Wancher Seven Treasures Review

[Doug C]

It has been a long time since I have done a review on FPN, so bear with me if there are some rough edges.

 

For the last year or so, I have been in a downsizing mode, trying to offload the pens I seldom use. Once in a great while, a pen will come along that seduces me and I have to have it. Two steps forward, one backward...

 

DESIGN 8/10

 

As most of you probably know, Taizo at Wancher (previously Engeika) has come a long way in producing his own brand of pens and associated stationery. I purchased a couple of early Wancher pens (a Lamy 2000 clone and an Indian made ebonite pencil holder) and they were nice enough for me to explore his more expensive offerings.

 

The Seven Treasures is unique in a number of ways,and it doesn't quite look like anything else on the market. It is made of Bakelite, which is an archaic plastic made of formaldehyde, and according to the manual, combined with cotton and paper. This give it a texture similar to pens made of G-10 or Micarta. This results in a nice tactile sensation and also a visual texture that is not apparent in my awful photos. The one downside is that it has a chemical smell that has not gone away in the two weeks I have had the pen. I assume it will dissipate over time.

 

The pen is offered in red, orange and black. I like the orange, but in retrospect might have gotten the red since I have too many orange pens. The gold trim is inoffensive but I would have preferred silver.

 

The most striking aspect of the pen is the Shippoyaki jewel on top of the cap. This is similar to cloisonne, and sets off the plain look of the pen without looking too gaudy. I won't go into detail on the artist that made the Shippoyaki, as it is detailed on the website and in the paperwork that goes with the pen.

 

Finally, due to the tendency of Bakelite to stain, the section is removable so you can fill the pen without getting it in the ink. A nice design touch.

 

PACKAGING 9/10

 

In typical Japanese fashion, the pen came in a softwood box, like Platinums, Nakayas, etc. It also arrived with a nice kimono, as shown in the photos.

 

 

FILLING SYSTEM 7/10

 

The Seven Treasures is a piston filler and is very smooth in operation. It has the same design of piston that was used in some of the last Delta pens in that it ratchets like a car gas cap when it comes to the end of travel.

 

NIB 8/10

 

There is a large choice of nibs available, both in stainless and gold. I chose a SS fine. One nice option is a red ebonite feed. It might seem strange to spend the extra on the feed instead of the nib, but I'm really happy with the end result. This pen has been perfect and has become one of my daily users (at least until the next pretty face comes along).

I loved the fact that before it was shipped, I got an email from Wancher wanting to know if I wanted the nib tested before it was sent out. I elected to have it tested and I"m glad I did.

 

 

QUALITY 9/10

 

 

Nothing can ruin the excitement of getting a new pen more than to find that it has flaws, or issues with writing. I'm happy that this pen is largely perfect. There is one tiny design issue that I have learned to take into account. The cap's inner seal/cap that covers the blind section can catch the tip of the nib if you aren't careful. Not a big deal, but I had to find something to complain about.

 

 

SUMMARY 8/10

 

I like this pen. Actually more than I thought I would. The execution is largely flawless, and although it is not cheap for a steel nibbed pen (about $300 with the options I got), I feel it is well worth the money, and I would not hesitate to purchase another Wancher. It does put a damper on my attempts to downsize my collection, but I'll muddle through......

Nicely done.

Edited October 1, 2020 by Doug C

[Uncial]

Nice material and I like the colour. Reminds me of old lamps.

The top jewel on the cap seems to be quite large and sit quite proud, or is that just the angle of the picture?

[Doug C]

Nice material and I like the colour. Reminds me of old lamps.

The top jewel on the cap seems to be quite large and sit quite proud, or is that just the angle of the picture?

 

It is very prominent but that is the main feature of the pen.

[XYZZY]

Very cool. A few days ago I was wondering where the Bakelite pens are. FP users seem to appreciate archaicdated materials...why not Bakelite? For some reason I like the idea of the ebonite feed with the steel nib, too.

 

The idea of the removable section is interesting. Just to be sure I understand: it's not a captive converter? You take the section off and the entire filling mechanism is still there with the pen? Do the nib and feed remain on the pen when the section comes off? I picture of that would be great.

[Doug C]

Very cool. A few days ago I was wondering where the Bakelite pens are. FP users seem to appreciate archaicdated materials...why not Bakelite? For some reason I like the idea of the ebonite feed with the steel nib, too.

