Hakumin / Edison Pearl

[quinden]

Well! I had hoped to do this review months ago, but lots and lots of things happened to make that impossible.

 

 

Apologies, my home is a shrine to cat hair

 

This is my review of my Hakumin Pearl in aka-ishime no tamenuri. The Pearl is a pen created by Brian Gray of Edison Pen Company, with urushi applied by Ernest Shin of Hakumin urushi. The ishime technique is a form of Funmaki, or powder sprinkling. Translucent urushi is then applied over this base (this is the tamenuri portion of the name - hopefully I am getting this right)

 

Appearance & Design - 10

 

I love the shape of the Pearl. I think it is a great vehicle for urushi. Brian based this shape on the Nakaya Piccolo (I think) but made it slightly longer. The urushi finish that Ernest added is so cool!!! The finish has an elemental quality (ishime translates as pebble or stone, I think) and the finish on this pen makes me think of scoria:

 

 

 

Just imagine this stone after rain.

 

Construction & Quality - 10

 

It's stellar. Everything fits together well, and this pen has gone everywhere with me for the past 3 or 4 months - work, various hospitals, outdoors, everywhere! I do keep it in a pen case, but I do that with all my pens.

 

Weight & Dimensions - 10

 

 

Above, from left: Hakumin Pearl, Sailor Professional Gear Realo, Sailor 1911 Large sterling silver, Custom Edison based on the Herald Grande, Sheaffer first-year Touchdown, Eversharp Skyline standard, Pilot Vanishing Point

 

 

This pen is not a small pen - I would call it a mid-sized pen in length, and a full-sized or large pen in girth (roughly 5 and 3/8 inches in length, .61 inches in diameter). It's not heavy, either. The regular Pearl weighs roughly 22 grams, and I think the urushi finish adds a slight amount of weight.

 

Nib & Performance - (see below)

 

 

The cursive italic nib that Brian did for me is great, but I really REALLY wanted to use this pen all the time (jotting down ideas quickly in meetings, general work stuff). I'm nowhere near good enough with an italic nib to do that, so I got a new extra-fine steel nib from Richard Binder. It's a great nib! I would say the original nib is an 8 or 9 - a good nib, but not good for all situations (but you could also chalk that up to my lack of experience with italic nibs, so a grain or two of salt is in order). The new nib is a 10.

 

Filling System & Maintenance - 7

 

This pen utilizes international standard cartridges or a converter (included with the pen), or it can be used as an eyedropper-filled pen. With regular inks, I used it as an eyedropper pen with no problems at all, but now that I have iron gall ink loaded up, I am using the converter - I flush the pen way more often this way, which is probably a good idea with iron gall inks.

 

Cost & Value - 9

This pen cost me $700 (plus $40 for the custom grind). If you are wanting an urushi pen that is a step above a basic finish, that's a good price. However, it's a lot of money to drop on a pen! I guess I can only say that it was worth every penny to me.

 

Final Score - Original nib: 9, Binder EF nib: 9.17

 

I think Ernest Shin is doing really good work. Is it in the same league as the other companies famous for their urushi and makie (Danitrio and Nakaya)? Honestly, I am the wrong guy to ask. I have had one Danitrio pen, and I am waiting on a couple of Nakayas to arrive, so I can't even begin to compare them. I say you should probably get at least one from all three companies

[dms525]

Nice review of a gorgeous pen. Congratulations! And thanks for sharing.

 

What nib did Richard grind for you? I read your description, but I am curious regarding which of Richard's nibs are compatible with the Edison Pearl - Pelikan? Waverly?

 

David

[da vinci]

Great review - thanks

[quinden]

Nice review of a gorgeous pen. Congratulations! And thanks for sharing.

 

What nib did Richard grind for you? I read your description, but I am curious regarding which of Richard's nibs are compatible with the Edison Pearl - Pelikan? Waverly?

 

David

 

Thanks, David! Richard actually sells production line Edisons, so he is also selling extra nibs. He tests and "binderizes" them all to make sure they write properly. The nib units do screw in like a Pelikan unit, but the two types are not compatible (I believe the Edisons are JoWo nibs). Sorry about the confusion!

 

Great review - thanks

 

Thanks, da vinci!

[jandrese]

Very nice, I like that quite a bit. Thanks for sharing and enjoy!

[quinden]

Very nice, I like that quite a bit. Thanks for sharing and enjoy!

 

Thanks, jandrese!

[kiavonne]

Oh, I really like the finish on your pen. It's beautiful!

[quinden]

Oh, I really like the finish on your pen. It's beautiful!

 

Thanks, kiavonne! I want to do some shots in better light. The tactile qualities of the finish are something I didn't really talk about in the review, but it's very nice. It provides a nice texture for gripping.

[watch_art]

Oh that's gorgeous. One of these days.

[jde]

Nice, Josh! Beautiful.

 

Always like seeing the comparison photos, too.

 

The ishime seems like a great tactile finish to have in the hand.

[quinden]

Oh that's gorgeous. One of these days.

 

Thanks, Shawn! I really wish I could have done a better writing sample; I've been practicing, but progress is slow

 

Nice, Josh! Beautiful.

 

Always like seeing the comparison photos, too.

 

The ishime seems like a great tactile finish to have in the hand.

 

Thanks Julie! It's fantastic in the hand, for sure. I had wondered if the balance would be off (to me) because my other Pearl is a bulb filler, but that has not been the case at all