Reply With QuoteNamiki/Pilot Vanishing Point is an excellent pen, been using one for years.
My trusty waterman etalon has sprung a major leak - so I think I'll have to relegate it to home duties. It's certainly not ideal at client meetings to cover the desk in pools of blue ink (not to mention the mess all over my hands).
So, having about £400 in Amazon vouchers to burn I'm looking for a replacement. I'm not at all knowledgable about pens and happened on the waterman by chance - but until recently I've been very happy with it.
I like Japanese designs & have seen some nice Namiki pens on Amazon - are they worth it ? Or is there a better option at this price point ?
I normally go for a fine nib - if that makes a difference ?
Any suggestions welcomed.
z
Namiki/Pilot Vanishing Point is an excellent pen, been using one for years.
Dave E
Skating away on the thin ice of a new day
I've had my eye on a Namiki pen for a couple of years, the Yukari Autumn Leaves. Sadly £400 is not going to get close to paying for it *sigh* :-(
Indeed. Hence the post. I've seen the sterling range offered for sub £400 & I like the design. But is it any good ? Weight ? Balance ?, Nib ? Hopefully it'll last better than the Waterman ?Originally Posted by Rob
Autumn leave s will have to wait...
...For quite a while.
z
Last edited by zelig; 5th October 2016 at 19:52.
No leaks ?
z
By chance, I am looking at the Pilot Capless Pen (aka Namiki Vanishing Point in the US) on my desk right now.
And have been using it all afternoon.
It is, in my experience, an outstanding instrument and a great writer.
Should you be interested, you might wish to inspect one in person, to make sure that you can live with the clip position.
Depending on your grip, it might be unaccommodating.
In any event, good luck in your search.
And be careful, it can be another slippery slope ........
Oh, and no leaks here.
I've had no leaks from my Lamy Safari...
Oh dear ... I know me ...
z
Namiki are Pilot's high end brand. They are excellent pens. Some will be hand made. When you're looking at this level you may want to stretch a little bit and get a Nakaya, although those aren't available on Amazon.
I have five Lamy fountain pens and a pencil. Excellent.
Nope, not a one. Been using them for 11 years. Managed to break one about 2-3 years back (no fault of the pen), the current one has been in use since then. Good pens, like most Japanese nibs they tend to write a bit finer then the equivalent European nib.
Dave E
Skating away on the thin ice of a new day
I find the Pilot Custom Heritage pens (Heritage 92) to be excellent, but not stepped up to the Namiki / Nakaya pens. Daily users are two piston 92 demonstrators, and a couple of Pelikan M200 demonstrators. I prefer Pilot pens, to be honest. An urushi or maki-e from Namiki would be lovely, but I'm not sure I need one just at the moment... probably.
Nah, no leaks. I've had my VP for about 5 years now, and it's never leaked. It's quite a stubby pen - quite fat - so it might not suit the more delicate-fingered out there. (Oddly enough, I find I drop it more than any other pen - I've never dropped another pen, but I've dropped my VP, and bent the nib, twice. New nib units are available, but aren't cheap...)
Here - writing on a very absorbent sheet of paper with a broad nib. The VP is the brown ink.
I had a Namiki 'Owl' FP about 14 years ago. It was beautifully made but even then, pretty expensive. Namiki had a collaboration with Alfred Dunhill in the 1930's I think - I have a hardback coffee table book of Dunhill-Namiki somewhere, and those pens were amazing.
I have the Decimo Vanishing Point - a slimmer version of the VP. It has not leaked in use but when refilling with ink, the nib/reservoir unit has ink all over it. No idea why.
I've a few fountain pens and the LAMY pens are my go-to for everyday. The cheapies are great - Safaris or Nexx for under £30 and the 2000 is a great all-rounder for around £150 and it's the 50th anniversary this year so a design classic to boot.
Send it for repair - Write Here in Shrewsbury are my go to store for all things fountain pen related. Will cost £10 for them to have a look at it and provide you with a quote. John Sorowka the nib expert does repairs for them and got my abused 25 year old Waterman Expert back up and running beautifully for £25.
Namiki/Pilot Capless/Vanishing Point are great pens and always a talking point. I have a yellow one and love it. Try one if you can somefolks dont like them due to the clip position, never bothered me. I also love my Lamy 2000 as a design classic. For WAtermans I have a couple of Carene's nice pens.
Go and watch some videos by Brian Goulet of The Goulet Pen Company on youtube - he is a great source of info for pens of all prices. His website also has some great resouces, swab shop for ink colours, nib nook for nib widths.
Japanese fine nibs are generally finer than european fines something to bear in mind.
Pilot have just released released their 2016 limited edition vanishing point called the Giolloche (thats not how you spell it) very neat classic design.
Im a bit of a fountain pen geek, 35ish the last count everything from £10 up - Lamy, Pilot, Sailor, Twisbi, Waterman, Sheaffer, TWiss Custom, Visconti, Pelikan, Platinum, Esterbrook, Parker. So a wide range and all sorts of nibs.
Last edited by LuBee; 8th October 2016 at 14:34.
I'd recommend the Pen Addict website and podcast, especially the podcast.
Podcast: https://www.relay.fm/penaddict
Website: http://www.penaddict.com
Which brands of ink do people rate highly? Is there much difference?
Ink is a whole other world!
Diamine - its made in the UK and it comes in 30ml tester bottles for £2.50, great for getting lots of colours
Pilot Iroshizuku - expensive but cheaper if you get it from Japan.
J.Herbin - do some very nice colours
There are as many brands of ink as pens.
Thanks LuBee I'll check out a repair for the waterman - TBH I hadn't even considered repairing it.
In the meantime I've ordered one of these as a replacement.
