Ordering My First Hakase Pen

[da vinci]

Wow - great pen! Looks like it is everything you expected from a visual perspective - thanks for pics. Looking forward to the review

[shuuemura]

Congratulations... Beautiful. Absolutely.

 

First impressions?

 

After inking it up with Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo, I tested the nib on Kokuyo Campus paper. Very smooth, very slippery. Hakase certainly know how to tune a nib so that it glides on paper. At the same time, there is just a tiny bit of feedback that allows the user to control where the nib is going. I would say that the nib feel is very similar to the broader nib I experienced on Sblakers' Cocobolo Hakase which has since been sold to a collector in Texas.

 

The pen body fits perfectly into my hand like a glove. No break-in period at all - I find that truly amazing.

 

 

Much more intrigued by the shape of the cap than I thought I would be. Pretty!

 

Thank you! I thought that my pen would come with a less conical cap end, but I find this cap shape growing on me as I write this.

 

Stunning! What a beautiful pen!

 

Thank you!

 

Wow - great pen! Looks like it is everything you expected from a visual perspective - thanks for pics. Looking forward to the review

 

Yes, I look forward to writing a review of this pen as well, hopefully before the end of this year.

[shuuemura]

A couple more observations:

 

1. The clip and the bump on the gold band line up perfectly when the pen is capped.

2. The MF nib writes more like a medium nib, which is fine by me.

3. This #15 Pilot nib writes slightly differently from the other #15 Pilot nib on my Custom 845, which was tuned by Yukio Nagahara. The Hakase nib puts down a uniform line regardless of any flourishes I make, whereas the Custom 845 nib writes thicker or thinner lines depending on the stroke. The variation is quite subtle for the latter.

[daintydimsum]

Stunning pen! I've been considering a buffalo horn by Hakase as well. Did you have any issues with customs? I'd be so anxious if it were stuck at customs.

[shuuemura]

Stunning pen! I've been considering a buffalo horn by Hakase as well. Did you have any issues with customs? I'd be so anxious if it were stuck at customs.

 

Thank you! No, no issues at all.

[hari317]

Nice! the pen looks so wonderful! congrats! marked difference in shape from the initial sketch you showed, cap top and the clip.

[shuuemura]

Nice! the pen looks so wonderful! congrats! marked difference in shape from the initial sketch you showed, cap top and the clip.

 

Thanks! The size and shape of the pen is just right for me. Initially Ryo Yamamoto recommended a length of 140 mm from nib tip to barrel end (I do not post my pens), but I felt that 135 mm would be better. I had agonised over that detail for a couple of months but am glad that it worked out well in the end.

[brahe]

Wow. Absolutely gorgeous. Congrats !

A Hakase buffalo horn is on the top of my list as well.

Enjoy it and I love to read your review.

 

Still waiting on my New Green Celluloid one. Due February 2015.

 

Bram

Edited October 30, 2014 by brahe

[nekomuffchu]

My Hakase just came in today! Some quick shots with my phone camera of the unboxing. I'll wait till tonight to test it out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So beautiful, time to start saving!

[Ghost Plane]

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!

[shuuemura]

Just wanted to update this thread after three years of ownership. After moving from California to Singapore last year, I noticed that the buffalo horn of my pen expanded in the high humidity of the tropics, making the gold ring roll stopper uncomfortably tight. One day last month, I took my Hakase out from the pen cabinet and saw a split in the gold ring! Which is every pen owner's nightmare.

 

 

I immediately wrote to Ryo Yamamoto to see if anything could be done to rescue my pen. Initially he indicated that the repair would involve remaking the whole barrel out of buffalo horn (which would incur a hefty repair bill, given that my pen was out of warranty). I wrote back to ask if anything could be done to defray the cost of the repair, given that I hadn't intentionally abused the pen.

 

So after some thought, Yamamoto-san decided to remake my whole pen out of African Ebony so that it could better withstand the humidity of Singapore. This was at no charge to me and purely out of good will. The new pen delivery was scheduled in September this year, but it arrived way ahead of schedule this week! After inking it up and taking it for a spin, I immediately warmed up to this pen in a way that I never did with my old buffalo horn pen. Just wanted to share this story with you guys so that you can be assured of the fantastic customer service from Hakase if you should happen to order a pen from them.

 

My new Hakase in African Ebony together with a Dunhill Sentryman in Carbon Fibre.

[zaddick]

Thank you for the update. What happened to the old pen? Did you send it back? Did they reuse the nib?

[shuuemura]

Thank you for the update. What happened to the old pen? Did you send it back? Did they reuse the nib?

 

I sent the old pen back to Hakase. Ryo definitely reused my old nib. Not too sure if he reused the rest of the gold trimmings though.

[nekomuffchu]

shuuemura, make sure you get a good dry box for your electronics and valuables, I lived there for 6 years and the humidity tends to make a meal of them.

[Mew]

 

 

I immediately wrote to Ryo Yamamoto to see if anything could be done to rescue my pen. Initially he indicated that the repair would involve remaking the whole barrel out of buffalo horn (which would incur a hefty repair bill, given that my pen was out of warranty). I wrote back to ask if anything could be done to defray the cost of the repair, given that I hadn't intentionally abused the pen.

 

 

Ouch! This is the only thing that makes me uncomfortable with the prospect of owning a Hakase - the warranty.

At that price range, I would like more backing of their products from the company than 3 years of warranty.