Platignum pens

[Peheme]

Hello,

 

Please forgive my bad English. Also, this is my first review.

 

Right now I have two new Platignum pens:

A number 3 ballpoint and a number 5 fountain pen.

 

The gun metal ballpoint is nice and weighty. Nothing more to add really.

It comes with a medium ballpoint and two refills, a nice touch from Platignum. The ballpoint goes out with a - smooth - twist of the barrel.

 

The number 5 fountain pen looks classical. A nice black pen.

The clip, shaped like a pen nib adds a little fun and the weight of the pen confirms the impression of robustness.

 

The snap-on cap securely stays in place. The semi-hooded medium nib is quite smooth, not as much as the one on my Sailor Sapporo, but better than my Pelikan M215 that costs much more.

 

I think the nib gives the pen a nice retro look. Medium is the only size available, but it does not bother me at all.

Compared to a Faber-Castell e-Motion medium, the platignum is narrower, comparable in size to the line created by a Pelikano Jr.

 

I have not tried to use the pen with a convertor, but it takes long cartridges and I prefer that, as it is less messy and more convenient, for me at least.

I'm using long Pelikan cartridges, lovely violet ink.

 

So, for the price (11,02 £, V.A.T. included), I think it is a very good buy.

 

The only minor annoyance is the plastic blister packaging.

 

I got both pens from http://www.cultpens.com (no affiliation).

 

Maybe the reason why I love the number 5 fountain pen so much is more personnal.

 

I remember at a young age being forbidden to use ballpoint pens in school. Only pencils were allowed. A few years later, ballpoint were not forbidden, but almost everybody used fountain pens.

Back then, it was some cheap plastic pens. I don't remember the brand.

 

Then I had a Waterman fountain pen. Still cheap, but with a metallic body.

I kept this pen trough high school, and it is hard to tell why, but it was very important to me.

 

My family had modest financial resources, and this pen was my first personal object.

I mean yes, I had more expensive shoes and clothes, but it was not as important to me, not as personal.

 

Had I expressed any interest in pens, I would probably had a more expansive one as a Christmas gift or birthday present, but not telling anybody was also important.

It was like, a little secret.

 

A few years ago when I tried to buy another cheap Waterman metallic pen, I remember being ridiculed by a store clerk because I had no idea that different nib sizes even existed.

 

My interest in fountain pens has been recently renewed, and I now have a small but nice collection, and thanks to this board, I know a lot more about pens in general.

Somehow the Platignum number 5 brought back, not memories - I never used that brand before -, but feelings.

 

A few people know that I like pens,. Not one of them know that this inexpensive mass produced pen is my favorite, just as in school...

 

I just ordered another number 5, just in case! Along with a number 4.

 

Sorry, I cannot take pictures, but you can see the pens here:

http://www.platignum.com/

[Univer]

Welcome - and thank you for sharing your story.

 

You may discover that you are in very good company: that many of us have a special attachment to the simple pens that introduced us to the hobby. Even if we no longer own that first pen, we may find ourselves drawn to pens that evoke memories of it.

 

My first fountain pen - I'm lucky to own it still - was a simple Sheaffer Cartridge Pen. To this day, I have a great fondness for that model, and for other "school pens" as well. They happily live alongside the more expensive and rare pens I've acquired over the years, and I enjoy them all.

 

Very sorry to hear about your negative store experience. No-one entering this hobby should be met with ridicule, in person or online. I'm glad you persevered!

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

[WillAdams]

Neat!

 

Am I missing something, or are they not doing italic nibs?

 

William

 

 

[Tournevis]

Votre anglais est parfait.

Edited November 6, 2007 by Tournevis

[Hélène]

Je suis d'accord avec Tournevis.

[Peheme]

Hello,

 

Thank you.

 

 

That Béret wearing smiley is cute :clap1:

 

I hope that this small review will bring Platignum pens to the attention of some members of the forum.

 

Regards,

[Huffward]

Neat!

 

Am I missing something, or are they not doing italic nibs?

 

William

 

No, only medium apparently. A disappointment. It doesn't bother me personally, but I think they'd have done better to offer a range. Nice to see Platignum marketing something that looks reasonable. I hope they go on to improve on it.

 

[Huffward]

I hope that this small review will bring Platignum pens to the attention of some members of the forum.

 

Yes, I hope so too. Several British companies have risen again from the ashes in recent years (Conway Stewart and Onoto) and there's also Yard-o-led, but all these pens are reasonably to very upmarket. There's also the newish company, Sigma, and one or two smaller upmarket makers. Platignum could provide reasonable-quality, reasonably-priced British pens, though the nibs, at least, are made in Germany. I hope they go on to improve their offer further. I agree that the blister pack is disappointing, but it's practical. Lamy, Sheaffer, and Parker, to name but three, also market pens in this price range in blister packs. It's because they are sold off the shop wall or peg, rather than from the pen cabinet.

