Nakaya
Nakaya Portable Cigar Spiketails
Nakaya Portable Cigar Spiketails
The Nakaya Portable Cigar Spiketails fountain pen is a glamorous Maki-e study of the mighty spiketail dragonfly. Gold and amber details accent the finish of this smooth and slender writing instrument.
This remarkable fountain pen includes two rarely combined features. It is hand painted and semi-transparent.
The dragonfly wings turn diagonally around the cap in a stunning composition that begs the handler to rotate the pen. The effect is one of floating gossamer golden filigree over a deep transparent amber color.
This model was finished by coating transparent acrylic body with Shu (red) Urushi pigments. It is most transparent at the cap and barrel ends and becomes completely obscure in the middle of the pen. This shift from transparent to opaque is gradual and most noticeable when held up to light.
The barrel design is one of swamp grasses, the natural habitat of the Spiketails (dragonfly). The surfaces are raised to give texture to the motif. The gold dust is captured under layers of semi-clear urushi lacquer.
The heavy decorative rice paper, simple solid softwood shipping box and fabric pouch make a lovely presentation for Nakaya Urushi pens. Sensible and elegant packaging have long been a hallmark of Nakaya.
Couldn't load pickup availability
Customization Guide
Stub
 
|
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.
|
Cursive Italic
 
|
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.
|
Formal Italic
 |
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.
|
Left Oblique
 |
 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)
 |
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
 |
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.. |