Platinum 3776 Century

[cgreenberg19]

Overview:

The Platinum 3776 is probably Platinum's most popular pen aside from the preppy which mostly everyone in the fountain pen community knows about. The pen is rather plain looking, especially mine which is all black. I don't think beauty was the top priority when designing this pen. The 3776 is clearly a pen designed to preform and to preform well. I like the design because it isn't a flat out copy of a Montblanc, which this pen could be prone to because of its classic cigar shaped design, like that of a Montblanc The clip is not my favorite. It's just kind of bulky and right there, but that's not a huge deal. I bought this pen second hand from the estate of Thomas Blanchard at a very good price (about $75) at the Baltimore Pen Show. The 3776 goes for around $240 at US retailers, so $75 was definitely a fair price. The pen is in very good condition and has no visible damage. It has a nice broad nib that is rather flat in form compared to other nibs. The pen is fed through a Platinum proprietary converter that doesn't hold much ink. The pen came with another two converters. I guess they came with the pen, but I'm not quite sure. Anyway, I got this pen for a steal so for me it was completely worth it.

 

Writing Experience:

I find this nib to be on the finer side of broad. It writes with a hit of feedback and a tiny bit of flex. With the two inks I've tried it with (Akkerman Dutch Masters Steenrood van Vermeer and Robert Oster Blue Water Ice) the pen writes a bit on the dry side which is okay. In my opinion Platinum nibs have the most characteristic writing experience of any of the big three Japanese pen brands. I know Sailors are notorious for having feedback heavy nibs, but to me they are very similar to Bock's gold nibs. The feed of this pen has an interesting shape and the fins are rather wide similar to those on Sailor pens. I have no problem with the ink flow of this pen, so I can't complain. The Platinum slip and seal mechanism does work on this pen because I left this pen inked from the day I bought it until the day I'm writing this review and even though most of the ink had dried out of the converter, it wrote strait away. The nib and feed on this pen are friction fit and the nib simply reads "#3776, P, 14K, B, 585, 26" I'm not sure what the 26 is for. It's not visible unless you take the nib off the grip, so I guess it has something to do with the manufacturing part of this pen.

 

Design:

The design of this pen is rather basic. There are other variations of the pen that feature more elaborate body designs, but those cost an extra hundred dollars or so. The pen looks rather like a Montblanc 145 with a bit more girth. The design of the cap is quite basic with the aforementioned clip that I don't love. The cap band reads "Platinum -- #3776 -- Made in Japan" in a thin lettering. The barrel angles down quite a bit to another gold band at the end of the pen. there is a sharp step-down to the threads and a. I'm not a fan of the large step down to the threads and then to the section. The grip section has a weird lip at the end that is not so comfortable when it rests on your finger. I like the writing comfort of this pen. Even though the taper of the barrel is not the most attractive element of this pen, it definitely enhances the comfort of the pen. The bottom line is, even though the design is not the most eye catching, it is very functional.

 

 

 

 

[sakib]

This is easily the most underrated pen in my opinion. My medium nib writes like a fine but I love the feedback it provides.awesome pen.

[jchch1950]

Te broad nib of your pen is a good writer,the flow that i like.The price you pay is a good one . The other colours and materials of the Platinum 3776 are tempting if you like the pen, especially the Chartres blue.Thank you for the review.

[The Good Captain]

These are great pens. Frankly. I've Chartres Blue & the burgundy one (can't remember the name!) with M bibs and a black one with SF.

Frankly, I wish I'd not bought that one but hey-ho.

My President though, is another matter. Great writer but does tend to dry up a bit. Needs a bit of a 'smack' every now and then!

[85AKbN]

Love mine, a soft fine.

 

[WLSpec]

Love mine, a soft fine.

 

I've got the same one but in fine

 

A nice pen

Edited April 2, 2020 by WLSpec

[langere]

Very reliable. Precise writers, as you would expect in a Japanese pen. And yes, for the price (at least if you get from Japan) makes it a truly underrated pen for the money.

 

Erick

[rogerico]

I agree with all of you. The Platinum 3776 is my cheapest pen and one of the most reliable. I only have one complaint: after near two years of using the pen, the clip has lost its gold plated coating. Now its almost white.

 

But the nib (soft fine) is great!

[rogerico]

.

Edited April 2, 2020 by rogerico

[minddance]

honestly, i cannot see any sign of 'flex' as mentioned by op. Platinum nibs are not for flex, even for the soft fine. why would I want to flex a broad nib? for shading?

[Tseg]

Nice review. That sure looks like a wet one.

 

I got an UEF 3776 a year ago and it would not write out of the box. Since bought from a Japanese vendor at a very low price a return/exchange was not optimal. This particular nib has 2 fine tines, and then the equivelant of 2 hairs that protrude even further, I guess to create the "ultra" effect. In hindsight I would have approached differently, but thought I would try to shim the tines to get ink to flow. Within a blink of the eye, one of those "hair" tines had snapped off at the very tip the last millimeter. Long story short, my 3776 now has a Fine (equivalent) nib. Could it be my workhorse writer? Yes it could. But versus alternatives in my accumulation of pens I find the pen and the nib to be pretty uninspiring. Because of my clever nib-work it is not really in a position to sell off for any value so it sits in my pen case instead of a landfill.

[donnweinberg]

I have a couple of the 3776 pens, and they are reliable and pleasant. Thanks for the review and the other comments.