 

And welcome to FPN.

[Huffward]

Hello,

 

Thank you.

 

 

That Béret wearing smiley is cute :clap1:

 

I hope that this small review will bring Platignum pens to the attention of some members of the forum.

 

Regards,

 

PS. What a fascinating place to live! Saint-Pierre & Miquelon. It's one of those places I've seen on the map and thought, "I wonder what it's like?" I like islands, and I spend most of my holidays on islands. Maybe I'll get to Saint Pierre one day.

[WillAdams]

Are the new pens compatible w/ the old nib units? Can the nibs be removed / changed at all? Funny that they mention that Platignum was the first company to do this in their history page, then don't do it w/ the new pens.

 

William

 

 

[impossiblebird]

I bought one of these, thought it good value, gifted another to somebody... who quickly came back with the complaint that in posting the cap, the clutch mechanism had broken, so that the cap could no longer stay on the section when the pen was put to bed...

 

I assumed she was being heavy handed, but I just did the same to mine , and I know I wasn't. In fact, it's the first damage I've managed to do to a pen in almost 40 years.

 

Most annoying! If I want to continue using it, I guess I'll have to embed the cap at a jaunty angle in something heavy, and use it as a desk pen... :hmm1:

[Sarah M]

I bought one of these, thought it good value, gifted another to somebody... who quickly came back with the complaint that in posting the cap, the clutch mechanism had broken, so that the cap could no longer stay on the section when the pen was put to bed...

 

I assumed she was being heavy handed, but I just did the same to mine , and I know I wasn't. In fact, it's the first damage I've managed to do to a pen in almost 40 years.

 

Most annoying! If I want to continue using it, I guess I'll have to embed the cap at a jaunty angle in something heavy, and use it as a desk pen... :hmm1:

 

I had the exact same thing happen to me with my first No. 5 Studio. My husband was able to fix the cap to the extent that it will stay on the section, but not as firmly as before, and it still won't post. Other than that I really like this pen - the colours, the weight, the way it writes, and the price. So I am just treating it as a non-cap-posting pen, and leave the cap on the desk while I write. I have three of them now, so obviously the cap problem didn't put me off!

 

Sarah

[impossiblebird]

I bought one of these, thought it good value, gifted another to somebody... who quickly came back with the complaint that in posting the cap, the clutch mechanism had broken, so that the cap could no longer stay on the section when the pen was put to bed...

 

I assumed she was being heavy handed, but I just did the same to mine , and I know I wasn't. In fact, it's the first damage I've managed to do to a pen in almost 40 years.

 

Most annoying! If I want to continue using it, I guess I'll have to embed the cap at a jaunty angle in something heavy, and use it as a desk pen... :hmm1:

 

I had the exact same thing happen to me with my first No. 5 Studio. My husband was able to fix the cap to the extent that it will stay on the section, but not as firmly as before, and it still won't post. Other than that I really like this pen - the colours, the weight, the way it writes, and the price. So I am just treating it as a non-cap-posting pen, and leave the cap on the desk while I write. I have three of them now, so obviously the cap problem didn't put me off!

 

Sarah

What did he do? I've had a go, but not been able to improve matters.

 

I can live without posting, but if I could get the cap to stay on the section when not used, it would be a start. I'll be asking Platignum whether they can see their way to sending me a replacement cap.

[Sarah M]

I bought one of these, thought it good value, gifted another to somebody... who quickly came back with the complaint that in posting the cap, the clutch mechanism had broken, so that the cap could no longer stay on the section when the pen was put to bed...

 

I assumed she was being heavy handed, but I just did the same to mine , and I know I wasn't. In fact, it's the first damage I've managed to do to a pen in almost 40 years.

 

Most annoying! If I want to continue using it, I guess I'll have to embed the cap at a jaunty angle in something heavy, and use it as a desk pen... :hmm1:

 

I had the exact same thing happen to me with my first No. 5 Studio. My husband was able to fix the cap to the extent that it will stay on the section, but not as firmly as before, and it still won't post. Other than that I really like this pen - the colours, the weight, the way it writes, and the price. So I am just treating it as a non-cap-posting pen, and leave the cap on the desk while I write. I have three of them now, so obviously the cap problem didn't put me off!

 

Sarah

What did he do? I've had a go, but not been able to improve matters.

 

I can live without posting, but if I could get the cap to stay on the section when not used, it would be a start. I'll be asking Platignum whether they can see their way to sending me a replacement cap.

 

It's been a while so I can't remember exactly, I'm afraid. There's an inner sleeve in the cap, and he just put something long and thin (end of a slim metal ballpoint pen, or maybe tweezers) down there, sort of wedged it and pulled up to try to pull the inner sleeve back up a bit. Good luck!

