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Help! Please help me date this Platinum Sterling Silver Pen


Chi

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This baby arrived today.

It is a Platinum sterling silver body pen with Pt. Alloy medium nib.

I remember seeing an identical pen with burgundy section instead of black, when I was browsing online resources just a few days ago.

But now I can't find that page anymore.

The nib and the mark on the nib probably put this pen in the 70s...did it come out the same time as the classic grid pattern one?

 

Thank you in advance!

 

IMG_0648.thumb.jpeg.36778547955f1bd7b88dd339ee90334c.jpegIMG_0649.thumb.jpeg.3fd415dd773de57a59e33e2a298b69de.jpegIMG_0650.thumb.jpeg.1bc1de56e8a1c3aa0471d4288134665b.jpeg

Please check out my shop on Etsy - Sleepy Turandot

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That weave pattern is my favorite of the series!

 

I have the fine grid variant, of this pen. Mine was disassembled to true the nib and clean the feed, but I didn't record the date code... sorry. Maybe Showa 53??

 

Some other "Pt. alloy" nib pens I've seen have been marked 950 on the barrel, so I wouldn't bank on this "SILVER" pen being Sterling, especially since mine doesn't tarnish as quickly as typical sterling.

 

Are you a confident repair technician? If so these are very simple to disassemble, at which point you can look on the back of the nib for a date (Japanese Imperial, undoubtedly Showa era).

David-

 

So many restoration projects...

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57 minutes ago, awa54 said:

Some other "Pt. alloy" nib pens I've seen have been marked 950 on the barrel, so I wouldn't bank on this "SILVER" pen being Sterling, especially since mine doesn't tarnish as quickly as typical sterling.

I have a feeling it might not be sterling silver. It only got marked "silver", instead of usual "sterling silver," plus it is super shiny and not showing any sign of oxidizing.

 

59 minutes ago, awa54 said:

Are you a confident repair technician? If so these are very simple to disassemble, at which point you can look on the back of the nib for a date (Japanese Imperial, undoubtedly Showa era).

I have not yet disassemble a vintage pen, but I am pretty nifty when it comes to detail hand work/ craft. If there is a reference video, I am totally willing to give it a go. Especially now I have learned that pilot date code and am eager to sate all my vintage pens.

Please check out my shop on Etsy - Sleepy Turandot

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Your pen is from the 1970s. I believe it originally sold as the Platinum Platinum with Pt alloy nib. Gold nibs and several decorative patterns immediately followed.

 

The pen is sterling silver. The stamp silver was commonly used on sterling pens. Some Platinum pens are also stamped 925. Whether a pen is 900, 925, or 950 does it matter? 

stan

Formerly Ryojusen Pens
The oldest and largest buyer and seller of vintage Japanese pens in America.


Member: Pen Collectors of America & Fuente, THE Japanese Pen Collectors Club

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3 hours ago, stan said:

The pen is sterling silver. The stamp silver was commonly used on sterling pens. Some Platinum pens are also stamped 925. Whether a pen is 900, 925, or 950 does it matter? 

Ah I see! I bought it for the nib, been really curious about the Pt Alloy nib.

 

Guess, the next step will be researching disassemble and reassemble videos if I really want to find out specific date of when this pen was made.

 

I was able to pin point the dates of quite a few of my pens because of what I have learned from the forum...

Now, It makes me want to date them all, LOL.

 

Please check out my shop on Etsy - Sleepy Turandot

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It's as simple as unscrewing the center connector from the section, then gently pushing the nib and feed assembly back into the section until they can be withdrawn from the back end of it.

Once the nib/feed unit and it's accompanying gasket (frequently there's a thin metal washer as well) are out of the section, you can gently push the nib off of the front of the feed, much like you would remove a Lamy Safari nib, but the level of friction is usually significantly higher.

I've used thin brass or plastic shims to pry gently against the back of the nib, in order to start it off of the feed. Using a material for the lever that isn't too hard and a shape that can easily be controlled is essential to success, since the Plat alloy (or 18k gold) is quite soft and easy to scratch, plus the plastic feed can be damaged with too much force. I've often thought a thin guitar pick would be ideal, but haven't tried it yet.

