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Platinum dark Briarwood


jandrese

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This is a review of the Platinum 3776 in dark briarwood with medium nib. Coincidently, darkgreen posted a review of the Nakaya cousin of this pen just before I completed writing this! Here is the link to his post. Nakaya briarwood.

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2518/3695234326_2a3fb83661_o.jpg

 

Recently, I read that 3776 is the height of Mt. Fuji in meters, which in feet comes out to 12,388. Mountains and fountain pens are common themes but the connection between them is not clear to me. Perhaps the customer is supposed to revere the pen as much as the Japanese people love Mt. Fuji. Anyway, the wood body of this 3776 is a different beast from the plastic models. The grip section is different, the cap is different, and the price is different. There are three versions of the wood 3776, dark briar, light briar, and Yakusugi Cedar the later of which is evidently highly prized in Japan. Together these pens make up the Exotic Woods Collection and are available with ultra extra fine through double broad nibs as well as a music nib. Since Japanese nibs write about one full size smaller than their European counterparts I wonder at the line produced by the ultra extra fine!

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2669/3695234290_c055f7245a_o.jpg

 

Several large pen manufacturers make pens from wood and or bamboo, which of course is a grass, but it does look like wood. Sailor and Graf von Faber Castell come immediately to mind. In addition, wood is a common material for hobbyists so there are a lot of wood body pens around. Nevertheless, this is my first fountain pen made from wood and I like it a lot. The lacquered briarwood really shows what is best about a wooden pen, namely that every pen is different and Nature is beautiful. The darkly stained briarwood has a complex, visually appealing grain and a wonderful texture that is much more pleasing than plastic. The grain swoops and swirls in endless movement and when capped except for the clip and cap band, only wood is visible. The wood is light but durable and seems to resist scratching. It also feels warm and inviting unlike cold plastic.

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2448/3694425537_7ba8e9fd90_o.jpg

 

The cap has the standard 3776 clip but a beefy band and a really nice clutch mechanism that snaps the cap onto the section with a satisfyingly strong click. The grip section is much longer and more elegantly contoured than on the plastic 3776 pens. The reason for the different grip section is unclear; perhaps it better accommodates the type of cap Platinum wanted to use, but it is a nice change from the standard pen and is comfortable to grip. The cap posts securely and balance is OK when posted but is better when not. This is because the cap is relatively heavy (12.8 grams for the cap alone vs. 17.5 grams for the body with a full converter) and because the pen is 5.75 inches long capped, but when posted the length increases to 6.43 inches. Never mind though, I rarely post my caps and this is a very comfortable pen to write with.

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2482/3695234770_aa34e2693c_o.jpg

 

The nib and feed are standard 3776 parts and that is indeed a good thing. It means that the nib writes a consistent fine line with little or no fuss. No skipping, no dry starts, no catching, essentially no problems at all. The pen feeds from a bottle using a converter, which in the case of Platinum is not an issue since it has a nice wide mouth for excellent ink flow. If, however, you like cartridges, and I know nobody on the FPN does (or would admit to!), then you would have to use Platinum brand.

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3025/3695234580_a603b33d07_o.jpg

 

As an aside, the Platinum President nib is labeled “M” for medium, which I did not notice before I posted the review of it a couple of weeks ago. On the 3776, as on their Nakaya cousins, the nibs are labeled with Japanese characters to indicate the tip size. Also, the ink in the converter and on the nib is Noodler's Purple Martin, which is an excellent purple.

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3029/3694424935_554584cf7d_o.jpg

 

In summary, this is a great pen and the peak of the non-painted 3776 lineup. By virtue of the material it is guaranteed to be unique and the nib is flawless right out of the box. I’m sure you would enjoy.

 

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The lacquered briarwood really shows what is best about a wooden pen, namely that every pen is different and Nature is beautiful. The darkly stained briarwood has a complex, visually appealing grain and a wonderful texture that is much more pleasing than plastic. The grain swoops and swirls in endless movement and when capped except for the clip and cap band, only wood is visible. The wood is light but durable and seems to resist scratching. It also feels warm and inviting unlike cold plastic.

 

The nib and feed are standard 3776 parts and that is indeed a good thing. It means that the nib writes a consistent fine line with little or no fuss. No skipping, no dry starts, no catching, essentially no problems at all.

 

On the 3776, as on their Nakaya cousins, the nibs are labeled with Japanese characters to indicate the tip size.

