Disappointed with Platinum 3776 Chartres Blue

[carlos.q]

After dropping out of the Wancher Dream pen project I decided that I needed to check out some Japanese pens with Japanese nibs. As there are no pen clubs nor shows where I live, that means buying and trying. I had already tried Platinum preppies and Pilot Metropolitan so I was ready to try out a mid level pen. After reading a ton of reviews I decided on a Platinum 3776 Chartres Blue. The results were disappointing.

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Disappointed: "Sad or displeased because someone or something has failed to fulfill one's expectations."

When I opened up the box I was unpleasantly surprised at the (IMO) awful gold trim. It looks like gold painted plastic and, quite frankly, seems to look very cheap. The Chartres blue body looks very nice but the gold trim is garishly distracting. The picture I have attached does not adequately illustrate the displeasingly bright gold trim.

The nib is OK. It starts up without problem and has a nice medium line. It is smooth with a bit of feedback, but not as spectacular as some reviews would make you believe. Maybe if I had bought this as my first pen I would be more enthusiastic but after using a lot of vintage Pelikan pens the stiff Platinum nib is just plain boring. Although the nib did not meet my admittedly high expectations it is functional and adequate. If it were not for the awful gold trim I would probably keep this pen.

So I guess I'll have to sell this one and try another Japanese pen manufacturer. In my search I read a lot of good things about Pilot Custom 74. However I'm afraid the gold trim may look as gaudy as the Platinum 3776. Anyone with both pens would care to comment? Anyone have a comparison photo?

[ambimom]

Gosh, different strokes for different folks because I have this pen and I love it. It is with me always simply because it never dries out and writes perfectly every time.

[RocketRyan]

Fear not the hold plating wears off in weeks lol.
I find mine to be a reliable work horse pen, but signs of cost cutting are there. But for the money I think they are a decent pen with a gold nib.

[Jon Szanto]

I own six 3776 pens, from basic black up into the celluloids. I find they please me and are an exceptional value.

[billy1380]

It might be worth trying one with the rhodium trim and an SF nib... I will warn you though... after writing with a pelikan fine that thing is going to feel scratchy :)

[Deb]

I have a burgundy one with an SF nib. There is quite a bit of feedback which I like. This pen has never been out of use since I got it. Tremendous value for the money.

[jar]

I have not found the gold trim to wear away but then I've only owned the Platinum 3776 gold trim pens for a decade or two.

Take a look at the Sailor and Pilot pens, both come with non gold furniture as well as gold furniture. Of the ones available I find the Sailor and Pilot Custom Heritage pocket clips to work and the Pilot Custom pocket clips near useless.


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http://www.fototime.com/AF2E20375998D28/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/A03E8FDA8019727/medium800.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/4BD51F66A938809/medium800.jpg

[stub]

Somehow (how?), I currently have 4 of these pens. have a early Gathered pen w/ Waterman-esque Belly band & an ebonite feed in B, a burgundy with a Music Nib that is the most fun you can have with your pants on, a Sai demo in B and a Chartres Blue with the rhodium trim in M. All four are absolutely fantastic writers. They punch way above their weight. I keep hearing how folks find these "cheap" feeling. I don't. I think the fit and finish and robustness is quite good for the price. Are there injection mold lines? Yes. sure. Meh. I will concede that the font(s) on the band are cheesy.

I love the nibs (I don't need or expect everything to be soft or semi-flex). I am actually shocked how large that nib is considering the price. I love the sweet vintage-y breather hole. Mine write wet with perfect tine alignment and a little bit of pleasant feedback.

I personally find that combination of Dark Blue and Yellow gold to really unattractive so my Chartres Blue has the rhodium trim, which is excellent. But I have the gold trim on 2 other pens (one shouldn't count as it is from the late 1970s) but the burgundy pen (my newest, and very new at that) has gold trim. The gold trim on this pen looks fine to me.

I have had a few dozen of these pens pass through my hands. I even had my paws on a tester kit for a while (that is where my Music nib comes from, purchased from that set) and I never had a bad one.

