Platinum Izumo Or Sailor King Of Pen

[Brian C]

Just a quick poll. Have a couple extra dollars that I fell into and am considering these two pens. Which would you go for and why?

[hari317]

they are at different price points afaik. the izumo can be hand for good prices off ebay, but the KOP is rarely undersold.

[jar]

I chose the Izumo for several reasons. First I liked the looks better and second I have found my Platinum nibs to be more consistently good than those from Pilot/Namaki.

[Brian C]

they are at different price points afaik. the izumo can be hand for good prices off ebay, but the KOP is rarely undersold.

I'm taking the price differential into consideration, but I can afford either at the moment.

[rafapa]

I chose the Izumo for several reasons. First I liked the looks better and second I have found my Platinum nibs to be more consistently good than those from Pilot/Namaki.

?????

[jar]

?????

Not sure exactly what "?????" is asking but maybe a somewhat more detailed response will help.

 

As I have posted before my experience with Japanese pens is really limited compared to many other makes and the sample sizes are relatively small.

 

I have about a half dozen Pilot/Namiki pens and owned some since the late 80s or early 90s.

 

I have just over a half dozen Platinum and Nakaya fountain pens again dating from the 90s to very recent ones.

 

Of the Pilot/Namki fountain pens about half have needed nib adjustment and none of the fine nibs have been as enjoyable and fine nibs from many other makers. The Medium and up nibs have been acceptable but certainly nothing great.

 

All of the Platinum/Nakaya nibs have simply been very good and none have needed to be fiddled with although I have had one turned into a cursive italic by John Mottishaw.

 

In all, again based on a fairly small sampling and only about a quarter century of experience I would put Platinum overall in the same tier as ST Dupont or Yard-o-Led or Ferrari da Varese or Sheaffer or Caran d'Ache or Graf von Faber Castell or a few others and Sailor on the next tier down with Montegrappa or Waterman or Parker and Aurora and Delta and Pilot/Namiki down with Omas and with Pelikan, Montblanc and a some others.

 

The Pilot/Namiki pens are still among the better pens out there just in my limited experience not as consistently good as those from Platinum and sailor.

[Brian C]

Not sure exactly what "?????" is asking but maybe a somewhat more detailed response will help.

 

As I have posted before my experience with Japanese pens is really limited compared to many other makes and the sample sizes are relatively small.

 

I have about a half dozen Pilot/Namiki pens and owned some since the late 80s or early 90s.

 

I have just over a half dozen Platinum and Nakaya fountain pens again dating from the 90s to very recent ones.

 

Of the Pilot/Namki fountain pens about half have needed nib adjustment and none of the fine nibs have been as enjoyable and fine nibs from many other makers. The Medium and up nibs have been acceptable but certainly nothing great.

 

All of the Platinum/Nakaya nibs have simply been very good and none have needed to be fiddled with although I have had one turned into a cursive italic by John Mottishaw.

 

In all, again based on a fairly small sampling and only about a quarter century of experience I would put Platinum overall in the same tier as ST Dupont or Yard-o-Led or Ferrari da Varese or Sheaffer or Caran d'Ache or Graf von Faber Castell or a few others and Sailor on the next tier down with Montegrappa or Waterman or Parker and Aurora and Delta and Pilot/Namiki down with Omas and with Pelikan, Montblanc and a some others.

 

The Pilot/Namiki pens are still among the better pens out there just in my limited experience not as consistently good as those from Platinum and sailor.

King Of Pen is made by Sailor.

[jar]

King Of Pen is made by Sailor.

You are of course right. But I still find my Platinum nib experience to be more consistent than Sailor, but not as much as with Pilot.

 

But it's clear now that the "?????" was just questioning MY confusion and so now understood and explicit.

 

But I'm old and often confused.

[rafapa]

You are of course right. But I still find my Platinum nib experience to be more consistent than Sailor, but not as much as with Pilot.

 

But it's clear now that the "?????" was just questioning MY confusion and so now understood and explicit.

 

But I'm old and often confused.

Sorry for not being explicit in my question. I also am old if not older than you.

[Lam1]

I voted the platinum because I prefer the feel of platinum nibs over sailor nibs, although with a limited sample (and, clearly, this is a matter of personal preference), I like the looks of the Izumo better and the izumo has urushi (assuming those are the models you are considering).

