Nakaya Urushi - Cigar Piccolo

[saintsimon]

I found this post at Pentrace, where an email by Pengallery was mentioned saying essentially, that Nakaya and Pengallery have ended their cooperation due to differences.

http://members2.boardhost.com/pentrace/msg/1166102778.html

[alvarez57]

I was for the longest admiring the Aka-Tamenuri and debating over its price, for it would have been the most expensive payed pen in my collection. But, Pen Gallery offered a clip cigar one for a slightly cheaper price and being December, I said "what the heck"!

The pen is HUGE but it is so light and well-balanced that the size does not present any problems at all! The lacquering is astounding, especially when looked under a light source; there is no leveling between the cap and the barrel but you can notice the separation because there is a degradation in the hue of the lacquering.

I chose a medium "Elastic" nib; single-toned for it was the only available. The flex is a dream to write with and it gives a beautiful wet line; only one problem: do not use on cheap paper for I think this is the culprit of slightly separating the tines!!!!

Still, it writes beautifully except a bit scratchy, which originally it was very smooth.

I admire daily this pen, even if I'm not using it. It is definately a well-executed pen and worth of owning (if you can afford it!!!)

:bunny1:

[steersbylitning]

Great review and photos, Laura!

 

I have one of these pens (although mine is black) and absolutely love it. I had one of the bigger Nakayas and didn't find it fitting my hand, but this one is just perfect, and is one of my most-used pens. I really love writing with it.

 

One of these days (when I've got money again) I'll order a new one in a different finish.

That could be a while, so I'll just keep enjoying what I've got.

 

Debbie

[cmenice]

Hi Laura, great review. I want one of these pens. I was wondering if you had any larger pens that you could take a picture to compare. Like a Pelikan 800.

 

Thanks.

[Phthalo]

Hi cmenice - Sorry, but I am a small-pen gal, the longest pen I own is a Sheaffer Snorkel...

 

The Piccolo is only marginally longer - but has more girth - than a Pelikan M400. If you find them too small, the Piccolo won't be for you. You may feel more comfortable with a Nakaya in the Portable size.

[cmenice]

Thanks, that should be helpful.

[alvarez57]

Hi Laura, great review. I want one of these pens. I was wondering if you had any larger pens that you could take a picture to compare. Like a Pelikan 800.

 

Thanks.

I don't have the pelikan 800 but the New Parker 51 and a Montegrappa, which are really medium to large pens.

[MYU]

Laura, what a fabulous review! I really enjoyed the way you wrote about the Nakaya Piccolo--you were thorough and very much conveyed the feeling of the pen. Also, you took beautiful photographs--very professional and well thought out. Nice!!

 

Wow, I *want* one of these Nakaya pens. I wish I'd known about the sale at PenGallery in December... apparently they no longer sell Nakaya, so that may be why they were discounting their trickling stock.

 

Alas, I have maxed out on my pen purchases for a while, at least until I unload some of my collection. A Nakaya is next on the dream list!

[jd50ae]

I find myself visiting this post and the Nakaya home page on a regular basis, say about once a day. The fit and finish evident from your very fine photos speak volumes and I am closer all the time to getting one. When I have the spare bucks I will have one, very similar if not the same as yours. Very nice review, too nice, it makes me drool.

[georges zaslavsky]

that is one awesome looking pen

[jonro]

Laura, that was an excellent narrative review. Lots of photos and your description really captured the feel of the pen. Thanks.

[Phthalo]

I love that so many people enjoy this review and find it useful!

 

I will be buying another two Nakaya pens later this year - they are superb.

[georges zaslavsky]

Where can I find distributors of Nakaya in France? How much is the retail price of a normal writer pen?

Edited February 10, 2007 by georges zaslavsky

[Phthalo]

There are no distributors, I believe. There was a distributor in Malaysia (Pen Gallery), but no longer. There haven’t been other distributors elsewhere as far as I’m aware.

 

Each pen is handmade, so they are essentially semi-custom pens. They will work with you to ensure the pen suits your writing needs. You place your order and work with the Nakaya team directly, via the Nakaya website and email - all prices and ordering information is on the site.

 

http://www.nakaya.org/

Edited February 10, 2007 by Phthalo

[georges zaslavsky]

Thanks for the information I appreciate it

[MYU]

You place your order and work with the Nakaya team directly, via the Nakaya website and email - all prices and ordering information is on the site.

Hi Laura - when you say "you work with the Nakaya team directly", what does this entail? Do they ask you a series of pen usage related questions, such as writing style, pen size preference, nib preference, etc.? I take it that they have a certain amount of work already done, such as a base coating of urushi on a highly polished base, and that they then finish the rest according to requests?

 

I'll have to bet that we will very rarely see used Nakaya pens for sale, at least for quite some time. After all, once a pen is custom made for you, why would you ever want to sell it?

[Phthalo]

When you order from the website, there is a detailed form which you fill out, and most of the nib tuning is done from that. If you request a somewhat exotic nib, maybe an elastic variant, they may ask some additional questions, and you kind of go back and forth via e-mail until you are both happy.

 

In regard to completely custom finished pens - it seems the sky is the limit. Just check out the Special Order section. You start with a base model, and just build from there.

 

A better person to ask would be Ruud (aka rhk) - check out his custom Nakaya story here: http://members2.boardhost.com/pentrace/msg/1165684848.html

(I think maybe only Pentrace members can access these older messages.)

 

Paging Ruud...

Edited February 14, 2007 by Phthalo

[alvarez57]

Oh Christ! I 'd forgotten I had already posted here ...time to sleep!

Anyways, the photos are very nice to look and look again!

Edited February 14, 2007 by alvarez57

[alvarez57]

I had the clip version for I like to see a clip in my pen.

 

Big photo ahead!

Edited February 14, 2007 by alvarez57

[MYU]

Thanks, Laura. I took a look at that order form--wow, they really go into a lot of detail! It makes it difficult to decide on a nib as there are so many choices.

 

Unfortunately the link to Ruud's story isn't coming up. But Pentrace does have a number of interesting Nakaya articles.

 

Ruud--if you're reading this, maybe you can post your Nakaya article in the Review section of FPN?