They are kind of a mystery to me. They are quite small looking but for some odd reason I can't understand, somehow are much more ergonomic than I expect a pen of this size to be. This is a pen I can write for "distance" with. In fact I took 8 A4 pages of notes with my M nib yesterday and it was smooth sailing. I love these pens. I find them full of charm, great writers, robust, easy to maintain, and a pleasure to hold.

[SIR]

I have the SF and although it is still super smooth, it has the very slightest feel of grip on 'ordinary' paper - just tactile enough to let you know you have contact - but on Tomoe River, the smoothness is like being in zero gravity or something!


the most fun you can have with your pants on

Yeah, i've not tried LSD either.

[Frank]

I sell Platinum Pens in the U.S. and consider these the "Best Bang For The Buck" in Gold nibbed Pens! Everything is made in house from Platinum (Japan), and I have heard no issues with brassing/plating wear etc... (3776/3776 Nice/President are Gold Nib Pens)

If you had bought a pen from me, and this happened- it would have been replaced.
I'm sure Luxury Brands USA would also stand behind the product as well (US Distributor)

Frank

[carlos.q]

I sell Platinum Pens in the U.S. and consider these the "Best Bang For The Buck" in Gold nibbed Pens! Everything is made in house from Platinum (Japan), and I have heard no issues with brassing/plating wear etc... (3776/3776 Nice/President are Gold Nib Pens)

If you had bought a pen from me, and this happened- it would have been replaced.
I'm sure Luxury Brands USA would also stand behind the product as well (US Distributor)

Frank

Thank you but I believe I did not explain myself clearly. The pen does not have any issues with brassing. I just don't like the color of the gold plating as I find it distracting from what could have been a very beautiful pen. It's a matter of personal taste.

[amk]

I must admit I had quite the reverse experience with my 3776 Chartres Blue, finding it a much better quality pen than I'd expected. The resin is a wonderful colour, and dense and robust; it's well put together, and the nib is a reliable and crisp performer.

By contrast the Sailor 1911 has rather disappointed me as a pen - the demonstrator resin feels light and cheap, and the cap band unscrews itself, something I've never experienced on any pen before. Plus the nib is nothing to write home about - functional, but boring.

[carlos.q]

If anyone is interested in this pen I just put it up for sale in the Classifieds.

[Accord_Tiger]

I like the writing characteristics of the 3776, great feedback and the extra fine and fine nibs are wonderfully smooth considering their line width. A reliable work horse pen that will start and write correctly first time and every time. This is based on my own experience having owned around 4 of them over the last few years. YMMV.

However I do find the fit and finish only adequate for the price point, but only if you pay Japanese retail price at the most. It is a greatly inflated price point for overseas markets so buying direct from a Japanese seller is probably the best way to approach a purchase.

My personal opinion... I would steer clear of the gold trim pens and choose the rhodium trim although it is marginally more expensive.

[carlos.q]

I like the writing characteristics of the 3776, great feedback and the extra fine and fine nibs are wonderfully smooth considering their line width. A reliable work horse pen that will start and write correctly first time and every time. This is based on my own experience having owned around 4 of them over the last few years. YMMV.

However I do find the fit and finish only adequate for the price point, but only if you pay Japanese retail price at the most. It is a greatly inflated price point for overseas markets so buying direct from a Japanese seller is probably the best way to approach a purchase.

My personal opinion... I would steer clear of the gold trim pens and choose the rhodium trim although it is marginally more expensive.

Like many things it all depends on your personal tastes. I didn't like the tacky gold trim or the pencil-like feedback. But that is my personal taste. Other geeks love this pen.

I finally sold the 3776 and bought a Pilot Custom Heritage 91 with a SM nib. The rhodium trim looks nice and the nib is bouncy and smooth. However the SM nib is a bit wider than I had imagined.

[Zhivago]

I own a few now and have sold others. I think very well of them as writers, but can see why some might find them cheap looking in spots. I could say the same about some Sailors and, to a lesser extent, Pilots.

I'll also add that I love the look of the nibs and feeds. Independent of their writing, they get an A+ from me on aesthetic grounds.


Of the ones available I find the Sailor and Pilot Custom Heritage pocket clips to work and the Pilot Custom pocket clips near useless.


