PILOT NAMIKI DECIPHERED...? Help!

[The Mustard]

HI, I’m relatively new to Fountain pens and have spent most of my time so far understanding modern MB pens. 

 

I am however totally intrigued by the Pilot Namiki pens but wondered if there was a member’s thread explaining the hierarchy of pens to allow accessibility for those that as yet aren’t that well initiated?

 

I have a rudimentary understanding of the processes that are used using the sap of the urushi and am vaguely familiar with The Emperor and the Yukari Royale (although I would love to hear of member’s experiences with both) but when looking at any of the beautifully created pens I have no real idea of understanding how large the pen is and how intricate (or valuable) the design of the pen is.  There must be a hierarchy of the pens and of the designs but where can I found that hierarchy defined and how can I understand if the pen I am looking at is good value or not?

 

I know I’m in the right place to ask this question and look forward to the community setting me off in the right direction - thank you in advance!

 

[Maki-eMagic]

The hierarchy of the modern models according to price runs something like this but varies according to the store (e.g. Yukari maki-e might well be more expensive than a good price on an Emperor size urushi):

 

Nippon art 

Yukari size chinkin

Yukari maki-e 

Yukari Royale size urushi

Emperor size urushi

Yukari Royale size chinkin 

Yukari Royale maki-e 

Emperor size chinkin

Emperor maki-e 

Emperor maki-e limited edition

 

Limited edition for non emperor sizes vary so I've not included. Sometimes the Yukari Royale designs are just as good as the Emperor ones, I especially love some of the YR chinkin work. The hierarchy of the designs tends to vary around the esteem the artist is held in, and dedicated collectors can recognise the work of a certain person even varying over time as their early or later style. When you start looking at older pens the artist becomes more important than the size/model for determining desirability, you can get stunning maki-e work from a famous old master on a Yukari sized pen for example. In the modern lineup the small pens tend to have less complex work on them so there correlation between size and price is stronger.

 

I'm currently working my way through creating video reviews of nearly 30 Emperors belonging to a collector I know but I wouldn't be happy trying to create a hierarchy of the artists as it is so personal and even an artist who I don't especially resonate with will produce the occasional pen that I love. 

 

For how maki-e pens are made, this video of a Sailor is good for showing the sheer manual effort that goes in:

 

 

And here is my own brief video on ten of my favourite Emperors, but that is based on aesthetic (and not about how they are made or the reputation of the artist). There is more detail on my Emperor Goldfish review which you can find on the same channel (info gathered from various books such as FPOJ and Briggs collection plus conversations but I'm no expert on the creation of these pens):

 

 

 

 

 

 

[The Mustard]

Thank you ever so much Maki-emagic, that was exactly what I was looking for - I am totally intrigued by these pens, you have given me a very fair steer in the right direction - thank you again..