PILOT Vanishing Point Collection Refillable & Retractable Fountain Pen, Matte Black Barrel, Blue Ink, Fine Nib (60580)

mark0000United Kingdom

Excellent design, lovely writer- very good indeed.

I cannot think, for the life of me, why these haven't caught on more. The basic idea is simple; let's make a fountain pen, with superb quality tolerances and an 18kt gold nib, so any aficionado of real pen-and-ink writing can use it, but let's equip it with the convenience of a ballpoint via a unique nib-retraction system. When not in use, the pen sits vertically in your pocket, on its traditional pen clip (on this one its silver plated, or chromed- hard to tell which). This keeps the nip pointing upwards and discourages leaks. To use, you click the end, as you would a ballpoint, which pushes the nib through a covered rubber seal in the end of the cap, revealing the point, and ensuring you are ready-to-write. The seal retracts through pressure of the nib moving, and when retracted, the nib is held airtight. I have used and stored this pen many times for up to three weeks, and it has been ready-to-use instantly after clicking, with no drying-out. I wondered whether writing by holding the pen near its pen-clip, counter-intuitive as it is, and looking unusual, might be more difficult. Absolutely not, in practice, when - so long as you hold the pen properly, and not half-way up - the clip actually acts as an integral part of the grip. The nib is 18kt (750) gold, rhodium plated to give it a chrome appearance. It's of traditional Japanese width, so one size narrower than a 'typical' European pen such as a Waterman or Parker. A medium writes with a comparatively fine line, a broad writes with a more traditional medium one. The pen, for me, is always an instant starter and lays down a beautiful continuous line with no skipping. It isn't really a flexible nib though, but it is a well-made and beautiful one. The red, the pseudo-carbon-fibre, the yellow and the blue look beautiful in the hand. Each has a deep, lacquered, glossy appearance. The pen takes standard Pilot cartridges - with a metal cartridge cover to ensure the 'clicker' works (provided in the box). There is a converter so you can use bottled ink. Many people like to use Japanese inks, for traditionalism's sake, but I have to say that any wet-writing ink (Watermans etc) works just fine in this pen. Not all vendors include the converter, and not all nibs are gold- check the description from your preferred vendor just to be sure, if these things matter to you. Buying the converter later is quite expensive. Some people worried about the nib pushing through the seal- would this be a point of wear, and would the seal remain airtight. Reviewers who have owned these for years tend to agree that they are quite problem free. The only reported issue is often that the pen needs a wash to remove ink behind the seal, once every few months (just warm water is fine). Overall, I love this pen. It looks lovely, works perfectly, and used with bottled ink it will let your handwriting shine and it will (or should) last a lifetime - and with very little waste. Prices vary very considerably. Do check carefully before buying. Thoroughly recommended.

Guillermo S.Mexico

Enamorado de ella. Cómpratela, necesitas probarla.

Realmente tenía muchos sentimientos encontrados con esta pluma. La verdad sentía que era de mal gusto, me preguntaba porque una pluma fuente estaba tratando de imitar los lapiceros cualquiera de click. Pero después de pensarlo mucho me decidí a probarla por fin, y me sorprendió demasiado. La marca Pilot-Namiki es una empresa que tiene muchos años fabricando instrumentos de escritura y saben lo que hacen. Me encanto el color que no es sólido, es un azul metálico con un patrón muy cautivador que se asemeja bastante a la fibra de carbono, muy brillante, y el material es de un metal lacado que para manda la hace sentirse como una pluma barata. No tengo nada malo que decir de ella, todo funciona. El plumin es de oro de 14k bastante suave y flexible A la hora de escribir. La compre en un “B” japonés que se prevé más a un “M” europeo, pero en realidad es un poco más grueso de lo que te hacen suponer en los vídeos de YouTube, mucho más parecido a grueso de marcas alemanas. Es una pluma muy húmeda y con un flujo excelente que hace resaltar las propiedades de cualquier tinta (sheen, shimmer, shading, etc). El funcionamiento de click es fácil de usar y muy satisfactorio al escucharlo. Trae un cartucho de tinta azul y ya viene adentro integrado un convertidor (que es el CON-40). La capacidad del convertidor es un poco más pequeña que los convertidores internacionales pero nunca se me ha agotado en el trabajo. La marca ha fabricado una obra de arte, que en su interior cuenta con un sistema fácil de acceder y muy efectivo a la hora de trabajar, que además te brinda mucha facilidad para limpiarlo, o reemplazar sus partes a la hora de decidir probar otro tamaño de plumin. Al escribir no te afecta en nada el Clíp el cual se encuentra del lado del plumin para evitar que haya salida de tinta al colocarla en la camisa (Muy bien pensado). Así que como leen, esta es una pluma excelente, tan buena que acaban de pedir una Pilot Custom Heritage 823, ya que con la sorpresa que me lleve usando esta pluma fuente (la cual es de hecho uno de sus modelos más asequibles y podría considerarse una pluma de entrada a los plumones de oro por ser de las más baratas), no puedo esperar a probar las caras y ver qué encuentro con una de las plumas más Icónicas de la compañía, un deleite de seguro. Así que date ese gusto amig@, y disfruta de una de las mejores obras de arte que pudo haber creado la compañía.

