Namiki
Namiki Nippon Art Crane and Turtle
Namiki Nippon Art Crane and Turtle
The Namiki Nippon Art Crane and Turtle has been realized in Hira Maki-e technique by the Kokkokai artisan group and is provided with your choice of #10 solid gold 14k nib.
The pen ships in a velvet-lined softwood presentation box and includes documentation, converter, and a starter ink cartridge.
Another striking work in this series, the Namiki Nippon Art Crane and Turtle depicts a crane flying overhead and a turtle staring back from a pond below. In Japan the crane and turtle symbolize good fortune and longevity. An old Japanese saying proclaims, "As the crane one thousand years, the tortoise ten thousand years." This fountain pen pays tribute to these symbols of a long and prosperous life.
Warm gold trim matches the gold powder used throughout the design. A very fine gold band secures the bottom of the cap lip, making the pen's most vulnerable spot strong.
The artist's name is signed in gold towards the bottom of the pen. Notice the way the artist has depicted the water from the turtle's pond with flourishing gold waves that wind all the way down one side of the barrel.
The crane flying in the sky eyes the turtle down below, and the turtle makes eye contact in return. Gold powder is used in abundance to depict the details on the crane's wings and the turtle's shell.
Each of these pens exploits the Hira Maki-e technique, a process where very fine gold dust and pigment is sprinkled over wet lacquer. The deep black lacquer background forms a base for these applied colors.
Nippon Art pens are supplied with the larger size CON-70 converter, giving these pens an ink capacity rivaling that of many piston-fillers.
This is a slender and lightweight writing instrument that will fit comfortably in most hands.
The Namiki #10 solid gold 14k nib is inscribed with the silhouette of Mt. Fuji as well as the Namiki pentagon logo.
Namiki 14k gold nibs are well-suited to customizations including Stub, Cursive Italic, or Left Oblique, as well as the modification for added flex - see our nib customizations page for more information. The Namiki Nippon Art Crane and Turtle fountain pen arrives in a traditional softwood gift box lined with crimson velvet and comes with outer box and papers.
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. 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.. |