*unscrewing the section/back piston results in a void of warranty according to Pilot - please proceed at your own risk - in the video I used my personal fountain pen that I feel comfortable to take apart knowing the risks - if you do proceed to follow my example, dont use too much force to tight the section or the piston assembly and use a little bit of silicone grease on the threads to seal everything without exposing your pen to over tightening which may result developing cracks/fractures of the material in that region.
Pilot 823 writes like heaven. It used to be my daily writer till 2017 till I bought the Custom 845 Urushi. Simply love Pilot, Namiki and Sailor KoP pens. Japanese know the art of making writing instruments very well. Thanks for the review Emy.
My pleasure! :)) I have to say my handwriting is pretty good :D but all the credits go to my mom when I was a kid she sat with me for years doing homework and always smacking the living life out of me when I was not writing slow an calligraphic - neat and clean on the paper :))) now I have to thank her so so much
Loving that you are enjoying this model of Pilot's Emy!!! It's one gorgeous workhorse writer!!! A thing to note, if you do disassemble the pen, the warranty is voided, and when you tighten the the tail end part of the assembly, don't over tighten. Common fractures happen, because people tend to overtighten that part. I prefer the Custom 742, as the size is slightly smaller, more suited for my medium-sized hands, but you can't go wrong with the 823! I gifted my brother with one!
Thank you my friend :D The 823 is really nice :D Maybe im really comfortable with pens and I often take them apart - for me warranty is something that I think I ever used once in my years in the industry but even so... I would like to understand how someone can prove it was taken apart since if you dont use force and I couldnt find any trace of glue... this is very questionable to prove the fracture came from this proces :D I have to check that 742 :D
The Custom 823 is as close to perfect as a fountain pen can be. I was surprised that the medium nib is a very juicy writer. I was expecting it to be more like a western fine. All I can say is since I purchased the 823 my 823 I haven’t felt the need to purchase many more pens.
The nib has a tendency to write wet with some inks and slightly drier with others :D I want to get another one just like this but with a FA nib and have one of those ebonite feeders for it and just ... flex it
There may not be any fountain pen at any price does what the 823 does consistently. It's writing performance, wriring feel, weight, balance, unique high capacity ink capacity., ability to shut off the primary ink supply, caps ability to keep the nib from drying out, and ascetic qualities are simply amazing at its price point if not any price point.
That's one of the pens I own and was initially my grail pen before I discovered Leonardo, Visconti and Mont Blanc.... I have a few Pilot pens and they were my staple for a while. My first one was the prera from an Office Stationary office. From there my pen collection has grown but I only have a few expensive pens. I think my next pen will be an Namiki Urushi pen so I need to save up or sell a car! :) Great Video as usual Emy and I'm still loving my Nero pen. Letter will be coming your way soon but I've been very sick all week so no writing as my hands are still shaking too much. I want to make sure when I write to you I do my best using the Nero pen!
Hey there Franck :D I jumped to get it after learning so many things from other fellow people in the pen community :D When the time comes the Namiki will for sure be yours and you will get a whole new meaning to the word "writing instrument" :D Thank you for the feedback and put that Ultra Nero to work - get some rest and enjoy
Thanks for a thorough video. I had not realised one could disassemble the pen for cleaning in this way- I must have forgotten to keep the instructions when I bought the amber version years ago. I find the 823 to be a great travelling pen, mainly because of its huge ink capacity. I always have it in my travelling rucksack, on week-ends and holidays. As you say, the nib is excellent and reliable. The only aspect that takes some getting used to is the need to unscrew the top of the pen to release more ink, but that is also a useful way of avoiding a huge leak of unwanted ink. I would certainly recommend this pen for anyone who wants a reliable, fluent writing instrument for general use when travelling or having a long writing session. It is so good that I have often considered buying a second (probably the black version).