Off topic, but what is your issue(s) with the Custom clips?

[dneal]

I enjoy other pens more, but my 3776 is a workhorse that gets used every day.

[penwash]

To be fair to Carlos, I had the same impression when I first handled a Platinum 3776.

But, for someone's first gold-nibbed modern pen, I agree with everyone here, it is a tremendous value largely because of that big nib.

Carlos, one Japanese pen that I fell in love right out of the bat is the Pilot Custom 67. Elegant, clean and simple style, and it feels so nice in the hand.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4322/35895010561_c3ee8c9192_c.jpg

I like it so much I had 5, sold 3 and still have 2 in Medium and Broad nib.

[Adit]

I can say that my experience both agrees and disagrees with you. My plating looked spot on perfect and not gaudy-maybe because that's how I thought gold plating was supposed to be. I agree on the nib. It isn't really eye throbbing sort of thing but that may be because mine was slightly dry and really feedback heavy. Once I smoothed it out and increased the ink flow, the pen became my favorite writer. Notice that I say writer. I find it to be on the thin side that keeps it from being perfect.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

Of the three main Japanese brands, in their standard line-up, I have found that Pilot suits me better. In this respect I am a little lucky that I bought a Pilot before seeking out pens from the other two, and that I got to try most of the standard Platinum and Sailor pens (as well as some more expensive models) on my recent trip to Shanghai. On that trip I discovered two things: I did not like the construction of Platinum standard line pens, and I did not like the small size of Sailor standard line pens.

This last point I find particularly intriguing because vintage pens are often closer in length to modern Sailor pens, and yet my Pelikan 400 fits my hand perfectly when posted. This suggests a far more complex and subtle interplay between weight, dimension and geometry that go into what makes a pen a good fit than what I had previously suspected.

I prefer Pilot nibs too, though I couldn't articulate why. This is a shame because I was kind of looking forward to using a Platinum music nib (I'd heard good things about it) and found it lacking in the end.

[aaronp]

I think the large gold trim take away at the timeless classic look of the pen. It seems like a tacky add-don and unnecessary for a pen like this one. However, I must admit that this is personal taste as I prefer the understated look rather than something that would stand out in a crowd.

[stub]

I think the large gold trim take away at the timeless classic look of the pen.

Never thought of the trim on this pen as "large"

[Jon Szanto]

I think the large gold trim take away at the timeless classic look of the pen.

Never thought of the trim on this pen as "large"

That's because it isn't. In the overall world of pen hardware, from the most minimal (Lamy 2000, basic Sheaffer Targa, etc) to the most over-the-top (all your basic blinged-out Italian pens, many Jinhao, fancy overlays of the early part of last century), the amount of stuff on a basic 3776 barely registers. It's a pretty silly complaint.

[stub]

I think the large gold trim take away at the timeless classic look of the pen.

Never thought of the trim on this pen as "large"

That's because it isn't. In the overall world of pen hardware, from the very most minimal (Lamy 2000, basic Sheaffer Targa, etc) to the most over-the-top (all your basic blinged-out Italian pens, many Jinhao, fancy overlays of the early part of last century), the amount of stuff on a basic 3776 barely registers. It's a pretty silly complaint.


I find these pens so full of charm, great in the hand and you get a LOT of nib for the getus here. I find it odd that anyone could complain about these pens for the price they go at. I have had a redonkulous number of these pass through my paws and also find them amazingly consistent. I usually have at least one of these inked up. I absolutely love the B nibs on these pens. Like old generous Parker M nibs. & juicy.

I have a music nib now that is a gas. Really a joy to use.

[stub]

Oh. I guess I already spouted that in this thread. I am repeating myself now. LIKE THE CRUSTY OLD MAN I AM.

[SIR]

If i were to buy any pen for anyone who didn't already have a fountain pen, the #3776 would be it - SF, of course.

[adhoc]

The one I have at home has a nice stubby broad nib. It writes well, but nothing to write home about (har har). It’s not a terrible pen, but it’s not amazing either. Mine also hard starts. Can’t say I enjoy Japanese nibs much after being exposed to Pelikan for a prolonged time.

