Japanese Vs European Fountain Pens

[shethkapil]

Hello, I am from India,and have a small collection of Japanese and European fountain pens. I would like to get views of users and their likes and dislikes and what they use and why.I use lamy safari,Parker frontier and sonnet,waterman hemisphere, sheaffer non nonsense in European models and pilot 78g, pilot metropolitan,varsity and pilot 55c2 in Japanese models as daily pens. I use waterman expert,Parker sonnet gold nib,and sailor 1911 gold nib as stay at home pens.

[mr T.]

Hello, I am from India,and have a small collection of Japanese and European fountain pens. I would like to get views of users and their likes and dislikes and what they use and why.I use lamy safari,Parker frontier and sonnet,waterman hemisphere, sheaffer non nonsense in European models and pilot 78g, pilot metropolitan,varsity and pilot 55c2 in Japanese models as daily pens. I use waterman expert,Parker sonnet gold nib,and sailor 1911 gold nib as stay at home pens

I don't believe that 'European' pens exist. Pens made by companies that are based in Germany, France or Italy (or any other country in Europe) do. Labelling a product 'European' (or 'made in the EU') is in my opinion controversial and highly political. There is also the problem that some pens are designed in Japan or in a European country and are made in a different part of the world (like China).

[mallymal1]

For me, there is no Europe vs Japan vs USA vs China.

 

There are pens, and nibs of different character...and I'm very happy.

 

[Wolverine1]

Arre, ask about a specific pen, yaar. I got better things to do than answer your open-ended question about pens.

[Ernst Bitterman]

There are some very broad regional characteristics one can (sometimes) rely on-- eastern pens are finer than western, German pens are wetter than others-- but it's more about the variation between brands than nations. Whether these diffences are good or bad are a matter of personal preference.

 

I'm lucky enough to have extremely broad tastes

[I.M.]

Arre, ask about a specific pen, yaar. I got better things to do than answer your open-ended question about pens.

If you have better things to do, then perhaps it is better you refrain completely from posting in this thread. It's possible your opinion might be better valued elsewhere.

 

Welcome to FPN Shethkapil

I have no problem categorizing some of my pens as being either Japanese or European. I've only recently acquired three Japanese pens, and I'm really happy with them. I especially like their finer nibs. I like them so much that I'm less interested in European pens, especially if they don't come with the option of an EF nib.

 

I also have a small collection of Chinese and Taiwanese pens, and in my personal experience their nib-widths are similar to so-called Western nibs. Obviously there are always differences even within a particular model and nib-width.

[shawndp]

In terms of generalizations that I have encountered are 1) Japanese nibs run finer than their Western counter parts and 2) Japanese pens take a lot of heat for looking like "copies of some European brand" 3) the bang-for-your-buck ratio is usually higher 4) the price treshold for a gold nib is lower. Want an example? I am using a Sailor 1911 L to write notes at the moment and all those generalizations are true - you have the pen, so you know what I am talking about. I usually don't tend to think about the country of origin of a pen as usually it can be very different from the listed headquarters - there are Parkers made in France and in India and Cross made in China - you get the idea. Take each pen at face value, and ask if it speaks to you, does it sing in your hand when you write, does it capture your imagination... if it does - then that's a pen worth having.

[Aurko]

Another thing that I've noticed in my personal experience is that the Japanese Big Three (Sailor, Platinum, Pilot) tend to have some of the best quality control on the market, whereas I frequently have had problems with European pens (they are definitely great pens though! But not as much out of the box), including but not limited to baby's bottoms, misaligned tines, poor flow, etc. I don't know how many people would agree with me on that, but the consensus seems to be that Japan has great Quality Control.

[arcadeflow]

When I buy a Japanese pen I feel I am buying a product that has a higher standard, they control production, they usually produce their own nibs. A lot of western pens are only brands, they are mass produced in China sometimes, and I feel most of the cheaper ones are unreliable because you never know if it is going to be a lemon. I had problems with pens from all over the world, but the only problem I got with a Japanese pen was with a Petit1 (I have 3 others that work fine), which is a semi-disposable pen. I believe the west made beautiful designs (I like the Eversharp Skyline, the Lamy Safari, as design items) but those days are over, I have yet to see a western pen designed in the last few decades that wow me, in the price range that I would consider buying. In the other hand, TWSBI makes absolutely lovely looking pens in Taiwan, if only they had the Japanese technology to produce their own nibs and use top notch materials, they would be the best pens in the world. But that is only my opinion, I am sure people can see what I can't, but right now I love Pilot pens and TWSBI designs.

[shawndp]

Another thing that I've noticed in my personal experience is that the Japanese Big Three (Sailor, Platinum, Pilot) tend to have some of the best quality control on the market, whereas I frequently have had problems with European pens (they are definitely great pens though! But not as much out of the box), including but not limited to baby's bottoms, misaligned tines, poor flow, etc. I don't know how many people would agree with me on that, but the consensus seems to be that Japan has great Quality Control.

