Parker Applied-Arrow Nib Rivera Pens - Vintage Fountain Pens, Pencils and Inkwells

Introduction

 

I have been a fan of the Pilot Capless/Namiki Vanishing Point fountain pen since I bought my first Vanishing Point 11 years ago.  Nine years ago I started collecting the early Vanishing Point and Pilot Capless (the predecessor to the Vanishing Point) pens, and I started to keep a file of all the information I found on these great writing instruments.


At the Pilot Namiki Capless/Vanishing Point History Page you will find historical information on the fountain pens gleaned from my files and collection, and from the many VP fans that have shared their information with me.  This is a work in progress, and I don’t claim to be an expert in this line of fountain pens.  I am just a fan who has an interest in its history, would like to acquire more information about these fountain pens, and share this information with those who are interested.
Namiki Vanishing Point Fountain Pens
Pilot Vanishing Point Fountain Pens One of my hopes in making this information available on the Internet is to find other fans of these fountain pens who would be willing to contribute pictures, scans or photocopies of pens, catalogs, ads, pamphlets, documents, etc, to this Capless/Vanishing Point compendium. 


Below I have added links to scans for filling  instuctions for the Capless/Vanishing Point pen.  You will find instructions on how to insert a cartridge; how to use a press-plate (squeeze) converter; and the twist converter.  

   

Please e-mail me if you have any questions or information to share at carmen@carmenriverapens.com

 
   Pilot Vanishing Point History Page


 
Click the links to view
Pilot Capless/Namiki Vanishing Point fountain pen ink filling instructions.  
Ink Cartridge
(Large Document - English & Japanese)
Press-Plate (Squeeze) Converter and Twist Converter  
 Twist Converter with Ink Bottle
 

What's New 

(December 2012)  I am working on a major update of my Web site.  I just listed a number of Pilot Vanishing Point fountain pens for sale, as well as other Pilot/Namiki pens, and will update the Vanishing Point history page very soon.


I am now set up on Twitter and I have a Facebook fan page.  What I especially love about Facebook is the ability of fans to upload pictures to a special photo album on my page called Fan Photos.  So I have decided that I would like to make this album a photo/scan repository of all things Capless/Vanishing Point.

I want to encourage all of you who have Capless/Vanishing Point pen pictures to share to please do so on my fan page.  I would love to see pictures in the Fan Photos album of Capless/VP pens and the boxes/cases that they came in; pictures of pens broken down, close up, and x-rays of pens (I know VP x-rays are out there); scans of instruction manuals, advertisements, catalogs, brochures, price sheets, logos; a picture of a single pen, a picture of a whole collection of pens.

I have some cool stuff that I have collected over the years and was never sure how to share them on my Web site. For example, I have this cool Pilot Capless banner from Japan with a 1964 Capless pen image silkscreened on it.  I have scans of old advertisements and PDFs of Pilot price lists going back five or six years.  I now have a good place to upload the images for others to see.  A feature of the Fan Photos album is that it allows you to write a caption for each picture you upload giving you the chance to identify the pen(s) in the photo and write a little blurb about it.

I am very excited about this project.  The Fan Photos album has the potential to be a great repository of Capless/VP images where people can come to learn about these incredible pens.

You do not have to be a fan to view the photo album, but if you want to upload pictures you need to sign up on Facebook and become a fan of my page (look for the Become a Fan button on the top of the page). Or, another option would be that you can e-mail the pictures to me and I can post them to the photo album.

Fans can add their Capless/Vanishing Point pen pictures to Fan Photos by simply posting them to the Wall  (type in the window that says "What's on your mind," click the photo icon, click Upload a Photo and follow the directions from there).  Facebook will then automatically send the pictures to the album.  Or fans can go directly to the Fan Photos upload page and add them there.  Do not forget to write a caption.  You can write captions right after you upload your pictures, or you can save the pictures and write a caption at another time.  You get there by going to the Fan Photos album on the Photos page, click on the picture you just uploaded, click Edit Photo (bottom, right-side of page), write caption and save. 