 

This process works on many Platinum pens, though some (including most pocket pens) require a special tool to remove a nested lock ring that retains the feed. I made my own out of 6mm brass tubing (or 7mm for Pilot pens) , but there's a Japanese pen seller on Ebay who offers them as well.

 

This video is about five minutes longer than it needs to be and I highly object to the use of a Leatherman in pen repair, but the process for the PTL-5000 is identical to the pen you have, though you should be on the lookout for the thin metal washer, I'm pretty sure Plats from the 70s all came with them (it prevents twisting of the rubber gasket as you tighten or loosen the connector). I prefer squares of bicycle inner tube for grip enhancement. 

I'd also suggest that you forgo the 8 espressos that Mr. Brown obviously drank before doing this video...

 

 

 

 

Pilot and Plat tools:

 

post-152308-0-05580700-1584419580_thumb.jpg

David-

 

So many restoration projects...

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On the subject of silver alloys, the parts per thousand purity stamp as well as the specific alloying metals both help determine the hardness and tarnish resistance of the metal.

Fine silver (999) is significantly more tarnish resistant than typical Sterling (925) used in jewelry, but it's also softer, which can be an issue, since sterling is already fairly soft. 

There are however a number of proprietary alloys at different purity levels (though most are still 925), some like Argentium are designed to resist tarnish, others like Continuum are harder, which allows faceted gems to be prong-set more securely.

 

Another technique that is often used to keep silver items bright is plating with rhodium (a hard platinum family metal), this gives the item a bright chrome-like look and as long as the plating is intact there's no tarnish. Unlike gold filled or vermeille items, oxidation from the underlying metal doesn't come up through rhodium plating.

 

Going by the way my "SILVER" Platinum Pt. Alloy nibbed pen tarnishes (or rather, doesn't tarnish very strongly), I'd guess that these pens weren't made of standard jewelers' alloy sterling.

David-

 

So many restoration projects...

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@awa54 thank you for sharing : ) I found that video very entertaining, lol.  I might find something to practice before I move on to serious business. 

As for the tool, I might be able to make something similar from what I have at home. This is all very exciting!

 

 

Please check out my shop on Etsy - Sleepy Turandot

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@awa54

this was not planned... but I was just cleaning my Platinum Higo-Zogan, and disassembled it successfully just like the video you shared. LOL 

 

It makes me very happy since I put shimmer ink in it and would love to clean it thoroughly.

 

What is Platinum's dating system? is it similar to Pilot?

Do we have reference somewhere on the forum?

Please check out my shop on Etsy - Sleepy Turandot

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7 hours ago, Chi said:

@awa54

this was not planned... but I was just cleaning my Platinum Higo-Zogan, and disassembled it successfully just like the video you shared. LOL 

 

It makes me very happy since I put shimmer ink in it and would love to clean it thoroughly.

 

What is Platinum's dating system? is it similar to Pilot?

Do we have reference somewhere on the forum?

 

For pens that were made within the Showa period the dates are based on the Japanese Imperial calendar.

 

https://estilofilos.blogspot.com/2013/09/datation-of-japanese-pens-iv-platinum.html

David-

 

So many restoration projects...

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On 1/20/2022 at 2:18 AM, awa54 said:

marked 950

 

950 is probably high-purity silver but could also be Platinum 950 (the latter typically would be more typically written as Pt950)

935 would be Argentium silver vs 925 of the Sterling silver.

 

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Argentium is a proprietary silver alloy that replaces a portion of the copper normally found in "regular" sterling, with germanium which minimizes tarnish. Fine silver is also less prone to tarnish, but it's significantly softer than sterling or Argentium.

 

There are many non-sterling silver alloys (and hence purity stamps) that vary by era and/or region ...even within the jeweler's trade many of these markings are obscure enough that it's hard to be certain of origin or alloy.

David-

 

So many restoration projects...

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