Later This Year: Platinum 3776 - Sai

[tomattarashinu]

Platinum has made two limited edition pens to pay tribute to the lakes of Mt. Fuji. The Motosu and the Shoji.

 

Today I was browsing an online shop and came across pre-orders for the next in the series. Platinum #3776 Sai.

http://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/hougado/ot-pl-003-005-1.html?ccode=ofv&pos=3&model= (Japanese)

 

I have no affiliation with that shop. It seems the be the first place to have information.

 

It looks like it is clear just like the Motosu. The difference seems to be that there is no trim on the cap. The barrel also seems to be one piece. The barrel on the Motosu has a small trim ring on it. There were 2011 Motosu pens made. They will produce 3000 of the Sai.

 

According to Platinums website, it will be on display at the upcoming "24th International Stationery & Office Products Fair Tokyo (ISOT) , which takes place on June 26 (Wed) - 28 (Fri), 2013, at Tokyo Big Sight."

 

Finally, this is my first post in "Land of the rising sun". Yoroshiku!

[Strang]

The description says it's a cartridge/converter but it looks like it should work as an eye-dropper filler. I always wonder why makers bother to make demonstrators which can only be used as c/c.

[Pen_Samurai]

Bein cynical here, but I'm pretty sure that they make c/c so that you only use their ink with their pen.

 

I was talking the platinum guy about the pen and he was saying that its clear to represent the clarity of the actual lake.

 

The last two also had the names if the lakes written on the inner cap. The new one, sai, doesn't har anything written on the inner cap. That, combine with the lack of trimming, makes the pen look quite plain. I don't know what would make you want to buy this pen when the standard #3776 series is almost half the price. Unless you already own the rest of the series or you have some strange lust with rhodium coated pens.

 

Of course, there are still more lakes in Japan. I know this series has one or two more on the way.

 

Well, just my cynical opinion. No offense to anyone.

[WaskiSquirrel]

I was underwhelmed by the Shoji. This new pen isn't even on my "if I had too much money" list.

[tomattarashinu]

Platinum updated their website today to announce the Sai. It's here in English: http://www.platinum-pen.co.jp/e_fountainpen_sai.html

 

 

Strang:

I agree. Demonstrators allow us to see inside but with a convertor there is not much to see. Platinum cartridges are pretty opaque so refilling them is not so fun to look at either.

 

Pen_Samurai:

Only the Shoji had the lakes on the inner cap. The Motosu did not. But I think it was better looking than the Sai.

 

There are more lakes in Japan but I think these limited edition series are all about the lakes around Mt. Fuji since "3776" is the height of the mountain. I expect we will see "Kawaguchi" and "Yamanaka" pens in the next two years. That will complete the names of the Fujigoko, or Five Lakes of Mt. Fuji.

 

Waski_the_Squirrel:

What underwhelmed you about the Shoji. I thought the light tint of blue was beautiful. I liked the Rhodium plated convertor too. My only problem was the price.

[WaskiSquirrel]

Waski_the_Squirrel:

What underwhelmed you about the Shoji. I thought the light tint of blue was beautiful. I liked the Rhodium plated convertor too. My only problem was the price.

 

I didn't like the way the pen wrote. The appearance was nice enough that I bought it despite the presence of a converter. I found I had to hold the pen in just the right way or it wouldn't write. When it did write, the quality of the line just didn't have the expression I can usually get out of the ink I used with much cheaper pens.

[jkingrph]

Not my cup of tea. The clear demonstrators just do not interest me. Now I have the Chateres blue and the Borgone (sp) burgundy and like them.

[Namo]

Earlier this year I bought a Century Bourgogne. I don't know about the "Fuji lakes collection", but I am really impressed by the work Platinum did with the plastic. The color is amazing and so is the quality. The nib is just wonderful. The only thing I don't like is that the pen is a slow starter, whcich is strange because the cap of the Century is supposed to keep the feed and nib wet for a long time...

[TomJKT]

I wished Mount Fuji would be a little higher, so the pens might become a little bigger! Or maybe Platinum would relate their pens to the Mont Blanc mountain, so... oops, should keep my mouth shut sometimes.

Edited June 17, 2013 by TomJKT

[El Monstro]

Have to agree that the "Sai" looks pretty plain, but that might just be its aesthetic strength. And, being a 3776, a trusted and well thought out pen with its "Slip and Seal" cap, it will still win over demo and/or japanese pen fans.

[Buzz_130]

I posed my review of the Sai in the fountain pen review section. It is a "plain" pen but looks like this was a deliberate design decision to capture the nature of Lake Sai. I'm also an owner of the Shoji, and they certainly have a place in my collection of Japanese pens.

 

Buzz