Japanese Steel!

[stan]

rroossinck and I were talking about the quest for a vintage metal Platinum with an EF nib in another thread... you've got that with the added bonus of stripes. Very nice.

 

/Woody

 

 

It exists!!! Question is how vintage! Platinum made silver pens in the early 1950s. In fact, they may be credited with the first post-war Japanese silver pen. If you are thinking 1970s, there are a host of models from which to choose. Many are silver and we also find their manufacture of stainless models beginning in this era. Most are fairly plain but, you will find some that are nicely decorated.

 

stan

Edited March 20, 2008 by stan

[Nikolaos]

Hi Woody,

 

The pens are sitting on a stainless steel....frying pan :roflmho: I was just thinking of what would make an interesting background to steel pens and the Fissler pan was all i could come up with

 

That striped Platinum is a very nice pen. I have seen some similar short-long Platinums around but not having this solid steel clip with the cut out in the middle. I think the clip is a bit unusual.

 

I am pretty sure Stan has sold similar Platinum pens before

[MYU]

Nikolaos, I like that frying pan texture--good choice for the pen background.

 

Are you certain that there isn't some kind of insert missing on the Platinum clip? Somehow it doesn't look like the complete design to my eye... perhaps the black insert on the Pilot Custom is influencing me.

[MYU]

Speaking of steel sections, [edit: Sailor] made one variation with an Arabesque-like motif that is quite beautiful. Phthalo was rather fortunate to obtain one from Stan. I'm hoping to find one sometime in the future. Here's what it looks like:

http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/jp/Japanese0205c.jpg

Edited March 25, 2008 by MYU

[Phthalo]

Mouahaha! That steel Floral / Arabesque pen (which is actually a Sailor, not a Platinum) was like my best purchase ever... I love it. So far the only other place I have seen one is in a book about Japanese pen collecting.

 

http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/jp/SailorShort01.jpg

 

My Sailor Egyptian Hieroglyphs pen is pretty darn special too, and also a steel pen:

 

http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/sailor/SailorO-01.jpg

 

And a little box of Japanese goodies... apologies that only four are stainless. I will have to take some steel-only photos.

 

http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/jp/JapaneseBox02.jpg

Edited March 25, 2008 by Phthalo

[rroossinck]

Laura, what's that Platinum flat-top? Black & silver (maybe blue & silver)? That looks pretty nifty! Any information on it?

[Phthalo]

That Platinum is stainless steel with black plastic end-pieces, and acid-etched black squares as the cap-band design. It is from the early 1970s... 1972 or so. The section is black, and the nib is an open type made from 18K White Gold. When new, it sold for Y7,000 - twice the price of a Pilot MYU.

 

I *love* that Platinum flat-top - the styling suits me perfectly (as you can see I also obtained a very similar model in sterling). I *really* like the squares.

[Margana]

That Platinum is stainless steel with black plastic end-pieces, and acid-etched black squares as the cap-band design. It is from the early 1970s... 1972 or so. The section is black, and the nib is an open type made from 18K White Gold. When new, it sold for Y7,000 - twice the price of a Pilot MYU.

 

I *love* that Platinum flat-top - the styling suits me perfectly (as you can see I also obtained a very similar model in sterling). I *really* like the squares.

That's some collection! For the less knowledgeable amongst us :embarrassed_smile:, would you put a name to each one? Thanks!

[Nikolaos]

Laura, stop teasing us with these beauties! Nice addition to the thread!

 

Gary, it doesn't look like there is some something missing out of that Platinum clip. but i can't be sure since i haven't seen this clip before.

i bought a Pilot capless last night on ebay, the all black "stealth" version, so a new addition to steel pens! Looking forward to receiving it cause i always wanted one of those

 

 

[Phthalo]

Names are tricky... Platinum really liked part-numbers and didn't seem very creative as far as names went... I kind of make up names for them, like a lot of people do, I'm sure. However, I will try and describe...

 

1. Platinum 'Karakusa' / 'Tang'. Stainless ballpoint... it would match with the FP on top of haywoody's pile in Post #1.

2. Modern - Sailor Sapporo.

3. Sterling Silver - Platinum Riviere.

4. Platinum 'Squares'. Stainless with black acid-etched squares motif.

5. Sterling Silver variant of #4.

6. Platinum "Zogan". Gold inlay in cap-band, semi-hooded nib...a bit similar to a Lamy 2000.

7. Pilot 'Etched Floral'. Stainless with iridescent enamel inside etched motif. This is the Green/Gold version, haywoody shows a Blue/Violet version in Post #1.

