Nakaya Milky Way Raden Brief Review

Ordering: As I looked into ordering the pen, I quickly realized that there are no deals ever on new Nakayas. I was told by PensinAsia owner, Tay, that Nakaya has extremely strict rules that dictate how much a pen sells for and if these are violated, you lose your ability to remain an authorized retailer for the brand. I ended up ordering my Nakaya Milky Way Raden from Nibs.com. The process was smooth and David from Nibs was amazing to work with. When the order was completed, I was told that it could be anywhere from 4-9 months until the pen arrived. Thankfully, the pen arrived in just 3 months!

Impressions:
1. I loved the understated box that the Nakaya arrived in and could not wait to open to the silk pen kimono to actually see the pen. I was completely blown away by the beauty of the pen when I removed it from the kimono.
2. I have owned several not so expensive (below $150) fountain pens in my life time. I have never touched a pen that feels the way the Nakaya does. The best I can describe the feel of the Nakaya is soft and hard at the same time. The finish is also such that it feels "grippy", which is counter intuitive because the pen's finish is so smooth. The pen is relatively light and is extremely well balanced in the hand.
3. The intricate pattern in which the abalone shell pieces have been placed on the pen is exquisite and just plain beautiful. It truly looks like the galaxy and reminds me of what the night sky looked like when I was visiting the grand canyon. The black lacquer finish has a tremendous depth and transparency to it. I ordered the pen without a clip since I did not want anything to take away from the beauty of the raden. Overall, I truly feel like this is the most beautiful pen that I have ever owned.
4. The pen writes beautifully. I ordered it with medium Rhodium nib. The nib is smooth with just the right amount of feedback that allows for the pen to remain stable and in connection with the paper. The line is wet and just the right thickness and I have never had a false start with the pen.

Overall
I am extremely happy with the purchase of the Nakaya. It is truly a work of art and I see it being a life long friend. I only use it to write in my journal where I detail my experiences of the journey inwards / my spiritual life.

That's a lovely pen with great sentiment attached to it. Congratulations on your new job and new pen!

Thank you so much whichwatch! I appreciate your kind words.

Thanks much for sharing. I am already a fan of Raden but that pen is beyond amazing. So, so beautiful.

cj2020 - I need to take some photography lessons from you. Nice pics.

The pen is a blessing and will last your lifetime. Enjoy that for all it is, and thank you for sharing.

Azkid, I completely agree. It is indeed very beautiful to look at and to write with.

Thank you for the compliment Robert.

Thank you Jon. I am waiting to get to a point where I stop babying it so much and start using it more naturally. I do hope that it lasts my lifetime and beyond.

Beautiful pen and great story! May it serve you well for many many years.

wow! congratulations, what a pen!

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Originally Posted by junglejim

Beautiful pen and great story! May it serve you well for many many years.

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Thank you JungleJim. I am definitely pleased with it. Thank you for your kind wishes.

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Originally Posted by manoeuver

wow! congratulations, what a pen!

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Thank you Manoeuver! It is a beautiful pen.

Impressive pen and the workmanship behind it.

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Originally Posted by cj2020

Ordering: As I looked into ordering the pen, I quickly realized that there are no deals ever on new Nakayas. I was told by PensinAsia owner, Tay, that Nakaya has extremely strict rules that dictate how much a pen sells for and if these are violated, you lose your ability to remain an authorized retailer for the brand.

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Interesting. This practice, where brands try to impose the dealer to stick to the “Recommended Retail Price”, a.k.a. vertical price fixation, is illegal in the EU. If convicted by the court in Luxembourg the company can be fined with an amount up to 10% of the global annual turnover. All to increase competition for the benefit of the final consumer.

Gorgeous pen though.

Completely agree Roe De Hym. Owning a pen which has so much effort put into it's making is a special feeling.

Interesting indeed.

@Linger I believe it is legal in the US, because of some weird logic.... hmmm

Ahh yes. Price Fixing is illegal, but .........."Anti-trust law is very very complex, but the main gist of it is that when you force retailers into a minimum price for your product (vertical price fixing), you are not colluding with your competitors to set a minimum price for ALL products of that type (horizontal price fixing), and vertical price fixing is not detrimental to the market." u/ryken on reddit.

If you want a deal on a urushi pen look towards namiki, there is one store in Hong Kong that sells Namiki(s) for very cheap.... more like 30% below market price if word of mouth is believed. Japan is also around 12.5% less than US market price because of 2nd hand retail markups.... though US stores do 5-10% discounts regularly so it is a wash sometimes.

Edit: It is really interesting that some pens can be bought more cheaply through a forwarding service (yahoo auctions jp, or some other japanese site). For example Pilot Meiji Maru 100th Anniv retailed in US for $1600 but was 15000 JPY = ~1400 USD in Japan.... with forwarding service and shipping fees the total cost from Japan was around 1450 USD making it almost 9% cheaper than US retail....