April Inks

It is just perfect to start the new school year with the cherry trees blooming, many Japanese think. So, many things in Japan start in April.

Sailor’s inks for 2011 are already in the market. After the sixteen seasonal inks in limited releases, this company seems to have returned to a more stable selection. Nine inks compose the new gamut, out of which three are the very traditional black, blue-black and blue. The remaining six are more creative colors.

Interestingly enough, after one year of very Yamato names, these new inks have very Western denominations, all of them written in Katakana.

(Pictore taken from Sailor's website: http://sailorshop.jp/SHOP/13-1000.html)

These are the new colors for 2011 (from left to right, from top to bottom):

1. ブラック – burakku – black
2. ピッシエ – pisshie – peach/pêche
3. ブルー – burû – blue
4. スカイハイ – sukaihai – sky-high
5. ブルーブラック – burûburakku – blue-black
6. ウルトラマリン – urutoramarin – ultra-marine
7. グレナーデ – gurenâde – grenade
8. エピナール – epinâru – epinard
9. アプリコット – apuricotto – apricot

The price in Japan has not changed: JPY 1000, plus tax. The two pigmented inks by Sailor, black and blue-black, have not changed.

(Pilot Volex demonstrator – Diamine Evergreen)

Bruno Taut
April 7, 2011
[labels: tinta, Sailor, mercado]

Mitsukoshi

I have already mentioned on these chronicles how stationeries and department stores in Japan used to sell pens under their own name or, eventually, their own brand. Those pens were produced by some of the important manufacturers of the day. Maruzen’s pens, branded as Olivier or as Athena, were made by companies like De la Rue in the early 1920s; and we have already seen a Pilot pen labeled as Pilot Matsuzakaya, the name of a very traditional department store in Japan.


Today’s pen is a similar case: A Pilot-made OEM for Mitsukoshi, another department store. This is a beautiful BCHR eye-dropper with hoshiawase (星合せ) shut-off system.


The embossed decoration has been nicely smoothened over years of use. The cap has a detachable clip in steel that shows some signs of wear. All this give the pen a nice shibui look.


The barrel is engraved with the seal and the name of the department store: "MITSUKOSHI" / FOUNTAIN PEN. The nib is a14 K gold in size 3, very flexible, signed by Pilot.


The most interesting feature of this pen, however, is the Pilot proprietary shut-off system in the form of “crossed stars” or hoshiawase. This system was not very reliable and was phased out around 1928. But on this particular unit, the concentric cylinders in the section fit very well and provide a nice seal.


The pen dimensions are as follows:
Diameter: 12 mm
Length capped: 122 mm
Length uncapped: 117 mm
Length posted: 156 mm
Weight (dry): 13 g


This pen was made in 1927, and its overall condition is very good, albeit used.

(Pilot Volex, M nib – Montegrappa Turquoise)

Bruno Taut
April 5, 2011
[labels: Pilot, soluciones técnicas]

Kato's Pens

Not much information is available about Kato Seisakushô pen company, but it attracts a lot of expectation among pen enthusiasts. Possibly, its rarity makes it all the more appealing.

These pens have a very irregular distribution. The main sources are two websites –Pen House and Pen Meister. Lately, Kato Seisakushô pens could be seen at a only couple of shops in Tokyo, which is the only Japanese city I truly know, and in the catalog of an eBay vendor. Most of the information come from those websites and is written in Japanese. However, some translations can be found in some fora. And that is basically it.

The scarce literature on the Net is a mixture of facts and myths. Mr. Kiyoshi Kato founded his workshop in Osaka after –they claim— fathering fountain pens in Arabia and creating some pen factories in Egypt. All in the years of the Second World War… Mr. Kato was also responsible for some pens of the Italian brand Visconti.


This company’s selling point is that the pens are hand crafted in celluloid: “Celluloid Pen / Hand Crafted / Made in Japan”, that is all we can read on the cardboard boxes. On the pen, the only written sign is on the nib: they are either Schmidt –those in steel— or just “made in Japan” for those in 14 K gold. Again, that is all the information we can get from the pen itself.

