"tiffany & Co." Briar Pen (Aka Platinum)

[sugna]

My latest eBay purchase arrived today: another briar fountain pen labeled "Tiffany & Co." with "Diplomat West Germany" imprints, actually manufactured by Platinum in Japan. Here is a great blog post from Richard Binder about these pens:

 

http://blog.richardspens.com/PenBlog/Sweepings_from_the_Studio/Entries/2008/10/18_Clever_Diplomat-cy.html

 

This is my third such pen, so I figured I'd take a few pics of it and its siblings to show the diversity in terms of the briar grain and color. I have found them to be great writers, and a great value considering the price of a new briar pen from Platinum and the fun I have cleaning and fiddling with them.

 

http://s28.postimg.org/68gpyiazx/DSC_0053.jpg

http://s28.postimg.org/olhb92lgt/DSC_0054.jpg

 

http://s28.postimg.org/o9zuwb50t/DSC_0057.jpg

[rutherfordr]

Congratulations - they're beautiful pens!

[JLS1]

Very nice!!! Where did you get these beauties - were they all off of eBay?

 

FWIW, I really love wood-based fountain pens: there's something about the tactile feel of wood that really lends itself to writing in my opinion. I have at least one wooden FP from all the big 3 Japanese manufactures (Sailor, Pilot and Platinum) but I'm always on the lookout for another example. Are these pens easy to find in the wild?

[sugna]

Congratulations - they're beautiful pens!

 

Thank you!

 

Very nice!!! Where did you get these beauties - were they all off of eBay?

 

FWIW, I really love wood-based fountain pens: there's something about the tactile feel of wood that really lends itself to writing in my opinion. I have at least one wooden FP from all the big 3 Japanese manufactures (Sailor, Pilot and Platinum) but I'm always on the lookout for another example. Are these pens easy to find in the wild?

 

Thanks! Yes: all from eBay. One seems to pop up every few months or so, and I purchased all three at great prices ($80-$120), especially considering the MSRPs of Platinum's current briar/wood offerings.

 

These are actually the first wood-based pens I've purchased, and I have to say I'm becoming a fan of wood the more I write with them. Out of your three, which is your favorite?

 

Thinking of doing a review, so keep an eye out!

[margheriti]

Beautiful! And rebranding is always cool Those Briar's are good pens.

[JLS1]

 

Thank you!

 

 

Thanks! Yes: all from eBay. One seems to pop up every few months or so, and I purchased all three at great prices ($80-$120), especially considering the MSRPs of Platinum's current briar/wood offerings.

 

These are actually the first wood-based pens I've purchased, and I have to say I'm becoming a fan of wood the more I write with them. Out of your three, which is your favorite?

 

Thinking of doing a review, so keep an eye out!

 

Hmm...hard to decide which is my favourite:

- the newest is a Sailor Denshiro Cherry wood I bought at the Toronto pen show last year, which is a beautiful pen that's balanced in terms of size, looks, balance and nib feedback

- the oldest is a Pilot Custom Grandee from the 1970s/80s in maple that I bought a few years ago. It developed a split in the wood just below the section that I had fixed as it has an absolutely killer nib with a nice, big sweet spot. Now I think it's good for another 40-50 years.

- the one I pursued the longest was a Platinum 3776 in Yakusugi wood. Big pen but light and very pleasant to write with (as well as look at)

- the pen I don't enjoy (as much as the others) is a Sailor Tagayasan/Ironwood (part of their precious woods series). It's a small pen and the nib is OK, but I hate that it's too small for a converter meaning that I have to use Sailor's cartridges (and therefore ink). If I had to get rid of one of my wooden pens, this would be a good candidate...