I have added a few pictures to get things going.  And I have lots more to add.  E-mail me if you have any questions about uploading pictures.  I am really looking forward to seeing how this project turns out.

Carmen Rivera Pens Facebook Fan Photos Album

Fan Photos Upload Page (For fans)

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You can find this picture, and others like it, at Carmen Rivera Pens Facebook Fan Photos album.


(November 3 2009)  NEW ADDITIONS TO THE HISTORY PAGE

I recently added the beautiful Vivid Red Vanishing Point pen to my collection.  Vivid Red is a good description of the color.  This VP is a numbered limited edition of 2009 pens and comes packaged with a beautiful red case that is similar to the case of the orange limited edition (Sept. 2007).  The nib is rhodium-plated 18K gold.  

I have also added the "sparkly" red and blue Capless Decimos.  These Decimos were only released in Japan in a limited edtion of 800 pens in each color.  The trim is rhodium plated and the body is painted aluminum.  The nibs on the Decimos are also rhodium-plated 18K gold.  

Below I have added a picture of all the red Capless/Vanishing Point pens in my collection.  The No. 3 Pilot faceted VP is more brownish-burgundy and the No. 4 Namiki faceted VP is burgundy.  No. 5 has an interesting cross-hatch-ish pattern and was sold only in Japan, and No. 7 & 9 are prototype-reds.

Pilot Capless Namiki Vanishing Point Retractable Nib Fountain Pens in Red

 
From left to right
: 1) August 1964 Capless; 2) October 1964 Capless; 3) June 1990 Vanishing Point (brownish-burgundy); 4) October (?) 1994 Vanishing Point (burgundy); 5) December 1999 Capless (cross-hatch pattern, released in Japan); 6) October 1999 Vanishing Point; 7) Prototype Vanishing Point (circa 1998)  8) May 2000 Vanishing Point; 9) Prototype Capless with chrome trim (circa 1999); 10) October 2003 Carbonesque Vanishing Point; 11) June 2007 Sesenta Capless (Japan); 12) Spring 2009 Decimo Capless (Japan); 13) August 2009 Vanishing Point.
   

(May 22, 2009)  Just got 3 prototype Vanishing Points: two lightish reds and one lightish blue.  The three pens with the tags on the pocket clip in the picture below are the regular production, released in the U.S., pens.  The red pen with no tag and the two with round stickers are the prototypes.  I was told that the stickered VPs are trimmed with chrome rather than rhodium.  Looking at them I can't tell the difference.  All three of the prototypes have 14K gold nibs dated 1998 or 1999.  Thought I saw a while back a picture of a lightish red with gold trim VP for sale in Japan, but I have never seen the lightish blue or red with chrome (or rhodium) trim.


(February 1, 2009)  I have added four new beauties to the Pilot Namiki Capless/Vanishing Point fountain pen history page.  First is the first model Pilot released after it stopped producing the still popular plastic-faceted barrel pen.  This lacquered enamled barrel with gold trim was first released in 1998 in Japan before it was released to the American market.  The Japanese version has 18K gold nibs, the American version has 14K gold nibs.  

Next is the long-overdue picture upload of the gun metal gray.  Released in November 2007, this gray is a beautiful dark metallic gray.  It is the exact same color as the Sesenta gray.
  The nib is 18K yellow gold.

The next VP is the purple limited edition released in August 2008.  2008 pens were made in purple, 900 were released in the U.S.  The pen came in a lovely purple box with a magnetic clasp.  The nib is rhodium-plated 18K gold.  

Finally, Pilot has released another yellow VP (September 2008).  This yellow is NOT like the May 2003 limited edition Mandarin yellow Vanishing Point.  This yellow is a little lighter than the "mustard" yellow VP that was released in December 2000 in Japan.  The Mandarin yellow is more of a lemony yellow.  The nib in the new yellow VP is 18K yellow gold, the Mandarin yellow has a 14K yellow gold nib.  

