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kaisnowbird
May 2nd, 2014, 10:50 PM
Yesterday I received some birthday gifts from myself (not nearly my b'day yet :redface:), which included the Pilot Vanishing Point Raden Water Surface, with a medium nib.

It was love at first sight. This pen exceeded my high expectation based on all the promotional pictures I've seen. I heard aria echoing when I first took off the plastic sleave and held it in my hands. :angel:

Although I have no quasi-professional camera gear, let alone skills, I have to take a few pics and share.

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The nib is true Japanese medium (ie European fine), smooth but not glassy slippery, medium wetness and slightly springy. The pen came with a bottle of Iroshizuku Ku-jaku (Btw, Iroshizuku is the best packaged ink I've ever seen!). To me, they are a perfect match.

I always wondered if the finish is synthetic lacquer or urushi, and the little subtle imprint near the end of the barrel confirms it. :hug:

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The patience and precise work that went into the cutting and inlaid of the abalone shell pieces is just stunning. The urushi looks wet and luscious. It's warm to the touch

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This is now, without a doubt, my favourite pen.

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Jon Szanto
May 2nd, 2014, 11:24 PM
Well-done. A beautiful pen!

Jeph
May 3rd, 2014, 02:56 AM
wow. I would be afraid to let air even touch that one. Does anyone make a vacuum sealed pen case with magnetic suspension? Maybe they should.

Tony Rex
May 3rd, 2014, 03:52 AM
YOU BEAUTY.

Fantastic pen, Kai. Thanks for sharing.

tiffanyhenschel
May 3rd, 2014, 07:49 AM
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

Robert
May 3rd, 2014, 07:57 AM
I would say that your photographic skills are excellent. Thanks for posting the pics.

Lady Onogaro
May 3rd, 2014, 08:22 AM
Kai--It's a lovely pen. I don't think I have seen pictures that capture the beauty of the pen as yours do. Your photographs certainly do justice to the abalone pattern.

kaisnowbird
May 3rd, 2014, 06:26 PM
Thank you all for the kind words and encouragement.

A particular charm of this pen is that some of the raden pieces light up as you turn the pen, while others fade into the black urushi. And the 'lights' do not always come on exactly as you expected, which makes it feel like the pen has its own spirit and will.

dr.grace
May 4th, 2014, 02:16 PM
After seeing these photos, I think I'm going to sell some of my pens to buy one of these.

Bogon07
May 4th, 2014, 04:51 PM
Kai, your photographs are great, the are the best I've seen showing off this exquisite pen.
I just love the Doppler shift effect. It only needs to write half as good as it looks to be fantastic.

I've always been attracted to the Pilot Vanishing Point RadenWater Surface - now even more so.

Congratulations on the new pen and thanks for sharing photos of it.

Murfie
May 4th, 2014, 05:45 PM
What an amazing wow factor. That pen is simply stunning and you have done it a treat with the excellent photos. Thanks for posting them, Kai. Hope you get many years of writing pleasure from that beautiful instrument. You can use it on your next letter to me. (hint, hint, nudge, nudge, wink, wink)

And, might I add, that's wrecked the forum. After those pics anything we might post will be soooo bland!

Crazyorange
May 4th, 2014, 05:48 PM
Beautiful pen. You have great taste :)

Larry Barrieau
May 4th, 2014, 09:57 PM
The pen is beautiful and the pictures are great. Any tips in how to capture photos like that?

Larry

lisantica
May 4th, 2014, 10:14 PM
Just when I thought I didn't need that pen!
So very beautiful, and I love your photos too.

kaisnowbird
May 6th, 2014, 08:56 AM
Kai, your photographs are great, the are the best I've seen showing off this exquisite pen.
I just love the Doppler shift effect. It only needs to write half as good as it looks to be fantastic.

I've always been attracted to the Pilot Vanishing Point RadenWater Surface - now even more so.

Congratulations on the new pen and thanks for sharing photos of it.

