Pilot Capless Rainbow

[Siv]

I'm going to tease you over the next few days with snippets from my Capless rainbow. Hopefully, once I've got decent photos of the whole set, I'll post a nice pic of the lot. Bear in mind that I only collect modern Capless pens (post 1999) and only those with Rhodum trim. No plastic or gold trimmed pens here!

 

Today we're going to start with the Kasuri pens, so named after a type of Japanese fabric. The design is known as Carbonesque outside Japan however it only has a passing resemblance to carbon fiber weave.

 

Here's the set in normal light and with the flash:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1114/3172338507_e395df4629.jpg http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1167/3173170988_3536b1b45e.jpg

 

The blue and black are commonly available. The red and green were commonly available in Japan but were recently discontinued. The red was also available in North America as a limited edition. More information on release dates etc can be found in Carmen Rivera's page - the link is in my signature.

 

Here's a closeup of the backs:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3408/3172338689_24c1fcc6d9.jpg http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1171/3172338775_81dbed67be.jpg

 

You can see that the Pilot Japan forms part of the Kasuri effect printing and is in silver for the red and black and metallic blue/green for the blue/green. The printing is definitely slightly raised above the surface of the finish which gives the Kasuri a different feel to the other smooth finished Capless pens.

 

Even though the printing looks random, a closer look shows that all the prints are identical for all four colours (look at the shape of the blob above the 'L' in Pilot).

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1101/3172338795_a03752f420.jpg

 

A final point of interest - these pens now come with 18kt gold nibs in North America but are sold with 18k Rh plated nibs in Europe and Japan (which look much better IMHO).

[misterh]

Nice collection and pictures

 

Looking forward to seeing the rest of your collection.

[Silvermink]

Hm, are the red and green kasuri Japan-only?

[Siv]

Hm, are the red and green kasuri Japan-only?

Red and green are no longer made and I've not been able to get them from the usual sellers in Japan. You'll have to hunt around - I got my red from a FPNer (it's a US LE release) and the green from a UK seller. I've also seen them on Martini auctions (for silly prices) and occasionally on eBay, particularly from UK sellers.

Edited January 7, 2009 by Siv

[MYU]

Ah Siv, the fruits of your labor. And it has indeed paid off in a wonderful parade of Kasuri colorations. Congratulations! Very nice. If you don't have a light tent, invest in one and be sure to take high resolution photos for your permanent record. In case the day comes when you sell them.

 

 

Y'know something funny? Nah.... Well, maybe.

 

 

See if you can find a shirt made in the Kasuri fabric. Wouldn't it be great to have one of these VP's in your pocket, with a perfect match to your shirt?

Edited January 7, 2009 by MYU

[Peter from Sherwood Park]

Very nice grouping -- thank you for postings these photos.

[Siv]

Part two: recent pens, the Decimo and Sesenta Limited Editions

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3096/3176162873_9b5ee3a61c.jpghttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3078/3176162849_572b808dbf.jpg

 

On the left are the five Decimo pens in blue, pink, gold, white and grey. All the colours are metallic and all pens come with rhodium plated nibs. These pens are not sold in the US officially but you can get them pretty easily but for a price.

 

On the right are the three Sesenta LEs. I believe these pens were made for the 60th anniversary of a department store in Tokyo (I may be wrong) and were produced in limited quantities (100 red, 100 green, 400 brown). There has been some debate as to whether these numbers are correct because you can still get them on eBay!

 

A quirk of these pens is that they are not rhodium trimmed like their larger brethren but are trimmed with chromium (chrome!). The very first one I got was the brown Sesenta and you can see that the plating has darkened slightly. It's a lot more visible when compared side to side with a newer pen but hardly noticeable when standing alone.

 

By the way, all these colours are unique and are not found on other capless pens with the exception of the grey - it is very close (if not identical) in colour to the gunmetal grey colour released in the US. Also the absence of a simple black pen and the inclusion of white, pink and yellow may suggest that these have been directed mainly towards women users.

 

A final comment on these - many people (of both sexes) like them a lot more than the standard VP. They are lighter (I believe due to aluminium construction) and thinner making them easier to hold and manipulate for some and have identical ink capacity and nib units to the standard. Others even think that this is the future preferred shape of VPs and that may well be the case if they prove to be more popular than their chunkier brethren.

