Pilot Custom Legance Marble (All Colors)

[raster]

I own several pens from the “pilot custom” series, but when I first saw those in my favorite local shop 2 or 3 weeks ago, the phrase “legance marble” meant nothing to me. The pens laid new in their boxes and at first I thought that perhaps it’s a new addition to pilot’s “custom” family. On the other hand, if pilot had such intentions I’m sure I would know.

The date code on the nibs revealed that these pens were made in the mid-90s (1996) and I was even more baffled because an online search was almost fruitless.

While I enjoy all my pilot pens, and their nibs are among the best one can find, I always had the feeling that their design is too “classic” for my taste and the color selection limited and uninspired. Well, custom legance is everything but.

The pens themselves are gorgeous, the color combinations stunning and the material gives the surface of the pen an almost 3d effect that attracts the eye. I couldn’t decide which color I like the best so I bought all five, and here we are. They were available in Fine and Medium nibs (size 5, 14K) and I went full Medium (I’m a “broad” type of guy and Japanese fine is too fine for me

 

 

The clip on the cap reads “PILOT”. On the ring: “ * PILOT MADE IN JAPAN * CUSTOM LE “

 

The nib (with 96 indicating the year of production)

 

Comparison with modern size 5 nibs (Cosu, Music, Broad, Custom LE Medium). I see no design difference, though I feel the legance nib is “softer” than the rest. Not as soft as a Falcon nib but it definitely has some spring to it.

 

 

Size comparison with some popular pens from the custom line. Custom Legance Red, Green, Blue, Medley, Brown, Heritage 92, Custom 74, Custom 742. They are somewhat smaller than their 74 cousin but they come equipped with the CON70 converter so no issues here.

 

And some photos of the pens. Of course, in person the pens appear far more impressive but I hope the photos still capture some of their qualities.

Red

Green

Brown

Blue

Medley

 

I wonder… why did pilot stop producing these masterpieces? Were they some kind of limited edition? Any additional info would be welcome.

Thanks for reading

[Uncial]

Shame they aren't produced anymore, they look very nice.

[Maurizio]

Very nice! What an amazing find. Love that brown one.

 

What type of converter do they use? Im guessing a standard Con-50? A real mystery why these are no longer produced. I wish Pilot would send more of their nice pens to the USA. Id buy the brown one today if it was available. I have a Pilot Custom Kaede (maple wood) which is just about my favorite pen. Not available here but I ordered it from a Japanese seller on Amazon.

 

Other pens Pilot should make available in the US:

* Lucina (better than the Prera in my opinion)

Custom 742

Custom 743

Pilot Custom Kaede

Ichii Wood

Custom 845

Edited February 14, 2018 by Maurizio

[raster]

Very nice! What an amazing find. Love that brown one.

 

What type of converter do they use? Im guessing a standard Con-50? A real mystery why these are no longer produced. I wish Pilot would send more of their nice pens to the USA. Id buy the brown one today if it was available. I have a Pilot Custom Kaede (maple wood) which is just about my favorite pen. Not available here but I ordered it from a Japanese seller on Amazon.

 

Other pens Pilot should make available in the US:

* Lucina (better than the Prera in my opinion)

Custom 742

Custom 743

Pilot Custom Kaede

Ichii Wood

Custom 845

 

They come with CON70 preinstalled, and I agree, the brown one is something special, it's like the smaller Japanese cousin of Pelikan's M800 Renaissance Brown.

[Dr. Saleem Ali]

Beautiful pens .Pilots are superiors .

[Chrissy]

Thank you for the review. I did a double take though at the word "Legance," I wondered if they had deliberately missed the "E" off or just made it up.

[Jetson]

These seem very similar if not identical to the Namiki Impressions also of the late 90's. There are also Namiki Custom Impressions which are flat top and look like 845's. I am looking to buy either of these to add to my collection. Mgfineart99@gmail.com.

[jekostas]

This particular line are Namiki Impressions, with Pilot branding on them. The most recent run of Custom Legance pens are identical, body-wise, to the Custom 91

[Jetson]

I find it interesting that it was the Namiki brand they used for USA sales as today Pilot is used here and Namiki is more the Japanese brand. A pen dealer told me they tried launching Namiki here in the 90's and it didn't do well, primarily due to cost, so they pulled up stakes. He also said in his experience the Impressions are more highly sought after than the squared off Custom Impressions (came in brown, blue, and gray) even though the latter are more rare. Since Namiki has a higher cache, if you will, than Pilot, I would probably prefer to get those than the same pens branded Pilot, although I realize there's a "silly" factor to that thinking. I'm surprised that the original poster found a grouping of these pens new in boxes at a one shop recently. Why doesn't that ever happen to me. BTW, other than one ad in Pen World in 1997, I have been unable to find a catalog showing these pens nor have I found them in old catalogs of the period, but I keep looking.

[Honeybadgers]

holy. christ.

 

I really need pilot to start making these again. Same price as the standard custom 74 but in multicolor acrylics? I'd have five by the end of the year.

[Chinchy]

I have a question.. I'm a little confused about which one is a "Legance"...  I recently obtained these two pens, that are in the same material as the Legance.  

 

The black one is labeled Custom Legance on the cap band, but it has the shape/size closer to the Custom 92 size (this one is about 134 mm) and with a size 5 nib.  But even the cap band is different in that it's not 2 rings, and instead extends down to the end of the cap.

 

The brown one is made of the same material as the brown Legance, but it's closer to the size of a custom 742 (146 mm) with a size 10 nib.  The cap band reads Custom LE.

 

So I guess I'm confused about what is a Legance, and cigar shaped vs flat ends, and the difference in sizes...

 

Thanks!

[Ambien]

12 hours ago, Chinchy said:

I have a question.. I'm a little confused about which one is a "Legance"...  I recently obtained these two pens, that are in the same material as the Legance.  

 

The black one is labeled Custom Legance on the cap band, but it has the shape/size closer to the Custom 92 size (this one is about 134 mm) and with a size 5 nib.  But even the cap band is different in that it's not 2 rings, and instead extends down to the end of the cap.

 

The brown one is made of the same material as the brown Legance, but it's closer to the size of a custom 742 (146 mm) with a size 10 nib.  The cap band reads Custom LE.

 

So I guess I'm confused about what is a Legance, and cigar shaped vs flat ends, and the difference in sizes...

 

Thanks!

 

Hi, 

 

The top pen is a Namiki Custom Heritage Impressions but in the West it was called Pilot Legrance. You can usually search for both names on ebay and it'll bring up pens related to it. 

[Chinchy]

4 hours ago, Ambien said:

 

Hi, 

 

The top pen is a Namiki Custom Heritage Impressions but in the West it was called Pilot Legrance. You can usually search for both names on ebay and it'll bring up pens related to it. 

Ah interesting.  Thanks for the info!

[A Smug Dill]

.

Edited March 20, 2021 by A Smug Dill
Didn't realise until later that I was replying to a post made three years ago

[Maurizio]

No issue Smug. 

And these beautiful pens are still not being produced, and the others I listed are still not available in USA as far as I know. 

How about in Australia?