Thank you Mr Bogon. Really glad that you enjoyed the pics. :)

kaisnowbird
May 6th, 2014, 08:58 AM
What an amazing wow factor. That pen is simply stunning and you have done it a treat with the excellent photos. Thanks for posting them, Kai. Hope you get many years of writing pleasure from that beautiful instrument. You can use it on your next letter to me. (hint, hint, nudge, nudge, wink, wink)

And, might I add, that's wrecked the forum. After those pics anything we might post will be soooo bland!

You are too kind Murfie. I'm blushing. :redface:

Hint taken, btw. Cheers.

kaisnowbird
May 6th, 2014, 09:10 AM
The pen is beautiful and the pictures are great. Any tips in how to capture photos like that?

Larry

Hiya Larry. I'm most flattered. I am truly ill-qualified to give photography tips though.

The above pics were taken with a humble point and shoot camera (a Canon?) on full auto settings. I took them in daytime with natural lighting on a coffee table. When the light got harsh or the shadow was too heavy, i simply used a piece of white paper to filter or reflect the light to soften things a little. :p

I think the pros will smirk at my lazy makeshift solutions.

Larry Barrieau
May 8th, 2014, 11:53 AM
I think the pros will go get a point and shoot and a piece of white paper.

SammyJr
June 3rd, 2014, 10:01 PM
Hi. Do you mind me asking how much you paid for it and where you got it? Recently one went on eBay for very cheap, 250. wish I would have known about it. I love this pen. I had the cheaper Raden one, Galaxy, 6 months ago and got it for, 200 but lost my job and needed the money lol. But eventually I wanna get the water Raden one, so beautiful. In real life does it still look just as amazing? I am hesitant to pay anything more than 350 but I know they sell for 640 on most sites.

earthdawn
June 3rd, 2014, 10:52 PM
Man you got some fantastic pictures of it. You really captured the beauty of it.

I have a friend who has a VP and I really need to revisit it and see if I like it enough to pick one up.

Thanks for the review and taking an obvious LOT of time taking by far the best pictures I have seen of this pen yet!

amk
June 4th, 2014, 04:28 AM
That is truly lovely. I'd love to see it next to a stripy Duofold and a Pelikan tortoiseshell - it has the same kind of shifting gleam. :-)

Byzantine mosaics are similar; apparently there was a real art to setting the mosaic tiles at slight angles so that instead of reflecting the light flatly, they shimmer as you walk around the room.

kaisnowbird
June 6th, 2014, 06:55 AM
Man you got some fantastic pictures of it. You really captured the beauty of it.

I have a friend who has a VP and I really need to revisit it and see if I like it enough to pick one up.

Thanks for the review and taking an obvious LOT of time taking by far the best pictures I have seen of this pen yet!

Thank you for your encouragement. Your lovely bookmarks arrived this week - I love them but haven't got a chance to send a thank you note yet. I recently discovered another FP user among my colleagues, I might give a bookmark to him to spread the joy. :cheers:

kaisnowbird
June 6th, 2014, 07:38 AM
Hi. Do you mind me asking how much you paid for it and where you got it? Recently one went on eBay for very cheap, 250. wish I would have known about it. I love this pen. I had the cheaper Raden one, Galaxy, 6 months ago and got it for, 200 but lost my job and needed the money lol. But eventually I wanna get the water Raden one, so beautiful. In real life does it still look just as amazing? I am hesitant to pay anything more than 350 but I know they sell for 640 on most sites.

PM sent.

For other fellow geeks' information:
I haven't seen the 'Galaxy' one in person, so I can't comment on how they compare. I would imagine the urushi is equally luscious, wet and shiny. The 'Water Surface' and the 'Stripes' versions obviously involve more patience and care in production and the result is very pleasing.

I must admit that my closeup pictures magnify the visual elements and make things a bit more impressive -- they appear larger on a computer screen than the real thing. If you go to the third picture in my post, zoom out until the picture on screen is about the real life size of a VP, then it's about 90% as beautiful as the real thing. That final 10% a picture cannot convey is when the pen comes to life in the hands as the light dances among the raden pieces.

I think it's the most beautiful pen in my little assembly (44 at the moment). Aesthetics can be very personal, of course.

KBeezie
June 7th, 2014, 12:54 AM
Quit making me drool... (not so big on the VP, but god I love that Raden look).