A review of the Wahl Eversharp Decoband in rosewood

PRELUDE

The search for a delectable nib

After a brief hiatus from fountain pens, and a seemingly eternal interlude from reviewing pens, I was somehow on a lookout of a novel pen, which harnessed the excellence of this modern material age while preserving the flair of vintage brilliance. When zaddick posted this excellent review on FPN long long back (2015), the charismatic pattern of the rosewood ebonite caught my eyes, perhaps like many of you. And then, the frosted flourish on the nib itself (ah! slightly reminiscent of the sold-out Pilot Bamboo) coupled with a lustrous red-urushi feed! My primary concerns apart from the price point of 850, were the unconventional size, girth and weight of the pen. Then, I waited….and waited…and waited. Three years passed by, before I could order the Decoband from Bryant (I would happily recommend Chatterley Luxuries). Ah yes, the same one in that bewitching rosewood ebonite, how oft is the rosewood pattern so adorable! Then a month later, it finally landed into my hands.

                      I then inked the pen with an available one (probably pelikan blue) and after writing with it for a while as a desk pen, it was boxed. It wrote about a western medium and the ink did not seem to last long. It stayed in the cupboard for quite a while. And another year passed by! Other hobbies, nonetheless quite interesting like machine learning, took much of my time. And then, I felt like there was something missing, concerning with writing with the SUPERFLEX nib. And in the end, the pen has been inked up multiple times, since last year. So, here goes my review of the same.

PRESENTATION (5/6)

Elegantly Utilitarian

Presentation is modern and spotlessly utilitarian. These days, it comes in a fair-sized black cardboard box with the Wahl-Eversharp name & the trademark double-check logo on it.

                             And within it, sits another deep green cardboard box patterned with the W (double-check) logo, secured with a magnetic clasp. And within it (end of 'withins' but not underneath), a clamshell presentation box with transparent laminate halves cushions the pen. Perhaps, I would have been able to love the modern presentation completely, had there been no precedents set! Then, there comes a little nag reminding you of having missed the lacquer box along with its accouterments, in those three years. I bought the Wahlberry ink later. The box, nonetheless carries an anti-oxidant sleeve and a booklet and a warranty card, placed below the separator.

DESIGN (6/6)

Larger than ‘Vintage’ Life

The Decoband Oversize Gold Seal Collection as of today comes in a multitude of finishes - around twenty probably in varying combination of materials - ebonite, celluloid and acrylic along with gold or rhodium plated trims. Perhaps, a ruthenium finish will be a nice addition to the line. The nibs now have two categories - SUPERFLEX and a more stiff GOLDFLEX nib, in 18k gold. Some versions are still available in 14k as earlier.

                           I had been rather mesmerized by the rosewood finish long time back, so that was the finish eventually ordered. The effusively striped contours of burgundy and black, give the cylindrical structure, a remarkable semblance to actual finishes in rosewood. The metallic appointments at the centre, clip and either ends of the finial, are coated with (14k) gold and the golden dazzle well dances with the rhythms of the lustrous rosewood finish.

The finish appears brighter with ambient light. I would also want to preserve the finish for long and would happily avoid carrying the pen in sunlight. The ebonite is quite expertly polished to reflect this kind of luster. 

Coming back to the pen, there is a slight taper is at the filler end of the barrel converging the rosewood silhouettes with the golden ring and the thin black acrylic appointment of the filler rod.

You would notice a little hole in the acrylic end, to compress out air of the sac.

The cap is cylindrical and one thing you will notice is that the rosewood contours of the cap, well-align with the ones on the barrel. You can almost see its inner threads and the insert in some light. The finial is another thin (2-3 mm) polished black acrylic disk which discerns itself from the rest of the cap, with a golden ring. Then you would perhaps notice the inlaid metal disk - the gold seal with the customary double check. These seals earlier denoted Wahl’s top of the line products, like Sheaffer’s white dot. The V-shape tension fit clip with a broad cylinder albeit normal in terms of length, appears remarkably short, given the overall heft of the pen. On the clip, the name of WAHL-EVERSHARP is imprinted, where comes my little qualm like a few others, of not being crisp enough. The center band consists of three concentric rings, with some space for the lip to reflect the crimson silhouettes. The ring in the middle is etched with the Greek Key, much like the vintage one. The same design is present in Omas pens, with branding embossed in the middle. I later learnt that the Greek Key symbolizes flow of infinity.

                   The cap comes off in 1.5 turns, which consequently reveals the dazzle of golden threads of the section and a never to be missed, large #8 mesmerizing nib. The threads are nevertheless charming, to both eyes and fingers. The acrylic glossy black section slightly tapers towards the business end before bumping off towards golden hues of the loop. Quite some eloquent detailing!