[fountainpenkid]

*sheepishly* I've always thought this. Most modern pens have very tasteless trim.

[pw1224]

I’ve noticed that some of the recent Wing Sung pens are using clear plastics (acrylics?) that remind me of some of the Platinum pen bodies. I’m willing to experiment with the MUCH cheaper Wing Sung to see if I like the color/transparency/etc. of the pen body. If so, then I’m willing to consider the more expensive pen with the better nib.

Okay, I haven’t actually bought the more expensive pen YET... but I feel my adventure with a transparent blue Wing Sung 618 saved me about a hundred bucks on a Platinum that wouldn’t quite have scratched my itch. And I have a Wing Sung that I can use with ANY ink, including Kung Te Cheng. Heck, if I had any Bay State Whatever, I’d put that in the Wing Sung!

[Medieval]

I think the Platinum 3776 is very nice. The SF has feedback but is surprisingly bouncy for a Platinum, the M is very fine but smooth with a hint of bounce, and the B is simply divine with a pencil-like feedback.
Aesthetically the nib is among the most beautifully of all modern nibs.

[Linger]

I have the Chartres Bleu with Rhodium trim and the M nib. Absolutely g o r g e o u s combination. But the Japanese M nib writes as a F if you are used to European nibs. So it is fairly thin to me. With some feedback. I thought and still think to reserve it to lesser quality paper. But I also bought the Burgundy with gold trim and the B nib. And that was a positive surprise. It almost has an italic feel to it, writes super nice, is inked with Shikiori Okuyama permanently, and is, I regret so say as I feel sorry for the Chartres Bleu, a more frequent go-to pen. Am even considering to get the Laurel Green one too...with a B nib for sure.

[although]

My experience has been that the Japanese nibs in the EF to M range are all really fine. But, the jump to B can be a big one... It seems like the European nib sizes follow a more linear progression.

[titrisol]

When I bought one, (SF NIB), the rhodium plate was not available, and I agree it looks better

This is a pen that takes a while to get used to, the nib is quirky and has a lot of feedback and is very sensitive to the type of ink (flow)
It took me well over a year to enjoy using the pen, but I took it as a challenge

[Kulprit]

My experience has been that the Japanese nibs in the EF to M range are all really fine. But, the jump to B can be a big one... It seems like the European nib sizes follow a more linear progression.

For Pilot I’d say that’s true, but for Platinum and Sailor the B is just the next step up from M.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[KyleClapton]

I have Black one with B nib. Although B nib is not my favorite but finally it is my daily pen now (it takes place of Sailor Sapporo which I always carry around with me last year). As my pen is black I find the gold trim looks ok on the body although I don't like the clip design. It is too boring. But the nib saves it all. I can't find any bad thing of it's performance. Maybe you can consider to change to Rhodium version (same design, only different coating makes it around $50 more expensive => it is why I don't like Platinum's Rhodium pen).

[awa54]

If you want to venture into more Japanese pens, I'd suggest trying some 1970s-80s pens, functional short/long pens from all the major makers are available on Ebay from $10 to $150 depending on scarcity and condition, but unless they've been abused the common thread is that they are almost certainly reliable, smooth writing pens. There are specialty nibs available in many of these, though they fetch a premium and are far less common than fine and extra fine nibs.

I also agree that the over the top golden color on many modern Japanese pens is a turn off compared to older 12 or 14k gold filled trim that you see on vintage American and European pens.

The twin to your Pilot Custom Heritage 91 lives with me and gets almost daily use, it's no wet noodle, nor is it as smooth as a vintage Waterman medium, but it's not far off of that standard and closer to a useful flex nib than most modern attempts!

[Mark Dillon]

The access we gain with the internet is amazing but it does bring up possible disappointment when we get something in hand.

I’m not a big fan of gold trim on any pen. For me a black, matte black, gunmetal or Sailor’s Imperial are my favorite with silver to follow.

I have the same pen but with silver trim and find it’s a great writer and haven’t experienced the issues you did.

Could it be you just don’t like gold trim on any pen or have you seen, in person, others in gold and liked them?