Namiki

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Namiki is a Japanese manufacturer of fine fountain pens and other writing equipment. The company is most famous for their spectacular maki-e (lacquer work) designs on urushi.

[edit] Overview

Namiki came to fame in the early 20th Century when Dunhill retailed their items in the west. This partnership has continued to the present day (occasionally Namiki make a Limited Edition for Dunhill) although now Namiki is owned by another writing instrument company, Pilot.

Namiki's higher ranges included the "Emperor", "Ukari Royal", and "Ukari", their lower ranges include the "Nippon Tradition" range (screen printed work on resin) along with the famed Vanishing Point and some other standard series.

The Vanishing Point pen retails in the US for just over a hundred dollars.

In a regular ball-point pen without a cap, the clip and button are on one end, with the point at the other. The Vanishing Point also has no cap, but is unusual in that the clip is at the point end, not the button end. The hooded nib clicks out of the pen next to the clip. Clicking it again makes the hooded point/nib vanish. When one writes with it, the clip is between the thumb and index finger.

Namiki fountain pens and non-disposable Pilot fountain pens share the Pilot/Namiki proprietary ink refill cartridge, with inks available in several colors. Convertors of both the piston type and squeeze type are also available to allow Namiki and Pilot fountain pens to be filled from ink bottles.

The curve-sided Namiki ink bottle has an inner inkwell to keep the nib steady during filling and also to allow almost the last few drops of ink to be taken from the bottle into a pen.