[arz]

Thanks for sharing your lovely collection! I look forward to seeing more of your pictures.

 

I got a VP in blue carbonesque/kasuri (I like that explanation of the finish much better) several years ago and recently had the nib reground by Pendemonium to differentiate it from my Raden. They are spectacular pens!

[Silvermink]

Ooh, I like those Sesentas.

 

I think my favorite part of the Raden isn't even the raden so much as the urushi. It just feels nice.

[Siv]

Part three: Oranges and LemonsMandarins

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3532/3183492507_4a51a58f6d.jpghttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3429/3183492465_c337da0784.jpg

 

Since a recent post was made with the US yellow, I thought I would show off the spread of yellow VPs and throw the Orange LE in there for good measure. Of course, there is one missing from this set, the Tokyo Orange and if I knew where Taki lived I would go and steal hers . This one remains elusive and I doubt I will every get my hands on one with my limited network of Japanese pen suppliers.

 

Anyway, enough lamenting, we have from left to right - the Mandarin Yellow LE, US Yellow, Japan Deep Yellow and Orange LE. The first photo is without a flash and I think it really representative of the colours of each of these pens. The second is with a flash and makes the mandarin and US look the same but in the flesh the mandarin us almost fluorescent!

 

One thing that concerned me when I was on the look-out for a Mandarin was how would I be able to tell if it was real? These LEs were not numbered and didn't come in a special box. As you can see, the picture with the flash doesn't help in identification either. Here's how to tell (again photo without and with flash):

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3093/3184330940_0c8ba300f2.jpghttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3436/3183492491_daaaae4ddf.jpg

 

On the back of the pens you have the customary "Pilot Japan". You can see that the Mandarin has this printed in Silver. The US and Japan yellows are printed in black (actually more like a dark metallic grey). The Japan dark yellow should be easy to tell - in anything other than very bright light, this pen looks a deep mustard colour which I think would be difficult to mistake for the US yellow. Also, the Japan yellow is only sold with a gold plated steel nib so the nib should not have a 14k or 18k on it. However it is so easy to change the nib that this is probably not a reliable way of differentiation. For the Oranges, the LE has the "Limited Edition" phrase and I believe the Tokyo Orange will only say "Pilot Japan".

 

The Mandarin yellow was my most recent acquisition, aided by an enormously gracious fellow FPNer. The pictured Mandarin was not an original release but rather a pen made up from parts that were kept by Pilot USA for warranty repairs. As the original pens are now well out of warranty, the parts were assembled into 7 pens and mated with the current standard 18k nib and made available to a pen store. You could argue that to be truly original they would have to have the 14k nibs that the original run was released with. Well I have a few of these nibs and they are easy to change out!

[matje]

so, in waiting for more great pictures...which of all the equally loved pens/finishes do you love more equally than the others?

 

mattias

[Siv]

so, in waiting for more great pictures...which of all the equally loved pens/finishes do you love more equally than the others?

Easy question - the Raden. If I could only have one, the Raden would be it.

[Shamouti]

Now, it would be nice to see the rainbow in the older versions as well.

 

Excellent work as usual, Siv.

 

Shamouti

[chibimie]

Part two: recent pens, the Decimo and Sesenta Limited Editions

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3096/3176162873_9b5ee3a61c.jpghttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3078/3176162849_572b808dbf.jpg

 

On the left are the five Decimo pens in blue, pink, gold, white and grey. All the colours are metallic and all pens come with rhodium plated nibs. These pens are not sold in the US officially but you can get them pretty easily but for a price.

 

On the right are the three Sesenta LEs. I believe these pens were made for the 60th anniversary of a department store in Tokyo (I may be wrong) and were produced in limited quantities (100 red, 100 green, 400 brown). There has been some debate as to whether these numbers are correct because you can still get them on eBay!

 

A quirk of these pens is that they are not rhodium trimmed like their larger brethren but are trimmed with chromium (chrome!). The very first one I got was the brown Sesenta and you can see that the plating has darkened slightly. It's a lot more visible when compared side to side with a newer pen but hardly noticeable when standing alone.

 

By the way, all these colours are unique and are not found on other capless pens with the exception of the grey - it is very close (if not identical) in colour to the gunmetal grey colour released in the US. Also the absence of a simple black pen and the inclusion of white, pink and yellow may suggest that these have been directed mainly towards women users.

