Mr. Niikura

Today I woke up to very sad news: Mr. Niikura has passed away. He was 84 years old.

Mr. Niikura teaching at a Wagner meeting in 2010.

Yes, Mr. Pilot is no longer with us, and his generosity providing information on Pilot and on Japanese pens in general is forever gone.

I had the immense luck of sharing many pen meetings with him, and I owe him a great deal of all I know about pens. That, I think, could be said by many of whose attending those reunions, where Mr. Niikura shared his knowledge and expertise after a life working for Pilot.

You will be missed, Mr. Niikura.

Sit tibi terra levis.

Pilot Grandee Urushi – Pilot Blue

Bruno Taut
November 2nd, 2024
label: Pilot, evento

Quattro Box

Pen boxes―love them, ignore them, hate them. Boxes―thrown away or kept?

A lot can be said about them, but today I am not speaking about them in general but just about one in particular: that of the Pilot Quattro 89.

This pen, recently reviewed, implements a small size 3 nib in an unusual body, squarish in profile. This pen was certainly not an entry level model, but neither was a top luxurious unit. The price, JPY 30000, was on pair with that of the Custom 823 with a size 15 nib. So, I guess, this Quattro was for those who favored style and originality over function.

Same price--Custom 823 and Quattro 89.

And the Quattro box does reflect that. The package includes a folder with an instruction sheet specifically printed for the model, a translucent sheet with some “Engrish” ideas (“sincerity, considerate, stately, originality”), and three sheets of high quality paper together with three envelopes made of the same paper. And all of them discretely show the squarish logo of the pen model.

Note the logo on all the elements on the pic--letter paper, envelope and pen cap.

The bilingual sheet of instructions. More Engrish...

The package is certainly original and elegant without being overwhelming. However, what do those sheets of paper and envelopes add to the pen?

And, finally, how many Quattros were sold thanks to the paper and the packaging?

Lamy LX – Private Reserve Dakota Red

Bruno Taut
October 20th, 2024
etiquetas: Pilot

Edible Ink

This is the last ink I have bought:

Squid ink.

At least, it is not just edible but delicious.

Arròs negre.

However, beyond the obvious joke, the underlying question is how much ink do we need, and how much ink do we accumulate. And what we do with it!

My latest inventory showed about 5 liters of ink, and that without collecting them. Possibly, dare I say, this accumulation is the result of many years of pen collecting and of writing about pens; plus some donations from friends and readers of these pages.

A small sample of my inks.

But what can we do with so much ink? That is why I'd rather buy edible ink.

Parker 75 – Diamine Bilberry

Bruno Taut
October 17th, 2024
etiquetas: tinta

Paris 2024

But not the Olympic Games--the Paris Pen Show.

Last weekend (October 5th and 6th), the first Paris Pen Show was celebrated at the Hôtel de l'industrie. It was a two-day event, organized by Stylographie, a magazine on the matter.

The Pen Show attracted over 30 dealers and about 800 visitors, although this official figure is questioned by a number of dealers and visitors. The total available space was 270 square meters divided in two lounges.

This decision, two different spaces, caused some problems. A number of aficionados, and even some organizers, were not aware of the smaller exhibition area with just half a dozen dealers. But at the same time, the bigger lounge lacked light and became crowded hampered by the narrow circulation areas in between dealers.

Then, how was this event? One more pen show is always good news, but good wishes are not enough for it to succeed.

Paris, always attractive, is also unbelievably expensive, this creates a number of obstacles  for all the parties involved—expensive hotels, expensive meals, expensive transportation...

Attracting visitors is never easy—you must organize the event, advertise it, and then... cross your fingers. Making it a paying event –EUR 10 per day, EUR 20 for early admission on Saturday-- filters some uninterested public, but also reduces the capability to reach newer and younger aficionados, and the current demographic of the European stylophile is far from being young.

800 visitors, then, is not a bad figure, but as mentioned before, some dealers were skeptical about it. And on top of that, the volume of business was not what some expected. Not enough visitors? Expensive pens? Mismatched supply and demand? Who knows...

