Madras

Contrary to that of the previous text, this story is well known and little can be added. My one and only point, then, is to illustrate it with some pictures of real pens.

India has always been a big market for fountain pens, and home to many small producers. In the 1950s Pilot wanted to increase its presence in this market and installed a factory in Madras (nowadays Chennai, in the state of Tamil Nadu). Initially, this plant only produced ink and assembled pens out of parts shipped from Japan. These were, mostly, the 53R model in celluloid. From 1955 on, the plant was able to manufacture complete pens.

Two Indian-made Pilot pens in celluloid. Pure eyedropper pens.

The feed, clearly visible on this picture, shows no seat for any shut-off valve, as is the case on most Japanese eyedropper pens.

The steel nibs of those celluloid eyedroppers. The engraving reads "PILOT / MADE IN / INDIA / -<2>- / HARDEST ". Presumably the hidden word is "IRIDIUM", plus the manufacturing date.

Technical problems associated to the durability of rubber sacs in the hot and humid local weather made Pilot to change their designs. Consequently, their sac based 53 and Super models were transformed in eyedropper pens. But contrary to the usual fashion in Japanese pens, these Indian-made Pilots had no shut-off valve.

Two Indian-made Super models.

The nib in detail. It is made of 14 K gold.

In fact, Indian pen companies produce mostly eyedropper pens—a basic and reliable pen, albeit not without drawbacks—the large ink deposit and the little need for maintenance is at the expense of occasional ink blops when the ink level was low.

The other unit is an Indian version of the G-300 model. On both cases, the nibs are made of 14 K gold.

Both cap and barrel are labeled as coming from India.

The Japanese version is a cartridge-converter pen, not labeled with any country of origin. Its nib is also made of 14 K gold.

Indian-made Pilot nibs are often dated with an F (foreign) before the digits showing the manufacturing date.

The Madras plant was active until 1978.

My thanks to Paco-san, Mr. Niikura, Mr. Sunami and FPN member Hari317.

Gama eyedropper pen (Gem Pens and Co.) – Indian-made royal blue ink

Bruno Taut
Machida, January 6th, 2014
etiquetas: India, Pilot

Koreana

The books –or maybe just The Book Fountain Pens of Japan— speak clearly about Pilot pens made overseas, in India, Burma, Thailand, and Brazil. But few sources mention the case of Korean Pilot pens.

This is, in fact, a totally different business. The South Korean Pilot Company (Pilot Pen Co.) is not operated by the Japanese counterpart (Pilot Corporation) but simply licensed the use of the Pilot brand. This license allows the commercialization of these South Korean products in Asian markets, but prohibits its sale in Japan.

Several Korean-made Pilot pens. On one of them, the company logo is the same Pilot used in Japan in the 1970s.

The Korean Pilots are, in principle, different to those made by the Japanese company, although both companies share some elements—converters, nib and feed designs, some logos… The Korean quality seems to be clearly lower.

This nib shows the usual logo of Korean-made Pilot pens. What looks like a circle is, in fact, a P.

This feed is very close --if not the same-- to those used by Pilot Japan in models like Prera, Cocoon/Metropolitan, Kaküno, etc.

The converter CON-20 is also used on Korean Pilot pens. Consequently, all Pilot converters and cartridges could also be used on those Korean-made pens, provided there was enough room inside the barrel.

There are, however, some better quality Korean Pilots. The Pilot Art Craft Silvern pen of the late 1960s had its counterpart in Korea. On the picture we see the very characteristic inlaid nib of said model clearly engraved as made in Korea.

This Art Craft Silvern had its original Korean nib, broken as we can see on the picture, replaced with another unit made in Japan.

This license scheme started in 1960 and is still active today. Pilot in South Korea has its headquarters in the city of Seongnam, in the outskirts of Seoul.

My thanks to Mr. Niikura and Mr. Sunami.

Platinum black pocket pen, manifold nib – Platinum Violet

Bruno Taut
Yokohama, January 5th, 2014
etiquetas: Corea del Sur, Pilot

Universal (Japan)

Music nibs are rare finds in the wild, save for the obvious exception of those currently on production. From a purely statistical consideration, those we could find should mostly belong to those made by any of the big companies. But it is also known that minor companies also manufactured three-tined music nibs.

But nobody seemed to know anything about a pen brand called Universal. It seems, in fact, to be a very normal pen, boring and uneventful… until open.

The pen barrel in engraved with the company logo and the brand name: "UNIVERSAL".

Then, the nib this pen sported made the difference. It is a three-tined music nib made of steel. It is not, though, a refined product. It implements a big iridium point underneath that does not seem very finely cut. The filling system is aerometric.

These are the dimensions of the pen:

• Length closed: 134 mm
• Length open: 114 mm
• Length posted: 145 mm
• Diameter: 11 mm
• Weight: 11.6 g (dry)

The nib shows the company logo plus the word "Iridosmin".

The pen logo, a World globe with some additional decoration to its sides, resembles that of Platinum before 1969. However, there are no records showing Platinum using the name Universal for its pens.

In the West, a similar logo and the name Universal belong to an Italian company founded in 1956 in Torino. This company sells its products under brand names Carioca and Corvina, but no fountain pens seem to have been ever made by it. So, the questions about the Japanese brand Universal remain unanswered.

My thanks to Mr. Shimizu.

