Platinum #3776 Century

[jandrese]

This is a quick review of the new Platinum #3776 Century in the Bourgogne color, which is a mostly transparent wine colored red. Bourgogne is French for burgundy. 3776 is the height of Mt. Fuji in meters. The pen was purchased at Dromgooles in Houston, TX.

 

 

This lovely pen has a lovely broad 14K nib that writes a wet, wide medium line, almost like a Western broad! Let me get this right out of the way, the nib is fantastic! Only a light touch is needed to produce a juicy line. The nib is very smooth at all angles, and is very forgiving of position and pressure. It doe not flex, or give, or feel soft. The nib does not feel nail hard either. The feed looks different than those on my older 3776 pens, more robust somehow. Don't know if that is because it is a broad nib, or because it is of the Century type, or if that is just how they make em now.

 

 

 

The burgundy color really is reminiscent of wine, and based on the package insert Platinum must be proud of their new pen. This is because they provide a card saying how they tested a lot of plastics before they got it right. The card is also numbered indicating that it is one of the first 600 made. The pen itself has no indication of a numbered edition, and I'm sure it won't be limited. Otherwise, the basic box includes a converter, and one cartridge of black ink.

 

 

Platinum has a well-deserved reputation for making excellent writers, even if the pen itself is not much to write home about (think about a basic black #3776 with a music nib). Aside from the pretty color, which is complimented nicely by the gold colored plating on the fittings, the plastic still feels kind of cheap and has that hard plastic ring to it. Anyway, I'm sure that it is durable, but the plastic does not feel all that luxurious. Not a big deal for a relatively inexpensive pen though. Balance is best when posted, but it is not necessary.

 

One of the best parts, aside from the color, the robust cap band, and the nib (gee, it is a nice pen), is the Century style cap. Basically, it has a spring loaded inner cap that seals the nib off when the cap is screwed on. This pen is enough of a demonstrator to see this in action. On their website Platinum even has a graph showing how effective this arrangement is at preventing the ink from drying up in the pen. I expect to be able to pick this pen up after six months, or more, and have it write immediately. This cap should also make it a good pen for flying.

 

You can see the inner cap and its spring in the image below.

 

 

The Century update is a welcome addition to the venerable #3776 line, and this color would make anyone happy. The nib alone with worth it actually, and I expect to find myself using this pen often. Transparent red must be the thing now. For example, Omas now has an expensive transparent red demonstrator 360. I wonder if the Pelikan M200 red demonstrator, which I have, is still available.

[cnjackson]

Wow--that's a good looking pen! Will you show some writing samples, too?

 

Thanks for sharing this!

 

Chris

[reval]

I *really* like the looks of this pen and if it writes as good as my 3776 ribbed version, it is a must have for me.

[jandrese]

Wow--that's a good looking pen! Will you show some writing samples, too?

 

Thanks for sharing this!

 

Chris

 

Yes, here it is.

 

Matador ink via 3776.

[watch_art]

Beautiful pen. Wow...

[XiaoMG]

Thanks for the review. I've been wondering about the bourgogne, while I got the standard black Century. While the color is interesting, it's a lot more transparent than I'd imagined it.

 

One thing some users should know is that the Century model seems to run wider than the classic 3776. On the versions I've tried, the tines did not touch and the line ran pretty wide (too wide for my taste in a fine point--closer to a Sailor MF). If you're looking for a very fine fine, I think the Century models aren't ideal for that out of the box, though you can adjust the tines without too much trouble.

 

I don't know if I like the body of it that much, and despite the cap seal, I am tempted to swap the nib and feed into a different body.

[danahn17]

Wow! That's a beauty

 

I just got my 3776 in the mail too yesterday. But the music nib only comes in black (as far as I know). If it came in this color, I'd have totally picked it up! Congrats and happy writing!

[APHK]

Thanks for the review of a beautiful pen.

 

Many people say Sailor has the best nibs amongst the Big 3 but I would argue that Platinum/Nakaya have the best.

[NedC]

Gorgeous pics. Now I want one even more.

[IWantThat]

Received mine on Saturday afternoon. It took me a while to decide which ink to use, but once I inked it up I couldn't put it down. Beautiful pen and a really smooth writer. My first Platinum, but I'm impressed

[StephY]

Beautiful! Thanks for the review.

