“A nib that curves back” the Pilot Custom 743 Waverly fountain pen 31,500 JPyen
If I am asked “Which fountain pen do you want to buy next?” without hesitation a number of fountain pens immediately come clearly to mind.
In this matter alone there are so many files in the mind that even I am impressed and, what’s more, they are organised immaculately.
Wouldn’t it be good if the same could be said for the drawers of my desk!
There is such a fountain pen, however, I don’t dare to venture to buy these pens one after another.
Putting aside the fundamental problem that, in the first place, wealth doesn’t keep up with material desires, this is because for such a great event as purchasing a fountain pen, I think there needs to be a suitable reason.
If I cite here some recent reasons:
“A fountain pen to celebrate turning 40”and
“A fountain pen following the safe and successful completion of a major work project”,
these are so called worthy reasons but, amidst these, “A fountain pen because Spring has come,” could possibly also apply.
In short, it seems that I want to justify the purchase of a fountain pen to myself, doesn’t it!
Just at this very time, the other day the stationery store of an acquaintance reopened after renovations. To mark the occasion I decided to buy a new fountain pen at this shop.
And this time what I obtained is the Pilot Custom 743.
It is equipped with a slightly larger body, as well as nib, than the Pilot Custom 742 introduced previously.
At Pilot, in addition to the standard F (fine), M (medium) and B (bold) nibs, there is also a line up of special nibs.
There are many with remarkable personality, such as a nib with semicircular cuts in both edges (the Falcon nib) and a nib that points downwards (the Posting nib).
With various nibs available, this time for the 743 I decided to try a nib called a “Waverly”.
If you look at the nib, it bends up to such an extent that it is clearly visible to the naked eye.
This curve is not overly exaggerated and its truly natural look is very pleasant. It can even be thought to be beautiful.
Why is it that, although it is something that should properly be straight, it is thought to be beautiful being curved? Considering this, I sense that often things that are straight are rather felt to be “correct” and things acquiring gentle curves are felt to be “beautiful”.
Come to think of it, the industrial designer Mr Luigi Colani, says that in the natural world a straight line doesn’t exist, everything curves.
Maybe it is because when looking at curved lines, which have existed originally in the natural world, people feel relaxed.
So then, talking about nibs that curve upwards, there is by The Sailor Pen Company the so called “Fude DE Mannen”, Sailor’s brush stroke style calligraphy fountain pen. This, as the name suggests, is something with which is it possible to create brush-like handwriting.
This Waverly does not write such special strokes but exceptionally ordinary lines.
So then, why is it that the nib is warped in this way?
Regarding this, I made an enquiry to PILOT Corporation.
According to this, it is to enable it to respond to any writer, regardless of the angle of the nib when transcribing.
I actually tried writing at a variety of angles: with the nib standing up - as when writing with a ball pen, then at a conventional angle and, moreover, with it lying down as flat as possible.
At each angle certainly the feel of the nib as it advanced across the paper didn’t change much.
It can even be said that a difference in the thickness of the line wasn’t seen to any extent at any of the angles.
So, I see, this is what it is all about.
In addition to this, and this is a personal view, but, I had the impression that in any direction it advanced smoothly.
If writing is from left to right, top to bottom, then even with the average nib there is no problem.
However, even when the stroke is reversed, such as from bottom to top, which for a nib is somewhat severe, if using this upward curved nib it advances smoothly. It may be easiest to understand if thought of as being just like the upward curve of the front of a ski.
This Waverly nib is only available in the one M (medium) size.
As far as the feel of the writing goes, with this curved nib there is a flexible and soft touch to enjoy.
Even though having said it is soft, it is not like the type of nibs where you can experience fully the feel of flexibility.
This is to say, because the nib is slightly curved as it is, probably the tolerance level of this flexibility, or perhaps is should be called a bend “allowance”, is a bit limited.
More than this softness, rather with this nib the feeling that made an impression was the gentleness of the touch when the nib was placed on the page when starting to write.
It feels that this bow-shaped nib can well absorb the impact when the nib touches the paper.
I think that with this fountain pen writing can be commenced with gentle feelings.