FILLING & CLEANING SYSTEM (5/6)

One-touch “Chilton Style” Pneumatic filler!

         The supply end of the barrel, i.e the little black glossy disk takes around 6 turns to unravel another Greek key adorned, rhodium plated, brass sleeve of the pneumatic filler. This one doesn't have a branding, unlike the one released initially. The filling process is actually quite simple, but for me it took a bit of practice and observation, to have an acceptable level of fill.

      Once you pull out the metal sleeve, the nib needs to be completely submerged in the ink bottle, then with the air hole (in the finial end), covered with your finger/thumb, you need to press the sleeve back inside completely, which in turn releases the air inside the barrel and then eventually the air inside the latex sac. As per Syd, silicone would have been too supple a material, latex would last 10 years or more. 

                   Typically, you would count till 10 or 12, before the sac expands and draws ink up. Then you can push in the sleeve, without covering the air hole and finally screw on the glossy finial end. I have observed that the ink fills really well, once you see a lot of bubbles of air released inside the ink bottle.

                              The stated capacity in the website is 2.1 ml, but in my experience, I have got variable levels of ink fills depending on the ink brand (all with deep inkwells). It seems to work better with Wahlberry and GvFC inks. It is also recommended by the company, to use slightly acidic inks (pH between 4.5 to 6.5, Japanese inks are usually alkaline), else it could damage the metal components. Also, you might prefer a drier ink, since the nib lays out a wet & juicy line.

        The visual from Edison pen company does a better justice to the whole ink-filling process.

                      From a cleaning perspective, it’s easy. It seems to fill better with thinner liquids, that includes water apart from your inks! One thing, I found after unscrewing the section is that, some ink still remains inside the sac and the lower threads of the inner section, which is directly attached to the sac (ref. the open section in the picture, a little ink seems to go in nonetheless, as we dip the nib & section to draw ink).

NIB - ALL THAT MATTERS (6/6)

The frosted stunner, the vivid red enchantress

Now comes the business end of the pen. All I can say is that, it's elegant and stunning. The frosted appearance from a distance, along with a symphonic texture renders the nib as a work of art, rather. I have not seen many (or shall I say any?) manufacturers put this kind of effort in making a nib glorious (even at much higher price points, Ouch! Namiki). They kind of concentrate on the pen, polish the nib (probably with a Ford assembly line attitude) and then shift the entire attention towards the presentation. A circular breather hole runs among the sandy dunes & along the body of the nib.

           The process of removal of gold and subsequent plating to get this frosted appearance (from email conversation) is called debossing, which is done in France. The nib albeit sourced from Germany, gets the flex by this debossing. The flex variation between the SUPERFLEX & GOLDFLEX arises due to the difference in contours made by the laser debossing process. Below the breather hole, the hallmark double check is embossed within a circle within a little imperfect snowflake (okay, I discovered it only after taking the photo, probably like schwarzschild discovered his radius)! The brand name and the words SUPERFLEX are imprinted towards the base with the 18k gold content indicator.

                  A side view of the nib imbibes even a more regal structure with the feed and the section, in a single frame. The marriage of the nib and feed, promises joy and happiness for a long long time.

Then once you turn the nib, you would be beholding a vivid red urushi feed, the lacquering happens in-house in Arizona. The split ebonite feed has closely spaced fins on the underside, which allows to run the nib wet with flexing the tines, while maintaining the ink buffer. The nib hasn't skipped at all.

Below is a little comparison with a red urushi lacquered feed of a Namiki Emperor. It's plastic against ebonite, and you can see the grainy finish of the Decoband's feed compared to the smoothly machined feed of the Emperor.

PHYSICS OF IT (5/6) – RELATIVELY SPEAKING

The Newtonian Laws

The overall capped length is around 15 cm. I use the pen un-posted as it balances the size, girth and more importantly the weight, for my writing style. The section has a comfortable grip diameter of about 1.2 cm, before it bumps off towards the gleam of the golden ring of about 1.5 cm diameter. The pen is comfortable from an overall perspective, given that you spend some time getting used to it. It balances well for a large oversized pen with brass fittings.

              Below are the pictures along with a MB149 and a Namiki Emperor for comparative reference.

• Uncapped Length ~ 14.5 cm
• Total Length ~ 15 cm

One piece of staggering engineering (which I had missed) around the pen is that the cap screws on quite deep, so there is minimal difference (0.5 cm) with the length of the uncapped pen.

• Exposed Nib Leverage ~ 3 cm (#8)

Now this pen is bold and solid in terms of heft. It took me a little while to get used to it. Having said that I was amazed at its weight distribution and overall balance.

