I wanted to share my latest pen, a Pilot custom 743.

It's easily mistaken for a Meisterstuck, but is thinner than the 149 and about the same width as a Pelikan 800 pictured together:



The fit and finish are comparable to the German pens.

Filled, the Pilot is 26g, the 800 is 30g and the 149 is 38g

The 743 is longer than the 800 capped, but is slightly shorter posted, because the cap covers more of the barrel. This feature makes the 743 a secure posting pen, a characteristic the 149 does not share.

The 743 is long enough to write comfortably unposted and is well balanced posted. Of the 3, the 743 fits my hand the best posted and unposted.



It has a pump convertor and has the largest ink capacity of any convertor I've seen and efficiently fills the chamber in 5 pumps of the button which is located at the end of the convertor:



The 14 k mediumPilot nib is smooth, large and nicely engraved. Japanese nibs typically give a thinner line width than American/European nibs of the same nib size , but this medium is quite similar in width to most of my American and European mediums. I'll post a writing sample if I get a chance.



This pen may well become my favorite and is highly recommended.
Lucy also approves


9

Regards,
Jeen

Very nice review of a great pen. Thanks for the look. Pretty kitty - we had one that look almost just like that, except he was 17 lbs!

Hi Jeen,

Thank you very much for the nice review, and comparison with a cat... ummm I mean, a few other dark coloured pens .

Lovely looking pen, resembles my Pilot Music a bit, although that is a lot smaller.

Warm regards, Wim

Hey Southpaw,

You're sure that wasn't a panther cub by any chance?

Warm regards, Wim

Jeen,

I have been looking for this pen for quite sometime. Do they still make them and where can you get them at? What is the going rate for one of these pens.

Thanks

TNS

Hi Noble Savage,

I don't believe they are made for the US market. Check ebay and search for the seller: ujuku123. There is one up for auction @ $250. He has a 100% positive feedback listing and is reputable. Good luck.

Regards,
Jeen

Pretty kitty( oops i meant pens )

I bought a yellow Vanishing point from him!! He is a good seller and ships very quickly too. Ill check him out!! Thanks, I do appreciate the nice review!!!

TNS

FYI, if you want to see a current list of the Pilot fountain pens sold in Japan, with prices in Yen (you can ignore the Japanese text, or use BabelFish if you like), see http://pilot.co.jp/products/pen/fountain/index.html and http://pilot.co.jp/namiki/index.html . Some of the pens sold in the U.S. under the name "Namiki" are sold in Japan under the name "Pilot."

Wow, what a beautiful cat...and the pen is nice, too!

Thanks for the review, Jeen, and all the great close-ups of the pen. It's almost like seeing it in real life...

nice read, i love the comparo pics. sub the pelikan for a black old style sailor king of pen, and you'd have a hard time distinguishing the three

Great pens you picked for reference, and great review.

it is a nice pen

Yeah, I've read nothing but good things about this pen, and the 823, and I'm considering one or the other. In any case, perhaps I'll write a review should I find one soon.

I don't agree that Pilot medium nibs are similar in width to Western nibs. Not at all.

The medium on my Pilot 823 is very much a western medium. It must be one of those YMMV things!

I have a pilot custom 823 medium nib ordered from Japan. While I like a larger diameter, MB 149 or Pelikan 1000, and the filling system is not as nice as a piston fill the nib on this pen is the best on any of my pens. My litany includes DanI Trio,
MB 149 and 146, Pelikan 800 and 1000, Caran D'Ache, Filaco, Aurora, not naming the brands tried and rejected.

I've got the 823 and I absolutely love it! It's one of my all-time favorites! I ordered mine with the fine nib and found the flow a little dry at first. Fortunately, I had a chance to visit the Philly pen show and had the feed adjusted.

Filled with Aurora black, it's one of the smoothers writers I own and lays down a wonderfully fine line. This is the first pen I've ever owned that, if heaven forbid I lost it, I'd have to find myself another one... immediately... at almost any cost.

Whichever you choose, I hope you enjoy it.

All the best,
Mike

PS - Oh, bother... Now I have to research the 743, too...

IMHO it's close to a Sheaffer Legacy medium, but narrower than a Parker Duofold, MB 146/149 or Waterman Man 100 medium. It's also narrower than medium nibs on Italian pens. So, let's just say it's broader than the typical Japanese medium, but slightly narrower than a typical Western.