Old Platinum Fountain Pen - real or fake

[carretera18]

Hi,

I saw this pen for sale but did not find pictures of this pen on the web. Is this pen real or fake?

Thanks in advance.

 

 

[Bounce792]

What is it being sold as? What sort of information is the seller providing about? What price point is being sold at?

[A Smug Dill]

7 hours ago, carretera18 said:

Is this pen real or fake?

 

From the bottom image, the gold plating on the steel nib looks well worn; and the gripping section, barrel and cap are all obviously plain old cheap plastic. Who would bother with making and/or offering a counterfeit item of that product grade and condition, notwithstanding that it bears the Platinum brand name? It's not as if Platinum only ever made premium writing instruments. The shape of the nib suggests to me that, as a product, this probably sat somewhere between the Preppy and the (current-model) Balance in Platinum's product range back in the day.

[stan]

What would suggest it is fake? Do you have access to the yearly catalogues and could not find it? 

 

The pen is a real Platinum. Probably a 1990ish student pen. Priced especially for students.

Nib is a MEDIUM. Probably writes darn good.

[A Smug Dill]

3 minutes ago, stan said:

Nib is a MEDIUM.

 

A Medium-Fine, actually.

[stan]

10 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

A Medium-Fine, actually.

Right you are.

[carretera18]

On 2/18/2021 at 10:27 PM, Bounce792 said:

What is it being sold as? What sort of information is the seller providing about? What price point is being sold at?

 

Sorry for delay... I didn't received forum reply alert...

This pen is on sale in Brazil for U $ 50.

 

The seller just mentioned that it is an old pen and never used.

[carretera18]

On 2/18/2021 at 11:55 PM, A Smug Dill said:

 

From the bottom image, the gold plating on the steel nib looks well worn; and the gripping section, barrel and cap are all obviously plain old cheap plastic. Who would bother with making and/or offering a counterfeit item of that product grade and condition, notwithstanding that it bears the Platinum brand name? It's not as if Platinum only ever made premium writing instruments. The shape of the nib suggests to me that, as a product, this probably sat somewhere between the Preppy and the (current-model) Balance in Platinum's product range back in the day.

I understand. It is probably an old entry level pen of the brand.

Thanks

[carretera18]

On 2/19/2021 at 1:42 AM, stan said:

What would suggest it is fake? Do you have access to the yearly catalogues and could not find it? 

 

The pen is a real Platinum. Probably a 1990ish student pen. Priced especially for students.

Nib is a MEDIUM.

 

I thought about the possibility of being fake because I looked for similar pens on the Internet and didn't find anything like that.

 

And your information that it's probably writes well made me interested to buy.

thank you

[langere]

Nice discussion!  I wonder if the pen is worth $50, given where it is/was in Platinum's product lineup.

 

@carretera18, you might want to consider that.

 

Erick

[stan]

Pen is easily worth $50. I used to sell them for that ten years ago. Very good durable writing pens. Had to be for students to get hooked on Platinum pens.

 

Often questions regarding real or fake are asked and I respond what makes someone think it is a fake. Just because you did a ten to fifteen minute search on the internet and didn't find anything does not mean it is fake. It could mean it is rare or you didn't know what to search for. I can post pictures of ten pens right now that hardly anyone has seen. My point is that we must be careful in attribution. It would be better to ask, "Has anyone seen this model before?" or, "Can anyone identify the model or when it was made?" Or, ask about value?

 

It would be a rare Japanese pen that is copied and sold as a fake. In over twenty years I've never seen one. That does not mean they do not exist. But, why would someone wish to copy a $50 or even $200 pen? Where is the profit in that? These are not $5000 Mont Blancs. The market is not there for copies or fakes.

[Tinjapan]

18 hours ago, stan said:

Pen is easily worth $50. I used to sell them for that ten years ago. Very good durable writing pens. Had to be for students to get hooked on Platinum pens.

 

Often questions regarding real or fake are asked and I respond what makes someone think it is a fake. Just because you did a ten to fifteen minute search on the internet and didn't find anything does not mean it is fake. It could mean it is rare or you didn't know what to search for. I can post pictures of ten pens right now that hardly anyone has seen. My point is that we must be careful in attribution. It would be better to ask, "Has anyone seen this model before?" or, "Can anyone identify the model or when it was made?" Or, ask about value?

 

It would be a rare Japanese pen that is copied and sold as a fake. In over twenty years I've never seen one. That does not mean they do not exist. But, why would someone wish to copy a $50 or even $200 pen? Where is the profit in that? These are not $5000 Mont Blancs. The market is not there for copies or fakes.

Just to add to what he said, there are huge numbers of Japanese pens that are not in any (surviving) catalogue, even some modern pens by one or more of the big three.  

[A Smug Dill]

On 3/20/2021 at 8:55 AM, stan said:

Pen is easily worth $50.

 

On the premise that worth is what someone will pay to acquire an item, I suppose, and not the value embodied by the item. One could easily buy new (or new-old-stock) gold-nibbed Japanese pens, until fairly recently, for ¥5,000+tax or even ¥3,000+tax. If we're talking used pens, I see no reason why a buyer in the market couldn't do better for US$50 than the pen being shown here.

 

On 3/20/2021 at 8:55 AM, stan said:

It would be a rare Japanese pen that is copied and sold as a fake. In over twenty years I've never seen one. That does not mean they do not exist. But, why would someone wish to copy a $50 or even $200 pen? Where is the profit in that?

 

I can't speak to counterfeit Japanese pens specifically, but apparently there is profit in counterfeiting Lamy Safari pens, and I don't mean something like a Wing Sung or Jinhao branded clone, but actually pens that show LAMY on their bodies. I don't know how that business works, but I wouldn't put it past someone to find an angle to profit from counterfeit a US$50 or US$200 pen. Just not the old Platinum pen being shown here.

[A Smug Dill]

21 minutes ago, stan said:

Am writing as Moderator of this group. We do not never ever belittle others acquisitions. Thank you.

 

How would I be belittling others' acquisitions, by simply suggesting alternatives for the same spend that the individual can weigh up? I bought an old Platinum pocket pen with a 14K gold nib, in comparable if not outright better condition judging from the amount of apparent wear and tear on the metal, for less than US$50 delivered to Australia. Whether that it has a gold nib make it better value is up to the individual prospective shopper to decide. Whether a NOS Platinum pen with a gold nib offers better value is also up to the individual prospective shopper to decide. But I think it is a positive contribution to introduce other elements that one may consider, so that there one would question whether a pen is worth the seller's asking price.

 

Undermining the narrative that a pen is worth the seller's asking price does not belittle someone else's acquisition, especially when the author of this thread apparently haven't even acquired, or committed to acquire, the pen at the point of his asking the question.