Platinum President Black GT <B>

[adichew]

Pictures and possibly transcription to follow...

[overwriter]

Thank you for this. Good review. I especially like handwritten reviews and your handwriting is quite nice.

[manolo]

Thank you for the review. Your feelings about this pen are very similar to mine: the material seems less robust than it actually is, the light weight, the tooth from the nib...but I would rate its design higher, althought it is such a well-known design that might be perceived as boring, and the dimensions are perfect for my hand.

It is easily in my top-5 of modern pens.

[Blahblahbal]

Nice

[Blahblahbal]

Nice

[JosephKing]

"7 handwritten sides for a single fill"
10 handwritten sides for this review.
Did you have to refill @adichew?

That seems like a smaller amount than I might have expected.  Crazy!

 

Thanks for writing this!

[cullercoats]

I have been very pleased, if a bit 'underwhelmed' by my Platinum President. It is certainly a good quality writing instrument, and functions perfectly. It is really quite hard to fault, but lacks a little 'flair' perhaps. I would be very happy to recommend it to those exploring a gold nib pen for the first time and who are on a budget. In this respect I think it is very good value.

What would other folk buy/prefer instead at this price point? I think a Pilot 742/912 might be on my list.

[A Smug Dill]

On 6/10/2022 at 1:33 AM, cullercoats said:

What would other folk buy/prefer instead at this price point? I think a Pilot 742/912 might be on my list.

 

Specifically at the price point of ¥20,000(+tax) and comparing like for like, or do you just mean, if you have that amount of budget to throw at more fountain pens, what would you buy without necessarily pushing to spend as much of that as possible?

 

For the former, the Pilot Custom Kaede, especially if one is not specifically after one of the special nib types (PO, WA, FA, Soft whatever, or Signature) that are only available on the Pilot Custom 742 in black. Sailor no longer offers anything in its regular product line-up at that price point. Platinum’s other offerings at that price point are just ‘special’ #3776 Century (like the Nice or the Oshino) models that really aren’t that special, in terms of materials or manufacture. Or, I suppose, I could try a Pilot Capless Fermo; we have ten or so Vanishing Point and Décimo pens here, but not a single Fermo yet.

 

For the latter, the Pilot Elite 95S at half the price is a good buy. Maybe hunt down another NOS unit of the discontinued Sailor Promenade in Shining Red or Shining Blue, or Sailor Professional Gear Slim Mini in Rose Taupe. I prefer the PGS Mini to the longer PGS in hand. I’m no longer impressed by what Platinum has to offer at under ¥20,000 these days, what with it having bumped up prices twice in the last four years.

 

I don’t know of any good gold-nibbed European pens at that price point; and my favourite steel-nibbed European pens are all below the price of a Platinum President with gold trim.

[adichew]

On 6/6/2022 at 5:24 PM, JosephKing said:

"7 handwritten sides for a single fill"
10 handwritten sides for this review.
Did you have to refill @adichew?

That seems like a smaller amount than I might have expected.  Crazy!

 

Thanks for writing this!

 

On 6/9/2022 at 10:33 PM, cullercoats said:

I have been very pleased, if a bit 'underwhelmed' by my Platinum President. It is certainly a good quality writing instrument, and functions perfectly. It is really quite hard to fault, but lacks a little 'flair' perhaps. I would be very happy to recommend it to those exploring a gold nib pen for the first time and who are on a budget. In this respect I think it is very good value.

What would other folk buy/prefer instead at this price point? I think a Pilot 742/912 might be on my list.

 

On 6/10/2022 at 4:58 AM, A Smug Dill said:

 

Specifically at the price point of ¥20,000(+tax) and comparing like for like, or do you just mean, if you have that amount of budget to throw at more fountain pens, what would you buy without necessarily pushing to spend as much of that as possible?

 

For the former, the Pilot Custom Kaede, especially if one is not specifically after one of the special nib types (PO, WA, FA, Soft whatever, or Signature) that is only available on the Pilot Custom 742 in black. Sailor no longer offers anything in its regular product line-up at that price point. Platinum’s other offerings at that price point are just ‘special’ #3776 Century (like the Nice or the Oshino) models that really aren’t that special, in terms of materials or manufacture. Or, I suppose, I could try a Pilot Capless Fermo; we have ten or so Vanishing Point and Décimo pens here, but not a single Fermo yet.