• Overall Weight ~ 57 g (without ink, cap weight~13.5 g, Gosh! almost a uncapped Lamy 2000)

I used a Pelikan 3-pen pouch and it nestles the pen okay (but then there is just enough space left for another oversize pen). Also, just on sheer impulse, I had got a leather pen box with some velvety inner cushion, from Cross (it was selling at $7 or something, I assume it's locally sourced here). Thankfully, it turned out to be perfect fit for the Decoband.

The leather pen box from Cross.

With the berry!

ECONOMIC VALUE (4/6)

Demand & Supply

While an expensive retail price of around $ 850 is steep, I have seen a few selling in second hand market below $ 600, from time to time. For me, the exceptional work on the nib, feed along with materials, make this pen effortlessly matchless. For the filling mechanism, I would have probably preferred a piston/vacuum filler, rather than a pneumatic one. There is rather a vintage appeal with the pneumatic one, I guess. Add to this, somehow the exceptional make must have been a sourcing nightmare, given that the parts belong to France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy, with the final machining & assembly done in Italy & US. (as quoted in emails & FPN comments)

WRITING & FINAL COMMENTS (5.1/6)

Writes like a rainy writer

The SUPERFLEX nib graces a wet and juicy flow, and writes like a western medium. I usually do not flex nibs with my regular writing, but an added springy flourish comes automatically with the downstrokes. I tested the nib on a relatively better paper of a growing Indian brand. It's a Nightingale A4 notebook, and it does pretty well. The Wahlberry ink however doesn’t seem to be close friends with Tomoe river paper, while it does make the line variation more noticeable on TR. Given the wet flow, a hint of feedback isn’t quite noticeable until you consume most of your ink. The ink took around 25 secs + to dry on this particular paper, although it has dried quicker, in other papers. The ink itself seems to be well formulated and on the drier side for the overly generous super flex nib.

                   The nib has never skipped and always laid a wet juicy line, and seems to be one of the best nibs in my relatively small collection. Another hesitation on my side is that, if the pen stays unused for a few days, then the ink possibly dries up and it's a task to get it to write again with the same panache.

The balance & girth of the pen is something, I have gotten used to and never looked back since then. I feel the pen needs a separate carrying box (like the cross one) if you wish to take it in your backpack or bag. I am not very keen on the pneumatic filler as mentioned earlier, a piston/vacuum would have perhaps better worked in my opinion, given the ink-demands of the feed. And perhaps, the ink should be packaged along with the pen like earlier. Since it runs quite wet out of the box, so you might not be able to appreciate the nib with many of your inks.

Below is a short writing sample on TR paper.

Thank you for going through the review.

You can find other pen and paraphernalia reviews here.

REFERENCES

WE Decoband Collection

zaddick's review on fpn

pH levels of inks

Pneumatic filling - Edison Pen Company

ADDENDUM

The gold seal over the years had lost its lustre. It got restored from its maker, Syd Saperstein!

The Visconti Homo Sapiens Florentine Hills Review

THE HOMO SAPIENS 

In late 2009, Florence-based luxury pen maker Visconti announced in a press-release covering a nib made of 95% Palladium (23k) alloy. Commonly available nibs are 14k/18k/21k Gold alloy (Sailor), with a few exceptions (Danitrio & the Japanese karat warriors), and this was the first of its kind perhaps after the Esterbrook or Sheaffer PdAg nibs.

The other side of the snippet showcased a pen christened with a name of Homo Sapiens(HS), which was forged from an equal mix of basaltic lava and resin, adorned with bronze and protected from competitors by a patent. The lava came from Mt. Etna (one of the active volcanoes) on the east coast of Sicily, Italy. 

I came to know of the HS a few years later. Visconti (estd. 1988) promised the HS lava to be unbreakable, flameproof (upto 100°C), albeit with a slightly hygroscopic body, oxidation prone bronze trims, but with a corrosion-resistant titanium power filler. The available designs now range from lava plus bronze/steel/black PVD to a 388-limited edition (bronze LE) or some 1000-LEs Crystal Swirls or Florentine Hills or 888-limited-London Fog (made up of Acroloid/Sterling Silver). Besides, fountain pens there are also roller-balls and ball-point pens in the HS range, but those, of course do not concern our primary interest. Initially after getting a HS in bronze, I was always on the lookout for one of these beauties in silver trims.

DESIGN (6/6) 

AN ITALIAN JOB 

Visconti started the Homo Sapiens in Bronze & Lava as an homage to the evolution of mankind. Bronze Ages predates us by around five thousand years is the period, when humans began smelting and mixing of metals like copper and tin, to produce alloys like bronze. Also during that particular period, a system of writing/recording had evolved, mostly through the use of symbols. The trim-fittings including the HS Bronze clip are all made of bronze. 

                      The Florentine Hills carries the same design but is an acrylic demonstrator fused with ribbons of coloured celluloid suspended within - thereby the nomenclature acryloid. The ribbons range from light green to vivid tinges of yellow and reddish brown. 

