Pilot (pen company)
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Pilot Corporation (株式会社パイロットコーポレーション Kabushiki Kaisha Pairotto Kōporēshon?, TYO: 7846) is a pen manufacturer based in Tokyo, Japan. It produces writing instruments, stationery, and jewelry but is most well known for pens. It is the third largest pen manufacturer in the United States and the largest in Japan. It has a large number of subsidiaries located in countries throughout the world, including the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Brazil, South Africa, Germany, and France. Ryosuke Namiki founded the company in 1918 and since then Pilot has remained one of the forerunners of the pen industry.
Namiki, the fountain pens with maki-e lacquering designs, are made in the Hiratsuka factory.
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[edit] History
The Pilot Pen Corporation was founded in 1918 under the name of the Namiki Manufacturing Company. In 1926 it established overseas offices in Malaysia, Singapore, New York, London and Shanghai. In 1938 the name of the company changed to the Pilot Pen Co., Ltd. It was again renamed in 1950 as the Pilot Ink Company, Ltd. In 1954 The company opened a branch in Brazil. During the years 1972- 1999 various sub companies were formed to cover the various branches. The collective name for these, decided in 2003, is the Pilot Corporation.
[edit] Products
[edit] Fountain pens
- V-pen, another disposable (can be refilled with a little effort) fountain pen, known as Varsity in the US
- Vortex, A pocket sized, refillable fountain pen
- Capless, This is a fountain pen designed with a retractable nib, known as the Vanishing Point in the US
- Pilot Petit1 [1]
- The Pilot "Petit1" is a fountain pen marketed to high school and college students. They are disposable or refillable with a pop-in ink cartridge.
- Pilot Birdie [2], a slim and small pen with brushed steel body
[edit] Ball point pens (non-gel ink)
- BP-S and BPS-GP, refillable ballpoints with or without rubber grips
- EasyTouch, refillable ballpoints with rubber grips, retractable or capped.
- Rexgrip, a ball point pen with a rubberized grip
- Dr. Grip Equilibrium, a well balanced refillable, retractable ball point pen with large cushioned rubber grip
[edit] Liquid ink needle-point pens
- Precise V5/V7 (named "Hi-Tecpoint" in Europe - similar international naming parallels exist for many Pilot pens), needle-point ink pen with large visible ink supply
- Precise V5/V7 RT, needle-point ink pen retractable with rubber grip, refillable
- Precise Grip, needle-point ink pen with rubber grip
- Precise Zing, needle-point ink pen with rubber grip, refillable
- Precise, needle-point ink pen with an opaque barrel
[edit] Gel ink rollerball pens
- G1, a refillable gel ink pen, available with or without rubber grip
- G2, a refillable, retractable gel ink pen with a rubber grip, in both plastic and metal accents (the Limited version, introduced October 2007); also in mini size
- G2 Pro, a refillable, retractable gel ink pen, with a rubber grip and metal accents that is a thicker, slightly longer version of the regular G2
- Super Gel, a single use gel ink pen
- Neo Gel, a single use gel ink pen
- Hi-Tec-C [3]
- Pilot Hi-Tec C pens are currently very popular in Japan. Though they have been around for more than a decade, they still rank as one of the top-selling gel pens in Japan as well as much of Asia. They are available in 0.25 mm, 0.3 mm, 0.4 mm and 0.5 mm sizes and come in over two dozen colors. The line also has a new "Waragi" color line (soft pastel colors) that were introduced in 2005.
- Alphagel (G6) , a refillable, retractable gel pen with a rubber grip covering most of the pen surface. Thicker than the G2.
- Precise Gel, a refillable, retractable needle-point gel ink pen, with a rubber grip (uses Q7 refill)
- Q7 Gel, a refillable, retractable needle-point gel ink pen, with a metallic barrel and contoured rubber grip (uses Q7 or G2 refill)
- FriXion Ball, an erasable gel ink pen with a rubber grip
[edit] Ink
- Pilot/Namiki ink for fountain pens, available in the USA in a Namiki-branded bottle (black ink and blue ink only) and in proprietary Pilot/Namiki cartridges (black, blue, and several other colors).
[edit] Major facilities
- Pilot Corporation World Headquarters - This is the global headquarters of the company located in Tokyo, Japan
- Hiratsuka Plant - manufacturing plant for fountain pens, printer related products and jewelry
- Isesaki Plant - This plant is involved in the mass-production of ball point pens and water-based ink ball point pens
- The Pilot Ink Company, Ltd., This company manufactures the ink used in Pilot products
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Pilot, global portal
- Pilot Corporation, Japan / headquarters (Japanese)
- Pilot Pen Corporation of America, USA / North America
- Pilot Corporation of Europe, France / Europe