 

A final comment on these - many people (of both sexes) like them a lot more than the standard VP. They are lighter (I believe due to aluminium construction) and thinner making them easier to hold and manipulate for some and have identical ink capacity and nib units to the standard. Others even think that this is the future preferred shape of VPs and that may well be the case if they prove to be more popular than their chunkier brethren.

 

Very nice! I didn't realize the Sesentas are decimos. I will have to take a second look at them (I still see them in some stores here, including Itoya in Ginza). The green and red carbonesque are still around, though they cost a bit more here.

 

On another note, a reliable salesperson for Maruzen told me that the next LE was likely to be in some shade of red.

 

[Siv]

I totally forgot I had started this thread!

Part Four: Shades of Grey

 

Here we have the greyscale colours ranging from the white Decimo to the black Urushi Raden.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3312/3258230084_239cc863f9.jpghttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3518/3257400469_fde0ce3664.jpg

 

The first pen of note is the second from the left - the all Rhodium. This is a unique pen in that the silver is really silver. It even feels colder to the touch than the other pens, perhaps due to the absence of lacquer.

 

5th from the left is the gunmetal grey Capless. This was a relatively recent release in the US and is identical in colour to the metallic grey Decimo.

 

The slate grey Capless is the one that takes on a blue tinge under the flash.

 

The penultimate pen is the Raden - my favourite and the one I carry with me everywhere.

[matje]

I totally forgot I had started this thread!

Part Four: Shades of Grey

 

Here we have the greyscale colours ranging from the white Decimo to the black Urushi Raden.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3312/3258230084_239cc863f9.jpghttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3518/3257400469_fde0ce3664.jpg

 

The first pen of note is the second from the left - the all Rhodium. This is a unique pen in that the silver is really silver. It even feels colder to the touch than the other pens, perhaps due to the absence of lacquer.

 

5th from the left is the gunmetal grey Capless. This was a relatively recent release in the US and is identical in colour to the metallic grey Decimo.

 

The slate grey Capless is the one that takes on a blue tinge under the flash.

 

The penultimate pen is the Raden - my favourite and the one I carry with me everywhere.

 

thanks Siv.

the middle section of this image (the grey ones) are my favorites so far, but it is a tough choice when i look at your yellow/orange stable.

question: how many caplesses do you usually keep inked at any given time?

question 2: what is your favorite ink in your raden capless?

question 3: what is your favorite nib size in caplessdom, i.e. which nib do you have the most of?

question 4: should i upset spouse and wallet and buy a raden?

 

[Souljer]

Hi,

 

Very interesting. I've heard a few people complain about the position of the clip on newer designs. Are these all the newer designs (post 1999)? All the clips look the same from this angle so I can't tell what's the problem.

 

You mention Raden. Which one is Raden and why is it different from the others? Why do you like it better (more equally ) than the others?

In this last group, two of the pens seem to have different blind-cap ends (not the plunger button), what are those and how do they work?

 

I am interested in a capless design yet I've never seen one of these close-up to see them working. Maybe at the LA show I'll get a closer look. Until then I'll just have to make my best guess.

 

Thanx for showing us these, and for any enlightenment.

Edited February 6, 2009 by Souljer

[Siv]

I used to keep 4-5 capless inked at any one time. Now I only keep one - the Raden, inked with Pilot purple carts with a M nib.

 

I probably have equal amounts of M and F nibs and only a couple of B. I made sure that I have at least one of each size in the two nib colours (gold and Rh).

 

The Raden is the second from the right with the sparkles.

 

The two pens with the fat bottoms are twist-to-open models called the Fermo.

 

All the Capless in my collection are modern pens - post '99.

 

As I have mentioned before, if I had to only have one, the Raden would be it. I seriously recommend getting one - they are excellent value for money when you consider the workmanship. Don't pay more than $220ish though!

[Kamiyashi]

How does the Feramo compare to the Decimo?

 

You always make me want to cave on the Raden... :roflmho:

 

Such a beautiful collection, thank you for sharing such great images!

[Siv]

How does the Feramo compare to the Decimo?

 

You always make me want to cave on the Raden...

 

Of course, all the pens perform the same as they all have the same nib units. The Fermo is heavier and a little thicker at the holding point but I don't have a problem using it. The Decimo is much lighter thinner.

 

Buy a Raden! I am 99% confident you won't regret it...