K. Hattori pen

[tzmcneill]

A day or so ago there was a note stuck to my door indicating a package was waiting for me at the post office. What could it be? I thought it might be some documents about re-financing my house or something other bit of mundane commerce. To my surprise it was a small package from Japan, land of the rising sun and home to a frequent contributor to this board and proprietor of Kamakura Pens (http://www.kamakurapens.com), Dr. Ron Dutcher. Inside this small package was the small victory of an ebay auction, a 1930's vintage ebonite black urushi finished fountain pen, with a fine "shiro" nib. For those who are not familiar with shiro nibs, they are steel alloy nibs created out of necessity when gold ownership was outlawed in imperial Japan during the Second World War. As I pulled the pen out of shipping material I couldn't help but to think about the day this pen was made, Roosevelt was President of the US, either MacDonald or Chamberlin were Prime Minister of the UK depending upon the month, Stalin lead Russia and Hirohito was the emperor of Japan. I can only imagine what might have been on the radio the day this pen was completed and left the makers bench.

 

The pen itself measures 5.25 inches long (13.5 cm) capped and is 6.5 inches long posted and is maybe 12 mm in diameter at its widest point. I'm used to larger pens but this one feels very comfortable in my hand. The 70+ year old urushi lacquer is in pristine condition, the only thing that indicates that this pen is not modern is the slight (and I mean slight) brassing on the clip. The urushi has a smooth, almost soft feeling, it feels soft, almost alive. It definitely has a feel that one only gets from hand made items. The nib is a little over an inch long and has a delightful spring to it. The furniture is all silver in color, probably not sterling, and matches the nib. Like many Japanese pens of this vintage this one is an eye dropper filler with the usual Japanese cut-off valve that prevents stained kimonos.

 

So, what are my impressions of this well seasoned pen? To begin with, it writes beautifully, the nib is very fine but smooth with some feed back from the nib. The nib is a bit springy, so with a bit of practice I could get some line variation out of it. I bet Hanna could make this pen sing. The barrel is comfortable to hold and I can write with it for hours. It is a pure joy. 10/10!

 

There is something else that is special about this pen. This pen is a "100% pen" from the K. Hattori company. Now when I bought this I didn't know anything about K. Hattori, but after doing a bit of reading, K. Hattori, was the founder of what eventually became the Seiko company. According to Ron Dutcher, this is a very rare pen and could be considered a museum piece due to its rarity. Well, this pen will not be kept under a glass case and merely looked at, it will be used and enjoyed and hopefully passed on to someone else who will enjoy it when my time here is over. As with all beautiful things, we never really own them, we just have the pleasure of taking care of them until it is someone else's turn.

 

tom.

[HDoug]

As with all beautiful things, we never really own them, we just have the pleasure of taking care of them until it is someone else's turn.

 

Ah, this makes so much sense! And it may take some beautiful things many years of use to truly blossom. Beautiful pen. And I'm glad you are using it and keeping it alive.

 

Doug

 

[AJP]

WOW... that is one incredible find!! Congratulations on owning an incredibly beautiful and functional piece of art

[SquelchB]

I would have a question - what is the Urushi finish? Thanks a lot

[tzmcneill]

See,

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhus_verniciflua

 

or

 

http://www.internetpens.net/page/page/1404738.htm

 

tom.

[georges zaslavsky]

one nice collecting piece

[SquelchB]

See,

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhus_verniciflua

 

or

 

http://www.internetpens.net/page/page/1404738.htm

 

tom.

Thanks a lot... So far I thought it was some kind of decoration like Maki-e

[Abhik]

As with all beautiful things, we never really own them, we just have the pleasure of taking care of them until it is someone else's turn.

 

tom.

Wonderful pen review for a wonderful historical pen!! Your realisation is perfect about beautiful things! Remember an advertisement of Patek Philipp? Same statement!

Enjoy your pen!

Abhik.

[Leigh R]

A beautiful piece. Thanks for the review!

[tzmcneill]

I knew that last sentence sounded too good t be my own

Edited March 4, 2008 by tzmcneill

[Juan in Andalucia]

As with all beautiful things, we never really own them, we just have the pleasure of taking care of them until it is someone else's turn.

 

Ah, this makes so much sense! And it may take some beautiful things many years of use to truly blossom. Beautiful pen. And I'm glad you are using it and keeping it alive.

 

Doug

 

I agree; we are keepers, not owners. Great pen and review.

[kiavonne]

What a wonderful pen. Ah, if the pen gods would be so kind to me as to mail me such treasures. Thank you for sharing!