I’m also confused about unscrewing the body from the section. Maybe things have changed, but I was under the impression from instructions and youtube videos that you weren’t supposed to do this as Pilot cautioned that this was a failure point for the pen? Would be so much easier to clean if you can in fact unscrew this - maybe on the newer pens?
so ... the thing is this - the pen I presented in the video is my personal pen that I acquired it from Japan through a friend, I usually follow the care guide and have a good understanding of the overall things to do and things to avoid - with the pilot 823 we can think of it logically - for the average user that doesnt have experience with pulling nibs out with the feeder from the section I would advise to not do it like so because you can bend the nib or break the feeder, the only logical way to take it apart is at the section and at the piston, like I mentioned with constant usage of these things - it can crack, in my 7-8 years since I tinker with all my pens I havent seen one failing for me to take advantage of the warranty and this is why I think that if you can afford to have such writing tool - you need to learn a few skills in taking not only this one apart but any pen, to understand materials / how pens work. I have to say that I couldnt find any trace of glue at the section or at the back piston, when I took it apart first time and cleaned it - I applied a layer of silicone grease and put it back together nice and well - considering that its plastic all the time I didnt used force nor in assembly or when taking it apart... it worked ok for me, but it may be a warranty void.
Hey, the Custom 823 has only B, M, and F nib options. The Pilot Custom 743, however, is almost the same pen (except it is a cartridge converter), which has many more nib options, all of which will fit the 823. Typically to get a different nib for an 823, pen enthusiasts will buy the 743 with the nib they want, and swap that nib onto their 823. I, too, would like to see Pilot begin to offer all those nibs as options on the 823.
I picked up my (first :) 823 relatively recently, and I agree, it's really a competent pen. After the first stroke, I quickly began to understand the hype. Always ready to go and a consistently good writer. I'll keep looking for an FA nib as well, as I agree that could add some additional character to this solid performer!
hehe :D looks like im not alone in this hype :D - great pen - love it and yes... a FA nib must come at one point :D also in demonstrator type - maybe you can help me in one of your trips in Japan
I imported a clear 823 from Japan to the UK back in April 2018 and I chose the WA nib. A little too well polished nib I think as I had skipping issues initially and it still doesn't like hand oil's on the paper. The WA nib is the smoothest I own. Writes well on all papers and for me it's always got a blue ink in it - Kon Peki; Tsuki Yo and for the last long time, some Pilot Blue ink. My ink feed has actually turned a shade of blue from the constant daily use it gets from me. There is never a day I'm not using this pen. Absolutely stunning pen. Mine did not come with ink nor presentation case as coming from Japan, it was pen only I was told then. Good video Emy, great to see you 😄👍🏻
Hey there Richard :D same here - I had someone in Japan that traveled and purchased this one along with my KOP demo and sent them back to me :D I think my personal 823 the demon didnt came with the bottle of ink - the ones that we have available in the store all come with that ink :D Thank you for the feedback my friend :D
Very useful and helpful video. I m about to buy the Custon 823 after LOOOOONG thinking cause spending 300 euros on a pen was something i would never imagine about myself. I was thinking of buyng the Heritage 92 at 150 (half the price) but i convince myself that the Custom 823 is a pen that i d DEFINITELY buy at some point in my life, so why dont do it now? Afterall all i hear is good reviews for it and i m sure i wont be dissapointed
Good choice! The 823 is a silver bullet type pen - it is wonderful. If you think you will want it sooner or later is better to save a little and get the top option rather than get a pen like the Heritage92 than think about wanting to go a step up towards the 823
Hi Emy, nice review of the 823. Has Pilot changed their warranty? In the warranty of mine 823 it says that when you take out te section te warranty is gone... That fact makes it not easy to clean. I that case you should mention that taking the pen apart means that the warranty is void. Great review tho.
thank you for the feedback :D Nope the warranty is as stated - taking it apart will void the warranty but I cant figure it out how they can tell it because I couldnt find any traces of glue, nor at the section or at the piston :)) I have experience with ens and I feel comfortable to tight and unscrew pens and for me is not such a big deal ... anyway besides pulling the nib and the feeder from the section I think its more safe to do what I showed slow and careful
I have a Custom 845 and a Custom Urushi. I thought about also buying this one, but I'm not sure yet. The nibs made by Pitor are just spectacular. I really love them.
If I were you I would save the money and save for a Namiki Emperor. You basically have the best that Pilot offers. The urushi and the nibs are what make both of those special and worth the money. Imo the 823 doesn’t seem as special unless you are really wanting a vacuum filler.
@maximilianschwab9668 - this 823 is more of a every day use Pilot than what I would consider the Custom Urushi, the 845 is more agreeable for daily use because of the size but I just dont want to put the urushi pens at a risk and always popping them in my jeans pocket or throw them in a bag ... I will at one point take one and just do it to see the outcome and how strong is the urushi lacquer but till then I take the 823 any day
@blitzkreig000 - yes namiki offers some of the best finishes and the best of the pilot nibs :D But most of the people I know, dont consider an Emperor a first gold nib pen :)) ... if you know such people - you need to introduce me to them :D thank you for the feedback
@@pen.venture Hey Emil! I know the Custom 823 is an everyday pen, plus it holds a lot of ink. My everyday pens are Pelikans M800/805 both with F nibs because if not, they will be empty very fast. So I am thinking about the 823 in a Kymono I can put it in my backpack and that's it. I work with a technique that is very near to Family constellations and sometimes I need to write REALLY large protocols, and I have to do that after the sessions if not, because it is so much to write down, I could forget some details, so all this has to happen very quickly. For this reason, I need a pen with a large quantity of ink. I would NEVER take my Urushi pens out of my house. When some of my friends ask me to use a fountain pen I have a couple of Montegrappas Harry Potter, a Diplomat Aero, or a couple of Watermans, so they can play with them .. everything else is just off-limits. 🧐
@@blitzkreig000 The Namiki Emperor is DEFINITELY on my list! But it isn't an everyday pen. I am also waiting to buy a Danitrio Genkai or Hyotan will see when ...
I don't have any expensive fountain pens. I'm looking to purchase a quality pen in the near future and the Pilot Custom 823 is looking like the one I will purchase. I am taken with the amber model and will probably purchase one of those. Thank you very much for your channel I enjoy your presentations immensely.
the brown tint is a little easier if you're concerned over cleaning not to mention staining. I feel if I got the clear one I'd have to disassemble if I changed ink...
I would be curious, what are, relative to the Custom 823 in M, nibs that are even smoother in your experience? Another perspective, could be, what nibs are similarly or even more satisfying from your perspective among your range of modern pens. I would be very interested in that, knowing of course how personal/subjective expectations and preferences are. Thank you!
One of the most smoothest nibs in my experience was and still is the Palladium 23k nibs of Visconti, primarily the B and the BB nibs in the past, those where so smooth that they where skipping and they would do that on really smooth paper like Claire la Fontaine - once you where taking them to a paper like TRP, the same nib would be like butter smooth and nice performing. I would say that something close to how stiff and relative how is performing nib I would put the 21k gold nib of Sailor, that can be found on the Pro Gear Regular or 1911 Large, with a bit of smoothing I would find both of these nibs very close (the 21k sailor and the 14k pilot 823)
@@pen.venture and interesting! I knew the first two numbers in the Pilot pens referred to years, but I always thought it was calendar years. Accordingly I though the 912 was made in 1991! I have my eyes of one of those scribos and I’ll get it one of these days, maybe for my 40th. I’ll buy through PV!
The grip sections on the 823s are strange. I have unscrewed a couple of them without issue for nervous friends who were scared to do it the first time, but I would swear my personal 823 is glued(it was bought new). I cannot get it apart without feeling I'm going to crack the barrel, and I like to think I have disassembled enough pens to know when I'm using too much force. It would be better if it were easy to disassemble, that's much safer than these guessing games. By the way, if you put a Coarse nib in the 823, the ink will still run out quickly!
hmmmm maybe someone at some point used a glue that really caught grip there hence making the whole process a lot difficult, dont take my advice but if it was me, I would take the blowdryer and try to have a little bit of heat when disassembling it :D maybe it gets loose. My next pen in the 823 category will be a FA nib with a ebonite feeder mod
@@pen.venture I've thought about using some heat, but I'm always a bit worried when there is a trim ring right next to the area I'm heating up. Eventually I will probably do it, but for now I will just stick to unscrewing the piston assembly(that came out easily) if I need to clean the pen a bit more thoroughly. I have two Opus 88s with adapter housings in them, they have FA and C nibs in them, as well as triple-slit ebonite feeds. Sometimes you can find cheap nibs in Japan if the pen has a name engraving or if it has some damage to the pen, it can be a good way to get relatively cheap #15 nibs.
Hello. I am thinking of buying one and I am confused between the Medium and Fine Nib. I like the look of Fine but I have been told it is a bit scratchy. I would prefer a smooth flow. Have you had the opportunity of writing with an 823 with Fine nib. Could you please share your experience?
hey there - if you purchase a pen from us, you can let us know to adjust it after checking the nib and this way you can have it without the scratchy nib. We dont sell the demo version but we do have available the brown(amber)/smoke(blueish black)
I do have to check out more nibs on these 823 pens - usually from what I can say after testing on my friends 823 broad pens - its a little dry for my taste and with some fine adjustment ... it ca be a super nice writer
I feel as if I made a mistake picking the translucent black colour way: much prefer the look of the amber with gold - but as for the pen: it is spectacular!(it also writes perfectly on reverse producing my preferred EF line: my only criticism would be the limited nib selection, fortunately the Pilot custom 743 has a much better selection of no.15 nibs:)
The brown (amber) is really fitting the gold trim very nice - the black one is more discreet. I haven’t tested the reversed but will do ✌🏻 as for the nib sizes - would like to have the others as well maybe soon 👀
@@pen.venture would probably not be confident enough to change out the nib, but would definitely prefer an EF nib:); btw, could be wrong but think Pilot’s no.10 nib is closer to European no.6 nib: the no.15 seems bigger:)
This price for simple piece of plastic with a few rubber rings and 14k gold nib (probably worth of $3). Not even 23k.... OMG where our world is rolling....
well... I want to tell you a similar story... take 10grams of steel and make a few nails out of it and ill be close to the price of the raw metal almost ... take those 10 grams and make out of them parts for mechanical watches... and ill cost a few thousands of times the price for the raw metal / gram... its not only about the material cost ... its about how it gets combined and the end purpose/function/product
Pilot needs a director of aesthetics. I’d love to buy the pen, but ugly, ugly and ugly. It they at least put silver hardware on the clear version, I might buy that one, but for $330.00 they need to make the pen more visually appealing. If they offered colors like the Custom 74, they’d have a money printing machine….So much for Japanese intelligence. “Le bon sens n’est pas si commun.” Of course, money isn't the most important thing, but looks DO count. That’s how human beings operate. Looks are our chief way to know the world, only a brainwashed, fool would pretend looks aren’t important. If I wanted just a writing experience, I have dollar store roller balls that write as well or BETTER than I30.00 fountain pens and they cost me two for $I.00 ( Before Biden). If I was crazy enough to spend $30.00 on damned french paper, so my $300.00-I,000.00 pen can actually write properly, maybe that wouldn't be the case, but I’m NOT going to do that just to take notes on things that I read. I’d buy a crate of Gel pens and a bunch of cheap paper and write away. My money is waiting for you Pilot. Give me a beautiful pen, and some choices, and not your damned $I0,000 Urushi pens ( which are pretty boring looking). Instead keep the price realistic, and just give me some color, and you’ve got my money. I want this pen. It feels good in the hand, and holds a lot of ink, but $330.00 for a boring black pen, with ugly gold trim. . . I haven't been able to make myself order one.
:D if all would do the same thing - what is the point of collecting. Pilot has a more conservative classic style and line. Far for ugly ... it just calling for a different taste that you ether have or you acquire while collecting and learning about how many of todays pens and their features are rooted into pilot research and patents from a long long time ago.
*unscrewing the section/back piston results in a void of warranty according to Pilot - please proceed at your own risk - in the video I used my personal fountain pen that I feel comfortable to take apart knowing the risks - if you do proceed to follow my example, dont use too much force to tight the section or the piston assembly and use a little bit of silicone grease on the threads to seal everything without exposing your pen to over tightening which may result developing cracks/fractures of the material in that region.
Nice to see a reviewer who can actually write!
:))) big thanks on that - its like having a race car but not knowing how to drive it
Pilot 823 writes like heaven. It used to be my daily writer till 2017 till I bought the Custom 845 Urushi. Simply love Pilot, Namiki and Sailor KoP pens. Japanese know the art of making writing instruments very well. Thanks for the review Emy.
Thanks for sharing! I start to really enjoy these wonderful Japanese writing instruments, as I discover them I like them more and more :D
Wonderful video.
RS. Canada
Thank you so much 😊
Pen reviews are good when the reviewer has a good handwriting! Thanks for reviewing the pen. You have a beautiful handwriting.
My pleasure! :)) I have to say my handwriting is pretty good :D but all the credits go to my mom when I was a kid she sat with me for years doing homework and always smacking the living life out of me when I was not writing slow an calligraphic - neat and clean on the paper :))) now I have to thank her so so much
@@pen.venture Even my mother did the same😮💨. Mothers are same irrespective of which country they're coming from.😄
@@souravray2415 :)) we are lucky
@@pen.venture Yes, indeed❤️👍🙏
Loving that you are enjoying this model of Pilot's Emy!!!
It's one gorgeous workhorse writer!!! A thing to note, if you do disassemble the pen, the warranty is voided, and when you tighten the the tail end part of the assembly, don't over tighten. Common fractures happen, because people tend to overtighten that part.
I prefer the Custom 742, as the size is slightly smaller, more suited for my medium-sized hands, but you can't go wrong with the 823! I gifted my brother with one!
Thank you my friend :D The 823 is really nice :D
Maybe im really comfortable with pens and I often take them apart - for me warranty is something that I think I ever used once in my years in the industry but even so... I would like to understand how someone can prove it was taken apart since if you dont use force and I couldnt find any trace of glue... this is very questionable to prove the fracture came from this proces :D
I have to check that 742 :D
The Custom 823 is my grail pen. I have 3 with different nib sizes and I just need one more and that is the medium nib. Thank you for sharing.
Right on! Thanks for sharing - do you every took one or all of them apart ?
Same! I have all the nib sizes and I'm finally getting the demo one!
Hopefully, I will be able to get that one! Congrats!@@Afromite
No thank you, I'm too much of a wimp to take apart such an expensive beauty...LOL.@@pen.venture
@@BlushnBlue next up min swap time!
The Custom 823 is as close to perfect as a fountain pen can be. I was surprised that the medium nib is a very juicy writer. I was expecting it to be more like a western fine. All I can say is since I purchased the 823 my 823 I haven’t felt the need to purchase many more pens.
The nib has a tendency to write wet with some inks and slightly drier with others :D I want to get another one just like this but with a FA nib and have one of those ebonite feeders for it and just ... flex it
@@pen.venture I looked, but haven't found one yet. Maybe next trip!
There may not be any fountain pen at any price does what the 823 does consistently. It's writing performance, wriring feel, weight, balance, unique high capacity ink capacity., ability to shut off the primary ink supply, caps ability to keep the nib from drying out, and ascetic qualities are simply amazing at its price point if not any price point.
What nib do you prefer? @@klt479
Wow! What a great pen review! Nice handwriting too.
thank you so much :D
That's one of the pens I own and was initially my grail pen before I discovered Leonardo, Visconti and Mont Blanc.... I have a few Pilot pens and they were my staple for a while. My first one was the prera from an Office Stationary office. From there my pen collection has grown but I only have a few expensive pens. I think my next pen will be an Namiki Urushi pen so I need to save up or sell a car! :) Great Video as usual Emy and I'm still loving my Nero pen. Letter will be coming your way soon but I've been very sick all week so no writing as my hands are still shaking too much. I want to make sure when I write to you I do my best using the Nero pen!
Hey there Franck :D I jumped to get it after learning so many things from other fellow people in the pen community :D When the time comes the Namiki will for sure be yours and you will get a whole new meaning to the word "writing instrument" :D Thank you for the feedback and put that Ultra Nero to work - get some rest and enjoy
Thanks for a thorough video. I had not realised one could disassemble the pen for cleaning in this way- I must have forgotten to keep the instructions when I bought the amber version years ago.
I find the 823 to be a great travelling pen, mainly because of its huge ink capacity. I always have it in my travelling rucksack, on week-ends and holidays. As you say, the nib is excellent and reliable. The only aspect that takes some getting used to is the need to unscrew the top of the pen to release more ink, but that is also a useful way of avoiding a huge leak of unwanted ink.
I would certainly recommend this pen for anyone who wants a reliable, fluent writing instrument for general use when travelling or having a long writing session. It is so good that I have often considered buying a second (probably the black version).
I’m also confused about unscrewing the body from the section. Maybe things have changed, but I was under the impression from instructions and youtube videos that you weren’t supposed to do this as Pilot cautioned that this was a failure point for the pen? Would be so much easier to clean if you can in fact unscrew this - maybe on the newer pens?
so ... the thing is this - the pen I presented in the video is my personal pen that I acquired it from Japan through a friend, I usually follow the care guide and have a good understanding of the overall things to do and things to avoid - with the pilot 823 we can think of it logically - for the average user that doesnt have experience with pulling nibs out with the feeder from the section I would advise to not do it like so because you can bend the nib or break the feeder, the only logical way to take it apart is at the section and at the piston, like I mentioned with constant usage of these things - it can crack, in my 7-8 years since I tinker with all my pens I havent seen one failing for me to take advantage of the warranty and this is why I think that if you can afford to have such writing tool - you need to learn a few skills in taking not only this one apart but any pen, to understand materials / how pens work. I have to say that I couldnt find any trace of glue at the section or at the back piston, when I took it apart first time and cleaned it - I applied a layer of silicone grease and put it back together nice and well - considering that its plastic all the time I didnt used force nor in assembly or when taking it apart... it worked ok for me, but it may be a warranty void.
Hey, the Custom 823 has only B, M, and F nib options. The Pilot Custom 743, however, is almost the same pen (except it is a cartridge converter), which has many more nib options, all of which will fit the 823. Typically to get a different nib for an 823, pen enthusiasts will buy the 743 with the nib they want, and swap that nib onto their 823. I, too, would like to see Pilot begin to offer all those nibs as options on the 823.
hmmm this gave me an idea maybe ill get that 743 and upgrade to a FA flex nib :D
@@pen.venture yep, that's how folks have been doing it! I'm on the fence for the same thing:)
That's how I plan to finally get my hands on an 823 with a coarse nib.
I picked up my (first :) 823 relatively recently, and I agree, it's really a competent pen. After the first stroke, I quickly began to understand the hype. Always ready to go and a consistently good writer. I'll keep looking for an FA nib as well, as I agree that could add some additional character to this solid performer!
hehe :D looks like im not alone in this hype :D - great pen - love it and yes... a FA nib must come at one point :D also in demonstrator type - maybe you can help me in one of your trips in Japan
I imported a clear 823 from Japan to the UK back in April 2018 and I chose the WA nib. A little too well polished nib I think as I had skipping issues initially and it still doesn't like hand oil's on the paper. The WA nib is the smoothest I own. Writes well on all papers and for me it's always got a blue ink in it - Kon Peki; Tsuki Yo and for the last long time, some Pilot Blue ink. My ink feed has actually turned a shade of blue from the constant daily use it gets from me. There is never a day I'm not using this pen. Absolutely stunning pen. Mine did not come with ink nor presentation case as coming from Japan, it was pen only I was told then. Good video Emy, great to see you 😄👍🏻
Hey there Richard :D same here - I had someone in Japan that traveled and purchased this one along with my KOP demo and sent them back to me :D I think my personal 823 the demon didnt came with the bottle of ink - the ones that we have available in the store all come with that ink :D Thank you for the feedback my friend :D
Very useful and helpful video. I m about to buy the Custon 823 after LOOOOONG thinking cause spending 300 euros on a pen was something i would never imagine about myself. I was thinking of buyng the Heritage 92 at 150 (half the price) but i convince myself that the Custom 823 is a pen that i d DEFINITELY buy at some point in my life, so why dont do it now? Afterall all i hear is good reviews for it and i m sure i wont be dissapointed
Good choice! The 823 is a silver bullet type pen - it is wonderful. If you think you will want it sooner or later is better to save a little and get the top option rather than get a pen like the Heritage92 than think about wanting to go a step up towards the 823
そのペンはとても美しくて書きやすいですよね
海外ではフォルカンやミュージックのペン先がないのには驚きましたが、特別色の透明軸が存在していることはとても嬉しいです
thank you for the feedback :D - yes some nibs from pilot are not available here
Hi Emy, nice review of the 823. Has Pilot changed their warranty? In the warranty of mine 823 it says that when you take out te section te warranty is gone... That fact makes it not easy to clean. I that case you should mention that taking the pen apart means that the warranty is void. Great review tho.
thank you for the feedback :D Nope the warranty is as stated - taking it apart will void the warranty but I cant figure it out how they can tell it because I couldnt find any traces of glue, nor at the section or at the piston :)) I have experience with ens and I feel comfortable to tight and unscrew pens and for me is not such a big deal ... anyway besides pulling the nib and the feeder from the section I think its more safe to do what I showed slow and careful
Emy sir...is it possible to review all the nib sizes of lamy 14k nibs... please
If I find some time I will take care of this for sure :D
I have a Custom 845 and a Custom Urushi. I thought about also buying this one, but I'm not sure yet. The nibs made by Pitor are just spectacular. I really love them.
If I were you I would save the money and save for a Namiki Emperor. You basically have the best that Pilot offers. The urushi and the nibs are what make both of those special and worth the money. Imo the 823 doesn’t seem as special unless you are really wanting a vacuum filler.
@maximilianschwab9668 - this 823 is more of a every day use Pilot than what I would consider the Custom Urushi, the 845 is more agreeable for daily use because of the size but I just dont want to put the urushi pens at a risk and always popping them in my jeans pocket or throw them in a bag ... I will at one point take one and just do it to see the outcome and how strong is the urushi lacquer but till then I take the 823 any day
@blitzkreig000 - yes namiki offers some of the best finishes and the best of the pilot nibs :D But most of the people I know, dont consider an Emperor a first gold nib pen :)) ... if you know such people - you need to introduce me to them :D thank you for the feedback
@@pen.venture Hey Emil! I know the Custom 823 is an everyday pen, plus it holds a lot of ink. My everyday pens are Pelikans M800/805 both with F nibs because if not, they will be empty very fast. So I am thinking about the 823 in a Kymono I can put it in my backpack and that's it.
I work with a technique that is very near to Family constellations and sometimes I need to write REALLY large protocols, and I have to do that after the sessions if not, because it is so much to write down, I could forget some details, so all this has to happen very quickly. For this reason, I need a pen with a large quantity of ink.
I would NEVER take my Urushi pens out of my house. When some of my friends ask me to use a fountain pen I have a couple of Montegrappas Harry Potter, a Diplomat Aero, or a couple of Watermans, so they can play with them .. everything else is just off-limits. 🧐
@@blitzkreig000 The Namiki Emperor is DEFINITELY on my list! But it isn't an everyday pen. I am also waiting to buy a Danitrio Genkai or Hyotan will see when ...
I don't have any expensive fountain pens. I'm looking to purchase a quality pen in the near future and the Pilot Custom 823 is looking like the one I will purchase. I am taken with the amber model and will probably purchase one of those.
Thank you very much for your channel I enjoy your presentations immensely.
Sounds great! Thank you for the feedback :D when the time comes - consider having it from Pen Venture
The 823 will definitely not let you down!
the brown tint is a little easier if you're concerned over cleaning not to mention staining. I feel if I got the clear one I'd have to disassemble if I changed ink...
Totally agree with this - I think a black can solve completely this OCD constant cleaning of this 823 :D
I would be curious, what are, relative to the Custom 823 in M, nibs that are even smoother in your experience? Another perspective, could be, what nibs are similarly or even more satisfying from your perspective among your range of modern pens. I would be very interested in that, knowing of course how personal/subjective expectations and preferences are. Thank you!
One of the most smoothest nibs in my experience was and still is the Palladium 23k nibs of Visconti, primarily the B and the BB nibs in the past, those where so smooth that they where skipping and they would do that on really smooth paper like Claire la Fontaine - once you where taking them to a paper like TRP, the same nib would be like butter smooth and nice performing. I would say that something close to how stiff and relative how is performing nib I would put the 21k gold nib of Sailor, that can be found on the Pro Gear Regular or 1911 Large, with a bit of smoothing I would find both of these nibs very close (the 21k sailor and the 14k pilot 823)
Great review, this Pilot you said its 8.5 smooth which pens are 10? Thank You :)
That is correct - I would put a 23k palladium dreamtouch nib from visconti at 10
Great video and great advice re cleaning!