 

I was surprised at how bright the red appears in OP's pictures. The shots on Goulet's site look like a much darker red. Can anyone comment on whether the pen, in person, is more like the OP's pics or Goulet's pics?

 

Thanks.

[jandrese]

Beautiful! Thanks for the review.

 

I was surprised at how bright the red appears in OP's pictures. The shots on Goulet's site look like a much darker red. Can anyone comment on whether the pen, in person, is more like the OP's pics or Goulet's pics?

 

Thanks.

 

 

Bright, dark, transparent, opaque...depends on ambient light and camera. For example, my Nikon must have a weak IR filter because it sees right through dark red plastics like on Montblanc, Pilot, and Pelikan. So, this visibly transparent red was no problem for it, and I was also trying to emphasize the transparency. Looking at it at my desk here I can see into it, but not through it so much. I can barely see the ink level, and can make out the nib pretty well. The color is a deep claret, but outside in the sun it is lighter and brighter. So, the answer is all photos are correct, it just depends on the conditions. Interesting looking pen.

[M@rtin]

Nice pen!

[IWantThat]

Beautiful! Thanks for the review.

 

I was surprised at how bright the red appears in OP's pictures. The shots on Goulet's site look like a much darker red. Can anyone comment on whether the pen, in person, is more like the OP's pics or Goulet's pics?

 

Thanks.

 

It's more like the images on the Goulet Pen website. I had been hoping for more pics before deciding to buy, and when I saw the pictures the Goulets had, I immediately put in my order. The pen is as beautiful as their pics show it to be

[kjm]

I got mine last week and really like it. The only cautionry note, I wish I had ordered a broad nib rather than med. Does anyone know if the 3776 series nibs are inter-changeable eith other 3776 pens?

[gentlyom]

Same here. I ordered one last weekend as well. Thanks for the review. What a beautiful pen! I got my heart on it right when I saw it.

[Astra]

Wow! That's a beauty

 

I just got my 3776 in the mail too yesterday. But the music nib only comes in black (as far as I know). If it came in this color, I'd have totally picked it up! Congrats and happy writing!

 

I got a music nib with the celluoid Koi pattern from Writer's Bloc. They still have some in stock. It's gorgeous.

[Ghost Plane]

You just HAD to remind me that they sell fountain pens, too. :bonk:

[newtonslife]

Ive just received a black version of this with an M nib, its not as nice as I hoped and im rather disappointed, its lighter than most pens I have, is line is a bit too narrow to really enjoy for me ,it feels a bit on the dry side to write with,and the nib isn't that smooth.

 

It just goes to show, pens are subjective.

[XiaoMG]

Ive just received a black version of this with an M nib, its not as nice as I hoped and im rather disappointed, its lighter than most pens I have, is line is a bit too narrow to really enjoy for me ,it feels a bit on the dry side to write with,and the nib isn't that smooth.

 

It just goes to show, pens are subjective.

You got the Century model or an earlier 3776? I'm guessing you know your stuff and got the Century, but if you're not sure, the Century model's cap band is raised, while the earlier 3776 cap band is pretty much flush with the rest of the cap. The earlier model generally had a finer, dryer nib than the Century (the size is marked in kanji on the older ones, and in Roman letters on the new) though the Century is still very much a Japanese nib. I agree that it's not very smooth out of the box, and people will generally call that feedback if they're willing to accept it that way (I will not buy any pen from a seller that uses the word "feedback").

 

The pen body is indeed light, though the cap is a little chunky...the converter when full tends to balance it but it still has a bit of a "hollow" feeling to it. It is however heftier than the earlier 3776.

 

If not getting a more esoteric nib or one of the demonstrators or lacquered models, I'm not sure what the appeal of Platinum's pens is. The cap seal mechanism in the Century doesn't impress me that much when I compare it to any decent pen of any decent make. My only pens that dry out on me while capped are older Platinum cheapies and my production Edison. The standard nibs aren't that special, though they're fairly big compared to the Sailor and Pilot nibs in the same price range. I think the pen is fairly nice and my fine nib is decent after a little tweaking, but I probably won't buy another.

 

Still, people seem to like Platinum. I'm not going to challenge anyone to convert me, though I'm certainly open to the idea. However, I suspect people will write off my opinions as either "not getting it" or "horses for courses".

 

Anyway...if you don't really like your 3776, that's cool, and you're not alone or crazy or ignorant.

Edited August 1, 2012 by XiaoMG