 

These colours remind of meanderings through vineyards and olive groves, from the beechwood forests to the grassy groves of the countryside. The splendid works of Tuscany art and those picturesque landscapes somehow seem to share quite a common inspiration in spirit. 

 

                     A large silver centre-band at the start of the grip section with a HOMO SAPIENS imprint is followed by the particular LE number of the piece. So it’s typically XXX/1000 unless you ended up with the thousandth piece. The overall shape tapers towards the ends where you can enjoy the translucency of vivid green. Looks almost photosynthetic! The cap & blind cap might carry some of those celluloid ribbons, in a more subtle manner. 

The taper is more pronounced at the plunger end/blind cap rather than in the cap itself. A sterling silver loop embellishes the design at the start of the blind cap. It’s actually the filler collar. You can perhaps see a drop of Yama Budo :)

The unique locking system of the cap is nothing new if you have tried a HS. The quick hook safe lock threads (six) enable disengaging the cap, with a quarter of counter-clockwise twist. 

That little twist will of course reveal the dazzle of 23 karat Palladium nib and another photosynthetic grip section! A click is heard, once you correctly twist-lock the cap. A view of the inner cap locks

The cap has a spring inside to assist the locking mechanism. The section starts with the upraised locking threads with a faint resemblance to the Greek Key, and then tapers comfortably before ending up with a slightly raised stop. 

The finial mentions VISCONTI with the company trademark of the mirrored V. As always, the medal is customizable via Visconti's My Pen System with your initials or zodiac sign or gemstone (available from $15 onwards). You can pull out the visconti medallion from the finial by using any magnet and replace it with a gemstone of your choice. VISCONTI is embossed within a dark enamel background on both sides of the Ponte Vecchio clip which is made of sterling silver. 

The cap itself has a subtle taper towards the finial. Two spaced silver rings adorn the middle of the cap, dazzling within the greener pastures. The clip is spring loaded and you have to lift it to put it in your shirt pocket. The HS Bronze cap seems to have its own allure. :) 

FILLING SYSTEM (5/6) 

A silver loop logically separates the blind-cap, from rest of the barrel. On rotating the blind cap till its end-stop, you will be able to pull out a plunger, much like a tethered sword pulled from its sheath. The inside of the blind cap carries a silver insert to run the threads and so that the acrylic is protected from any damage. 

          The plunger rod is made of Titanium, a metal which has proved to be phenomenally resistant to most corrosive of fluids. Titanium rods are often placed as support inserts by dentists, in order to rebuild broken tooth structures! However, the shining filler collar made of sterling silver shines down condescendingly on the rather dull rod. 

The filler collar in the HS bronze is made of titanium with a graphite like dull lustre. 

 

                                Once you push in the knob with the nib dipped inside an ink bottle, you can feel a surge of ink inside the pen. An ink capacity of around 2.2 mL doesn't allow your favourite ink to last that long, given a generous flow of even for a fine nib! Here you can observe the secondary ink chamber (double walled), which can be loaded/drained into the main chamber, once you pull back the piston seal. My flight experience has been pleasant with a fully filled secondary chamber. So unless one is taking the HS FH to Mars/ISS, one doesn't have to worry about it. The small chamber lasts quite a few pages with the Fine nib and can be filled once the wetness reflects a paucity of fuel! During longer writing sessions or broad nibs, I keep the piston seal open. 

NIB - ALL THAT MATTERS (3/6) 

The giant two-tone nib with an usual iridium tip comes in four main sizes – EF, F, M & B along two special widths – BB (double-broad) & Stub (S). The nib has an leverage of around 2.6 cm and it is a #6 Visconti nib. These dreamtouch nibs are manufactured by Bock. Half of them are probably out of touch due to a tine issue or the other!

             At the tail end of the nib, lies the nib width, above which embossed are the specifications of 23k Pd 950 and a word FIRENZE. Firenze refers to Florence in Italy which is the birthplace of both Italian Renaissance and Visconti Pens, thereby its borrowed tagline - The Writing Renaissance. 

                      Palladium is the dazzling silvery and matches well with the overall trims. Personally though, I prefer the two-tone gold adornment. The silvery finish diverges from the lunar-eclipse breather hole across the inside of the tines and over to the tail. The name VISCONTI lies below the moony breather hole, with splashes of shapes of diamonds, droplets and half-moons to ornament the nib. This one is a fine nib and came with misaligned tines. Now it writes smoothly after adjusting the tines, thankfully I didn't have to send it to Visconti again. 