Douglas SaylesUnited States

My new everyday pen; fountain or otherwise...

I absolutely LOVE this pen. I am neither a seasoned fountain pen geek, nor a first purchaser. The reason I haven't used fountain pens prolifically has been two-fold: system portability and usage. Addressing the later first, I love the feel of this pen!! Very easy to write with mis-use, which makes this a phenomenal teaching tool; I consider it "self-correcting" when I place the nib incorrectly on the paper. I have been trying to teach myself better penmanship; yet for work, I often need to note acronyms, sketch quick diagrams, etc. This pen handles everything with ease. Addressing system portability: I fill, on average, four to eight full page notes in my Moleskine notebook per day. Some days zero. I fly frequently, several times per month. I was hyper-concerned about using this pen for work: potential leakage, ability to take notes quickly, ink reservoir in relationship to refill length, etc. I clip the pen to Moleskine, and toss in my bag. I half-heartedly try to ensure the pen is vertical, but the bag not so. I have had zero issues. I was concerned what pressure changes would do at altitude; no issues. I was concerned about being to rapidly take a flurry of notes with no notice; zero issues. I love this pen!! It is my everyday always pen. I currently try to fill it about every two weeks or so. I've noticed about a 10-12 day refill cycle would be better, although it is based on a limited sample size. I have had two issues: I didn't care for the stock ink so I tossed the stock cartridge out of the box as I use Noodler's ink, the refill cartridge twist/plunger process took a bit to get used to. I spent the best part of a weekend practicing and writing and refilling and learning about it. By Monday, I felt very comfortable with using the pen in all of the above scenarios. The second issue I've had is minor: I bent the clip. I was able to return to its original position; however, its not "tight" on the body. Oh well. It's minor to me. I absolutely love this pen and has allowed me to get back to script writing on my pace, when I'm able to. It always strikes up a conversation with observant customers.

Trust me on thisUnited States

Great pen for fountain pen enthusiasts or those looking to get into fountain pens.

The convenience of this pen is nothing I'd have ever imagined from a fountain pen. As an owner of several high-end fountain pens that cost hundreds of dollars more than this pen, I'd have to say this pen is approaching the status of "favorite" among my collection. As a writer, I often jot down personal notes even as I'm at my computer. This pen eliminates the steps that I've been taking in the past to unscrew the cap, place the cap, position the pen, etc. The clip, though right in the middle of the tripod of fingers for writing, acts as a guide for finger placement as to where the point of the nib will be. There's no more need to rotate the pen in your hand to get the correct writing angle as the clip helps to remind and position your hand for you. I'd actually say that this would be a great starter pen for anyone interested in the art of writing with a fountain pen. Typically when using a fountain pen, I grip the pen closer to the nib than maybe I'd ought to leaving the tell-tale signs of writing stained on my fingers. With this pen, there's no chance of ink stain because the nib is shielded from any grip mishaps. Though the ink sac is small, I find that it is enough to take several pages of notes over the course of about two-three days. Part of owning a fountain pen is the small joy of refilling it. I haven't tried using the cartridge that came with it as I prefer to draw my ink from a bottle. The quality of the pen seems to be pretty nice. Though the barrel doesn't exactly feel high-end, it is definitely sturdy and well made. The nib is firm but with enough flex. Some reviews that I've read about this pen made it seem that if you've got a firm hand when writing this pen might not be for you. I don't think that I accurate. Granted I don't try to poke holes in the pages when I write, I do find that this pen is firm enough for just about any type of handwriting style. I have not had any slips or dry spots on the page either even when writing softer or more firmly than I normally would. I would buy this pen again.