How Does Platinum #3776 Century Matsu-Tora (Pine Tree And Tiger) Kanazawa-Haku (Gold Leaf) Fountain Pen Hold Up With Use

[TitoThePencilPimp]

I was wondering how do Platinum #3776 Century Matsu-Tora (Pine Tree and Tiger) Kanazawa-Haku (Gold Leaf) Fountain Pen hold up with daily use? Or does the design rub off easily.

 

I have never owned a Platinum pen before. Mainly Pelikans, with the occasional Sailors and Kaweco Liliputs.

 

How are Platinum nibs? Are they similar to Sailors or are they a bit softer? I was considering getting a Coarse nib grounded to an architect nib. Which would be my only architect nib pen. Or an ultra extra fine.

 

 

 

 

[jandrese]

The material does not rub off in normal use. I have all three versions of those 3776 Century pens. Great pens.

 

The Century nibs are different than other Platinum nibs. Sailor nibs vary too. A standard fine may suit you for extra fine Western style. A coarse will have enough material for an architect grind. Those are all the rage now.

[A Smug Dill]

Platinum #3776 14K gold nibs on the Century product line are about the same size as the 'large-sized' Sailor 1911 nibs — which, as far as I know, only come in 21K gold — on the Profit21 (aka 1911 Large in some parts of the world) and Professional Gear 'Classic' models, but the plane of the metal body is flatter and the shoulders are wider still on the Platinum nibs.

 

I think the Platinum #3776 14K gold Fine nibs are stiffer than the 'equivalent' sized Sailor 1911 21K gold Fine nibs, but I love them both.

 

As far as getting an architect's nib custom grounded, that's up to you, but I probably would suggest getting a Sailor 21K gold Naginata Togi nib first, to see if something that's 'factory' and made by the brand's master craftsmen as designed would meet your functional and quantitative requirements with regard to writing with a fountain pen. Unless I custom designed and/or spec'ed something myself, but lack the expertise to realise the product on my own, I personally always prefer to buy something off the shelf (along with warranty and presumably the manufacturer's own continual improvement process loop) to see if it would meet my requirements.

 

I have two out of the three Platinum #3776 Century kanazawa-haku models (but not the mastu-tora as yet). There's daily use, and there's daily use. Holding it in your hand and writing with it "every day" is fine, but I have noticed that capping and uncapping repeatedly can cause flaking of some of the gold leaf material right at the join. Of course, it always depends on how and in what you carry the pen daily, how often you taken it out and put it back into the sleeve, carry case or pen loop, etc.

 

By the way, the Platinum #3776 Century kanazawa-haku models do not come with either Coarse or Ultra Extra Fine as 'factory' nib options, as far as I'm aware. As much as I like pens that write finely and precisely, and I'm curious about Platinum's UEF nib (still, as I haven't bought one yet), I don't think it's really a nib for everyday writing. I think you'd be "better off" — and I wouldn't be so disrespectful as to guess at your spending power or preferences as a fellow hobbyist and a consumer — buying a 'basic' gold-trimmed Platinum #3776 Century model, which offers UEF as a factory nib option, and separately a kanazawa-haku matsu-tora (which only comes a with Fine, Medium or Broad nib directly from Platinum). If you really want to use an UEF nib for everyday writing after you've tested it out, you can always just swap the nibs yourself; that's what a retailer that offers to sell you a Platinum #3776 Century kanazawa-haku pen with a UEF nib would be doing anyway.

Edited May 30, 2020 by A Smug Dill

[jandrese]

Good info and advice from member A Smug Dill above. I'd add that flaking is possible but I've never seen it. They are not my daily writers. Nothing is, all is rotated.

 

At Nibsmith.com you can get any factory nib size you want on the pen. For Japanese pens with limited nib sizes that is my go to place since he will swap nibs at your request.