Anyone have the Platinum Curidas and the Pilot VP? Looking for a comparison.

[Flaxmoore]

I had a VP and sold it because the clip was right where my grip normally lies. Looking at it, it would seem the Curidas has a slightly different placement that might not interfere so much. Can anyone do an in-hand comparison?

[arcfide]

They are very different pens and they will feel very different in the hand. The Curidas is a wider and "bulkier" pen overall, so if you like oversized style pens, then the Curidas will feel more familiar. Additionally, the clip can be removed from the pen, but there is the little chin on the bottom of the Curidas that some people don't like. The nib on the Curidas is also longer than the VP is, so you end up holding it a little different because of that.

 

 

[irony]

If you find the clip disturbing on the VP, may I suggest you look at and buy the Majohn A3 fountain pen.

I have one and it is a fabulous steel copy of the VP.  It can even use a Namiki VP nib assembly.  Aliexpress for 26.00 to 36.00 and in four colors.   The nib on my copy is great. almost buttery smooth.  And I have two Namiki VP pens.

[Merrick]

Majohn makes an A1 option without a clip, it has a roll stop at the top near the knock instead. This is what I got and it’s much more comfortable. 
 

I do still find it a bit narrow and small though, so now that I realize the Curidas is both wider and with a longer nib, I’m ordering a Curidas to try. 

[irony]

May I suggest you visit a few Youtube videos about the Curidas. Especially SBREBROWN.

 

https://www.youtube.com/sbrebrown

[Merrick]

I got my Curidas today, and I’m comparing it against a Majohn A1 with no clip that I’ve transplanted a Pilot Vanishing Point gold nib into. Both nibs are F. the A1/VP has Sailor Souboku blue-black and the Curidas has Platinum green because that was the first Platinum cart I grabbed from my drawer. 
 

I wouldn’t have thought so from reviews but I far prefer the Curidas in almost every way over the A1/VP hybrid. The Curidas is lighter and larger in circumference, which makes it much easier to hold. The clip is out of the way and even if I do place my finger on it, it doesn’t stick up nearly as much as the VP clip (while I’m comparing this to a clipless A1, I have previously owned a proper VP from Pilot with the clip and hated how the clip impeded my grip). And if I really wanted to I could remove the clip completely, Platinum even provided a tool specifically for removing the clip. With the VP and the A1/VP hybrid I can only write for half a page, sometimes three quarters of a page before my fingers cramp. With the Curidas I can write multiple pages without any cramping whatsoever. 
 

Surprisingly I also preferred the nib. The Curidas nib is bigger and easier for me to control. The Pilot VP nib has a slightly finer line width that makes my writing look spidery compared to the Curidas. I can sense the tiniest little bit of bounce from the VP nib but on such a tiny piece of metal that could just be that I’m expecting a gold nib to have some bounce to it. 
 

The only two areas where the VP wins out for me is in the size of the knock (the Curidas knock is comically large) and the simplicity of the housing mechanism. I appreciate that Platinum engineers put a lot of time and thought into the mechanism in the Curidas and while it’s not exactly rocket science to get the housing out for inking and cleaning, it’s not nearly as simple and elegant as the VP.

 

Overall I am very glad I tried the Curidas, and it will be my go to retractable pen going forward. I’ll likely clean out and sell my A1/VP hybrid because I simply do not enjoy using it. If you have or have used a VP and didn’t love it, I highly recommend trying the Curidas, you might be surprised like I was. 

[irony]

Alternate points of views on YOUTUBE: lots of issues with cracking too!!!!!

 

 

[Merrick]

When they were first released they had cracking issues, yes. Word is that Platinum fixed that in subsequent production runs. They’ve made several silent changes to the Curidas as it’s been out. 

[WaskiSquirrel]

My first Curidas had the cracking issue.  I liked it otherwise.  The new one has not cracked.

The clip doesn't bother me on the Curidas like it does on the VP.  The Curidas is a bit complex when you try to refill it.  But, once you know the trick, no big deal.

Overall, I prefer the Curidas, but the VP is a good pen as long as you avoid the steel nib: that was a bad experience for me.

[irony]

Another point of view:

 

https://macchiatoman.com/blog/2021/8/30/pen-review-platinum-curidas

 

 

I own several Platinum 3776 models, and am not 'knocking' the Curidas, but I think one should know all of the parts of the pen that could fail going forward.  Also, retail MSRP at $85.00 is completely insane for a Preppy like nib.

[Merrick]

14 hours ago, RobertJ said:

Another point of view:

 

https://macchiatoman.com/blog/2021/8/30/pen-review-platinum-curidas

 

 

I own several Platinum 3776 models, and am not 'knocking' the Curidas, but I think one should know all of the parts of the pen that could fail going forward.  Also, retail MSRP at $85.00 is completely insane for a Preppy like nib.

You can easily get these on Amazon or eBay for $35-$50 for the transparent/translucent versions (the matte version is only sold in a gift set with a box of ink with an MSRP of $120 and I haven’t seen them sold for much lower than that).
 

Personally I think Platinum makes the best steel nibs on the market. Precise, reliable, smooth and with the Platinum feedback. The fact that you can get nibs of that quality on a $5 pen like the Preppy isn’t an isn’t an indictment of the Preppy, it’s an indictment of the rest of the industry. 
 

Regardless, the Curidas nib is not a Preppy nib, it is a unique nib made for the Curidas. The Procyon is another Platinum model with a unique steel nib and it’s one of my absolute favorite steel nibs. 
 

My only quibble is that the Procyon M writes with a finer line than most F nibs I own, including Japanese F nibs. 

I know I veered off topic there, but the point is that this is hardly a retractable Preppy and the actual street pricing is completely reasonable for the quality of the pen, nib especially. 

[irony]

To keep the thread moving, I went to Amazon and read some reviews.  Mr. Robert I. Thomas (January 18, 2023) has written a pretty good critique of his experience with the Curidas.  I still would go with the lowest cost Namiki Vanishing Point (around $67.00) for my first re-tractable fountain pen, followed by the Majohn trio: A1, A2, and A3.

 

My Majohn A3 was $26.00 and is all metal and a very nice fountain pen.  It is not on par with my two Vanishing Points, but very close,

[Merrick]

I have the A1 and the A3 as well and the nibs are nowhere near as nice as the Curidas.