 

For the latter, the Pilot Elite 95S at half the price is a good buy. Maybe hunt down another NOS unit of the discontinued Sailor Promenade in Shining Red or Shining Blue, or Sailor Professional Gear Slim Mini in Rose Taupe. I prefer the PGS Mini to the longer PGS in hand. I’m no longer impressed by what Platinum has to offer at under ¥20,000 these days, what with it having bumped up prices twice in the last four years.

 

I don’t know of any good gold-nibbed European pens at that price point; and my favourite steel-nibbed European pens are all below the price of a Platinum President with gold trim.

 

Update on 12th June, and replies to @JosephKing, @cullercoats and @A Smug Dill: 

 

 

 

[A Smug Dill]

16 hours ago, adichew said:

Update on 12th June, and replies to @JosephKing, @cullercoats and @A Smug Dill: 

 

Out of the entry-level gold-nibbed pen models from the Japanese Big Three that all used to be priced at ¥10,000+tax circa 2019, I particularly do not get along with the Pilot Custom 74, so that is certainly not a model I would be gushing about or rushing to recommend to anyone. Just to be clear, I wouldn't begrudge anyone else having a fondness of it, but given it's at the bottom of my personal list (having owned and used all of them), I'd recommend that they try all the other ones as well, and only if the Pilot Custom 74 still stands above others in their esteem or is deemed uniquely suitable for their requirements and preferences, could I concur that it'd the ‘right’ choice for them. I do not feel that way about the Pilot Custom Heritage 91, which is priced identically with the Custom 74 for the same nibs (except for the rhodium-plating), and for all intents and purposes has the same writing characteristics and performance, use the same resin for the pen body, etc.

 

As for not being currently in the market for other Japanese pens, keep this in mind:

coming to your preferred retailer(s) Real Soon Now.

[mtcn77]

Wow, this thread was a blast. Just wanted to say, I share your resentment for tap water. It just doesn't seem right for me, too. If there is anything to be said, nothing makes the pen flow better than some left over ink all the while being careful not to infect the pen with mould. I have a strict hands off policy where the ink goes, only wiping off the section with tissue after refills, never the nib.

[adichew]

 

Note: paragraph 2 says "I wouldn't be surprised..." The end of the line was cut off

 

Replies to @A Smug Dill and @mtcn77

[mtcn77]

Great update @adichew!

However, I got my concerns. If pen takes effort to put ink on paper, something other than the A/C is troubling you my friend! I hope a falsely raised flag, but don't tempt luck by throubleshooting leftover water issues to your ink supply.

Don't fear an inky section, albeit wiping down with damp tissue paper after every fill.

Ink is good unless it is old and mouldy. Concentrated ink is wet and fends off mould. If you don't touch it, I like it. I like keeping it clean from fingerprints if it has ink leftover - that is my pen compulsion.

[adichew]

20 hours ago, mtcn77 said:

Great update @adichew!

However, I got my concerns. If pen takes effort to put ink on paper, something other than the A/C is troubling you my friend! I hope a falsely raised flag, but don't tempt luck by throubleshooting leftover water issues to your ink supply.

Don't fear an inky section, albeit wiping down with damp tissue paper after every fill.

Ink is good unless it is old and mouldy. Concentrated ink is wet and fends off mould. If you don't touch it, I like it. I like keeping it clean from fingerprints if it has ink leftover - that is my pen compulsion.

Oh, I may not have made myself clear. The uncontrollable-ness is a result of my hand being wonky, not the pen

[poti67]

Handwritten reviews are the best. Thanks!

[adichew]

Hi, I'm back after a bit  Just wondering why this isn't filed under "Platinum President" within the "Pen Review" section...

[A Smug Dill]

22 hours ago, adichew said:

Just wondering why this isn't filed under "Platinum President" within the "Pen Review" section...

 

By that, are you talking about tagging the thread?

 

 

 

If so, then the thread has no tags because you didn't add them back when you could have.

 

 

 

 

It's not up to anyone else to do that, because you are the thread's author and they aren't.

 

[adichew]

On 5/29/2023 at 10:18 PM, A Smug Dill said:

 

By that, are you talking about tagging the thread?

 

 

 

If so, then the thread has no tags because you didn't add them back when you could have.

 

 

 

 

It's not up to anyone else to do that, because you are the thread's author and they aren't.

 

Oh, my bad, sorry