Now, how interesting are these pens? Yes, they are made in celluloid. Other than that, most of them employ the international cartridge/converter system and implement steel nibs. Higher grade pens use 14 K gold nibs, ebonite feeds and integrated piston self-filling systems. Such is mine—a 800F model about which I should write a full review.

(Katoseisakusho 800F – Sailor Hiroko’s Green)

Bruno Taut
March 28, 2011
[labels: Japón, Katoseisakusho]

Vortex

Pen review: Pilot Vortex.

The pen under review today is a cheap one. One of the cheapest made by Pilot but, still, a very reliable tool and, therefore, worth to look at.


1. Appearance and design. (7.5/10)
The Pilot Vortex is probably the last pocket pen still on production—other than the German equivalent the Kaweco Sport, that is. The Pilot M90, should we remember, was a limited edition no longer marketed.

So, this is a short pen with a long cap. But this time, contrary to the standard trend of pocket pens, it has a cheap plastic look. It is indeed a very informal looking pen, probably aiming at a young user.


The transparent cap screws in the barrel, and the pen, as a whole, is on the thick side. Both features make this pen unique among pocket pens. Posted, the cap secures itself tightly to the barrel with a clear sound. The section is made of rugged plastic with a soft feeling to it, making a pleasant grip, albeit not a nice look.


The Pilot Vortex is available in five different colors and two nib points.

Personally, I do not like the looks of this pen, but I reckon that its design works very well and is matched with a good construction quality.

In summary, it is an ugly pen with a good design


2. Construction and quality. (9.5/10)
Everything fits perfectly in this pen, and no clear signs of wear can be seen despite the regular handling of a pen that is never attractive enough to inspire any special care.

The thread for the cap, and the groove to secure it when posted. On the right hand side, the rugged section.

When posted, the cap leaves the thread uncovered.

3. Weight and dimensions. (9.0/10)
A compact pen, albeit bigger that it really looks—the long cap makes it look shorter than it really is. A Parker 21, for instance, is one centimeter longer.

It is also fairly thick, easing the grip for extensive writing. The balance is very correct either posted or unposted, although in this second case it might be a bit too short for some hands.

Dimensions:
Length capped: 125 mm.
Length open: 115 mm.
Length posted: 150 mm.
Diameter: 15.5 mm
Weight: 16.0 g.


4. Nib and writing performance. (8.5/10)
Only two very rigid steel nibs are available on this pen: F and M. But both are very smooth and provide a slightly wet flow.

In conclusion, a very correct set of nibs for an inexpensive pen.

M nib (top) and F nib (bottom).

5. Filling system and maintenance. (9.0/10)
Pilot-proprietary cartridges and converters (CON-20 and CON-50) are the way to ink this pen. Nothing fancy, but the right solution for a daily workhorse, for a pen to carry around at all times in a pocket or a purse.

The Vortex on the top was inked refilling a Pilot cartridge. The one on the bottom sports a CON-20 converter.

However, this pen could easily be transformed into an eyedropper. It even has windows on the barrel and section to check the remaining ink.

Maintenance-wise, this pen shows no problem other than the difficulty to remove the nib and feed set, which not many users attempt to do in any pen. Flushing the section with water is the standard procedure in any cartridge/converter pen.


6. Cost and value. (7.5/10)
This pen costs, in Japan, JPY 1500, plus tax. And you get a loud pen that never fails to write and seems almost unbreakable, with a very smooth nib. It is not a fancy jewel, but a reliable and pleasant writing tool.

Some points are deducted, though, due to the unappealing look.


7. Conclusion. (51/60=85/100)
The only weak point of this pen is the appearance. The rest is outstanding given its price. Many more expensive pens do not perform this well.

(Pilot Vortex, M nib – Sailor Red Brown)

Bruno Taut
March 24, 2011
[labels: Pilot]

In Defense of Small Deposits.

