Basic Platignum Info Needed

October 19, 2012

I have acquired an old (?) Platignum pen, with six (!) nibs, absolutely pristine. It has a refill mechanism (at least I think that's what it is) I've never seen. Of course, in the finest eBay tradition, there's no documentation, and no model id, just brand marks.

This pen is plastic, black, white insert ends (for style). Cap snaps on. Nib assembly, with feed tube, screws in. There's a cartridge-like reservoir device inside that seems refillable, that fits to the installed nib tube, with a clear ink chamber in the middle and a blue plastic part at the back end that screws a plunger up and down to suck in ink (I think). I've attached a picture of the disassembled parts. (There is a metal band at the middle of the reservoir piece that holds the blue end in place, and unscrews, which I did not take apart for the picture.)

The nibs all are folded steel, stamped on top "Italic", on one side with "Platignum/England" and on the other with "Oblique" and a size on each: Fine, Medium, Broad, B2, B3, and B4.

I could use a bit of information.

My assumption: remove the device, and fill from an ink bottle by turning the blue end piece (or with a syringe), or possibly simply put the nib into an ink bottle and fill directly through it. Does anyone know this style?

Is there a cartridge that replaces this rather complex fill system? It's ~75mm long, ~7.5mm wide (max), with a metal (brass?) fitting at the working end (to the nib) ~6mm. The blue twist part is ~6mm (x27mm), slightly less than the main width. Because it's not one width for the whole length, it would not seem that any standard modern cartridge (that I've found as yet) would work, although I've found one reference to an older style Platignum cartridge that looked similar.

I'd like to know model/history, if possible. I'm pretty sure it's from no later than the 80s, but that's just a guess.

I'm sure this pen would not be a particularly expensive one (suits my penurious nature), but I'm hoping to be able to put it to simple regular use. I've written by fountain pen now for going on sixty years, starting with Esterbrooks and for quite some time a Shaeffer NoNonsense, through several iterations. It's time for a new one, and this one intrigues me.

No rush. Thanks for any help.

Edited October 19, 2012 by SemiAdult

October 19, 2012

I have this same set (non-oblique, though). I probably bought mine in the early 90's, probably from Paper & Ink Arts (or maybe John Neal Bookseller). Platignum did sell long ink cartridges for this pen, but I prefer to use the blue ink converter so I can use bottled ink. I wouldn't doubt the cartridges turn up on eBay from time to time. I really like the ink converter... it's filling style is similar to the one used for the Rotring ArtPen. Just snap it into the nib feed and fill through the nib (rather than separately). Remove the ink converter when you need to clean it in between color changes. This pen has a nice crisp edge to it (a little grabby on some papers). These pens were originally from England.

eta: By the way, when you mentioned oblique nibs, those might be for left handers.

Edited October 19, 2012 by fiberdrunk

October 20, 2012

Thanks for the response. I must say I've learned quite a lot today about things I probably should have known before posting... but it's all good. At the very least the words make more sense to me now, so perhaps I won't seem quite so obtuse. You'll understand that as a long-term cartridge pen user, the nomenclature of "converter" didn't register well for me.

I did find a proper definition of "Oblique", and more importantly (to me as a righty) "LEFT Oblique" (which mine are *not*). Yeah, that mattered. I must have read something about that a long time ago, as I'd learned about reshaping the fine and medium NoNonsense nibs towards the "Oblique" form along the way. Works for me.

I'm still trying to figure out, short of a small investment by guesswork, about cartridges. There does not seem to be a lot of -- or *any* -- actual facts about physical dimensions of most cartridges. This makes it difficult to determine what might really fit. Specifically, the most problematic measurement would concern the "working end" where the nib tube reaches the cartridge; both the external diameter (for fit to the barrel) and the internal diameter (for fit to the tube) must matter. I've found there is some variance in these, both by images and in comments, so it's just about impossible to know what's what. As long as a cartridge approximates the "stepped down" shape of the converter, and the "away" end is suitably smaller, even if there is some variance in total length (and there is, from 72 to 74 mm), exact length would not seem to matter, or could be easily padded. The Lamy T-10 cartridge looks very close, although the outer diameter of the small section where the nib tube fits appears smaller and there's no way to know how the tube itself would fit.

Given all this rambling, I have a couple of questions left. Is there any notion of a "standard" for those critical fit cartridge dimensions? Is there a table or list *anywhere* of what they might be, or what might fit this Platignum unit? Finally, is the converter a "standard" size/shape, and there any way to know what other converter might fit?

Thanks again for your assist.

October 20, 2012

The cap looks very familiar to me. I'm sure I had one of these sets once. (I might still have it somewhere.)

I'm pretty sure it was sold as a calligraphy set, with five or six different nibs. I probably got it from WH Smiths. Just Googled and found this photo.

(Edited to add image)

Edited October 20, 2012 by Lorna Reed

October 20, 2012

Thanks, Lorna. That's exactly the one.

October 20, 2012

Thanks for the response. I must say I've learned quite a lot today about things I probably should have known before posting... but it's all good. At the very least the words make more sense to me now, so perhaps I won't seem quite so obtuse. You'll understand that as a long-term cartridge pen user, the nomenclature of "converter" didn't register well for me.

I did find a proper definition of "Oblique", and more importantly (to me as a righty) "LEFT Oblique" (which mine are *not*). Yeah, that mattered. I must have read something about that a long time ago, as I'd learned about reshaping the fine and medium NoNonsense nibs towards the "Oblique" form along the way. Works for me.

I'm still trying to figure out, short of a small investment by guesswork, about cartridges. There does not seem to be a lot of -- or *any* -- actual facts about physical dimensions of most cartridges. This makes it difficult to determine what might really fit. Specifically, the most problematic measurement would concern the "working end" where the nib tube reaches the cartridge; both the external diameter (for fit to the barrel) and the internal diameter (for fit to the tube) must matter. I've found there is some variance in these, both by images and in comments, so it's just about impossible to know what's what. As long as a cartridge approximates the "stepped down" shape of the converter, and the "away" end is suitably smaller, even if there is some variance in total length (and there is, from 72 to 74 mm), exact length would not seem to matter, or could be easily padded. The Lamy T-10 cartridge looks very close, although the outer diameter of the small section where the nib tube fits appears smaller and there's no way to know how the tube itself would fit.

Given all this rambling, I have a couple of questions left. Is there any notion of a "standard" for those critical fit cartridge dimensions? Is there a table or list *anywhere* of what they might be, or what might fit this Platignum unit? Finally, is the converter a "standard" size/shape, and there any way to know what other converter might fit?

Thanks again for your assist.

PM me and I'll send you a Platignum ink cartridge. Maybe that will help you compare it to others, to see if you can find a substitute for them.

Edited October 20, 2012 by fiberdrunk