Pilot Vortex

[diplomat]

Hey! One more happy Vortex user here.

 

I purchased mine last year in a Osaka Maruzen (Was it a Maruzen? I remember it was the mall just side the main station in Osaka…). Mine is a Red fine nib. I used an old Pilot pump-converter (got from a Pilot Crystal Clear from the 80s) and filled with Parker Red Quink.

 

As it is said already in this thread the nib is quite stiff and produce a thin sharp line. The rubber grip make for a comfortable handling, even in prolonged writing. Being a short pen it is advised to post it.

One special characteristic is that the cap is a screw on… not so common in reasonably priced school pens. This may be considered an hassle by many, but not by me.

I have one defect to report however. This is the only pen I had problems flying with. Two times I carried on a plane and two time I found the cap filled with ink… luckily it has a screw on then!

 

But in end: a great entry level pen. Great to match the color of the ink.

 

Cheers,

 

[Pink Ink]

Hm, I emailed the ebay seller speerbob and he says that the japanese Vortexes take the Pilot cartridges and converters while the european Vortexes take only international cartridges? Anyone able to confirm/deny this?

 

I just placed an order for the japanese one and while I'd see for myself, I don't know where to get international cartridges near me. But I do have a few pilot converters so I can see if it fits the con-20 or con-50 or both.

[jimk]

the japanese Vortexes take the Pilot cartridges and converters while the european Vortexes take only international cartridges? Anyone able to confirm/deny this?

 

I bought a Vortex from jstationery.com & a con-20 fits into that.

[diplomat]

Hm, I emailed the ebay seller speerbob and he says that the japanese Vortexes take the Pilot cartridges and converters while the european Vortexes take only international cartridges? Anyone able to confirm/deny this?

 

I never heard about European Vortexes, nor Pilot able to suck from international cartridges either... now I am courious as well!

 

Andre

[speerbob]

Hm, I emailed the ebay seller speerbob and he says that the japanese Vortexes take the Pilot cartridges and converters while the european Vortexes take only international cartridges? Anyone able to confirm/deny this?

 

I never heard about European Vortexes, nor Pilot able to suck from international cartridges either... now I am courious as well!

 

Andre

 

 

Hi, Yes, I buy my pens directly from Pilot. As far as I know the only two models they sell right now with an international cartridge option is the Vortex and 78G. There may be other ones, I haven't really looked into it. They are doing this because they are trying to slowly move into some markets they are not in now and Pilot cartridges can be hard to find. Since the international cartridge is more standard than ever before this is an easy way to make their pens available to everyone.

 

Platinum is also doing this by providing an adapter with some pen so you can use an international cartridge. The Platinum pens in my eBay store come with the adapter. Platinum cartridges and especially Platinum converters are hard to find most everywhere. Cheers, BOB

[Sailor Kenshin]

Thanks for the review and the alerts! Another pen that has caught my interest!

[geonut]

Hm, I emailed the ebay seller speerbob and he says that the japanese Vortexes take the Pilot cartridges and converters while the european Vortexes take only international cartridges? Anyone able to confirm/deny this?

 

I never heard about European Vortexes, nor Pilot able to suck from international cartridges either... now I am courious as well!

 

Andre

I have the European version of the Vortex. It only takes international cartridges. Interesting as I never found it difficutl to find stationary stores in Europe (in France anyway) that carry Pilot cartridges.

[speerbob]

Hm, I emailed the ebay seller speerbob and he says that the japanese Vortexes take the Pilot cartridges and converters while the european Vortexes take only international cartridges? Anyone able to confirm/deny this?

 

I never heard about European Vortexes, nor Pilot able to suck from international cartridges either... now I am courious as well!

 

Andre

I have the European version of the Vortex. It only takes international cartridges. Interesting as I never found it difficutl to find stationary stores in Europe (in France anyway) that carry Pilot cartridges.

 

 

Hi, Likely not an issue in France. But my customers in the UK and also Eastern Europe have a hard time finding Pilot cartridges they tell me. I sell Pilot cartridges too. I send a heck of a lot of them to the UK, Germany and Eastern Europe so those are likely the places they are hard to get. Cheers, BOB

[diplomat]

I can confirm that in Italy is rather difficoult to find other than international, Parker and Aurora cartridges in regular stationery shops.

 

Bob, thank you for your remark, I didn't know about the existence of such a variant!

 

Cheers,

 

Hm, I emailed the ebay seller speerbob and he says that the japanese Vortexes take the Pilot cartridges and converters while the european Vortexes take only international cartridges? Anyone able to confirm/deny this?

 

I never heard about European Vortexes, nor Pilot able to suck from international cartridges either... now I am courious as well!

 

Andre

I have the European version of the Vortex. It only takes international cartridges. Interesting as I never found it difficutl to find stationary stores in Europe (in France anyway) that carry Pilot cartridges.

 

 

Hi, Likely not an issue in France. But my customers in the UK and also Eastern Europe have a hard time finding Pilot cartridges they tell me. I sell Pilot cartridges too. I send a heck of a lot of them to the UK, Germany and Eastern Europe so those are likely the places they are hard to get. Cheers, BOB