More Japanese Pens + Fascinating Facts!

This week, I was very pleased to add a few more nifty Japanese pens to my collection. Here's a summary - I will add some nicer photos when they arrive:

• Platinum 'Zogan'. This is a 1970's Platinum with interesting Lamy 2000-esque styling. The cap band has a floral motif in the decorative zogan technique, which is the inlaying of gold into a surface. Platinum revisited the 'Zogan' in the 1990's, this time styling the pen on their classic #3776 model.
  I dislike using other peoples images, but for now here is the 'Zogan':
  The top image is from Stan Klemanowicz, and shows the 1970's model. The bottom image is from the Internet, and shows the 1990's model.


• Pilot Etched Floral. This is a 1970's stainless steel Pilot with gold trim and deep floral sprigs etched into the body. The etchings are filled with a green-gold reflective lacquer. Pretty!


• Pilot 'L'. Someone on eBay advertises these under the name of "Lex" or the more ridiculous "Mysterious Reflections". The other name for this model is simply the "Lady" - however, while browsing Yahoo! Japan one day, I found one of these pens marked "Laureat":
  My "L" fountain pen is on the left, the Yahoo "L" ballpoint pen is on the right. I wonder what Waterman thought of Pilot using the name Laureat?! Ah, the oddities of the pen world...


• Pilot-Namiki Celluloid. This is a nice, red-black mottled celluloid lever filler which is stickered, and has the original box and instructions. I was especially pleased to find this pen, as it is a prewar model bearing a "N" (Namiki) logo on the barrel. In 1938 the logo letter changed from "N" to "P" for Pilot, so I would put my pen as being from 1936/1937. The pen has a steel 'Shiro' nib.
  Pilot fountain pens from the 1930's to 1960's had a couple of different barrel stamps, as shown below:
  The first two lines of text are the standard imprint - sometimes model names or patent info is present, but that's the basic text. The central round 'lifebuoy' is depicted as one of the above three logos, of which the dates concerning the later two are approximate.


• Well Eyedropper. The Well Fountain Pen Company was founded in the 1920's and was a popular prewar manufacturer. However, after the war, the company had a short lifespan and eventually closed in the 1950's. The pen I bought is an Ebonite (hard rubber) eyedropper, coated with black Urushi lacquer - even the clip is lacquered black! This pen also has a steel 'Shiro' nib.

I'll have these pens in a week or two, so look out for some photos then - this is an interesting group! :)