This Pen Show was good news, but more work needs to be done.

Jinhao Dadao 9019 – Montblanc Irish Green

Bruno Taut
October 10th, 2024
labels: evento, París

Quattro, Second Edition

In the year 89 of the Pilot era, that is, 2007, Pilot released the Pilot Quattro 89, this time with two t.

The Quatro (1984) and the Quattro (2007).

Nominally, this pen would be an evolution of the Quatro from 1984, but this new pen is a lot more standard within the Pilot structure of fountain pens.

On this newer model, the external shape is still squarish on profile, but the section is basically cylindrical, thus easing the grip. This mismatch results on a sharp step between section and barrel that might be uncomfortable for some users.

The nib on the Quattro is a size 3 in the Custom family of Pilot pens. This size might very well be the lest known in the lineup, but it has been implemented on half a dozen models including the Custom 98 and the Stella 90. This nib size comes in five points (EF, F, FM, M, B), albeit only F and M were available on the Quattro 89.

As for the rest, the barrel is made of wood, synthetic wood according to some, in several colors. It is long and wide enough to fit the converter CON-70.

The barrel end, engraved with the model name, is threaded for a secure posting without affecting the body. It is interesting to note how the threads, on both ends and on the cap, are measured to reach a perfect alignment of the facets on cap and barrel when closed or posted.

The dimensions of the Quattro 89 are as follows:

Length closed: 134 mm.
Length open: 116 mm.
Length posted: 173 mm.
Width: 13.5-14.0 mm.
Weight: 35.6 g (dry with converter).

This pen model was short lived―by 2011 it no longer appeared on the catalog of Pilot.

Jinhao Dadao 9019 – Sailor Ink Studio 252

Bruno Taut
October 4th, 2024
etiquetas: Pilot

Oshare Quatro

Or, in English, fashionable, stylish.

That is what the ad claims about the Pilot Quatro in 1985, a year after the release of the model.

The ad only mentions fountain pens (her) and ball pens (him). However, the whole line up including roller and mechanical pencil appears at the end.

Well, maybe the cat ate those two...

Opus 88 Koloro orange – Caran d'Ache Electric Orange

Bruno Taut
October 2nd, 2024
etiquetas: Pilot

Quatro

Now and then, pen companies try to reinvent the wheel and in their strive for originality depart from the traditional well proven cylindrical shape, and by cylindrical I mean cylindrical symmetry. Some of those unusual designs did become popular and even iconic, but non-cylindrical pens are rare.

In 1984, Pilot marketed one such unusual—a pen with a squarish profile, a square prism in essence.

Pilot's Catalog from 1984. The Quatro trio—fountain pen, ball pen and mechanical pencil. All for JPY 11000. In this case, the nib was made of steel.

Pilot's 1989 Catalog. Quatro quartets —fountain pen, ball pen, mechanical pencil, roller pen— for JPY 27000. On this case, the fountain pen sports the gold nib (individual price, JPY 10000). On the right page, a view of the possible colors and finishes of the Quatro model. There were some aditional variations.

That was the Quatro (with just a single T), and it was available as fountain pen, roller, ball pen and mechanical pencil. They came in a number of colors and finishes –up to 16 according to some sources—, but some of them were only available as fountain pen. And to add confusion to the mix, there were some minor variations along the whole lineup—the brand name, Pilot, could be engraved on the front of the cap or on the cap; the model name was printed on the clip either on cursive script or on capital letters, or being completely absent.

A small collection of Quatro pens.

The gold nib. In F, of course.

The matte black Quatro.

Two nib materials were available: steel, for JPY 5000, and 14 K gold, JPY 10000. There was only one nib point—F. And the filling system was, needless to say, through proprietary cartridges and converters.

I do not have information on when this model was discontinued. My best guess, purely speculative, is in the early 1990s. However, the name Quatro was revived in 2007 through the model Quattro 89. But that will be the topic of another Chronicle.

My thanks to Mr. Furuya and Mr. Niikura.

WiPens Toledo – Private Reserve Dakota Red

Bruno Taut
September 30th, 2024
etiquetas: Pilot