Pilot & Namiki: Japan’s Finest Since 1915

In 1915, Ryosuki Namiki began producing gold nibs, and, in 1916, complete writing instruments. In 1918, Namiki and Masao Wada formed the Namiki Manufacturing Company, Ltd. In 1938, the company became the Pilot Fountain Pen Company, Ltd. Pilot revolutionized the fountain pen in 1964 with the introduction of the Capless, a fountain pen that offered the click-click convenience of a ballpoint, with a nib that retracts completely into the barrel.

If what you want isn’t here, please contact us by email. You can see the complete Namiki and Pilot lines at Namiki’s site.

CAUTION We have observed at first hand that Noodler’s Baystate Blue can destroy the translucent plastic feeds used in Namiki and Pilot pens. We recommend that you not use Noodler’s Baystate inks in these pens.

Our nibs are NOT like other dealers’ nibs! To make sure you get the nib size you want, read this.

Purchases of new pens usually happen in a matter of days. We do not put new purchases into the repair queue for nib adjustment or modification!

Ordering a custom nib is easy — read this pop-up “comic strip” to see just how easy it is! If you order a new pen with a customized nib, I will modify the nib (for an extra charge) and ship the pen immediately instead of putting it into my regular queue.

[ Our return policy ]

Artistry in silver. That’s the Namiki Sterling collection. These smoothly streamlined pens feature elegant engravings executed in low relief and raised from the gleaming curved silver surfaces of barrel and cap to intrigue you as you feel them in the crevices of your hand. Complementing the sophisticated shape is an inset rhodium plated nib of 18K gold that gives you the writing experience you deserve — and have come to expect from our pens. Fills with Pilot cartridges or the included CON50 piston converter. Length: 5¹³/₃₂" capped, 5¹¹/₁₆" posted. Click the magnifying glasses for zoomed images of these pens (more size info here).

Mt. Fuji and Wave $500.00 $400.00

Hawk $500.00 $400.00

Dragon $500.00 $400.00

Character is the key to the Falcon. From its 14K nib to its slightly domed cap crown, the Falcon is a dignified pen that will lend a little extra character to your handwriting. Pilot calls the oddly shaped nib “soft,” but many users think of it as flexible. As a nib technician specializing in the creation of vintage-style flexible nibs, I prefer to call this one very springy, sort of marginally semiflexible. You can’t do Spencerian or copperplate scripts with it, but it does have enough flexibility to create interesting line variation that will be unique to you and your individual handwriting style. A serious writer’s pen that is both elegant and delightful to handle, Falcon comes two ways: the exciting new Pilot Falcon in lacquered metal (below, upper) and the traditional Namiki Falcon with a lightweight resin body (below, lower) for the ultimate in writing comfort. Both versions offer a selection of fine, medium, or broad nibs. Fills with Pilot cartridges or the included CON70 pump converter (Pilot Falcon) or CON50 piston converter (Namiki Falcon). Length: Pilot Falcon: 5¹/₂" capped, 6³/₁₆" posted; Namiki Falcon: 5³/₈" capped, 5²⁹/₃₂" posted. Click the magnifying glasses for zoomed images of these pens (more size info here).

Pilot Falcon (Metal Body)

Metallic Brown $300.00 $240.00

Namiki Falcon (Resin Body)

Black $180.00 $144.00

Click! Your pen is ready for use. Click! The nib slips out of sight and the pen’s ready to drop into your pocket or purse. At 5¹/₂" retracted and 5¹³/₃₂" extended, the compact Vanishing Point is unique: it’s the only fountain pen that’s ready instantly, with a nib that you can extend or retract with your thumb just like a ballpoint. But this is no ballpoint! It’s a real fountain pen, solidly made and fitted with a smooth 18K nib that will glide across the pages of your daily status report or your private journal with equal ease. Offered in a broad array of colors — including a metalflake Chrome, the lightly textured Carbonesques, and the amazing black lacquer and abalone chips of the Raden — the Vanishing Point is the ultimate in practical pens and a pretty cool gadget besides. The Matte Black “Stealth” Vanishing Point has a rhodium-plated nib; all others have unplated nibs. Fills with Pilot cartridges or the CON50 piston converter that comes with each nib unit. (If you’re the cartridge type, it’s easy to remove the converter from the nib unit and replace it with a cartridge and the cartridge cover that comes with the pen.) Click the magnifying glasses for zoomed images of these pens (more size info here). This is our most popular Pilot, and we offer it as a complete pen — or as a body only so that you can add a specialty nib easily:

