Artisanal

In this world of fast-evolving technology and mass-produced goods there seems to be room for nostalgia and romanticism… But are those for real or mere illusions?

There are a number of pen companies claiming to have their products handmade or crafted by traditional artisans following ancient recipes. But what do all those words really mean? What is really handmade and what is machine-made?

What tools can an artisan –whatever this might mean— use while preserving the label and aura of “handmade”? Is the lathe an acceptable tool? And if that lathe was numerically-controlled? Should the lathe be made by the artisan himself to keep the purity of the handmade process? Or, is electricity an acceptable source of energy?

Nakaya. Japanese handmade fountain pens, we read on its website. But what does that really mean?

It is very difficult –if at all possible— to draw that red line delimiting the realm of the craftsmanship and the realm of the mass-production. Craftsmanship is, after all, only an older technology, but a technology that still uses tools made by others.

Two are the reasons for a new technology to gain favor. First is the economic argument—does this new machine makes the final product for less? Second is the quality—is the product newly made better than the one produced with the previous technologies? The final adoption of the new procedures depends on a delicate balance between those two arguments. Cheaper but lower quality is not a good strategy to keep business going, but it is certainly tempting.

At the end, the consumer decides, and it is my contention that the final decision should only be taken based on the quality of the good and not on the marketing labels attached to it to increase the price. After all, we do not judge a novel based on which instrument was used to write it.

Handmade, artisanal, hand-crafted,… Mumbo-jumbo, I am afraid.

Pilot Super (cartridge-converter), soft nib – Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Brown

Bruno Taut
April 3rd, 2013
etiquetas: mercado, estilofilia

3776

The current workhorse of Platinum is the model 3776—a balance pen, made of plastic in several colors, including some transparent versions.

The first year (1978) 3776. The nib is dated as made on September of 1978.

But the original 3776, from 1978, was different. It was designed by the writer and pen collector Haruo Umeda and had a clear inspiration on the Waterman “100 Years” pen. The similarities, in contrast with previous models by Platinum, are limited to the rugged body. This shape, should we note, was cut on the lathe with an ad-hoc tool. During the first year of production (1979), the pen had 9 rings on the back of the barrel. This was, apparently, difficult to machine and already on the second year of production the number of rings was reduced to five.

Platinum 3776 from the first two years of production of the pen, with nine and five rings on the last section of the barrel.

The nibs were made of 14 K gold, and they were fairly rigid. The feeds were made of ebonite, and they also show some changes between the first and second year pens.

Nib and feed of the first year pen (1978). Note the long ebonite feed.

The pen on top was made on the second year of production (production date of January 1979). Its feed shows some fins on the lower side. The one on bottom, from 1978 (production date of September 1978), has no fins.

A similar model is still on production today, but the new nibs have a different design and the feeds are now made of plastic. And there was also a deformed version around 1987—the Platinum Glamour, equipped with both steel and 14 K gold nibs.

Platinum Glamour with steel nib, and plastic feed.

As is customary on Platinum pens, all of them use cartridges (and converters if the barrel could fit them, which is not the case of the Platinum Glamour).

Pilot Vpen– Pilot Blue

Bruno Taut
Chuo (Tokyo), March 3rd, 2013
etiquetas: Platinum

Boxes

On the previous Chronicle I spoke about two different engravings that appeared on early Pilot pens—“N. M. & Co.”, and “Namiki Mfg. Co.”. Pilot’s Pen Station, always a source of valuable information, shows a third inscription. The following pictures show all three of them as printed on pen boxes.

This time, the meaning of R. N. seems quite clear—Ryosuke Namiki (並木良輔), the full name of the founder of the company. This one seems to the most elusive of the three inscriptions.

Pilot Vpen– Pilot Blue

Bruno Taut
Shinjuku, March 26th, 2013
etiquetas: Pilot

N. M. & Co.

NOTE added on 9/Feb/2018: I completely misunderstood the pen described on this Chronicle. In actual terms, it is not a plain eyedropper pen but a beautiful example of the naikan shiki (inner tube mechanism) present in very early Pilot pens. Its beautiful nib is, most likely, original.

More information, on the following Chronicle: http://estilofilos.blogspot.jp/2018/02/inner-tube-system.html


From the latest pen to a very early one.

The pen on display today is a very early Pilot. In a nutshell, it is a black-chased hard rubber pen with a size 3 nib made of 14 K gold. This is an eyedropper pen, as was usually the case on the early Japanese pens. However, contrary to the very Japanese trend, in this case the ink deposit has no mechanism to be sealed when the pen was not in use. No hoshiawase, no shut-off valve—nothing. In this regard, this Pilot is very much alike to many Waterman’s pens from the beginning of the twentieth century.