 

The idea of the removable section is interesting. Just to be sure I understand: it's not a captive converter? You take the section off and the entire filling mechanism is still there with the pen? Do the nib and feed remain on the pen when the section comes off? I picture of that would be great.

 

 

 

I'm not sure about the captive converter. I have pens with them, and it is fairly obvious. The fact that it has the ratcheting feature makes me think not, but who knows. I'll try and post a photo with the section off.

 

[langere]

I purchased one of these as well, though mine will not arrive until December (I requested a gold nib).

 

I very much appreciate your review. It helps me to anticipate what I will get and if it was worth the $450 I spent on it. So far, I think I made the right decision. I hope to find out when it finally arrives.

 

Erick

[Doug C]

I purchased one of these as well, though mine will not arrive until December (I requested a gold get it.

 

Great!

 

Please provide your impressions once you getit.

 

I very much appreciate your review. It helps me to anticipate what I will get and if it was worth the $450 I spent on it. So far, I think I made the right decision. I hope to find out when it finally arrives.

 

Erick

[bbs]

Lovely, thanks for posting this Doug. Like Erick, I'm waiting for the same colour pen but with a gold nib. I don’t think this one will disappoint - I was rather underwhelmed by the Dream Pen’s idea of yellow urushi!

[Honeybadgers]

You rated some things as 7's or 8's like the piston or nib -

 

It's nice to share what you like, but you lowered the number for a reason, so what were your gripes? Is a piston filler just inherently not your preferred? does it do something you don't like? Not super smooth?

Edited October 21, 2020 by Honeybadgers

[Doug C]

I use 5 as average in grading so anything above that is positive.

[Steveg58]

Just for the record Bakelite and Micarta are the same thing, just different tradenames with minor differences in process and fill materials. Both are phenolic resins derived from Leo Baekeland's work.

[XYZZY]

Just for the record Bakelite and Micarta are the same thing, just different tradenames with minor differences in process and fill materials. Both are phenolic resins derived from Leo Baekeland's work.

 

 

I disagree that they "are the same thing". Bakelite refers to particular type resin and it's processes. Micarta is resin reinforced fibers, similar in idea to fiberglass or carbon fiber.

[Honeybadgers]

I use 5 as average in grading so anything above that is positive.

 

that's also perfectly valid, but what kept it from going higher? Clearly it wasn't "perfect" in your mind (also perfectly valid, I'm just interested in what things were less than perfect for you)

[Honeybadgers]

Just for the record Bakelite and Micarta are the same thing, just different tradenames with minor differences in process and fill materials. Both are phenolic resins derived from Leo Baekeland's work.

 

Not true in the slightest. There are dozens and dozens of phenolic resins. A phenol is just a six sided carbon ring with an OH group sticking off of it. It's a very, very common molecule. You can join practically any number of them together to create a polyphenol, and every one of them will behave completely differently.

 

While micarta was initially patented with using a phenolic resin as its base, I can't find in a very cursory glance the type of phenol used initially, so I won't rule out the possibility that it used the exact same one as bakelite and simply use it to impregnate fiber sheets, but from what I understand about bakelite is that it has an extremely short "open time", meaning the time that it can be worked, or in micarta's case, time for it to impregnate the fibers and bond them together, so I may be wrong, but I've seen some home chemist synthesis of bakelite, and it looks consistent with what I've seen - and would have been unusable to make micarta.

 

But Micarta is and was not defined by the type of resin used. It was defined by its use of that resin to bind together thin layers of something like wood, paper, cotton, carbon fiber, etc.

 

And modern micarta that we all know uses tons of different resins, phenolic ones may be the least common out there, because thermoplastics are obnoxious as hell to make at non-industrial scales. Epoxy and silicone are much more common now.

 

Micarta has more in common functionally with plywood than bakelite. Polymer chemistry isn't my field of study (biochemistry is) but if you change so much as moving the nitrogen responsible for nylon-6 a single carbon further out to make nylon-7, you create a completely different material with one single atom, let alone the massive structures that are polyphenols and their complex binding systems

 

Also, isn't it funny that bakelite - a plastic - was once so highly treasured by people as a luxury good, like aluminum was once more valuable than gold and kings had aluminum silverware commissioned to show off.

Edited October 28, 2020 by Honeybadgers