1. Put a pen body in your shopping cart.

2. Choose an italic or other specialty nib from our NIBARAMA page.

Raden $380.00 $304.00 Body only: $248.00

Black Carbonesque $175.00 $140.00 Body only: $84.00

Matte Black (“Stealth”) $175.00 $140.00 Body only: $84.00

Chrome $175.00 $140.00 Body only: $84.00

Gunmetal $175.00 $140.00 Body only: $84.00

Slate Gray $175.00 $140.00 Body only: $84.00

White $175.00 $140.00 Body only: $84.00

Chocolate Brown $175.00 $140.00 Body only: $84.00

Yellow $175.00 $140.00 Body only: $84.00

Red, Rhodium trim $175.00 $140.00 Body only: $84.00

Blue, Rhodium trim $175.00 $140.00 Body only: $84.00

Black, Rhodium trim $175.00 $140.00 Body only: $84.00

Red, Gold trim $175.00 $140.00 Body only: $84.00

Blue, Gold trim $175.00 $140.00 Body only: $84.00

Black, Gold trim $175.00 $140.00 Body only: $84.00

The Custom 74 is an excellent pen, well balanced and easy in the hand. It’s at the smaller end of the scale, but it’s not small — it’s a full-sized pen, long and lean and ready to record your daily life in exquistely inscribed detail. The Custom 74 is sure to attract attention as its clear or colored transparent body shows off the high-capacity multi-stroke CON70 pump converter and rhodium-plated 14K nib. Available with your choice of fine, medium, or broad nib. Fills with Pilot cartridges or the included pump converter. Length: 5²¹/₃₂" capped, 6¹/₄" posted. Click the magnifying glass for a zoomed image of this pen (more size info here).

Black Smoke $200.00 $160.00

Blue $200.00 $160.00 (Out of Stock)

Clear $200.00 $160.00

Orange $200.00 $160.00

Purple $200.00 $160.00

One of the really cool features of the Vanishing Point is the ease with which you can change its nib: Just unscrew the pen’s barrel and remove the nib unit as you would to refill it, slip in a different nib unit, and screw the pen back together. For other models, you change out the entire nib section assembly just by unscrewing it as for filling.

Vanishing Point nib units, with plain gold or rhodium-plated (silver colored) 18K gold nibs, come complete with CON50 piston converters. These nib units do not fit older Pilot Capless pens.

Note to Owners of Faceted Vanishing Point Pens If your pen is a faceted Namiki Vanishing Point with a squeeze converter (like the pen shown here), you should use the pen’s original squeeze converter with your new nib or purchase a new CON20 squeeze converter. Piston converters do not fit properly in these older pens. The converter is the right length, but its metal collar stops against the brass collar inside the barrel’s back end. This interference prevents the nib unit from retracting completely, and the pen will dry out when not in use.

As with the pens we sell, unless otherwise requested at the time of sale, we tune each new nib at no extra charge before shipment. We install the nib in a pen body, fill the pen with Waterman Blue-Black ink, and write with it on paper from the same fountain pen friendly pads we sell, adjusting as necessary to bring it up to the RichardsPens.com “factory” standard for smoothness and flow. Our clients have named this procedure “Binderizing.” The result is an adjusted nib, not a customized one.

If you are unsure about stroke widths, please check our stroke width chart for illustrations of stroke sizes that our nibs produce. To do this, right-click the image at the right (Macintosh users control-click) to download the chart in PDF format (for Adobe Reader). The chart is designed to print on U.S. letter-size paper (8¹/2"×11"), and it should also print well on A4 paper. After you have printed the chart, find some fountain pen friendly paper and make strokes on it with your own pens for comparison.

— 14K Gold — Pilot Custom 74 Broad Medium Fine $108.00 Namiki Falcon (resin body) Broad Medium Fine $80.00

— 18K Gold — Vanishing Point (gold color, unplated) Broad Medium Fine — $56.00 Vanishing Point (silver color, Rh plated) Broad Medium Fine Extra Fine $62.00

Notes:

1. When I test these nibs, I seat their converters completely before filling, to ensure that the nibs will flow properly in actual use and will also fit completely into the pen so that the “trap door” can close to prevent dryout. To remove the converter from a nib unit, pull firmly while twisting clockwise. (Twisting counterclockwise can unscrew the metal part of the converter from the plastic barrel.)