The engraving on the barrel is also interesting. To the right of the Namiki logo (the N inside the lifebuoy) it reads as follows: ‘“PILOT” / FOUNTAIN PEN / N. M. & Co.’ Early Pilot pens show this inscription, and it coexisted for some years, possibly up to 1925, with the one that would be stamped up to around 1938, when the company changed its name to Pilot Fountain Pen Co. Ltd., ‘“PILOT” / NAMIKI MFG. CO. / MADE IN JAPAN’. The question, then, is what that M on earlier pens meant. Nobody seems to have a clear answer to it.

The old engraving on Pilot pens: "N. M. & Co."

This engraving belongs to a hoshiawase pen from 1928.

There is another engraving on the barrel of the old pen--"P3CH". Is it be a reference to the size of the nib (3) and to the decoration and the material (chased hard rubber)?

These are the dimensions of this pen:
Length closed: 142 mm.
Length open: 134 mm.
Diameter: 13 mm.
Weight (dry): 15.1 g.

This ad from 1920 shows the more common engraving --‘“PILOT” / NAMIKI MFG. CO. / MADE IN JAPAN’-- that would last until 1938.

And this one from 1921 shows the same, and more rare, engraving present on today's pen. This (and some others) ad can also be seen on Yoshiharu's blog.

Its manufacturing date would be around 1920.

Pilot Short pen– Pilot Blue

Bruno Taut
Shibuya, March 24th, 2013
etiquetas: Pilot

Empress

Only a few of the pen companies that ever existed made it through the years to gain some name and to be known today. And those pens are relatively easy to document, although some particular model or some secondary brand might pose some problems. Things, then, become a lot more difficult for all those minor companies that do not show up in any book or website.

The following pen is an interesting example. It is a rare piston filler with a semi-flexible gold nib. The barrel is engraved with a very simple inscription: “EMPRESS / MADE IN JAPAN”. Its structure reminds of classical German pens—a black torpedo, a piston, and a semi-flex nib. Very few Japanese pens, actually, have used this filling system despite the popularity of German pens—the Platinum pens for the 70th anniversary of the company (1989), the two Sailor Realo models (2006 and 2009), and the Pilot Custom Heritage 92 (2010).

The nib is signed as Warranted, plus an “H” at the base of it. Indeed, not enough to identify the pen.

But this pen also carries an aftermarket engraving on the barrel— 三周年記念大東産業, 3rd Anniversary of Daito Industries. And this company was founded in 1978 in Togane, Chiba, and is still active today. Therefore, this pen was in the market in the early 1980s.

The dating inscription.

I should admit that upon seeing this pen I thought it was older.

These are the dimensions on the pen:

• Length closed: 126 mm
• Length open: 110 mm
• Length posted: 141 mm
• Diameter: 13 mm
• Weight (dry): 19.4 g
• Ink capacity: 1.0 ml

Pilot Short – Pilot Blue

Bruno Taut
Machida, March 19th, 2013
etiquetas: Empress

Pelikan in Japan (II)

On a recent text, I pointed out the popularity of Pelikan pens among Japanese stylophiles. Therefore, it was no surprise to see all those brand-new Pelikan M800 in tortoise shell finish at the last meeting of the Wagner group in Tokyo. However, the truly interesting detail was that some of them were also carrying the 1987 version. And this allowed for a direct comparison of these two pens.

The new Pelikan is on top (top right on the third picture) and the 1987 version on bottom. The stripes are straight and darker on the new model and wavy and brighter on the old. The golden circle on the knob belongs to the 1987 model.

They are far from identical. From the celluloid patterns to the decoration on cap jewel and piston knob, the differences are very clear.

My thanks to Kugel 149.

Montblanc 144 – Sailor Tokiwa-matsu

Bruno Taut
Yokohama, March 17th, 2013
etiquetas: evento, Pelikan

Matching (XIII)

The controversy is always there: Is that pen original or a copy of another? Which company did father that idea? Sometimes, the answers are clear…

This Platinum pen is, in essence, a copy of the well-known and highly valued Waterman’s Hundred Year pen from 1939. The Platinum is, as well, a lever filler. Its nib, however, is a “10-years” nib made of stainless steel.

This is not the first example of a copy cat made by Platinum seen on these Chronicles. Another “10-years” pen was a knock-off of the Parker 51, and by the 1940s, Platinum manufactured a copy of the Skyline model by Wahl-Eversharp. This trend, of this learning process, ended up in the late 1950s, although some might say that it was revived with the current model 3776, so close to the Montblanc balance pen.

The "10-Years" nib made of stainless steel.
The incription reads as follows:
"PLATINUM / 10 YEARS / S*N Platinum logo / IRIDIUM / JIS logo / -< 5 >- / P-A".

My thanks to Mr. Sunami.

Pilot Vpen – Pilot Blue

Bruno Taut
Chuo (Tokyo), March 3rd, 2013
etiquetas: Parker, Platinum, Waterman, Wahl-Eversharp, Montblanc