, evento]

Literature

In some few weeks –from the 13th to the 15 of November—the 2010 Madrid Pen Show will take place. This will be the seventh edition of an increasingly interesting and important event. There will be, the organizers say, more than 40 traders from France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, UK, US, and, of course, Spain.

They also announce the presence of authors Jonathan Steinberg, and Andreas Lambrou. The latter, well known as the creator of Fountain Pens of the World (1995), is in the process of publishing the long awaited Fountain Pens of Japan (2010) in collaboration with Masamichi Sunami. A brief preview of the book is currently online.

The book Fountain Pens of the World is certainly a reference for most stylophiles. It aims at being comprehensive and if we could only have a book, this one could be it. But the more I use it, the higher my disappointment is.

Cover of Lambrou's Fountain Pens of the World (1995).

This book has the virtue of including a large number of pictures of pens, but there are many very significant pens that are not depicted at all. At the same time, pens from some periods are almost absent. Such is the case of Japanese pens between 1930 and 1960.

Picture of page 372 of Lambrou's Fountain Pens of the World together with one of the pens depicted on it--a Pilot Custom 74. On that picture, there are three Pilot Custom 74, and five Custom 67, just in case one single picture were not enough to identify any of those pens.

The inclusion of pictures of pen prototypes is also, in my opinion, a mistake. Those pictures belong to monographies on brands or on specific models, but not to reference books stylophiles check in search of basic information.

Another problem is the general lack of details –either pictures or technical information— on pen nibs. The technical notes are mostly limited to filling systems and construction materials.

More disappointing is the lack of consistency among the different chapters. What seems important on some of them is almost unnoticed on the rest. The book seems to be written by several hands with little coordination among them.

Little can be said about the new book, the long awaited Fountain Pens of Japan. Long awaited because, first, its publication had been announced for quite some time, and, second, because there is very little information in English about Japanese pens.

Table of contents of the book Fountain Pens of Japan (2010), by Lambrou and Sunami.

However, the preview showed some negative details. A most significant one is the inclusion of pictures of one-of-a-kind pens made for one of the authors. Beautiful as they might be, those pens hardly offer any relevant information for the collector as he will never be able to put his hands on any of those.

Picture taken from page 128 of Lambrou and Sunami's book. These eyedropper pens are customizations made for Masa Sunami: "Masa customized Onoto style pens in attractive colors, made from 1950s old stock material, ED, 1985."

It is my contention that general books should be informative for the collector. That means they should contain relevant information. Prototypes, one-on-a-kind customizations could, at most, become footnotes to the general text. The author, most likely a collector as well, should refrain his craving to show his collection, no matter how impressive it might be.

In conclusion, Lambrou’s Fountain Pens of the World in interesting, but disappointing. Too much information of little interest is included on it while some other is sadly missing.

(Pilot Elite Isaac Newton – Pilot Blue Black)

Bruno Taut
(Tokyo, October 20th, 2010)
[labels: libro, Japón, evento]