Pilot Sterling Collection Fountain Pen, Mount Fuji design (Fine Nib)
z
Last edited by zelig; 9th October 2016 at 13:24.
Thats a bit fancy.Thanks LuBee I'll check out a repair for the waterman - TBH I hadn't even considered repairing it.
In the meantime I've ordered one of these as a replacement.
Pilot Sterling Collection Fountain Pen, Mount Fuji design (Fine Nib)
z
The Waterman might have a cracked feed or need a new converter (they do wear out).
I know - I'm beginning to think I may have overdone it & it might not be appropriate for everyday use.
z
Nonsense, as long as you like it and enjoy writing with it. Everyone else option is irrelevant :)I know - I'm beginning to think I may have overdone it & it might not be appropriate for everyday use.
z
Sorely tempted by this. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Question it does not specify whether it comes with a piston or cartridge.
One more question, Where do I get spare nibs (just in case). Lastly, what is the correct/best ink to use black preferably the non washable kind
Thanks
That's the one I ordered - comes with piston & 1 sample cartridge from what I can tell.
Will post here when it arrives & confirm.
I've also ordered the black Namiki/Pilot cartridges from Amazon until I decide on which ink I prefer.
z
Last edited by zelig; 9th October 2016 at 19:55.
Ordered one now. Hmm that seems like a good idea, simple Pilot cartridges. Will mostly be used at work. We are only "allowed" to use black. Do you have the link to the ones you ordered?
This is the 12 pack I ordered - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0014GL8OQOrdered one now
z
I was thinking of getting this one as well. http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/show...ki+ink&cat=ink
I'll probable "rest" my Parker Sonnet a while once I get this.
If you do - please post your thoughts - I might get the same.
z
Will definitely do so. Thanks for your help. One more thing are the nibs easily available/replaceable?
Try here
https://www.cultpens.com
They have almost all you need for decent writing.
That is gorgeous! I have a Pilot capless and I think their pens are great. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this pen.Thanks LuBee I'll check out a repair for the waterman - TBH I hadn't even considered repairing it.
In the meantime I've ordered one of these as a replacement.
Pilot Sterling Collection Fountain Pen, Mount Fuji design (Fine Nib)
z
Its a cartridge/converter pen, a piston filler is a totally different system all together. http://blog.gouletpens.com/2012/06/f...echanisms.html goes through the differences
The converter allows you to use bottled ink.
Pilot only sell replacement nibs for their Vanishing Point/Capless pen, so you are out of luck there.
My go to black ink is Aurora Black its a buggar to get off things but not deemed 100% permanent.
Be careful with 100% permanent/waterproof inks some of them have some nasty properties and can damage pens. I'm no expert on these so please do some research as this is not a cheap pen.
The Writing Desk stock waterproof/permanent inks http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/reference.php?id=50
Order with these guys at least once a month - their Customer Service is excellent. I cannot recommend them highly enough.
Absolute true. I avoid any kind of waterproof ink.
IMHO, Diamine ink is the best one out there. It comes in some 120 colours.
I love Diamine and have 22 bottles on my desk, so addictive.
+1
My favourite one is Burnt Sienna
I have too many favourites - Ancient Copper, Red Dragon, Saragossa Sea, Salamander and Eau de Nil are my top 5.
Some colours I do dislike though - Flamingo Pink and Peach Haze. And am indifferent to Eclipse and Graphite.
I have found Goulet's Swap Shop to be the most accurate for colours http://www.gouletpens.com/swab-shop
Last edited by LuBee; 9th October 2016 at 22:17.
I don't mean ink that'll survive being pressure washed AND tumble dried.
Something like this - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Parker-Perm.../dp/B0017DAAUO
I believe Parker use the word "Permanent" to differentiate this product from their washable versions. They are more permanent than washable but not truly permanent like some other inks i.e. Noodlers Bulletproof, Private Reserve Invincible or iron-gal inks.
Found an interesting blog article http://www.carpedavid.com/blog/2011/...lue-black.html
Suppose it depends on why and how much you need the ink to be permanent?
Its another world, ink :)
I love Japanese pens and and use a Namiki (pilot) Falcon at home.
Generally I write for pleasure, I find it relaxing practising nice writing and use a soft fine nib as I love the line variation you can achieve. Not quite wet noodle terratory but the soft Pilot nibs are very springy.
Also so have a high end Urushi lacquered Ebonite Platinum which is a beautiful pen but find the nib too stiff for my liking, great for note taking but not expressive for me.
Inks, well as others have said that's a whole different ball park.
I have a Namiki 'Turtles' pen which is very decorative and was thrown in by a Bangkok AD a few years ago when I bought a Grand Seiko. The pen is worth more than the watch now!!!
I also have a Sailor Maki-e pen with a depiction of Mount Fuji on it - it really is a thing of loveliness.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
As above. Thanks to you lot have ordered this https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 yesterday, as if that was not enough ordered this today https://www.cultpens.com/i/q/PL09986...d-rhodium-trim. I was perfectly happy with my Parker sonnet and a few other cheapies. It said on the website the ink was 1/2 price so I thought why not! I have a bad feeling about this.
Fountain pen geeks are good enablers :)
Thanks!! Will not joinFPGeek just browse...... Must Resist!
I use one, very black, waterproof ink: Sailor Kiwa-Guro - http://www.thewritingdesk.co.uk/show...ro+ink&cat=ink
I gave a Nakaya as a gift to my barrister many years ago. It was a thing of great beauty and he was blown away by it.
Unfortunately I never got to see it as it was gift wrapped in Japan and the gift wrap was so amazing I couldn't bring myself to open it for a peak.
A parker '51 Flighter would be my weapon of choice if I didn't lose every pen I've ever owned within a matter of days.
And generally send complimentary sweets with orders : )
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