 

Sarah

[impossiblebird]

I bought one of these, thought it good value, gifted another to somebody... who quickly came back with the complaint that in posting the cap, the clutch mechanism had broken, so that the cap could no longer stay on the section when the pen was put to bed...

 

I assumed she was being heavy handed, but I just did the same to mine , and I know I wasn't. In fact, it's the first damage I've managed to do to a pen in almost 40 years.

 

Most annoying! If I want to continue using it, I guess I'll have to embed the cap at a jaunty angle in something heavy, and use it as a desk pen... :hmm1:

 

I had the exact same thing happen to me with my first No. 5 Studio. My husband was able to fix the cap to the extent that it will stay on the section, but not as firmly as before, and it still won't post. Other than that I really like this pen - the colours, the weight, the way it writes, and the price. So I am just treating it as a non-cap-posting pen, and leave the cap on the desk while I write. I have three of them now, so obviously the cap problem didn't put me off!

 

Sarah

What did he do? I've had a go, but not been able to improve matters.

 

I can live without posting, but if I could get the cap to stay on the section when not used, it would be a start. I'll be asking Platignum whether they can see their way to sending me a replacement cap.

 

It's been a while so I can't remember exactly, I'm afraid. There's an inner sleeve in the cap, and he just put something long and thin (end of a slim metal ballpoint pen, or maybe tweezers) down there, sort of wedged it and pulled up to try to pull the inner sleeve back up a bit. Good luck!

 

Sarah

Sounds like he tried the same as me, only more successfully. Guess I'll have to put a flea in Platignum's ear. We're not talking big bucks here, but still! They were notorious for inferior build quality in their pens when I was at school; let's hope they're not going the same way with the relaunch!

 

Cheers...

[wabisabi54]

I really, really, REALLY wanted to like this pen. A Platignum with italic nib was virtually my introduction to FPs. (Well, there had been the Sheaffer cartridge pens I used for 3rd grade penmanship. Not a happy experience, not because of the pen, but because of an inept right-handed teacher incapable of teaching a lefty overwriter.) But the Platignum came into my life when I was in England for a year at an all-girl grammar school, and using a fountain pen was almost as mandatory as the school uniform. It was a wonderful, magical year and that pen is inextricably linked in my memory of it.

 

So, when I saw this Platignum on Amazon at an extremely affordable price, I just had to have it, hoping it would live up to the memory of the one I had over 40 years ago. Visually, it is a very nice pen, solidly made. But it is very heavy, and what's more, most of the weight is in the bottom nib section which is all steel, while the upper part is plastic. This makes it very bottom heavy, in my opinion, and the bottom steel section is slippery, so I find it rotating in my hand as I write, forcing me to constantly adjust my grip to find the sweet point. It's too bad, because it has a nice, smooth line and doesn't skip.

 

Not a pen I will be using, I'm sad to say.

[Newjelan]

1270392035[/url]' post='1492622']

1270328602[/url]' post='1491774']

I bought one of these, thought it good value, gifted another to somebody... who quickly came back with the complaint that in posting the cap, the clutch mechanism had broken, so that the cap could no longer stay on the section when the pen was put to bed...

 

I assumed she was being heavy handed, but I just did the same to mine , and I know I wasn't. In fact, it's the first damage I've managed to do to a pen in almost 40 years.

 

Most annoying! If I want to continue using it, I guess I'll have to embed the cap at a jaunty angle in something heavy, and use it as a desk pen... :hmm1:

 

I had the exact same thing happen to me with my first No. 5 Studio. My husband was able to fix the cap to the extent that it will stay on the section, but not as firmly as before, and it still won't post. Other than that I really like this pen - the colours, the weight, the way it writes, and the price. So I am just treating it as a non-cap-posting pen, and leave the cap on the desk while I write. I have three of them now, so obviously the cap problem didn't put me off!

 

Sarah

 

I have the same problem with mine. As I never post my caps it doesn't matter but I'm a little concerned the cap will come off the pen in my bag. Nice looking pen though and nice writer.

[Mike 59]

Hi, I just bought a Platignum Vibe black fountain pen, I thought the price of GBP 10.50 was reasonable.

What a surprise, a thin, heavy-ish, strong pen, almost identical in size to a Cross Century 2.

The barrel and cap are made of metal, the section from plastic.

The cap clicks on with a positive action, same when posting, a positive click.

Two large blue ink cartridges supplied, not sure on the type yet, maybe 'international', need to check on that.

And it writes with a smooth, fine/medium line, no start up problems, no skipping, really very impressive.

I see the shop where I bought mine has none left..... I would have bought a spare.

As a previous writer said, the packaging is cheap-ish, but the pen is better than I expected for £10.

Edited November 2, 2012 by Mike 59