Transitional

Some weeks ago, I wrote about a Platinum pen from the 1960s that sported a beautiful music nib. Following a couple of indicators I guessed that it had been made by the mid 1960s. One of those was the old globe logo of Platinum engraved on the nib and on the cap. This old globe, let us remember, had been officially replaced in 1968 by the current logo showing a P.

The P-300 Platinum.

The nib in detail--the old Platinum logo together with the manufacturing date--544, May 1969.

A more careful inspection of nib revealed the imprint of a date—544, or May of Showa year 44, corresponding to 1969. And that on the same side of the nib stamped with the pre-1968 logo.

A newer Platinum music nib with the post-1968 logo--save transitional units. This newer nib was cast in 1973.

This nib, thus, shows that the transition between logos took some time. “Sounds very Platinum”, a stylophile friend told me in Tokyo. “They often take decisions before having the money to implement them.”

And the Platinum P-300 I showed was manufactured later than I had assumed. The nib was stamped in 1969.

Platinum 3776 (1978) – Platinum Blue-Black

Bruno Taut
Machida, May 7th 2013
etiquetas: Platinum, plumín musical, plumín

Sixties Music

Music nibs are not a Japanese invention, but it seems that it is only in this country where they have found the favor of pen companies on these days (see ::1:: and ::2::). As about pen aficionados, that is not the case given the popularity of these nibs in other markets.

Music nibs have been produced in Japan since, at least, 1950s, as we have already seen on these Chronicles by courtesy of nibmeister Yamada, and of some others. However, they are not easy to find –and I try hard--, and any success is always a source of joy.

The following Platinum pen is one such example. Simply put, this is a cartridge-converter pen made of plastic with a metallic cap, black with golden decorative elements. And the nib is a three-tined beauty made of 18 K gold. It is smooth and juicy, and shows a nice line variation.

The inside of this pen. The nib and feed can be taken out of the section upon disassembling the central ring. The converter on the picture in an old model.

These are the dimensions of the pen:
Length closed: 142 mm
Length open: 124 mm
Length posted: 153 mm
Diameter: 12 mm
Weight (dry): 10.8 g
Ink capacity: 1.2 ml (Platinum cartridge) and 0.53 ml (Platinum converter) (data taken form Platinum's catalog)

Writing sample with this music nib by Platinum. The small square is 2 mm wide. The ink is a Sailor Jentle in a color ordered by the Wagner group of pen collectors.

This pen is very nicely balanced and is perfectly usable as a regular pen. Some users, though, might consider this nib to be too broad, but that did not bother me at the time of writing this text.

Masa Sunami reported on a similar pen on the book The 101 Pen’s Collection of M. Sunami (M. SUNAMI and S. NAKAJIMA. Hankyu Communications Ltd. 2006. ISBN: 978-4-484-06221-1) and dates it from 1966.

NOTE added on May 31st, 2013: This pen was made in 1969. Please, check the Chronicle Transitional.

Platinum P-300, music nib – Platinum Black

Bruno Taut
Shinjuku, April 5th, 2013
etiquetas: Platinum, plumín, plumín musical

Family Portrait (VI)

I will be a bit narcissistic today and will show my collection of music nibs. All of them are Japanese.

Clock-wise from the top, these are the pens:

At 12 o’clock: Pilot Super 200 made in 1962. Hose filling (quarter-switch) system. 14 K gold nib.

Pilot Super 250, E model, made in 1967. Hose filling (quarter switch) system. 14 K gold nib.

Pilot Custom Grandee made in 1982. Cartridge-converter. 14 K gold nib.

Pilot Custom 74 made in 2010. Cartridge-converter. 14 K gold nib.

Twsbi Diamond 530, red, with a Kubo Kohei’s nib in size 2. Piston filler. Steel nib. This is a “frankenpen”. Twsbi does not sell music nibs for its pens. The best we can get are italic nibs.

Platinum P-300 made in 1969. Cartridge-converter. 18 K gold nib.

Platinum pocket with wingflow nib, made in 1978. Cartridge. 14 K gold nib.

Platinum 3776 in celluloid (calico pattern) made in 2009. Cartridge-converter. 14 K gold nib.

Platinum 3776 Century, made in 2012. Cartridge-converter. 14 K gold nib.

For this list, I have purposely ignored the music nibs currently made by Sailor in 14 K gold and steel. Those have failed in attracting my attention and their writing was never very pleasant. But Sailor, nonetheless, had manufactured three-tined music nibs in the past. The current Cross-music nib, by nibmeister Nagahara, is a totally different animal.

All these nibs, save for those currently on production, are rare finds in the second hand market. Rare, however, only means that it takes longer to find. Collecting has a lot to do with being patient.

Parker 51, octanium nib – Pilot Blue

Bruno Taut
In flight over Europe, November 13th, 2013
etiquetas: Pilot, Platinum, nibmeister Kubo Kohei, plumín, plumín musical, Sailor, estilofilia, Twsbi

Out of Production (I)

I can think of a very big reason to rather self-filling over cartridge-converter. With self-filling pens, the owner will never run out those essential elements, cartridges and converters, to use the pen. An acceptable alternative might be standard/international cartridges whose manufacture is shared by a big number of companies.

A Morison pocket pen from the 1970s.

The risk is clear—should the maker of that particular pen disappear, its proprietary cartridges and converters might also become extinct from stationery shops. That is the case of the following Morison. It is a well made pocket pen with a semi-hooded 18 K gold nib. But it uses Morison-proprietary cartridges, long gone and very hard to find after the company stopped the production of pens in the early 1990s.

In an attempt to ink this pen, I tried to use Sailor slim cartridges (for the Chalana model). These are thin enough, but too long to fit inside the barrel. On the side, the plastic tassie of the barrel.

Some other models of this brand can use Platinum cartridges, and in fact, the cartridge nipple of this pen accepts Platinum cartridges, but not the rest of the pen. Its body is too small –both short and narrow— to host it. And neither can this Morison be used as eyedropper as the tassie at the back of the barrel does not seal the body and can easily be removed.

Therefore, this pen is not usable without the proper –and missing—cartridge or converter. And it is frustrating as the pen is in perfect working conditions with only minor cosmetic defects. This issue obviously reduces the value of this pen in the second hand market.

Platinum P-300, music nib – Diamine Graphite

Bruno Taut
Taito (Tokyo), January 27-29th, 2013
etiquetas: Morison, conversor