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Help Identifying Platinum Pen


BergerDM

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Hello!

So, trolling around for inexpensive pens to buy as (I am fairly new to the hobby), and having had A Plaisir for my first FP, I hold a soft spot for Platinums. So when I found one that was, in the grand scheme of things, very cheap and a full demonstrator, I had to have it.

However, it seems to be an older model, and there is no model name on the pen or anything of the kind.

 

post-149442-0-21470900-1558479029_thumb.jpg

 

The nib is very fine, between my Plaisir's 03 nib and a Pilot EF one. The photo doesn't show it clearly, but there are two japanese characters engraved below the platinum logo, so tiny I couldn't see them properly to copy.

 

post-149442-0-04500000-1558479491_thumb.jpg

 

I couldn't really find a full catalog of Platinum models, and therefore could not identify this pen. Maybe one of you has seen it before? I'd appreciate any help.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Edited by BergerDM
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I cannot make out the two blurred kanji characters on the nib from the second photo. What I can tell you is, in the context of nib width grades:

  • 極 means 'extra'
  • 細 means 'fine'
  • 中 means 'medium'

and, from the apparent density of the strokes, I'll venture a guess the inscription reads 極細.

 

The nib is apparently (in the absence of markings indicating the gold content in the alloy) made of gold-plated stainless steel, and the shape of the nib is different from that in the current Platinum Balance line of pens. I have never come across information on a Platinum pen model with a ribbed section; even the section on the Platinum #3776 Ribbed is smooth. It appears, from the first photo, that there is a model number ending in "B-5" on the box? What does it actually read in its entirety?

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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I'm trying to get a better camera so I can photograph the symbols.

The B-5 is just that - B-5. All that is written there. The pen seems old to me, as the clear body is a little yellowed.

 

I cannot make out the two blurred kanji characters on the nib from the second photo. What I can tell you is, in the context of nib width grades:

 

  •  

     

  • 極 means 'extra'

     

     

  • 細 means 'fine'

     

     

  • 中 means 'medium'

     

     

 

and, from the apparent density of the strokes, I'll venture a guess the inscription reads 極細.

 

The nib is apparently (in the absence of markings indicating the gold content in the alloy) made of gold-plated stainless steel, and the shape of the nib is different from that in the current Platinum Balance line of pens. I have never come across information on a Platinum pen model with a ribbed section; even the section on the Platinum #3776 Ribbed is smooth. It appears, from the first photo, that there is a model number ending in "B-5" on the box? What does it actually read in its entirety?

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You certainly contacted Platinum (Japan, US, ...) and asked?

 

Is there a barcode on the box? If yes, make a photo of that label too.

 

-

The breather hole of the nib is round? Then it is the old-style nib.

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yup, it's that one! Though I got it for about a third of that listed price.

 

I was just coming to include in the thread a picture of the nib as fully cleaned as I could make it, used water as my zoom so I could get the tiny symbols with my crappy phone camera:

 

post-149442-0-56962300-1559861764_thumb.jpg

 

I'm thinking if possible converting it to an eyedropper; I think it would look very good. Dunno exactly what is needed to do that in this particular pen, but it would look very good.

Edited by BergerDM
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中細 is Medium Fine.

 

That's interesting, since unlike Sailor and Pilot, Platinum doesn't seem to have that nib width grade as an option for many (or any?) pen models these days. The MSRP sticker of ¥2,000 (seen in the photos of the one Peyton Street Pens is selling) places the model somewhere between the aluminium-bodied Plaisir and the acrylic-bodied Balance (including the 'Crystal'/'Cool' demonstrator) models of today, even after accounting for 1990 pricing.

 

I'm thinking if possible converting it to an eyedropper; I think it would look very good. Dunno exactly what is needed to do that in this particular pen, but it would look very good.

Unscrew the section from the barrel, fill the barrel with ink, then screw the section back on, and off you go? Isn't that as simple as it gets? Everything else (applying silicon grease, adding an O-ring, etc.) is just preventative measures, but not critical to how an eye-dropper pen functions, as long as there is no defect in the screw threads creating a gap between section and barrel where they connect.

Edited by A Smug Dill

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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