New: Platinum Curidas (Capless Type) Fountain Pen

[mke]

> Maybe you could ask if you're interested as well

No big interest in such a pen. I will have a look at it in March when Maruzen has its penshow.

[Intensity]

Here's an excellent video by PenChalet, explaining eg the long knock, how to take off the clip and more:

 

 

(Saw it first by lurking here https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/ew0j99/platinum_curidas_fountain_pen_youtube/)

 

Great video, very informative.

[taimdala]

 

The VP doesn't feel like it's as long. It's less bulky looking too. This looks like it's trying to fit a whole converter in there!

 

It does! Platinum's proprietary converter fits neatly inside and it might be a happy exploit for the knock's longer length (which apparently was designed to save attrition of the nib by not having the nib touch the trap door on opening/closing).

 

See the video, here.

 

 

 

EDITED TO ADD:

 

Oops. Apologies for the redundant post. See, this is what I get for reacting to a post early in the thread without reading the thread to the end. Sorry, everyone!

 

 

On the plus side, I rather like this pen and am thinking of pre-ordering the red.

Edited January 31, 2020 by taimdala

[essayfaire]

 

It does! Platinum's proprietary converter fits neatly inside and it might be a happy exploit for the knock's longer length (which apparently was designed to save attrition of the nib by not having the nib touch the trap door on opening/closing).

 

See the video, here.

 

 

 

EDITED TO ADD:

 

Oops. Apologies for the redundant post. See, this is what I get for reacting to a post early in the thread without reading the thread to the end. Sorry, everyone!

 

 

On the plus side, I rather like this pen and am thinking of pre-ordering the red.

I get excited about posts before I read 'til the end as well.

 

So how much more ink does this hold than a VP? I don't like the small ink capacity (not the larger than average mess when filling) in the VPs, but otherwise adore them.

[Intensity]

Looks like the standard Platinum converter's worth or platinum ink cartridge's worth. Platinum converters hold around 0.5ml of ink, which is about the same or less than Pilot converters that fit into Vanishing Point (CON-20 can hold 0.9ml of ink, CON-50 can hold ~0.6ml of ink, CON-40 can hold ~0.6ml of ink)

[penzel_washinkton]

Looks like the standard Platinum converter's worth or platinum ink cartridge's worth. Platinum converters hold around 0.5ml of ink, which is about the same or less than Pilot converters that fit into Vanishing Point (CON-20 can hold 0.9ml of ink, CON-50 can hold ~0.6ml of ink, CON-40 can hold ~0.6ml of ink)

If you can fully fill the converter

[A Smug Dill]

So how much more ink does this hold than a VP?

Looks like the standard Platinum converter's worth or platinum ink cartridge's worth.

 

I would have thought the difference (cf. "how much more ink") would be between the respective capacities of a Platinum proprietary ink cartridge and a Pilot proprietary ink cartridge, and nothing to do with the converters (and, more specifically, nothing to do with the Pilot CON-40 converter typically supplied with new Pilot Capless Vanishing Point pens these days), since @essayfaire wanted to know the difference between the potential ink capacity of the pen models, and not what a pen purchaser could do without spending money additionally (on acquiring ink cartridges, particular models of ink converters, syringes, etc.) after acquiring a pen. I know for a fact that a Pilot Capless Vanishing Point pen can house either a Pilot ink cartridge or any of the CON-20, CON-40 and CON-50^† converters, so the amount of ink that a Pilot Capless pen can hold is surely the maximum between those four types of compatible ink reservoirs?

 

^† The Pilot CON-70 converter won't fit inside the body of a Pilot Capless Vanishing Point pen, and the CON-B squeeze converter (that is supplied with Pilot MR models that don't work with international standard cartridges/converters) won't work properly even with the metal shell supplied in the retail packages for Pilot Capless VP and Decimo pens.

[BaronWulfraed]

If you can fully fill the converter

I've never had a problem with that... I tend to use the same technique for all my pens...

 

At about the half-way point of filling, remove pen from ink, invert (nib up) and retract filler rest of the way -- this draws most of the ink from the feed. Still with nib up, start "expelling" ink until bubbles stop and ink pools around nib -- this removes remaining air. Invert (nib down), back into ink, retract filler the rest of the way. Remove from ink -- expel a drop or two to desaturate the feed and provide a small air bubble for thermal changes.

 

I tend to follow this procedure with twist-piston converters, squeeze-bladder converters, Conklin Crescent fillers, lever fillers, and full piston fill pens.

