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A photo of the back of the packaging in which I received my Pilot Plumix ‘F’. I am very pleased to find that Pilot included these measurements for their different nib grades’ nominal widths. ’Fin’ en français means ‘Fine’ in English. ’Large’ en français means ‘Wide’ in English, but in the context of nib grades it translates as ‘Broad’. ‘Extra-large’ therefore translates to ‘BB’ in English.

Behold; the belly of the beast! 😉 A side-view of my example of the European species of Pilot Plumix. Mine has a nib that is marked ‘M’. Inside it one can see the ‘Short International’ cartridge of blue ink that came to me with the pen.

This is my Pilot Plumix. It nib is marked ‘M’, and has what I think is an Italic grind. Pilot makes a similar-looking pen called the ‘Pluminix’. That one is a smaller ‘cousin’ of this one. The way that I remember the difference is by thinking of the Pluminix as a ‘mini Plumix’. This photo is partly intended as a demonstration of how very ‘squid-like’ this thing is in appearance. If one pictures the cap’s ‘fins’ as the ‘mantle’ of the squid, one can picture the pen’s body as the beast’s tentacles, reaching out to capture its prey. When one holds it with the top of the nib upwards (as in this photo) one can not see one very unusual aspect of its shape - on the underside of the pen’s barrel, the moulding swells out like a ‘belly’, and has curved ridges moulded on to it too. The pen has a shaped grip-section that has three facets moulded into it. I hold my pens with a traditional ‘tripod grip’, and I find it to be actually surprisingly-comfortable in my hand. My Plumix is an example of the European species of Plumix; it is ‘chambered’ for ‘Short International’ cartridges. Mine came to me with one SIC of a blue ink inside its barrel. The species of Plumix that one encounters everywhere outside Europe is chambered for Pilot’s own proprietary cartridges. One final point - Pilot prevents Britons from buying either version of the Plumix, or the Pluminix - I had to order mine from a vendor in continental Europe. Pilot also prevents us from buying any of its pens that are more-expensive than their disposable ‘V-pen’ (about £5ea as I type this) but less-expensive than their ‘Custom Heritage 92’ (about £185ea as I type this). Pilot also prevents us from buying their standard inks in bottles. We are only allowed to buy their ‘luxury’ ‘Iroshizuku’ inks. I conclude that Pilot hates Britain ☹️

This photo is an attempt to show another aspect of the strange, rather ‘loligoform’ shape of this pen - its ridged ventral swelling, aka the ‘belly of the beast’ 😉 Clearly though, I ought to have first removed the sticker 🤦‍♂️ The sticker has the code FCD-PXN-B-M printed on it. My pen has a nib that is marked ‘M’. I believe that it has an Italic grind. The SKU is 4902505335471. My Plumix is an example of the European species; it is chambered to take ‘Short International’ cartridges, rather than Pilot’s own proprietary cartridges. It came to me with one SIC of blue ink enclosed. Although the pen’s shape is decidedly unusual, and visually-striking, it is surprisingly comfortable in the hand. N.b. I hold pens with the traditional ‘tripod’ grip; if you do not use that grip, you may find its three-faceted grip-section to be decidedly uncomfortable!

Source: https://www.pilot.co.jp/products/pen/fountain/fountain/prera_iro_ai/ In reply to: