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Luddite TechDraw2 review: the drafting pencil that started at 7.4 mmLuddite's first writing instrument was a drafting pencil just 7.4 mm across. Three review videos trace what changed — and what didn't — between TechDraw and TechDraw2.

Hirai Woodturner's Unshu: the part number names the wood, and only 4–5 pens leave the lathe a dayA tiny woodturning workshop in Osaka makes the Unshu fountain pens. The part number opens with the wood, the price is set almost entirely by the material — and the dearest one isn't wood at all.

Nakaya: 147 of 149 Pens Are Ebonite — Titanium Exists Only in the Raiter PiccoloCounting the 149 Nakaya fountain pens in PencilDB by material, 147 turned out to be ebonite (hard rubber). Only 2 are titanium, and both belong to a single model, the Raiter Piccolo. Nakaya's nibs and feeds are widely described as interchangeable with Pilot's Custom 823, and its lacquer colour names read like tiny paintings.

SXN-150 is ¥165, SXE3-3000 is ¥3,300 — Mitsubishi Pencil's catalogue numbers can be read as prices. Half of them, anywayWe checked Mitsubishi Pencil's catalogue numbers against current list prices, one by one. Of the eleven models carrying a number, six have the pre-tax price written into the number. The other five do not — and nothing in the number tells you which kind you are holding.

Blue-black ink darkens by the same reaction that once blackened teeth in JapanBlue as you write, black a little later. Nothing is fading: iron and tannin are reacting on the paper. In Japan the same reaction was once used to blacken teeth.

Filling without wetting the nib — the most complicated fountain pen ever built was an answer to the ballpointIn 1952 Sheaffer sent a thin metal tube out from beneath the nib, hoping to keep people who hated inky fingers from defecting to the ballpoint. Four seals had to hold; one leak and the pen would not fill.

Fountain pens got their colour in 1924 — and the material is no longer made in JapanUntil the 1920s, pen barrels were almost all black. The celluloid that brought jade green to them began life as a substitute for billiard balls, and left the stage because it burned.

Your nib says "iridium." There has been none in it since 1952.The tiny bead on the tip of a nib has carried the same name since 1834, but its contents changed long ago. The last time iridium turned up, it was in a 1952 Parker 51.

From ¥275 to ¥5,500 — the Kuru Toga spread twentyfold in seventeen yearsA pencil that began as nothing but a rotating lead now runs to seven lines. Its standard model carries 155 choices, more than any of the 2,464 product names on record. In 2023 it expanded downward and upward in the same year.

Japan's only ebonite maker sells its own pens — and every colour is named after a sceneOne fountain pen in five is ebonite. The only factory in Japan still making the material has a brand of its own: five shapes in the same eight colours, named crimson heart, nightfall, moon on the river, scented wind. The inks are named after the neighbourhood.

At Nohara Kogei, the price is set by the wood — not the penA Nagano workshop that sells twice a year. Lay out every combination and the list prices fall into four clean tiers, with only two timbers reaching the top. It also explains why the local Kiso cypress sits in the cheapest tier of all.

Kobo Setu's eleven shapes and thirty-five timbers — and the one wood that is everywhereThe Gifu workshop of woodworker Atsushi Nagata. Lay out every timber it offers and amboyna burl stands apart, while the rarest boards are gathered onto a single model.

Hard rubber is still in one fountain pen in fiveWhat are pen barrels actually made of? Classify everything with a recorded material and resin takes 40 percent — but the runner-up is ebonite, a material invented in the nineteenth century.

There is a width above broad. Fountain pen nibs differ at the edges, not the middleExtra fine, fine, medium, broad — every brand shares the core four. It is what hangs off the ends that differs: zoom, music, medium-fine, double broad, stub, flex.

Asvine P36: A Review of the Piston-Filler Fountain Pen with a Conid-Like LookOverseas fountain pen review YouTuber "sbrebrown" reviewed the "P36" from Chinese fountain pen brand Asvine. Here's a summary based on that video.

Gravitas Vac 2.0: A Review of the Modular Vacuum-Filler Fountain PenOverseas fountain pen review YouTuber "sbrebrown" reviewed the "Vac 2.0" vacuum-filler fountain pen from the brand Gravitas Pens. Here's a summary based on that video.