              The feed is a standard visconti feed with closely spaced fins, carrying the V logo at the delta region. The nib is screw-fit onto the grip section and can be swapped with ease, provided you take care of the tines. It has a bit of flex (which increases with use), although there is not much difference for an EF & F nib, when it comes to line variation with mild pressure. Be careful with over-flexing the palladium nib, it might result in a permanent damage. 

This nib initially ran wet, though it gave a strong feedback at certain angles due to the right tine, which was misaligned. The right tine stood lower than the left. And the width it lay was close to a true EF. That’s was what bewildered me, how come a Visconti Fine write so thin! I bet it was still better than some of my bad sailor nibs! Post alignment of the tines, the width of the lines increased to a true European fine or a Japanese medium and it now runs with heavy juice. 

PHYSICS OF IT (6/6) – RELATIVELY SPEAKING 

With a cylindrical body forged out of acrylic and celluloid & adorned with silver rings, it does give an earthly greenish repose. The overall weight has got a significant contribution from the cap due to the silver clip. A girth of around 1 cm is quite comfortable and it’s one of the most comfortable pens for me. As an analogy, the cap itself could be as heavy as a Pelikan m400 fountain pen. The HS bronze is heavier compared to the FH. 

• Capped Length ~ 14.4 cm 
• Non-posted Length ~ 13.2 cm 
• Non-posted Weight ~ g 
• Nib Leverage ~ 2.6 cm 
• Overall Weight ~ 37.8 g (HS Bronze ~ 43.7 g) 
• Overall Weight (inked) ~ 40.1 g 

• Weight Without Cap ~ 22.8 g (HS Bronze ~ 26.6 g) 

         Comparing capped lengths, the HS (Since HS LEs are Oversize/Maxi) does seem similar to a Pilot Custom 823 (which is not as hefty), a m1000 is there to reference a comparison with the Size#8 nib (its heft is on the higher of HS). 

 

ECONOMIC VALUE (4/6) 

          Though the Homo Sapiens Florentine Hills sells around USD 800, it is available for lower street prices. I was able to get the pen at a pretty good price, and I don't want your decision to be coloured by this price, apart from discussing it. Still, I do fail to find a great economic value for a piece of acrylic with some silver(@50 cents/gram), even though it does feel great to hold, write and a pleasure to see. I feel the bronze edition is a rather memorable pen to keep. 

OVERALL (4.8/6) 

             One thing regarding the misaligned tines, it was an easy fix for me and did not require specialised services. It’s the most common problem across many luxury brands and sometimes it does run worse. Had it been something worse where I would have had to send the nib back, my rating would have been 1/6 on the nib, 1-for the design. 

           I am used to a few large pens, I like the balance and do not find any problem with either the heft or balance of HS. Personally I like the Lava model more, since the materials and workmanship seem much more elegant. There is some line variation as the #6 nib does render springy softness to cushion mild writing pressures. No hard starts, no skips! The Fine nib lays a line which runs true to its European standards and for a cross-reference it runs more like a Japanese Medium nib. The pen feels well balanced for my hands though it does seem to have a short section for gripping. The hook-safe threads might interfere with your grip, if you tend to hold a pen higher. 

I have used multiple fills of Iroshizuku Yama Budo & GvFC Moss Green inks, and the pen runs rather nicely with Iro. Which pen doesn't :) Being a wet writer out of the box, the Fine nib lays a nice juice but thinner line, which takes around 35 seconds to dry a GvFC Moss Green (I find Moss Green to dry quicker) on MD Paper. 

The flex is evident due to the springy nib, which with a gentle pressure delivers thicker strokes, though the range of strokes run broader with increasing nib-width. Personally, I would have saved up for a Conid in acrylic, but the lure or Palladium/Silver/Acryloid vs a Titanium/Acrylic marched right ahead in my head. Perhaps some day else, since titan is already there.

REFERENCES 

HS Bronze Review

Press Release - 23kt Pd nib

Tine Adjustment Video (8:00 onwards)- Brian Goulet

Thank you for going through the review. 

You can find some more pen and paraphernalia reviews here. 

A Review of Namiki Emperor in Vermillion Urushi

Surely, dazzled by the resplendent allure of a Japanese ED (with the concept of a shut-off valve mechanism), the lust for an urushi lacquered pen vis-a-vis plain ebonite ones (seemingly susceptible to lose shine and colour over time) did keep growing on me for some time, before I took this plunge! I have come to know of an unfortunate experience with a Sailor KOP in Ebonite and have felt that without urushi, ebonite just fails to complete itself. These glamorous reviews from shuuemura and rubyeyespenlover should be banned and blamed altogether for pen-monetary crises, which I kept visiting again & again. These reviews did make me aware of huge dimensions of the Emperor more towards a ‘at rest desk-pen’, with a reassurance of writing comfort. I will keep this review unrated, since beautiful things in life do not need logic or mathematics to impart you with joy. And yes, some call it the Elder Wand(Pen), some call it the Emperor. And yet, it's still called a Lacquer Vermillion Urushi #50 without rings.