Pilot jumbo with Tsugaru-nuri maki-e decoration – Pilot Blue

Bruno Taut
Machida, January 4th, 2014
etiquetas: Universal (Japón), plumín, plumín musical, Platinum, Universal (Italia)

Hawaiian Vacumatic

Many Chronicles ago I described an interesting fake—a so-called Hawaiian pen copying the well known Sheaffer Balance in green celluloid. That fake even carried the white dot of Sheaffer’s lifetime guarantee.

The Hawaiian Balance in green celluloid. An obvious copycat of the Sheaffer Balance.

Not much could I say about that pen or about the manufacturer. And not much can I say now save offering another element labeled as Hawaiian.

In this case, this isolated nib shows a typical Parker decoration—that of the popular Vacumatic model. But the imprint says exactly the same as we had already seen on the Hawaiian Balance: “Hawaiian / PRACTICAL / GOLDEN PEN / -<5>- / S.Y.S Co.”. And as in the previous case, this nib is not tipped.

Another Hawaiian nib, this time with a Parker-inspired decoration.

The untipped nib.

There are apparently no records on this pen company and we cannot even claim it was Japanese as some suspect it was.

My thanks to Mr. Suginaga.

Gama (Gem Pen & Co., Chennai), unknown model – Indian-made royal blue ink

Bruno Taut
Yokohama, December 31st, 2013
etiquetas: Parker, Hawaiian, Sheaffer

Between Parker and Waterman

At the early stages of the development of a new industry there is always a proliferation of small companies fighting for their place under the sun. And also during those early stages, copies of successful products are in order.

The following pen follows those patterns. Brand Rifleman is known as an early name of pens in Japan, but not much more is available. This large unit is very well made.

As many Japanese pens at the time –late 1920s and early 1930s— it is an eyedropper pen with shut-off valve made of ebonite. The nib is made of 14 K gold, and is remarkably large.

The engraving on the nib reads "WARRANTED / K14 / IRIDIUM / POINT / PEN"

The feed is characteristic of pre-war Japanese pens, and it does not resemble the tree-shaped feed of the Parker Duofold.

The external appearance resembles that of the American icons at the time—the Parker Duofold. But do not expect to find any Lucky Curve feed inside. The clip, however, shows a curious engraving: “CAP CLIP”. Was it inspired by Waterman’s “Clip Cap”?

The clip is clearly carries the Waterman-inspired engraving "CAP CLIP".

These are the dimensions of this Rifleman:

• Length closed: 135 mm
• Length open: 132 mm
• Length posted: 177 mm
• Diameter: 15 mm

On the tail of the pen, the blind cap is just the knob to open the shut-off valve instead of hiding the push button to operate the rubber sac of the old Duofolds. The barrel is engraved with the brand name "RIFLEMAN / FOUNTAIN PEN".

My thanks to Mr. Sunami

Pilot Myu 701 – Platinum Black

Bruno Taut
Machida, October 8th, 2013
etiquetas: Rifleman, Parker, Waterman

Self-defense

Against marketing, history. Against the opportunistic reissues, the real thing.

Against the M90,

the Myu 701.

Against the Elite 95,

the inlaid Elite pocket pens.

Against the Justus 95,

the original Justus from 1980.

Oftentimes, the originals are cheaper than the modern reissues. Oftentimes, we stylophiles are just too easy.

My thanks to Dr. D., whose pics of the Elite 95 are greatly appreciated.

Pelikan M320 – Diamine Amazing Amethyst

Bruno Taut
Madrid, December 1st, 2013
etiquetas: Pilot, mercado, estilofilia

F-4 Nibs

Some weeks ago I spoke about the newly arrived Pilot Kaküno, an entry-level pen –JPY 1000, plus taxes— aimed at the school student. That pen, I already said at the time, was not alone in the Japanese market, where the competition among the big three pen companies is intense.

Today I wanted to speak about a similar product made by Sailor—the High-Ace. This particular model is no longer on production, and has been replaced by the High-Ace Neo, which implements a plastic barrel in five different colors. The original High-Ace had cap and barrel made of steel, while the section is made of black plastic.

The all-steel Sailor High-Ace.

The nib, in the original High-Ace, is made of steel, gold plated, and is labeled as F-4. It is tipped, and cut as F. Its performance is correct and reliable, fairly rigid, with no special feature to remark. However, older units of the High-Ace pen carry an additional inscription on the nib: Made in Taiwan.

The Japanese and the Taiwanese nibs of the Sailor High-Ace.

This is not the first time we see a Taiwan-made nib (or pen) by Sailor (see ::1:: and ::2::). We know Sailor started a manufacturing plant in Taiwan in 1973, and it was devoted to cheaper products of the company.

The F-4 nib was also marketed as Sheaffer during the 1970s and 1980s. During those years, Sailor was the importer of Sheaffer in Japan, and was allowed to manufacture and sell as Sheaffer some lower end pens. Now, it is reasonable to wonder whether those “Sheaffer” F-4 nibs were made in Japan or in Taiwan.

The very cheap Sailor Ink-Pen (JPY 1000, plus tax) also implemented the F-4 nib, albeit without any tipping, and devoid of any plating.

The Sailor Ink Pen...

...and its untipped F-4 nib.

These are its dimensions of the original High-Ace:

• Length closed: 135 mm
• Length open: 123 mm
• Length posted: 148 mm
• Diameter: 11 mm
• Weight (dry): 21.3 g
• Ink deposit: 1.2 ml (cartridge), 0.7 ml (converter)

The price of the High-Ace was JPY 1000, plus tax.

Twsbi Diamond 530, Kubo's music nib – Gary’s Red Black iron-gall ink

Bruno Taut
Madrid, November 28th, 2013
etiquetas: Sailor, Sheaffer, Taiwan