| Platinum Pen Company,
one of Japan's leading quality pen manufacturers, was founded in 1919 by
Shunichi Nakata at about thesame time as Pilot and Sailor Pen were founded.
Platinum's initial success came from selling pensby
mail order to remote parts of Japan and overseas. They also made pensfor
Tokyo department stores.
Platinum began producing Maki-e lacquer pens inthe
early 1930's until the war brought a complete halt to production. Thereare
only a few mint condition Maki-e pens available from the Platinum Penprivate
collection.
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During the war, Nakata
helped manufacture Zerofighter planes. After the war, he resumed pen production
and launched thefirst water based ballpoint pen in 1948.
The next generation of the family to run the business,Toshihiro
Nakata, developed a rollerball known as the Auto pen in 1966.More than
one billion were sold by 1980. During the 1960's and 1970's, Platinum manufactured
a wide range of leather pens called Amazonas. Theywere covered in either
snake, lizard, shark, crocodile, or Surinam toadskin. These are now regarded
as highly collectable items and will be releasedto the collector market
very soon. These pens are originals from the President'sprivate collection.
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Platinum Pen's longest
lasting model is the 3776fountain pen. It's name was chosen because that
is the height in metersof Mt. Fuji, the volcano which dominates Honshu,
the main island of Japan.The pen was first introduced in 1978 and is still
being produced with minorrestyling.
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