8. Modern - Nakaya Piccolo.

9. Sailor 'Arabesque'. Stainless with floral motifs.

 

[MYU]

Laura, you've really built up a phenomenal collection! I hadn't seen that Sailor Egyptian Hieroglyphics before. Which sale of Stan's did you manage to get it? Btw, also have to say nice score on that Platinum ballpoint Karakusa, which no doubt matches nicely with the fountain pen.

 

Nikolaos, congrats on the stealth Capless. They are hard to find these days and from what I'd been seeing, the closing prices have been often over $200.

[Phthalo]

The Egyptian Hieroglyphs wasn't sold in any of Stan's sales - it came straight out of Japan.

 

A pair popped up on Yahoo Japan last year - a Japanese collector got one, and in a roundabout way I snagged the other a few weeks later.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

Nice collection, Laura

 

I don't happen to have any of the steel Japanese pens or any stainless pens for that matter, but I used to have a Sailor or two in brushed steel. Nothing too fancy. I always admired the steel pens here, but I had to admit that I preferred the other pens made of plastic or lacquer.

 

Dillon

[haywoody]

I am glad to see there was some action in this thread while I was away... in Tokyo, but more on that later. I am happy to see that somebody coaxed Laura into posting a picture of her etched Sailor .

 

Laura, the pattern on my etched floral Pilot is actually goldish orange. I got to look through the old Pilot catalogs at Pilot Pen Station last week and noticed that there were many variations of this pen. Your pen appears to be shiny stainless... is it? Mine has a matte, hairline pattern.

 

Nikolaos, your Platinum clip isn't missing any parts. That clip was quite common on higher-end Platinums in the 70's, I think. Ron Dutcher had a Platinum Presidential on eBay last year with a similar clip, but with red lacquered blocks in the ends. I also saw a short Sterling Platinum with the same clip in Tokyo.

 

/Woody

[Phthalo]

Yup - mine is the shiny stainless finish.

[MYU]

Welcome back, Woody! I hope the trip was eventful in a good way. Any pens obtained?

 

Nice catch there, Laura. Had you been looking for the hieroglyph Sailor, or did someone alert you to it?

[MYU]

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Pilot/Pilot-Set_1.jpg

 

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Pilot/Pilot-Set_2.jpg

 

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Pilot/Pilot-Skyline.jpg

 

http://i159.photobucket.com/albums/t154/MYU701/pens/Pilot/fmfm03.jpg

Edited March 30, 2008 by MYU

[Nikolaos]

Gary: I was waiting for you to post those photos! Well done

 

Woody: welcome back! i am looking forward to hearing about your Tokyo pen adventures!

 

Nikolaos

 

[rroossinck]

Gary, I was waiting (dreading?) seeing those pics, too. I'm rather jealous of that collection, as I'm sure many of those who've read this thread are!

[callida]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

 

 

This isn't just an excuse to post an artsy picture. I wanted to start a thread about my favorite material for pens, stainless steel. I love everything about stainless steel and I think it makes the perfect material for a pen body... durable, relatively low cost (maybe not any longer) and beautiful. It can take a wide range of textures and finishing processes from a simple as-formed smooth surface, to brushed, to satin, and then into the more exotic... etched and plated, etched and lacquered, striped, patterned...

 

I would really like to see one of the big three Japanese manufacturers put some effort into designing some modern stainless steel pens. There are so many cool finishing options available now that weren't possible or feasible in the 60's-70's when the material was more common. Physical vapor deposition (PVD) and electro-deposited (ED) dye coatings can add an extremely durable and colorful finish to the material while still maintaining the surface texture, grain structure, and feel of the metal.

 

So let's see your Japanese stainless steel pens! I would love to see or hear about some pens that haven't caught my attention yet.

 

/Woody

 

p.s. No pens were scratched or otherwise harmed during the making of the picture. It was like a high-stakes game of pickup sticks.

 

Hello

 

I'm bumping this old thread to ask whether any of the experts on the forum would have any idea of the approximate value of the Platinum 'karakusa' fountain pen shown at the very top of the pile in haywoody's picture (the one with the etched arabesque pattern)? It appears to be the fountain pen version of the karakusa ballpoint pen shown in Phthalo's photo, later in the thread. I think it's a lovely pen and I may have the opportunity to purchase one, but I'd like to check whether the price is reasonable. If there's anything inappropriate in asking for advice on the value of a pen in this section of the forum, please do let me know. Alternatively, if anyone can direct me to sources of information where I can start to research these things for myself, I'd be grateful. I've attempted googling the name and model number for sources of information without success.

 

Regards

 

~Callida

 

EDIT: I was expecting the picture to show in my quote - the one I'm referring to is the photograph in the very first post in this thread.

Edited June 9, 2008 by callida