Pilot Custom 845-M

[hari317]

Background:

 

I had my eyes set on this flagship of the Pilot Custom line ever since in 2005 when I got a copy of the Pilot catalog from the Pen station. I progressed up to this pen slowly, starting with the 742s, 743s, a custom 823 and finally last week when this was listed by Engeika on ebay, I was lucky enough to win it.

 

The regular pens in the Custom series are made of PMMA resin (and one Maple wood), but the Custom 845 is made of Ebonite and then coated with the naturally occuring Urushi lacquer. This coat of lacquer prevents the eventual oxidation and discoloration of the Ebonite and gives a high class deep shine to the pen.

 

First impressions:

Lately I have been paying huge customs duties on the pens received by me, but to my good luck, this one escaped scrutiny and I got to open the package myself rather than the customs officials doing the honors. The pen came with its outer seal intact:

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Pilot%20845/IMG_3385.jpg

 

A closeup of the packing date seal:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Pilot%20845/IMG_3387.jpg

 

The contents, rearranged for the photo:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Pilot%20845/IMG_3389.jpg

 

A leaflet outlining the history of the Urushi lacquering technique and a brief instruction leaflet. The Con70 Converter came fitted inside the pen. a Black cartridge was included. The box looks nice and heavy but is in fact quite light weight.

 

I carefully cut open the plactic sleeve that seals the pen and beheld the pen, Beautiful, the appreciation of the deeper lustre took some time, initially I could not discern the subtle beauty of the Urushi over the polished PMMA.

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Pilot%20845/IMG_3391.jpg

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Pilot%20845/IMG_3392.jpg

 

The Con70 converter on this one is fancier with the black paint on the normally steel finished portion of the converter

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Pilot%20845/IMG_3393.jpg

 

The beautifully finished Flat cap top:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Pilot%20845/IMG_3394.jpg

 

A comparison shot with its new neighbors in the pen chest:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Pilot%20845/IMG_3396.jpg

L-R: M800, MB149, 823, 743FA, 845. the 845 is longer than the 149 and the 743 pens. the girth is somewhat wider than the 743 but slimmer than the 149.

 

Pens uncapped:

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Pilot%20845/IMG_3398.jpg

L-R: 823, 743 and the 845.

 

The Nib and writing performance:

 

I inked the pen up within 10 minutes of receiving it. Used Pilot Blue-Black from the bottle and the included Con70. Flawless!, I got the M point, very smooth with a hint of feedback. The 18K bitone nib has a very subtle softness that I like.

 

A comparison of the Pilot 15 nibs: L-R: 845. 823 14K mono, 743FA 14K mono, MB149-14K

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Pilot%20845/IMG_3401.jpg

 

The sections: Note that the 845 section is identical to the 743, but is gold plated instead of plain steel.

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Pilot%20845/IMG_3403.jpg

 

The barrel threads for the cap:

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Pilot%20845/IMG_3404.jpg

The 743 is at the top and the 845 at bottom. The barrel and threads is single piece on the 743 but is a two piece affair on the 845. The barrel being ebonite, Pilot made a seperate molded resin component that has the cap threads on the outside and the section threads on the inside. This component is then attached by some means to the barrel.

 

The inside of the Ebonite barrel is roughly finished and you can see the brownish tint of the already oxidised BHR. I tried, but it was too tough to photograph that area properly.

 

Cap Engraving:

 

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Pilot%20845/IMG_3405.jpg

The engraving on the 845 is deeper with a darker effect than on my 743. The trim rings look the same but for the slightly lower placement on the 845.

 

The mirror finished end jewels:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Pilot%20845/IMG_3407.jpg

 

Cost: I paid 365 USD in total, a reasonable price considering the quality.

 

Overall:

 

A very classy pen. Initially I was a bit undewhelmed, but the pen has grown on me and I was able to appreciate the deepness of the Urushi, but it is very difficult to distinguish the finish at a first glance between the 743 and the 845, the writing performance is flawless and the pen is very light weight. The pen does not feel like the traditional ebonite pen possibly because it is a hybrid and not completely made of Ebonite. The tactile feel (warmth) of Ebonite is also missing probably due to the Urushi coating. It is a beautiful pen nonetheless and I am very glad that I got it.

 

I hope this review will be useful to the readers.

 

Cheers,

Hari

[Abhik]

Wonderful Hari! Congratulations! I read your review with apprehension as this morning I was reading an excellent review of the same pen by MYU.

Yours is of different category. You have carefully avoided those points highlighted by MYU and made a well written comparison of Pilot Custom Pens!

Enjoy your pen.

Best,

Abhik.

[ashishwakhlu]

Fantastic Hari, beautiful review and pictures, is this pen also available through the pilot website?

 

regards

 

Ashish

[hari317]

Wonderful Hari! Congratulations! I read your review with apprehension as this morning I was reading an excellent review of the same pen by MYU.

Yours is of different category. You have carefully avoided those points highlighted by MYU and made a well written comparison of Pilot Custom Pens!

Thank you Abhik.

 

Fantastic Hari, beautiful review and pictures, is this pen also available through the pilot website?

 

Thank you Ashish. This pen is listed on the Pilot Japan website and is infact the flagship of their Custom line, but AFAIK, they will not sell directly to the customer. I bought mine from ebay.