 

 

I will agree with you in that I haven't had a bad pen out of the box, even with Sailor who are supposed to be the least on to of the ball. Plus the fit and finish on a $15 Pilot Metro is a lesson for every pen manufacturer out there

[KBeezie]

My preferences or at least sights has been broken down into a couple specific regions or niches of those regions, for example:

 

- Vintage American

- Semi-Vintage (ie: ~70-80s) Japanese and German

- Modern Japanese

 

Once you've gotten a couple of any in your hands you start to get a certain expectation to how they feel, how are they balanced, what's the nib typically feel like etc. For example most of the vintage Sheaffers I have are all very close in the way the nib feels to the paper and how much of a 'spring' it has be it a Sheaffer Milady Balance or a Snorkel Admiral.

 

But for modern, seems like my preference is largely Japanese, particularly Pilot especially on the more inexpensive end. Nearly every brand new Pilot I got has been consistent from one nib to the next with a consistent expectation of what I'm getting if I go one way or the other. Also prefer to go on the fine side of the line widths though not always as fine as Platinum offers in Fine or Extra-Fine (plus all the platinum's I've had, give a tiny bit more feedback than pilot, especially on the finer end).

 

For whatever reason I'm not particularly attracted to American or German modern pens, there might be a model or two that may spark my interest but they tend not to be anything special to me. I've tried a Kaweco AL Sport, I've tried Lamy Safari, if I did it over again knowing then what I know now, I would be just as content using a Pilot Petit1 and Pilot Metropolitan in the place of either of those two (but probably not as photography-crazed lol).

Edited September 7, 2014 by KBeezie

[tarheel1]

Welcome to fpn. I currently have three Japanese and and three German pens and one modern american with a german nib. I really enjoy both but prefer wider nibs or flex nibs. So one Japanese is a music nib and one is a flex nib. My broad platinum isnt quite as broad as i like and neither is my medium nibbed Montblanc. The others are broads or italic pens.

[shethkapil]

If you have better things to do, then perhaps it is better you refrain completely from posting in this thread. It's possible your opinion might be better valued elsewhere.

 

Welcome to FPN Shethkapil

I have no problem categorizing some of my pens as being either Japanese or European. I've only recently acquired three Japanese pens, and I'm really happy with them. I especially like their finer nibs. I like them so much that I'm less interested in European pens, especially if they don't come with the option of an EF nib.

 

I also have a small collection of Chinese and Taiwanese pens, and in my personal experience their nib-widths are similar to so-called Western nibs. Obviously there are always differences even within a particular model and nib-width.

[shethkapil]

Thank you I.M.

Edited September 7, 2014 by shethkapil

[shethkapil]

Thank you all for the inputs. I agree with Kbeezie that pilot makes some really consistent pens. I just started using a fine pilot 55c2 and it serves the purpose of writing accounts and notes in small writing pads. Being a trader one has to write a lot of numbers and it just does a great job.

[arran]

Factory quality control is much better with Japanese nibs , although i must say I recently had to send a Nakaya back to Japan because of disaligned nib and horrible writing.

Italian factory pens are done with me now sorry

[Blue_Moon]

Another thing that I've noticed in my personal experience is that the Japanese Big Three (Sailor, Platinum, Pilot) tend to have some of the best quality control on the market, whereas I frequently have had problems with European pens (they are definitely great pens though! But not as much out of the box), including but not limited to baby's bottoms, misaligned tines, poor flow, etc. I don't know how many people would agree with me on that, but the consensus seems to be that Japan has great Quality Control.

 

I agree. With other regions, it seems I've had the most success with small companies _ Franklin-christoph (American), Italix (European). They can oversee QC much more effectively than larger companies. However, if Japanese companies can do it, why can't the other large companies?

[Ste_S]

On the subject of cost, if you live in Europe you get significantly less bang for your buck with Japanese pens. Full ranges aren't sold here, and If they are its usually at a significantly higher MRSP. Additional costs on importing from Japan prohibit that too

[shawndp]

On the subject of cost, if you live in Europe you get significantly less bang for your buck with Japanese pens. Full ranges aren't sold here, and If they are its usually at a significantly higher MRSP. Additional costs on importing from Japan prohibit that too

 

I never considered that...I know some Japanese models can be priced almost double at the retail level - the first time I saw a Platinum 3776 it had a CAD220 sticker but you can buy it for around $110 shipped from Japan. I suppose we get off lucky most of the time on tax / duty. Are European brands significantly cheaper locally after you factor in the pesky VAT?

[brunico]

Additional costs on importing from Japan prohibit that too

 

A Pilot Custom Heritage 92 is about £150 in the UK, but only £75 via Ebay. Even if you're unlucky enough to be hit by punitive taxes and swingeing admin fees, it surely couldn't be over £100? Or take the Pilot Prera: £45-£55 in the UK, £20 shipped via Ebay, and much less likely to be inspected than a parcel from the US.