Santini "Safety 1920": A Review of the Large Fountain Pen from an Italian WorkshopOverseas fountain pen review YouTuber "sbrebrown" reviewed the "Safety 1920" from Italian pen maker Santini. Here's a summary based on that video.

Kitera LIFT+: A ¥2,750 Drafting Pencil Reviewed for Its Substantial "Clunk" FeelPopular stationery YouTuber "Seasar Stationery" reviewed the "LIFT+" drafting mechanical pencil from Kitera, an original brand by Kiji Shoji. Here's a summary covering the price, specs, and review points.

KAYOU+ AIMVISION PRO: A Review of the Premium Drafting Pencils from a New Japanese BrandPopular stationery YouTuber "Seasar Stationery" reviewed two models from "KAYOU+," a new Japanese brand that debuted in 2025: the "AIMVISION PRO" and "AIMVISION." Here's a summary of how the Pro and Standard concepts differ.

Sailor CYLINT Patina: A Review of the Fountain Pen with Hand-Applied PatinaPopular stationery YouTuber "Seasar Stationery" reviewed Sailor's "CYLINT Patina" fountain pen. Here's a summary covering the traditional Toyama coloring technique and the pen's specs.

Hayakawa Pencil: A Review of the Reissued 1915 Mechanical PencilPopular stationery YouTuber "Seasar Stationery" reviewed the 2025 reissue of the "Hayakawa Pencil," the ancestor of the modern mechanical pencil. Here's a summary based on that video.

Orenz Nero Limited Set: A Review After Buying Every ColorPopular stationery YouTuber "Seasar Stationery" bought every variant of Pentel's "Orenz Nero Limited Set." Here's a summary of that review, covering the limited colors' finish and the included metal lead case.

THE ZEBRA HAMON: A Review of Zebra's ¥60,000 Flagship BallpointZebra's premium new brand "THE ZEBRA" launched with the "HAMON" ballpoint pen, drawing on over 120 years of craftsmanship. Popular stationery YouTuber "Seasar Stationery" reviewed it — here's a summary.

LAMY safari KURUTOGA inside: A Review of the Safari x Kurutoga MashupPopular stationery YouTuber "Seasar Stationery" reviewed the "LAMY safari KURUTOGA inside," which combines LAMY and Mitsubishi Pencil's rotating-lead mechanism. Here's a summary of the video.

Staedtler 770: A YouTube Review of the 34-Year ReissuePopular Japanese stationery YouTuber "Seasar Stationery" (1.05M subscribers) reviewed the reissued Staedtler 770 drafting mechanical pencil. Here's a summary based on that video.

Montblanc offers 1, Nohara offers 49 — the same "one model" can differ 44-foldRecount all 52 brands and the number of choices behind a single product name varies by an order of magnitude. Brands split cleanly into those that make many pens and those that perfect one shape.

Pens you choose by colour, and pens where colour is not the pointRecording barrel colours split the brands cleanly in two: companies that sell by laying colours side by side, and companies for which colour is not an axis at all. Wooden pens and Montblanc resist the same field, for opposite reasons.

A Montblanc catalogue number tells you nothing — we checked 252 of themPilot encodes colour and nib in letters; Sailor and Platinum in digits. And Montblanc? Cross-reference 252 pens and no pattern emerges at all.

Nine in ten discontinuations are not a pen disappearing — just a colour rotating outLook at everything recorded as out of production and most of it is Mitsubishi Pencil's seasonal colours. Cases where the pen itself is gone are vanishingly rare.

Platinum's nib-width digits: only three of them have ever been confirmedThe digit at the end should tell you the nib width. In practice only fine, medium and broad have been pinned down. What the remaining digits mean is still unknown.

With Sailor, one digit tells you the nib width — and number five does not existThe digits at the end of a Sailor catalogue number are not decoration. One of them tells you whether the pen is fine, medium or broad. Zoom and music nibs get their own numbers too — and for some reason nothing at all is numbered five.

Pilot's catalogue numbers can actually be read — but the same letter means different colours on different pensWhere other makers use digits, Pilot spells colour and nib in letters. That makes the numbers readable, right up until you notice the same letter pointing at a different colour on another model.