So when I got dazzled for long enough, I asked Raul (Engeika/Pensindia) for an opinion regarding the Emperor vs Yukari Royale. Since most of our discussions these days refer to trade economics, Government taxation rather than any real pen discussions, he lazily took two to three days to check with Namiki and confirmed me back with the nib availability for both the pens. He did give me a discounted price (which I shall not discuss) for the Emperor model, more as a friend than a seller. I went ahead with it, because the production of Emperor pen without rings had been stopped by Namiki and it would become difficult to acquire a preferred nib-width. The beauty travelled from Japan and reached me via Pensindia Pune office in less than two weeks.

A JUMBO HISTORY OF 85 YEARS

In early 1930’s, the Emperor existed in the form of No.50 Jumbo. It was decommissioned a few years later. On one rare occasion as referenced here, Nomura securities (estd 1925) had a specially commissioned No. 50 Jumbo pen made for itself, with Dunhill-Namiki engraved (with the classic M-shape logo) in 1936, for distribution among its employees to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the company. Wow! how many companies would do that today?

Pilot reintroduced the pen in 1985 to tap the high margin market, as referenced here. The task was left to Sakai Eisuke to create a No. 50 Jumbo prototype based on the 1920s model. The initial model had a 14k nib with the 14 KARAT NAMIKI <NIB WIDTH> REGISTERED PATENT OFFICE 50 inscription, which later got replaced with a 18k nib carrying a similar engraving. 

These days it comes with Namiki’s standard Mt. Fuji inscription. The finish of these Urushi lines is obtained by using non-oil lacquer for the final coat and a polishing method called Roiro Urushi Shiage (Non-oil lacquer finish) as per Namiki. It’s done by rubbing the pen in raw lacquer after a special charcoal polishing process. And if you look at the plain Urushi line of pens (vermillion & black), the artisan’s name would say Kokkokai. Kokkokai is a continuation of the original group of Maki-e artisans formed in 1931, under leadership of Maki-e master Gonroku Matsuda, who had joined Ryosuke Namiki back in 1926 as Chief Maki-e Designer. Matsuda is said to have designed for Montblanc too.

URUSHI

Urushi, as you know is the poisonous sap of the urushi or lacquer tree (Toxicodendron Vernicifluum) which grows in Japan, China, and Korea and is primarily brown in colour. The sap of this tree polymerises to form a hard, durable, plastic-like substance, when exposed to moisture/air. Liquid urushi can be applied to multiple materials like wood, metal, cloth, resin, ceramics or ebonite as opposed to the best of synthetic lacquers. When it solidifies, Urushi turns into a very hard coating that is waterproof and protects the coated object from effects of fungus, ambient chemical reactions at surface due to heat or humidity or even from caustic acids. Colored urushi such as black or shu (red) are made byy mixing pigments into cured urushi. With natural exposure to air and ultraviolet light (extended UV exposure ends up in discolouration), the urushi layers gradually increase in transparency and the material gradually unveils shades of original bright colours within. 

The birth of the maki-e decoration technique took place during the Nara period in Japan i.e from 710-794 AD, in which gold ''dust'' was decoratively sprinkled on the lacquer surface. So maki-e utensils, accessories and writing instruments have evolved to their present forms from thousands of years ago. Only direct and prolonged exposure to sunlight will cause urushi to deteriorate. Urushi's hardness and durability makes it an excellent protective coating for any object that will be used continously over a long period of time (Paraphrased from Kyotoguide). This all that ends up with a versatile material and with a characteristic hardness, durability, imperviousness and resistance to abrasion. The elegance of ebonite is supposed to endure time and space with the urushi flair. 

PRESENTED BY NAMIKI

The presentation is grand and velvety with a spacious wooden box, capable of packing your sneakers too, which is made out of traditional Paulownia wood. It is protectively packaged inside a cardboard box. The box has a violet thread running across two metal brackets to fasten the upper lid. 

Resting inside is a bottle of Namiki Black Ink (Pilot Black Ink - 50 mL), an Ink dropper with a red bulb encased in a black cardboard box, a red velvety polishing cloth and finally the No#50 Jumbo resting on its bed. I did receive a nice surprise gift from Pensindia - it is a Pilot Somes single-pen pouch. Thank you! (PS : The Emperor would not fit inside this standard Pilot Pouch)

The model number of the pen, in this case FNF-148S-<R/B>-<F/FM/M/B> indicates the launch price and colour of the pen. 148 refers to JPY 148,000 whereas the third digit R/B refers to the red/black urushi product.