For those who are interested in seeing the different shades of yellow (alongside the orange) that Pilot offers in their Vanishing Points I have added a picture below to illustrate the differences.  While I was at it, I decided to add VPs in the various grays, silvers, rhodium, and chrome that Pilot also released.  Below the picture I listed the official colors of the fountain pens.

Pilot/Namiki Vanishing Point Capless fountain pens in gray, gun metal gray, slate gray, rhodium, diamond silver, orange, mustard yellow, yellow & mandarin yellow.

From left to right: 1) Gray (released in Japan); 2) Slate Gray (the exact same color as the previous gray); 
3)
Gun Metal Gray; 4) Gray (Decimo, Japan, the exact same color as the previous gun metal gray); 
5)
Rhodium (all rhodium plated); 6) Silver (Japan, w/ alloy nib); 7) Chrome (the exact same color as the previous silver); 8) Diamond Silver (Fermo, Japan, less sparkly silver than the previous two silvers); 
9)
Orange; 10) Deep Yellow (unoffiallly known as "mustard yellow" here in the US, Japan, w/ alloy nib); 11) Yellow; 12) Mandarin Yellow.


(October 2007)  ORANGE CRUSH 
Pilot released its first numbered limited edition Vanishing Point pen in September 2007.  Only 2007 pens were made in the orange, 900 for the U.S. market and 300 for Japan (I am still looking for other market info).  I love the orange color and the orange case it came in.  Most retailers are already sold out.  If you find one for sale, grab it before somebody else does!!!  For those of you who are interested in the smallest minutia of this model ... this was not the first time Pilot released the VP in orange.  Back in March 2005 Pilot issued a very limited release in the orange, along with the turquoise, to Tokyo-area stores.  These pens were NOT numbered and did not come with the fancy orange case.  So some of you folks might run into orange Capless pens that are not numbered.

SESENTA
Another limited edition is released by Pilot Japan, but not numbered.  The new (June 2007) Pilot Sesenta Capless comes in red marble (100 pens), blue/green marble (100), and brown (400).  At first I was not too impressed with the brown marble, but it has now grown on me.  I believe the blue/green is officially listed as blue, but the pen has enough green in it to make it more of an aquamarineish, tealish, cyanish-kinda color.  Also, the trim is made of chromium, not rhodium like the more recent models.



 


ICED PILOT (January 1, 2007)
In November 2006 Pilot USA released the new "Ice Blue" limited edition Vanishing Point pen.  Only 1500 pens will be made and will only be available with a medium nib.  I expect the Ice Blue will be as popular as the Mandarin Yellow.

PILOT IS TWISTING THINGS UP
I just added pictures of the new Pilot Capless Fermo (green).  Pilot has made a big change in their modern design by using a barrel-end twist mechanism that has not been used since 1966.  At the moment this pen is only available in Japan.  The Capless Fermos are available in black, blue, green and silver with 18K gold nibs.

New colors, narrower pens
!!!   

I have just added six more pens to the Pilot Vanishing Point Pen History page.  Almost all are the Capless pens that were released only in Japan in the
past seven years.  The newest and most significant change in the Capless line is the Pilot Decimo.  The pen has a narrower barrel, with three new vibrant colors, and a rhodium-plated 18K yellow gold nib (not a white gold nib).  Decimos come in dark blue, dark gray, harvest yellow, pearl white and champagne pink.  The champagne pink-colored Decimo is now my favorite modern Capless.  On July 15th, 2006, Pilot USA will release the less vibrant color of slate gray to the current U.S. line.  Tough to get excited about slate gray when you have had a taste of champagne pink!
    

                 
 


Click below for Pilot Capless/Namiki Vanishing Point fountain pen ink filling instructions.  
Ink Cartridge
(Large Document - English & Japanese)
Press-Plate (Squeeze) Converter and Twist Converter  
 Twist Converter with Ink Bottle
 

 

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 Pilot Vanishing Point History Page                    

 

 

Updated: December13, 2009
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