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Kawakubo 90Th Anniversary Classic Urushi Eyedropper

sugna

By sugna
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sugna Mint

sugna

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I recently received my latest pen from Katsumi Kawakubo: a small red urushi eyedropper commemorating his shop’s 90th anniversary. It is a traditional Japanese eyedropper design, but features some nice twists, such as a subtle barrel imprint and 14K rolled gold trim. The 14k gold double broad nib is also distinctive and definitely fits the bill given my request of Mr. Kawakubo to find something as broad as possible.

 

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T4TEXAS Extremely Rare

T4TEXAS

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Very handsome pen.

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."


- Jack London



http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww296/messiah_FPN/Badges/SnailBadge.png




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sugna Mint

sugna

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:yikes: :thumbup:

 

 

Very handsome pen.

 

 

Beautiful.

 

Thank you all!

 

 

Very nice looking pen. I am not familiar with this pen shop.

 

Thank you! The shop is located in Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo. Katsumi Kawakubo is a third-generation pen maker, and is also well known for his repair work. Please see below for more info.

 

where do you buy that pen? i try looking it on ebay etc but still cant find it..

how much the price?

 

I ordered it from Mr. Kawakubo himself, he does not sell via eBay. I am not sure if there are any of these 90th Anniversary pens left, please check with him via his FB page (I usually communicate via FB messenger):

 

https://www.facebook.com/kawakubofp/

 

He also makes custom pens from various materials, such as wood and ebonite. Here is one in black walnut that I ordered in advance of a trip to Tokyo and picked up a few months ago:

 

Kawakubo_Lean.jpg

Kawakubo_Front.jpg

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25_15_3 Rare

25_15_3

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Thanks sugna for the tip. I will perhaps look to order a pen from Mr.Kuwakubo in the future :-)

 

I have looked on his web-shop before - although the site has been down for a few days - and really like the orange pen he had up.

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sugna Mint

sugna

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Thanks sugna for the tip. I will perhaps look to order a pen from Mr.Kuwakubo in the future :-) I have looked on his web-shop before - although the site has been down for a few days - and really like the orange pen he had up.

 

Great, please let me know if I can be of assistance in any way. I also noticed that his web-shop is down, I think it is undergoing maintenance. As I mentioned, I have always dealt with him either in person (when in Japan) or via Facebook messenger, and found him very responsive.

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sugna Mint

sugna

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Do you know the story of the pen? Is it made from scratch or uses vintage parts?

 

That is a good question! For my custom pen, everything is made from scratch as far as I know (except for nibs which are OEM from Pilot). A fellow FPN member used to have a great collection of videos called "Masters of the Fountain Pen," one of which featured Mr. Kawakubo's shop and showed him making a pen from start to finish. They have unfortunately been taken down and that member has taken a break from FPN to recover from illness. Here is a more recent one that is pretty cool:

 

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1094700317258045

 

For the anniversary pen, it's likely that the trim may have been NOS, as they have been making pens there for three generations and have lots of stuff tucked away. I saw the barrels and caps last year while they were being cured and polished, but am not sure if he turned them newly for this pen or if they also are NOS from an earlier generation. I'll find out and let you know!

 

Spectacular pens Sugna :) :thumbup:

 

Could you please confirm who made the nib?

 

Thank you! Pilot makes his nibs (i.e. OEM).

 

Where Katsumi Kawakubo's pens are selling, please ?

:unsure:

:happyberet:

 

He has a web-store (in Japanese) which is undergoing maintenance at the moment, and also a store Facebook page. I most often corresponded via Facebook messenger with him:

 

https://www.facebook.com/kawakubofp/

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zanio Rare

zanio

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That is a good question! For my custom pen, everything is made from scratch as far as I know (except for nibs which are OEM from Pilot). A fellow FPN member used to have a great collection of videos called "Masters of the Fountain Pen," one of which featured Mr. Kawakubo's shop and showed him making a pen from start to finish. They have unfortunately been taken down and that member has taken a break from FPN to recover from illness. Here is a more recent one that is pretty cool:

 

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1094700317258045

 

For the anniversary pen, it's likely that the trim may have been NOS, as they have been making pens there for three generations and have lots of stuff tucked away. I saw the barrels and caps last year while they were being cured and polished, but am not sure if he turned them newly for this pen or if they also are NOS from an earlier generation. I'll find out and let you know!

 

I asked because it really looks like few of the vintage eyedroppers I have/had.

The one below is an example. Not in good conditions. But still a quality pen from the past, well built and solid.

post-39258-0-98801100-1479964897_thumb.jpg

 

 

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Tinjapan Collectors Item

Tinjapan

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Lovely pen. I mean really lovely.

 

 

I have made a couple of visits to his shop and met up with him at an off site pen clinic, when I bought a pen from him. As I understand, and my understanding is not perfect, he has a long back log of repairs and thus little time to actually make pens. He does have, it seems, a lot of old stock laying about from which he makes his pens, making only the parts that are out of stock. What state these parts are in, I do not know. He also had several barrels that were recently lacquered drying before assembly. Were these old stack that just hadn't been lacquered or new, I do not know. He was planning on selling them on Yahoo auctions, Japan.

 

I also though that Mr. Kubo made his nibs but that could have been a confusion between two conversations I had with him.

 

I currently have an Imperial gold filigree overlay on order that he hopes to have ready as soon as March 2017.

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da vinci Antique

da vinci

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Lovely pen. I mean really lovely.

 

I also though that Mr. Kubo made his nibs but that could have been a confusion between two conversations I had with him.

I currently have an Imperial gold filigree overlay on order that he hopes to have ready as soon as March 2017.

If Mr Kubo does make his own nibs that is exciting news! :)

 

I would be very interested to see a photo (stock photo if there is one) of the new pen you have on order.

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Tinjapan Collectors Item

Tinjapan

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Mr. Kubo and Mr. Kawakubo are not the same person. Mr. Kubo makes his own nibs and repairs nibs. I believe he does, or did, turn his own pens too.

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Tinjapan Collectors Item

Tinjapan

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Here is the pic. from his website. We are working on a different design for the filigree and I've asked that it be lacquered to prevent color loss of the ebonite.post-92404-0-85860400-1480122543_thumb.jpg

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sugna Mint

sugna

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I asked because it really looks like few of the vintage eyedroppers I have/had.

The one below is an example. Not in good conditions. But still a quality pen from the past, well built and solid.

 

I have a number of pens of this type:

 

IMG_6247.jpg

 

The two on the right are from Kawakubo, the two on the left I found on eBay. Like yours, they are all well-built and evince a quality that I think is getting harder to find these days. My feelings about the Japanese eyedropper as a practical matter change from day to day, but I love the finishes!

 

Here is the pic. from his website. We are working on a different design for the filigree and I've asked that it be lacquered to prevent color loss of the ebonite.attachicon.gifIMG_3048.JPG

 

Beautiful, I'm sure yours will look even better when it's done! Please share it with us once you receive it!

 

My next pen from him will be an Imperial with the tanzaku (短冊) maki-e featured in the pen above (and below). I love this finish, but prefer a larger pen and a piston mechanism over the eyedropper.

 

DSC_0035.jpg

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da vinci Antique

da vinci

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Mr. Kubo and Mr. Kawakubo are not the same person. Mr. Kubo makes his own nibs and repairs nibs. I believe he does, or did, turn his own pens too.

Thank you for clarifying that :)

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