DESIGNED CLASSICALLY 

This Lacquer No.#50 model comes in two standard colours - Black & Vermillion (Urushi) with gold plated clips. A newer No.#50 Urushi model available with two concentric rings on the cap, carrying a different model number. The ebonite feels substantial in hand from dual perspectives of dimensions but at the same time the pen does not feel heavy. 

The classical cigar or rather torpedo shaped geometry with Vermillion hue adores itself with light, which when reflected through multiple layers of urushi takes on a electric red tinge on an otherwise conservative scarlet red hue. The work and finish is impeccable and it does not show any signs of being handmade, whatsoever. The simplistic yet elegant design comes with a single golden accent, provided deftly by the traditional triangular shaped tension fit clip with a sphere to anchor into your shirt pockets, if you have that big a pocket. A marked absence of any other decoration like a clip band or ring or anything else on the entire pen, imparts a continued infinity to modes of convergence. Vermillion is considered as an auspicious colour throughout East Asia, where it’s culturally imbibed. It has four synthetic & natural shades as of today: Red-Orange[sRGB (255, 83, 73)], Orange-Red[sRGB (255, 69, 0)], Plochere[sRGB (217, 96, 59)] and Chinese Red[sRGB (170, 56, 30)]. The shades/hue of the pens in red urushi might vary from one other.

The cap unravels itself after one and a half turns. It reveals the beautiful nib with the modern Mt.Fuji inscription which is incidentally 1.1 cm longer than the section itself. The seamless grip goes through a fair amount of taper starting from the barrel and ends up with a smoothly carved out bumper, emphasising continuity. The cap threads on the barrel are carved out with sculpted finesse and the grip section ends up with a small but discernible gap between itself and the barrel (common across the Urushi models). There is a rubber gasket there as the pen holds a considerable amount of ink, for leakage would be a problem. What looks like a gap is really more insulation. The barrel at the other end leads leisurely to the tail where you have the ink-shutoff valve. This picture thankfully captured the tail end, which your eyes might fail to notice, unless you know where you are looking for it.

I feel, the cap is itself a subtle piece art made from a single ebonite blank. It carries the valour and brevity of the overall smooth curved design with remarkable panache. The finish is impeccable, with the colours varying between bright and dark with the play of light. The clip is traditional triangular Pilot with a sphere at the end, inscribed with Namiki with the Isosceles Triangle within a Pentagon logo. There is a alphanumeric code inscribed on the upper base of the clip, where it delves into the cap. 

FILLING SYSTEM - The ‘Japanese’ Eyedropper 

A bit of history on it, there were these traditional non-self filling systems or NSF (without any filling mechanism - piston/button/plunger) and luckily enough fountain pens were compulsory during my junior school days. Since the squeeze converters/cartridges did not last long, we used to bank on fountain pens from Camlin & Chelpark which used to offer the capacity of the barrel itself. However, sometimes we did end up with ink inside the cap and sometimes a blue blot on pockets of our white shirts (our school uniform) due to ink burping & subsequent leakage. If I remember correctly, Surf made all the money those days, using this particular advertisement with an ink blot on white pockets in TV media. Seems the burping had mattered to the Japanese first, thanks to their costly Kimonos made of silk, when they had come up with an ink stop - plunger mechanism in early 1912. 

                The term ED (Eyedropper) came into picture after advent of vacuum driven self filling pens with button, squeeze or plunger mechanisms. Now comes the ink-dropper with the red bulb to make an appearance. The section takes almost eternity (read seven complete turns) to reveal one of the most basic fountain pen filling systems. Most of the times, I fear the section would drop off due to my monotony and laziness during unscrewing the section. Once unscrewed, you can see the conical ink shutoff valve inside the barrel and a similar conical concavity with a crevice inside the section, to make the system work. The insides of the barrel & section are all black. With the dropper filled up with your favourite ink, you are supposed to be fill the barrel, until the visible internal threads. Leave the valve shut while filling the barrel, then unscrew one turn to allow air inside the chamber while writing and then close when finished. The entire rod is to be extracted completely, only when you are cleaning the barrel. It's a delicate system, so one must avoid pulling the rod frequently. While using, you can unscrew the tail by 1 mm or so and start writing, although the feed might have a buffer comparable to a converter. After use, you can follow the instruction of screwing back the tail with the nib turned upside. 

NIB - LORD OF THE NIBS

The nib with this Emperor is 18k which weighs more than 2 grams and it came with four stock widths earlier - F, FM, M & B according to the enclosed booklet. It seems F and B nibs have run out of stock for Namiki/Pilot Office in Japan. The nib isn't anything short of grand, but believe me it takes time to get used to it. It’s longer than the section by more than 1 cm. Inscribed is the symbol of Mt. Fuji (also found in #3776 nibs), the upper part symbolic of the snow caps. 