Edited February 2, 2020 by BaronWulfraed

[essayfaire]

 

I would have thought the difference (cf. "how much more ink") would be between the respective capacities of a Platinum proprietary ink cartridge and a Pilot proprietary ink cartridge, and nothing to do with the converters (and, more specifically, nothing to do with the Pilot CON-40 converter typically supplied with new Pilot Capless Vanishing Point pens these days), since @essayfaire wanted to know the difference between the potential ink capacity of the pen models, and not what a pen purchaser could do without spending money additionally (on acquiring ink cartridges, particular models of ink converters, syringes, etc.) after acquiring a pen. I know for a fact that a Pilot Capless Vanishing Point pen can house either a Pilot ink cartridge or any of the CON-20, CON-40 and CON-50^† converters, so the amount of ink that a Pilot Capless pen can hold is surely the maximum between those four types of compatible ink reservoirs?

 

^† The Pilot CON-70 converter won't fit inside the body of a Pilot Capless Vanishing Point pen, and the CON-B squeeze converter (that is supplied with Pilot MR models that don't work with international standard cartridges/converters) won't work properly even with the metal shell supplied in the retail packages for Pilot Capless VP and Decimo pens.

I actually was thinking of my displeasure with the CON-40 that comes with the current Vanishing Point models. I do have a number of Platinum converters on hands, but it sometimes is difficult to compare ink reservoirs when nib sizes affect the rate at which ink is used up. Platinum cartridges are a pretty nice size.

[A Smug Dill]

I do have a number of Platinum converters on hands, but it sometimes is difficult to compare ink reservoirs when nib sizes affect the rate at which ink is used up.

 

 

If your question wasn't really about the volume of ink (vis-à-vis "how much ink") the pens' ink reservoirs can respectively "hold" — i.e. draw in or accept during a filling operation in whichever manner — but actually a concern about "how much" writing, in terms of one or more of the following metrics:

• total length of all the visible marks, if they were straightened and joined end to end, that the user could make on paper
• number of pages (of a given page size) of writing
• number of hours or days of intermittent but continual use of the pen for writing
• days between refilling the pen with bottled ink

that the user could achieve with a single fill, then I suspect it's not a "fair" or answerable question, because you would then have to contend with factors such as:

• nib width
• flow or "wetness" characteristics of the nib(s) in question
• the type(s) of paper used, which may affect how capillary action works drawing ink out through the nib
• style (x-height, script, or even language, etc.) of writing

and so on, on top of whether the user goes to great lengths/pains to achieve a maximum fill (e.g. with a syringe, versus a single continuous twist of the converter's piston mechanism in a particular direction) on the way in before the output begins.

 

It is my personal view that "all else being equal" makes no sense when the user only wants to forecast his/her user experience but there are so many variables that he/she neither specify nor attempt to control at significant "cost" or effort to oneself, including cutting out all activity that does not fit the narrow evaluation profile.

[essayfaire]

 

 

If your question wasn't really about the volume of ink (vis-à-vis "how much ink") the pens' ink reservoirs can respectively "hold" — i.e. draw in or accept during a filling operation in whichever manner — but actually a concern about "how much" writing, in terms of one or more of the following metrics:

• total length of all the visible marks, if they were straightened and joined end to end, that the user could make on paper
• number of pages (of a given page size) of writing
• number of hours or days of intermittent but continual use of the pen for writing
• days between refilling the pen with bottled ink

that the user could achieve with a single fill, then I suspect it's not a "fair" or answerable question, because you would then have to contend with factors such as:

• nib width
• flow or "wetness" characteristics of the nib(s) in question
• the type(s) of paper used, which may affect how capillary action works drawing ink out through the nib
• style (x-height, script, or even language, etc.) of writing

and so on, on top of whether the user goes to great lengths/pains to achieve a maximum fill (e.g. with a syringe, versus a single continuous twist of the converter's piston mechanism in a particular direction) on the way in before the output begins.

 

It is my personal view that "all else being equal" makes no sense when the user only wants to forecast his/her user experience but there are so many variables that he/she neither specify nor attempt to control at significant "cost" or effort to oneself, including cutting out all activity that does not fit the narrow evaluation profile.

Smug,

 

I certainly agree that if one were to attempt to quantify such a comparison in terms of my quantity of writing, it would be a futile question. I suppose I (perhaps wrongly) thought that people might chime in with a more apples-to-apples comparison; i.e. M nib of one versus M nib of the other on the same paper they habitually use. If the same writer is using the same ink and paper with two different pens, one might notice a difference in terms of how long a fill lasts, no?

[A Smug Dill]

I suppose I (perhaps wrongly) thought that people might chime in with a more apples-to-apples comparison; i.e. M nib of one versus M nib of the other

That's exactly the reason for my gambit of suggesting comparing the ink capacities of the proprietary Platinum and Pilot ink cartridges, which I thought was appropriate without being disingenuous. Given that the Platinum Curidas is supplied without an ink converter but only an ink cartridge (source: Platinum Pen), while the Pilot Capless (Vanishing Point) comes with an ink converter and an ink cartridge (source: Pilot Pen UK), surely the starting point for an apples-to-apples comparison "out of the box", especially when qualified by the question of how much ink the pens hold, would be the most intuitive and reasonable starting point?