A common complaint among stylophiles is about how most modern pens do not implement self-filling mechanisms and, regardless of the price, manufacturers opt for the simple and cheap cartridge/converter solution. The criticism continues along the lines of the small size of those ink cartridges and converters. That was one of the reasons behind my chronicles on their ink capacity for Japanese brands Pilot, Platinum and Sailor. The data showed that they range between 0.6 and 1.2 ml (for unmodified deposits). Now, is that small?

Regular Sailor cartridges can hold up to 1.2 ml of ink.

The relevant question, however, might be different: How do we stylophiles enjoy our pens? “Writing” might be the immediate answer, but most of us, collectors and accumulators, enjoy ourselves by trying new pens and new inks, filling that new arrival and cleaning that old one. And often, we look forward to finishing the ink load of that pen to ink that one we bought a couple of days ago with that new ink. Sure enough, we can always ink another pen, but there is also a limit on how many inked pens we can have at any given time.

The very small Platinum converter—just 0.6 ml of ink fit inside.

The argument of needing big ink capacity to avoid running out of ink does not apply either since most of us carry several pens with us—that is the extent of our fetishism.

Therefore, in view of these attitudes towards our objects of desire, I wonder what the actual reasons were to demand big ink reservoirs. As a user and accumulator I am not so sure of wanting them. A small deposit would push me to try pens and inks more often.

And on another chronicle I will argue in favor of traditional self-filling systems.

(Pilot Vortex – Sailor Red Brown)

Bruno Taut
March 20-21, 2011
[labels: conversor, soluciones técnicas, estilofilia]

Pilot Converters

NOTE added on February 2017: A newer, updated review of the Pilot's cartridges and converters can be found on the Chronicle Pilot Cartridges and Converters 2017.


Pilot is the only big pen company in Japan supporting the use of its old products. Pilot, I already said on these chronicles, still manufactures the CON-W converter to use pens from the early 1960s —those with “double spare” cartridges— despite the fact this system was short lived.

This Pilot pen needs the CON-W converter.

Pilot also produces the small squeezer converter –CON-20— to fit in all of its wide range of pocket pens. This, we have already seen, is not the case of Platinum or Sailor.

From left to right: CON-20, CON-50, CON-70, and CON-W.

And finally, two other converters are available for pens with longer or wider barrels—the small piston CON-50, and the very unique CON-70.

A cartridge for a Petit-1 pen, and the regular Pilot cartridge.

These are the capacities, as measured by myself, of these converters and of the regular cartridge.

Capacities and prices (in JPY, sale tax not included) of Pilot converters and of the current cartridges. The small cartridge can be used in any Pilot cartrdige/converter pen, but the regular cartridge cannot be used in the Petit-1 line of pens.

(Katoseisakusho 800F – Sailor “Hiroko’s green”)

Bruno Taut
March 13, 2011
[labels: Pilot, conversor]

Diamond

To my friends of the Wagner Association of Pen Collectors in Japan.

Diamond Point was the name of a small American company of fountain pens, founded by the turn of the twentieth century in New York City. Initially, this brand manufactured eyedropper pens, and only around 1920 the production of lever-fillers started.

The Diamond Point on the front, compared to a modern Kaweco Sport.

By the mid 1920s, a change in ownership changed the company name to “New Diamond Point”. This brand ceased its activities in the mid 1950s after years of struggling.

Both pens, now posted.

Today’s pen is a very small lever-filler made. It in made in black hard rubber with no engraving on the barrel other than the brand name: “DIAMOND POINT / NEW YORK”. Therefore, this pen is likely to have been made in the early 1920s.

The pen, away from any reference, is remarkably balanced. The wooden stand, however, is 55 mm. long. Note the mildly discolored cap and barrel.

This pen is indeed tinyl: just 82 mm long (capped) and weights only 5 grams (without ink). Compared to mostly any pen, it is easily dwarfed.

The Diamond Point's nib compared to that of a Pilot Capless/Vanishing Point.

The nib is a 14 K gold warranted; surprisingly flexible given its very small size.

The hard rubber is discolored, showing some green hue, but otherwise is ready to be inked and ready to write.

(Twsbi Diamond 530 with a Pelikan nib – Diamine Amazing Amethyst)

Bruno Taut
March 11, 2011
[labels: Diamond Point]