Platinum dark Briarwood

[jandrese]

This is a review of the Platinum 3776 in dark briarwood with medium nib. Coincidently, darkgreen posted a review of the Nakaya cousin of this pen just before I completed writing this! Here is the link to his post. Nakaya briarwood.

 

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Recently, I read that 3776 is the height of Mt. Fuji in meters, which in feet comes out to 12,388. Mountains and fountain pens are common themes but the connection between them is not clear to me. Perhaps the customer is supposed to revere the pen as much as the Japanese people love Mt. Fuji. Anyway, the wood body of this 3776 is a different beast from the plastic models. The grip section is different, the cap is different, and the price is different. There are three versions of the wood 3776, dark briar, light briar, and Yakusugi Cedar the later of which is evidently highly prized in Japan. Together these pens make up the Exotic Woods Collection and are available with ultra extra fine through double broad nibs as well as a music nib. Since Japanese nibs write about one full size smaller than their European counterparts I wonder at the line produced by the ultra extra fine!

 

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Several large pen manufacturers make pens from wood and or bamboo, which of course is a grass, but it does look like wood. Sailor and Graf von Faber Castell come immediately to mind. In addition, wood is a common material for hobbyists so there are a lot of wood body pens around. Nevertheless, this is my first fountain pen made from wood and I like it a lot. The lacquered briarwood really shows what is best about a wooden pen, namely that every pen is different and Nature is beautiful. The darkly stained briarwood has a complex, visually appealing grain and a wonderful texture that is much more pleasing than plastic. The grain swoops and swirls in endless movement and when capped except for the clip and cap band, only wood is visible. The wood is light but durable and seems to resist scratching. It also feels warm and inviting unlike cold plastic.

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2448/3694425537_7ba8e9fd90_o.jpg

 

The cap has the standard 3776 clip but a beefy band and a really nice clutch mechanism that snaps the cap onto the section with a satisfyingly strong click. The grip section is much longer and more elegantly contoured than on the plastic 3776 pens. The reason for the different grip section is unclear; perhaps it better accommodates the type of cap Platinum wanted to use, but it is a nice change from the standard pen and is comfortable to grip. The cap posts securely and balance is OK when posted but is better when not. This is because the cap is relatively heavy (12.8 grams for the cap alone vs. 17.5 grams for the body with a full converter) and because the pen is 5.75 inches long capped, but when posted the length increases to 6.43 inches. Never mind though, I rarely post my caps and this is a very comfortable pen to write with.

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2482/3695234770_aa34e2693c_o.jpg

 

The nib and feed are standard 3776 parts and that is indeed a good thing. It means that the nib writes a consistent fine line with little or no fuss. No skipping, no dry starts, no catching, essentially no problems at all. The pen feeds from a bottle using a converter, which in the case of Platinum is not an issue since it has a nice wide mouth for excellent ink flow. If, however, you like cartridges, and I know nobody on the FPN does (or would admit to!), then you would have to use Platinum brand.

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3025/3695234580_a603b33d07_o.jpg

 

As an aside, the Platinum President nib is labeled “M” for medium, which I did not notice before I posted the review of it a couple of weeks ago. On the 3776, as on their Nakaya cousins, the nibs are labeled with Japanese characters to indicate the tip size. Also, the ink in the converter and on the nib is Noodler's Purple Martin, which is an excellent purple.

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3029/3694424935_554584cf7d_o.jpg

 

In summary, this is a great pen and the peak of the non-painted 3776 lineup. By virtue of the material it is guaranteed to be unique and the nib is flawless right out of the box. I’m sure you would enjoy.

 

[darkgreen]

The lacquered briarwood really shows what is best about a wooden pen, namely that every pen is different and Nature is beautiful. The darkly stained briarwood has a complex, visually appealing grain and a wonderful texture that is much more pleasing than plastic. The grain swoops and swirls in endless movement and when capped except for the clip and cap band, only wood is visible. The wood is light but durable and seems to resist scratching. It also feels warm and inviting unlike cold plastic.

 

The nib and feed are standard 3776 parts and that is indeed a good thing. It means that the nib writes a consistent fine line with little or no fuss. No skipping, no dry starts, no catching, essentially no problems at all.

 

On the 3776, as on their Nakaya cousins, the nibs are labeled with Japanese characters to indicate the tip size.

 

In summary, this is a great pen and the peak of the non-painted 3776 lineup. By virtue of the material it is guaranteed to be unique and the nib is flawless right out of the box. I’m sure you would enjoy.

 

"Briarwood, Smoking hot!" ... :clap1:

 

Thanks for this very useful review - I was very curious about how similar the Nakaya and Platinum cousins were: this seems to confirm that they are very closely related and your comments for the 3776 could just as easily apply to the Nakaya version.

 

I wonder, did you order a stock item or was there any tweaking of the nib and feed?

 

 

[Lloyd]

Nice pen! By the way, Platinum makes an adapter to permit the use of standard cartridges, too.

[jandrese]

The lacquered briarwood really shows what is best about a wooden pen, namely that every pen is different and Nature is beautiful. The darkly stained briarwood has a complex, visually appealing grain and a wonderful texture that is much more pleasing than plastic. The grain swoops and swirls in endless movement and when capped except for the clip and cap band, only wood is visible. The wood is light but durable and seems to resist scratching. It also feels warm and inviting unlike cold plastic.

 

The nib and feed are standard 3776 parts and that is indeed a good thing. It means that the nib writes a consistent fine line with little or no fuss. No skipping, no dry starts, no catching, essentially no problems at all.

 

On the 3776, as on their Nakaya cousins, the nibs are labeled with Japanese characters to indicate the tip size.

 

In summary, this is a great pen and the peak of the non-painted 3776 lineup. By virtue of the material it is guaranteed to be unique and the nib is flawless right out of the box. I’m sure you would enjoy.

 

"Briarwood, Smoking hot!" ... :clap1:

 

Thanks for this very useful review - I was very curious about how similar the Nakaya and Platinum cousins were: this seems to confirm that they are very closely related and your comments for the 3776 could just as easily apply to the Nakaya version.

 

I wonder, did you order a stock item or was there any tweaking of the nib and feed?

 

 

 

Actually, I bought a used pen that was without box. The nib and feed have never been touched. Platinum pens rarely have nib or feed issues in my experience.

 

[dapv]

Luscious pen. Daddy like. You know what ... as good looking as this pen already is, this pen would be smoldering with a flat black, possibly titanium, or charcoal clip and band.

[dandelion]

These japanese pens are so exquisite. I love the pics! Thanks!

[Pen2009]

I have both the dark and light versions of Platinum #3776 Briarwood fountain pens. The pens are so well made with natural wood materials that they speak of craftmanship and production engineering of Platinum.

[Bull Winkle]

I have the light briar wood Platinum, with medium nib. I'm glad I got the Medium nib, it the currently the smallest nib size in all of my pens, including a L2K EF. Very smooth, classy Pen

[georges zaslavsky]

very nice and understated pen I like it

[rokurinpapa]

Thank you for your nice review. Generally speaking, pens made of briarwood are very expensive. but Platinum briarwood pens are reasonable , not cheep, I think.

 

rokurinpapa