 

If the user is prepared to source an ink converter separately for the Platinum Curidas (presumably at additional expense), then for an apples-to-apples comparison one would assume the user is also prepared to source an ink converter separately for the Pilot Capless, especially if maximising time between ink refills is a personal priority, yes? That being the case, the user would not be limited to the Pilot CON-40 even today, but can still get a CON-50 for less than US$10 shipped to Australia, Canada, France, Mexico, Singapore, UK, etc. (I checked just now, including testing each of the listed destinations.)

 

If you're prepared to just take Goulet Pen's word for it, and I personally think it is a sufficiently credible source of retail product information, then:

According to Technical Specs published on Goulet Pen's web site

[/th][th]Platinum Curidas	Pilot Capless
Max Ink Capacity - Cartridge	1.19ml	1.05ml
Max Ink Capacity - Converter	0.74ml	0.82ml

 

on the same paper they habitually use. If the same writer is using the same ink and paper with two different pens, one might notice a difference in terms of how long a fill lasts, no?

Some users might. I personally wouldn't, because I wouldn't deploy two similar pens for exactly the same purpose or application, writing on the same type of paper with the same ink colour, either concurrently or one after another, until they both run dry. When I do pen and/or nib comparisons specifically to test for differences, I rarely do more than an A5 page or two of writing with the test subjects. If I buy a Platinum Curidas, it certainly won't be with a view to replacing one of my Pilot Capless pens as the writing instrument of choice for a particular use case.

[Jadie]

Wow! I didn't realize this existed until the Goulets posted on their sites that they were stocking them soon. After losing my Pilot raden VP in a move, I've always wanted to get a replacement because I loved the retractable nib, but couldn't bring myself to plunk down all the $$$ again.

 

At $64, this looks like a steal and the tiny size of the nib is super cute! Going to be eyeing reviews and stuff before I settle on either the green or red...super excited!!

 

EDIT: Oh yes, I do realize the Pilot Capless exists but after losing my VP buying one would just remind me of all the pretty raden sparkles I don't see anymore when writing with its less expensive cousin... :'(

Edited February 4, 2020 by Jadie

[Driften]

Goulet Pens put up a notice of their video that Platinum Japan has decided that no discount will be given on the Curidas and now everybody has to charge $80 for it. Oh well.. at $64 I was willing to buy one to test it and just have it around. At $80 I don't think I will.

[TSherbs]

Goulet Pens put up a notice of their video that Platinum Japan has decided that no discount will be given on the Curidas and now everybody has to charge $80 for it....

 

Jeez. Who rolled out that marketing plan?

[sketchstack]

Goulet Pens put up a notice of their video that Platinum Japan has decided that no discount will be given on the Curidas and now everybody has to charge $80 for it. Oh well.. at $64 I was willing to buy one to test it and just have it around. At $80 I don't think I will.

The whole price hike really irks me. I was excited about this pen but now Im thinking I have enough Platinum pens. Gonna hold on to my money.

[Theroc]

Yeah. It's off my wish list. On principle alone. Not necessarily because $80 is too much, but because it was previously advertised at $64 and the price was hiked for no reason other than hubris on part of the manufacturer.

The way this was handled is absurd. It will only be a matter of time before this pen shows up at grey market prices, eating away at the sales of authorized dealers.

[Bill P]

Yep, Platinum sure didn't handle this well....turning off lots of prospective buyers...

 

It was my understanding that The Pre-Order price was $64, and then when Dealers had it in stock the price would go to $80....BUT, NO Dealers have them in stock...so all orders at this point will be pre-order until somewhere around the 18th of February .

 

One dealer told me that it was a surprise that Platinum prematurely asked all dealers to raise the price to the MSRP of $80 immediately... it was totally unexpected by the Dealers.

[dapprman]

Sorry a lot of that does not add up else why did a lot of US retailers advertise it from $80 from the start. I suspect some went for discounts for initial sales, as is common practice and Platinum told them not to.

[sketchstack]

... On principle alone. Not necessarily because $80 is too much, but because it was previously advertised at $64 and the price was hiked for no reason other than hubris on part of the manufacturer....

Exactly.

 

The really screwed up thing is at first I thought it was a specific dealer who was raising the prices for their own gain. That made me sour toward that specific dealer. Only after more investigation did I realize it was a Platinum decision that affected all dealers.

 

BTW in the fountain pen world its common to have pens that always sell below MSRP. Take Visconti for example. I find that practice silly but thats why I didnt think much about the $80 vs $64 initially. I never saw it disclosed as some kind of pre-launch discount.