Sailor Pens Made Outside Of Japan

[howdydave]

I think that I got a pretty good deal on a new Sailor Prominade, B 14k nib, with converter for about $100 USD.

 

Looking around I see quite a few pens that carry the Sailor brand name but do not specify "made in Japan" selling for a LOT less...

 

Are these cheap knock offs?

Edited July 22, 2018 by howdydave

[zchen]

Without pictures hard to say. Are they new pens or vintage pens? Sailor had a plant in Taiwan in the 1970s, only making lower tier pens with steel nibs. There been pens made emulating the shape of Sailor pens but I have never seen one that is a knock off that also carries the Sailor name.

[Olya]

There are no known fakes around, though some Chinese pen makers do make pens that look like Sailors, they are not sold as Sailors though (eg Delike). I'm only aware of Montblanc and Parker suffering from fakes - pens made in China sold as these brands, but definitely aren't.

 

Not sure what you saw that made you question the pen's legitimacy, but Sailor, like most brands and definitely its local Japanese competitors (i.e. Pilot & Platinum), make pens at pretty much all price points, from cheap pens (some aimed at kids) to expensive (maki-e, urushi..).

 

Vintage & new pens are found at all prices.

 

On top of that, Pilot and Sailor (not sure about Platinum) used to have factories in Taiwan and in other Asian countries and had models made there, some same as in Japan, some exclusively for those markets, these pens where either different (though similar) models to the Japanese made ones, or same but featured different filling systems (eg Pilot had many eyedroppers made in India, the most popular type of filling system there, whilst in Japan they were areometric fillers or other).

Also these pens are said to be made of lesser quality; lesser grade resin and sometimes lower gold content in nibs or steel instead of any gold.

So, a vintage (or modern - depending on your definition of "vintage", not all agree on a timeframe!) "Made in Taiwan/ XY" Sailor or Pilot is an original, not a fake!

[stan]

The second and third generation models of the infamous Trident were made in Taiwan for the Japanese market.

[Algester]

Platinum had a Factory in Spain if not Brazil so yes there were some foreign pens made by the Big 3

a certain website has some still broken info (due to the fact getting information on Japanese vintage brands is hard as they are missing or no one ever bothered to archive them) but should still be relevant if you are into vintage Japanese pens

Edited July 23, 2018 by Algester

[Barry Gabay]

In the early 1980s, when my wife & I lived in Mexico, I bought several new Platinum pens from a local stationary store. They were marked "Hecho en Mexico." Though they are not Japanese brands, I also bought Sheaffer & Parker fountain pens & inks; all were marked "Hecho en Mexico."

 

Have also owned a couple of PIlots marked "Made in Korea."

Edited July 23, 2018 by Barry Gabay