The oval breather hole rests within the snow caps. Below the snow, etched are the Namiki Logo (Isosceles triangle inside a Pentagon), Namiki, gold alloy specs (18k-75%) and Nib width <M>. The nib is sharply curved compared to usual flatter Pilot nibs, at its shoulders & tines, as a continuity of the precision followed by Kokkokai artists, while making the pen.

On the left the #50 nib carries the Namiki Logo Ste PP-F hallmark and on the right it carries the date stamp. Mine is a707, “a” as I understand refers to the machine/plant where the pen was made and 707 as usual refers to July-2007 manufacturing. 

The semi-lacquered plastic feed (red urushi) converges majestically with the overall design of the pen. The big fins ensure levelling ambient air pressure and give you a really worthy buffer (from underside the nib). You can write a few A4 pages with the shut-off valve/tail closed. When I filled the pen for the first time, the feed took some time to respond, but when it did it was with a nice and consistent flow, and after that it was pure performance. 

PHYSICS OF IT – RELATIVELY SPEAKING

This is in no way a daily carry pen designed for extensive use as a travel companion. For a daily pen, I assume that a Yukari Royale would fit the bill well, albeit with a smaller nib. I take special care and limit the pen to home use only. The ebonite body keeps the pen warm & comfortably balanced for writing. The pen is in fact quite comfortable to write with, even for an extended period of time. The grip is temperate and soothing, showcasing the better qualities of ebonite, with urushi sustaining its demeanour. Posting the pen is probably an impossibility for me, given the size, finish or value of the pen. I really do not have any pen to compare it with, though I strongly feel that the Emperor deserves a place of its own. A slight disadvantage in my experience occurs when I change back to a m605 or a 3776, and I have a funny feeling of missing a nib altogether, for the first few moments. Figures for weight and dimension run below in case you need to compare it with a familiar pen. 

• Length closed ~ 17.3 cm 
• Length open ~ 15.8 cm 
• Grip Diameter ~ 1.4 cm 
• Nib Leverage ~ 3.3 cm 
• Weight (without ink) ~ 46 g 
• Weight (without cap) ~ 30 g
• Ink Capacity ~ 4.4 - 5.0 mL 

Capped, uncapped Emperor poses with an MB149 and Izumo Tagayasan with an apparent disdain for their great magnitude.

ECONOMIC VALUE 

The Emperor retailed at around USD 1600 in the US, although you can find it at lower prices in Japan. Moreover, the production of Emperor without rings has been stopped now and Raul was kind enough to arrange one for me. Technically speaking, I bought the pen from Engeika’s Indian Arm - Pensindia. 

               Logically the economic value should be equal to salvage value of the pen after a few years of use and I don't think the price will vary by much even after a few years use with proper care, given that someone decides to sell it off. Having said that, even though the pen is one of its kind and the lacquer finish is impeccable, you should give it a serious thought, before taking this kind of a plunge. It will result in a fair amount of money being locked up within the urushi layers! 

OVERALL

The medium nib is graced with a wet flow. It’s neither butter smooth nor with any noticeable feedback, strictly speaking. You will right away know it’s a Pilot nib, in case you have used any of the Pilot pens with a Size#15 nib like a Custom 823 or Custom 845. And it does share its basic DNA with its cousins. I feel that some characteristic spring and softness comes naturally to the Emperor because of the size & shape of the nib, rather from gold content. The verticals grow thicker even with a little bit of pressure. With a high buffer capacity of the feed and its magnificent fins for pressure balance, the nib imparts a beautiful shading to the letters in Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo ink. The ink takes around 45 seconds to dry completely on Tomoe River paper. 

Thank you again for going through the review.

You can find other pen and paraphernalia reviews here.

The Yukari Royale with the Emperor. Notice the difference between the red shades.

SOME CAUTIONARY GUIDELINES FOR URUSHI LACQUER CARE

I felt like including some pointers regarding care of urushi lacquered pens here, since it will help me more than the reader (most of whom are extremely knowledgeable). The points are derived from this FPN Thread. 

1. AVOID Ultraviolet light - direct sunlight, UV lamps, halogen lamps. 
2. AVOID Continuous exposure to visible light which can alter colour, transparency and appearance. 
3. Do NOT soak in water. 
4. Store in a dark place to prevent undesirable changes. 
5. Do NOT store the pen in an excessively dry or desiccating environment for long periods like inside the fridge, with silica gels etc. 
6. Do NOT use abrasive cleaners or polishes, use a soft cloth damp if necessary, to wipe the pen 
7. Do NOT have to apply anything to the surface of urushi: oils, stinky tofu, silicone or otherwise. 

REFERENCES

Dunhill - Namiki Jumbo#1930s

Gonroku Matsuda

About Urushi

FPN Thread on Care for Urushi lacquered pens