 

Best,

Hari

[PatientType]

Your use of comparison photos with the spare descriptions was more illuminating than a detailed narrative would have been. It's very clear to me from your review what Pilot intended in creating the 845 and how it complements Pilot's 823 and 743 as part of the company's premium pen line up. Great job! Thanks.

[MYU]

Bravo, Hari! What a great review. You provide some intriguing comparative information with intricate supportive photos. It is especially interesting to see how the 845 stands up to the 743, which I had felt is almost just a torpedo design of the same pen (rather than squared off ends). But it's clear from what you've presented that there are some interesting differences. Congratulations on the price, too. I did see a gently used one slide by on eBay at $280 once (shipping not included), but most of the time they sell in the mid $300's. It's definitely worth the price, as Pilot put a lot of effort into the design, materials, and production of the 845.

 

I do wonder where Pilot will go from here. How could they top it? A piston filler mechanism? Not worth it, as the CON-70 converter works just as well as the best piston fillers and with greater ease. Maybe they'll try for a larger pen someday... I hope the 845 stays on top for a good long while, as it certainly deserves the position.

[hari317]

It's very clear to me from your review what Pilot intended in creating the 845 and how it complements Pilot's 823 and 743 as part of the company's premium pen line up.

Thank you PatientType.

 

I do wonder where Pilot will go from here. How could they top it? A piston filler mechanism? Not worth it, as the CON-70 converter works just as well as the best piston fillers and with greater ease. Maybe they'll try for a larger pen someday... I hope the 845 stays on top for a good long while, as it certainly deserves the position.

 

Thank you Gary. The 743 and the 845 are different beasts and I quite agree that the con70 is one of the best filling systems out there, piston or no piston. I personally think the pilot cartridge design is also the best available along with sailor though the same cannot be said about their converters.

 

As to a future direction, I think they should introduce a Deep maroon or Vermillion or Green Urushi variant of the 845, they already do this with limited nib options for the resin 743/742/74 series. I would also love to see an ED filled modern Pilot.

 

Best Regards,

Hari

[rokurinpapa]

Conglatulations! Thank you for your efforts about elaborate review. I appreciate your sincerity and carefulness to the details of the pen.

I also want to have this 845.

[shrujaya]

Hari...this is a lovely pen and the photos have made the pen come alive...and nice to see all the stalwarts in one frame...aspirational group photo...good going...

 

Jai

[hari317]

Conglatulations! Thank you for your efforts about elaborate review. I appreciate your sincerity and carefulness to the details of the pen.

I also want to have this 845.

 

Thank you Rokurinpapa, I have always enjoyed your reviews.

 

Hari...this is a lovely pen and the photos have made the pen come alive...and nice to see all the stalwarts in one frame...aspirational group photo...good going...

 

Thanks Jai, why don't you plan a visit here to Bombay?

 

Edited to fix typos

Edited November 10, 2009 by hari317

[Namo]

Great review and very helpfull and interessting. Thank you, Hari!

[rogerb]

It is a lovely pen ....I don't use mine as often as I should!

[Lava Fountain]

Hi Hari,

 

Thx for the Wonderful Review & Excellent Photos as well, you most certainly nailed what the pen is without too much excess.

 

Gorgeous.

 

I just recieved mine last month and concur with all you say and defintiley Love writing with it. I have the Med nib as well, wouldn't mind getting a F or a B nib somehwere along the way.

 

Thx again for the time & effort.

 

Cheers,

LF

[Silvermink]

I just recieved mine last month and concur with all you say and defintiley Love writing with it. I have the Med nib as well, wouldn't mind getting a F or a B nib somehwere along the way.

 

I thought yours was a BB? Maybe I'm thinking of something else.

Edited October 19, 2010 by Silvermink

[Lava Fountain]

I just recieved mine last month and concur with all you say and defintiley Love writing with it. I have the Med nib as well, wouldn't mind getting a F or a B nib somehwere along the way.

 

I thought yours was a BB? Maybe I'm thinking of something else.

 

:bonk: Hey G,

 

Of course you are correct, since you played with it @ the Dinner you should know as well as I.

I was thinking of the Med nib on another of my recent aqusitions so hadn't refreshed my Short Term Memory :ltcapd: Guess it's getting shorter by the day.

 

But as you say it is a BB & Love it, would still like to get another nib or pen though to go along with it.

 

Maybe the KOP would do nicely sooner than later.

 

Thx for the correction G! :clap1:

[Silvermink]

It's a sweet pen! I was already thinking of getting one and trying yours out has cemented that.

[Lava Fountain]

It's a sweet pen! I was already thinking of getting one and trying yours out has cemented that.

 

Thx G,

 

I'm bringing it with me on Thur so you can give it another spin as you like to cement it furhter hahaha

 

Cheers.

[Silvermink]

I'm bringing it with me on Thur so you can give it another spin as you like to cement it furhter hahaha

 

Oh dear...

[Lava Fountain]

I'm bringing it with me on Thur so you can give it another spin as you like to cement it furhter hahaha

 

Oh dear...

 

Sorry G, Anytime :ltcapd:

[cbaytan]

This is an old post but I have to learn about this. I thought 743 nibs and 845 nings are the same #15 nibs so why the nib on 743 has grooves like #10 FA nibs I didn't understand. Thanks for the help.

 

The sections: Note that the 845 section is identical to the 743, but is gold plated instead of plain steel.
http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii197/hari317/Pilot%20845/IMG_3403.jpg