Nakaya
Nakaya Naka-ai Cigar Jidai Nuri
Nakaya Naka-ai Cigar Jidai Nuri
The Naka-ai Cigar Jidai-nuri fountain pen is one of the most memorable designs created by Nakaya. Similar in aesthetic but differing in technique from the popular Negoro series, the Jidai-nuri utilizes Black Urushi over a Shu base to create a striking effect.
The creation of this pen requires a time-intensive two-step process. For the cap and barrel, Black Urushi is painted over a base coating of rich red Shu. A careful polishing process artfully removes sections of the Black Urushi, exposing the underlayer in a manner which mimics natural weathering. For the gripping section, the process is reversed, with the Shu Urushi applied on top of a Black Urushi base.
As with the Negoro pens, the Jidai-nuri is a superb example of the Wabi-Sabi aesthetic, in which objects are seen as gaining in value and significance with time and usage. The intentional creation of ""flaws"" or ""weathering"" adds another layer of complexity to this approach.
The Jidai-nuri can be filled with bottled ink using the provided converter. It can also use Platinum brand ink cartridges. Hand-painted Maki-e converters are also available, as are a wide range of other options and accessories.
The Nakaya double slit Music nib is available at an added premium, as are plated nibs in Pink Gold, Rhodium, Ruthenium, or Two-Tone.
Decorative rice paper, a simple solid softwood shipping box decorated with Japanese Kanji script, and a fabric pen ""kimono"" are all included with this pen, making it a lovely presentation item. Sensibly elegant packaging has long been a hallmark of the Nakaya brand.
Decorative rice paper, a simple solid softwood shipping box decorated with Japanese Kanji script, and a fabric pen ""kimono"" are all included with this pen, making it a lovely presentation item. Sensibly elegant packaging has long been a hallmark of the Nakaya brand.
Nakaya pens are individually handcrafted in a process that requires a minimum of three to six months and often much longer.
Unless requested otherwise, each pen or nib you purchase from us will be carefully examined, tested, and optimized for your personal writing characteristics before it ships.
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Customization Guide
Stub
 
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Above is the same size nib after a regrind to Stub. A regrind to Stub is often a good place to start for your first customization. Â A Stub nib provides broad down-strokes and narrow cross-strokes while writing, and is less position-sensitive on the paper than the crisper and slightly more demanding cursive italic.
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Cursive Italic
 
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More demanding, but also providing crisper edges and more line-width variation, is the very popular customization to Cursive Italic. This also provides broad down-strokes and narrow cross-strokes, but is also more position-sensitive in terms of how the pen is held and requires more skill on the part of the user. This is a common customization for artists and calligraphers, but is still smooth enough to make for a good everyday writer.
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Formal Italic
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Formal Italic is an even crisper and more demanding customization than either cursive italic or left oblique, and is usually utilized for calligraphy and by the most experienced users. This provides broad down-strokes and narrow cross-strokes, with even crisper corners and edges than a cursive italic - this is an extremely position-sensitive customization.
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Left Oblique
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 Commonly used for signatures and correspondence, the Left Oblique customization provides broad diagonal strokes and narrow cross-strokes, and like a cursive italic, is more position-sensitive and demanding than a stub. The whole pen must be rotated to the left in order to write smoothly, without skipping. The "Left" in Left Oblique refers to the cut of the nib itself, and does not refer to the handedness of the writer. |
Architect's Point (Also for Arabic and Hebraic writing)
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A more exotic regrind is that to Architect’s Point. Named after the style of writing used by Frank Lloyd Wright, this regrind is the opposite of cursive italic, and provides for broad cross-strokes and narrow down-strokes. This also tends to be a particularly useful customization for those practicing Arabic or Hebraic calligraphy. |
Spencerian
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Perhaps our most popular customization, but also one of the most advanced, the Mottishaw Spencerian Customization has gained special attention from being featured in a customer's YouTube video which has now received over twelve million views! The Spencerian starts from a semi-soft 14k nib and adds additional flex and a regrind to needlepoint to create a specialized writing point used for copperplate calligraphy. For more details, visit our special Spencerian page.. |