 

In summary, this is a great pen and the peak of the non-painted 3776 lineup. By virtue of the material it is guaranteed to be unique and the nib is flawless right out of the box. I’m sure you would enjoy.

 

"Briarwood, Smoking hot!" ... :clap1:

 

Thanks for this very useful review - I was very curious about how similar the Nakaya and Platinum cousins were: this seems to confirm that they are very closely related and your comments for the 3776 could just as easily apply to the Nakaya version.

 

I wonder, did you order a stock item or was there any tweaking of the nib and feed?

 

 

* Nakaya celluloid M * Nakaya Briar F * Sailor PG M-F * Parker Duofold Jnr F * LAMY Safari EF * Tombow Object F * Lamy 2K EF * Platinum Preppy 0.3 *

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Nice pen! By the way, Platinum makes an adapter to permit the use of standard cartridges, too.

"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination."

Oscar Wilde

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The lacquered briarwood really shows what is best about a wooden pen, namely that every pen is different and Nature is beautiful. The darkly stained briarwood has a complex, visually appealing grain and a wonderful texture that is much more pleasing than plastic. The grain swoops and swirls in endless movement and when capped except for the clip and cap band, only wood is visible. The wood is light but durable and seems to resist scratching. It also feels warm and inviting unlike cold plastic.

 

The nib and feed are standard 3776 parts and that is indeed a good thing. It means that the nib writes a consistent fine line with little or no fuss. No skipping, no dry starts, no catching, essentially no problems at all.

 

On the 3776, as on their Nakaya cousins, the nibs are labeled with Japanese characters to indicate the tip size.

 

In summary, this is a great pen and the peak of the non-painted 3776 lineup. By virtue of the material it is guaranteed to be unique and the nib is flawless right out of the box. I’m sure you would enjoy.

 

"Briarwood, Smoking hot!" ... :clap1:

 

Thanks for this very useful review - I was very curious about how similar the Nakaya and Platinum cousins were: this seems to confirm that they are very closely related and your comments for the 3776 could just as easily apply to the Nakaya version.

 

I wonder, did you order a stock item or was there any tweaking of the nib and feed?

 

 

 

Actually, I bought a used pen that was without box. The nib and feed have never been touched. Platinum pens rarely have nib or feed issues in my experience.

 

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Luscious pen. Daddy like. You know what ... as good looking as this pen already is, this pen would be smoldering with a flat black, possibly titanium, or charcoal clip and band.

CFTPM

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These japanese pens are so exquisite. I love the pics! Thanks!

*****the dandelion blog is right here*****

*****the dandelion flickr is right here*****

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  • 2 years later...

I have both the dark and light versions of Platinum #3776 Briarwood fountain pens. The pens are so well made with natural wood materials that they speak of craftmanship and production engineering of Platinum.

My collection: 149 EF/F/B/OBB, Collodi B/Twain F/Mann F, 146 M, Silver Barley F, M1000/M800 B'o'B/M800 Tortoise/Sahara/415 BT/215/205 Blue Demo, Optima Demo Red M/88 EF & Italic/Europa, Emotica, 2K/Safaris/Al-Stars/Vista, Edson DB/Carene BS, Pilot 845/823/742/743/Silvern/M90/Makies, Sailor Profit Realo M/KOP Makies/Profit Makies/Profit 21 Naginata MF&M/KOP/KOP Mosaiques/Sterling Silvers,Platinum #3776 Celluloids/Izumos/Wood pens/Sterling Silvers,YoL Grand Victorian, and more (I lost counting)

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I have the light briar wood Platinum, with medium nib. I'm glad I got the Medium nib, it the currently the smallest nib size in all of my pens, including a L2K EF. Very smooth, classy Pen

Lamy 27 OM,Lamy 99 M,Lamy 68 B,Lamy 2000 EF

Pilot MYU 90 M,Pilot VP Raden M,Pilot Custom 74 M,Pilot Blue Decimo B

Pelikan 205 Blue Demo B,Pelikan 215 Lozenge W 14K two tone M

Rotring 600 1st gen OB

Delta Dolce Vita Piston M

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very nice and understated pen :thumbup: I like it

Pens are like watches , once you start a collection, you can hardly go back. And pens like all fine luxury items do improve with time

 

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Thank you for your nice review. Generally speaking, pens made of briarwood are very expensive. but Platinum briarwood pens are reasonable , not cheep, I think.

 

rokurinpapa

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