Help Me Identify This Platinum.

September 8, 2010

I found this pen while doing some packing, and it was a nice break from all the moving stress and tedium to try and figure out what this pen is. At first I thought the "P" logo stood for Pentel or Pilot and assumed that Paradise Pen in Portland would have the right cartridge. (It was dried out, in the back of a desk drawer, with no replacement cartridges.) I was surprised when I had to leave empty handed, since Paradise seemed to have quite the selection.

After a bit of searching, it turns out this is a Platinum. Never heard of the company before, so I'm not surprised that neither the salesman nor I could quite put a name to the logo. I got the impression that Platinums aren't really that popular, and it is very possible that this pen was from when my family still lived in Asia. The construction leads me to believe that it isn't really a high end pen, with the barrel made of resin/plastic, and the cap of metal.

Can anyone put a model no./name to this pen? I'm curious as to what I'm dealing with here and when it dates to. Thanks in advance for any info I should know about this pen. So far, the only fountain pens I have owned are the Lamy Safaris, which really started my affair with fountain pens a couple years ago, when I went to school in Germany. Since fountain pens aren't really that popular back here in the States, I've still got quite a bit to learn.

September 8, 2010

Platinum is one of the biggest brands in Japan, along with Pilot and Sailor. I'm very surprised that someone at a major pen retail store wouldn't recognise the brand, even if they don't carry it themselves. It should be a decent quality pen, although I'm afraid I don't know the exact model.

The brand is fairly popular, so you should be able to find cartridges for it, and it may even be able to use a converter. Platinum also makes an adapter for their pens that allows them to use the international cartridges used by most American and European pen companies. One website that sells most of this stuff is jetpens.com, which provides free shipping if your order totals more than $25.

September 8, 2010

That's a Platinum pen from the 70's. To find the exact model, you might have to wait for someone like Stan to chime in since the Japanese companies put out so many products. Platinum uses a proprietary cartridge although your pen looks like it is long enough for the converter. You can order online from a number of dealers. The pen itself is probably somewhere in the lower middle of the Platinum range for that time period. Is the nib steel or gold?

FYI-Platinum is one of the Japanese big three and I believe is no.2 in Japan behind Pilot but ahead of Sailor. They have been around since 1919. Platinum doesn't do a very good job of promoting itself in the US and most people are more familiar with their 'sister' company Nakaya.

September 11, 2010

I don't have a catalog that show the exact model you have. There are three pages attached that show similar. Two were posted here on FPN some time ago. The second and last sheets show a model number PB-3000 with the highlighted name of Kakiaji-no Seiei, or Write Well Elite. Many pens do not have model names, only model numbers, and yours appears to follow that practice. Perhaps someone else can document a name.

Hope this helps.

Edited September 11, 2010 by stan