 

I think the KoP is overpriced for what it offers and I have a really hard time buying any Sailors because of that ridiculous leaking converter that they have (that is my experience anyway, but it seems common) - my confidence in sailor converters is zero, and I would never take a sailor out of the house unless it has a cartridge. Platinum converters are much better and you can even have an adapter to international CC.

[Keyless Works]

I have no experience with the KOP though I have been thinking about an ebonite one for a while now. I didn't care for my Izumo so I sold it. The shape of the Izumo is its most interesting feature but the bulge and large step down somehow didn't work with my hand.

 

I also didn't love the President nib. Compared to the 3776/Nakaya nibs I see more feedback in President nibs...some people might prefer this. I have sampled a handful of Medium President nibs and they were all exactly the same. Platinum makes a very consistent nib.

 

Also keep in mind that an equivalent spec KOP is three times the price of the Platinum. I am not sure what makes the KOP cost so much more. Maybe they use 100% Japanese Urushi like Namiki?

[hari317]

KOP has its own nib, not fitted to non KOPs.

 

Izumo shares its nib with the lower priced President.

 

The KOP nib is very different from the standard 21K sailor nibs.

 

I suggest KOP.

[zaddick]

You have options for specialty nibs with the KOP, not the Izumo. That's my reasoning for the vote.

 

I own an Izumo and I am a fan. It is one of the better urushi pen values in my opinion. The KOP urushi is overpriced to me.

[rafapa]

KOP has its own nib, not fitted to non KOPs.

 

Izumo shares its nib with the lower priced President.

 

The KOP nib is very different from the standard 21K sailor nibs.

 

I suggest KOP.

All KOP share the same nib? I mean ebonite and non ebonite ones? Could you comment on the main differences between KOP and non KOP 21K nibs?

Thanks in advance!

Edited January 11, 2016 by rafapa

[hari317]

All KOP share the same nib? I mean ebonite and non ebonite ones? Could you comment on the main differences between KOP and non KOP 21K nibs?

Thanks in advance!

yes afaik. In my subjective opinion, KOP nibs are quite soft as compared to the typically Hard 21K non KOP nibs. HTH.

[mongrelnomad]

I find my Izumo more comfortable than my KOP.

I prefer urushi to raw ebonite.

I prefer the Platinum's nib to the Sailor's (though with a King Eagle, it may be the latter's impracticality that I object to).

I feel the Izumo is a bargain, the KOP is only fairly priced.

 

That's why I voted Izumo.

Edited January 11, 2016 by mongrelnomad

[Brian C]

Thanks all. I decided to go with a Montblanc 149. The reason being that I found, with a less expensive pen that I recently acquired, that I really dislike the Sailor converter. That would really bother me on the KOP. While I am still interested in the Izumo, I went with the 149 because of the much larger nib size and the fact that it's a piston fill. I don't actually have one of those in the collection at the moment. Also, I was looking to purchase from engeika and found that they are out of the urushi models and only had the wood models. I'll wait until I can find a good deal on an urushi Izumo.

[J85909266]

Ebonite KoP would be a lock for my next purchase, if not for the converter. I'm also considering a 149, instead. I may also just go for the KoP and use Sailor carts. Not sure, yet.

 

Either way, the Izumo is not attractive, to me, at all.

[jmccarty3]

I have two Izumos, the ironwood glossy and the urushi suro-tamenuri. Oddly, the ironwood model is a bit longer than the urushi (why?). They are beautiful and impressive pens, but I don't care for the 18k President nibs on the Izumos as much as the 14k nibs on my two Nakayas. I probably will end up selling the Izumos to pay for another Nakaya.

[Calamus plasticus]

You cheated! :-) The poll was KOP or Izumo and you ended up buying a MB 149 :-) that's not fair.

Well, my two cents: KOPs are fitted with a # 9 nib, the same size of a MB 149. Izumos use a # 6. In my very personal opinion, that's a small nib for such a pen. It's a pitty. With a bigger nib the Izumo would be a winner.

Ah, BTW I personally vote for the Sailor, as the converter is not an issue for me and you say the price was not a problem (Lucky you...)