Glad it was helpful! :D thank you James
@@pen.venture and interesting! I knew the first two numbers in the Pilot pens referred to years, but I always thought it was calendar years. Accordingly I though the 912 was made in 1991! I have my eyes of one of those scribos and I’ll get it one of these days, maybe for my 40th. I’ll buy through PV!
Hehe - they years is measured from the first year of pilot and up to our days ✌🏻 I’ll be my pleasure to take care of that scribo when the time comes
I’m ready to buy, but I don’t know which nib, fine or medium? I find the medium on the TWSBI 580 ALR to be a bit broad for everyday writing.
Go with a Fine - if I get to adjust it I’ll be a really nice wet writer that will be a F-M like nib - sweet and smooth
The grip sections on the 823s are strange. I have unscrewed a couple of them without issue for nervous friends who were scared to do it the first time, but I would swear my personal 823 is glued(it was bought new). I cannot get it apart without feeling I'm going to crack the barrel, and I like to think I have disassembled enough pens to know when I'm using too much force. It would be better if it were easy to disassemble, that's much safer than these guessing games.
By the way, if you put a Coarse nib in the 823, the ink will still run out quickly!
hmmmm maybe someone at some point used a glue that really caught grip there hence making the whole process a lot difficult, dont take my advice but if it was me, I would take the blowdryer and try to have a little bit of heat when disassembling it :D maybe it gets loose.
My next pen in the 823 category will be a FA nib with a ebonite feeder mod
@@pen.venture I've thought about using some heat, but I'm always a bit worried when there is a trim ring right next to the area I'm heating up. Eventually I will probably do it, but for now I will just stick to unscrewing the piston assembly(that came out easily) if I need to clean the pen a bit more thoroughly.
I have two Opus 88s with adapter housings in them, they have FA and C nibs in them, as well as triple-slit ebonite feeds. Sometimes you can find cheap nibs in Japan if the pen has a name engraving or if it has some damage to the pen, it can be a good way to get relatively cheap #15 nibs.
Great video
you're welcome :D
Thank you for this video. In your personal opinion, what is the smoothest nib (10 out of 10) that you have used?
:D without a shadow of a doubt - a B or BB Visconti 23kt Palladium nib
Hello. I am thinking of buying one and I am confused between the Medium and Fine Nib. I like the look of Fine but I have been told it is a bit scratchy. I would prefer a smooth flow. Have you had the opportunity of writing with an 823 with Fine nib. Could you please share your experience?
hey there - if you purchase a pen from us, you can let us know to adjust it after checking the nib and this way you can have it without the scratchy nib. We dont sell the demo version but we do have available the brown(amber)/smoke(blueish black)
Greetings! Do you know where would be possible to order the demonstrator from the UK? Cheers, Nick
hey there Nic :( sorry I dont know where to find the actual demo outside of Japan - we have them in inventory but in black or smoke
You used a Medium in your video. What's your opinion about the Broad nib?
I do have to check out more nibs on these 823 pens - usually from what I can say after testing on my friends 823 broad pens - its a little dry for my taste and with some fine adjustment ... it ca be a super nice writer
Like your t-shirt. Where did you get it?
:D its just a black T shirt embroidered with the Pen Venture logo
Great video!
Glad you enjoyed it - Thank you
I feel as if I made a mistake picking the translucent black colour way: much prefer the look of the amber with gold - but as for the pen: it is spectacular!(it also writes perfectly on reverse producing my preferred EF line: my only criticism would be the limited nib selection, fortunately the Pilot custom 743 has a much better selection of no.15 nibs:)
The brown (amber) is really fitting the gold trim very nice - the black one is more discreet. I haven’t tested the reversed but will do ✌🏻 as for the nib sizes - would like to have the others as well maybe soon 👀
@@pen.venture would probably not be confident enough to change out the nib, but would definitely prefer an EF nib:); btw, could be wrong but think Pilot’s no.10 nib is closer to European no.6 nib: the no.15 seems bigger:)
Nice video, one of my favourite FP :)
Glad you enjoyed David! It is a very good choice regardless of how far anyone is in the hobby
JFI, Ama-iro means Color of Sky/ Heaven in Japanese.
thank you :D then im all up for some of that Ama-iro heaven ink
Just want to point out about the video sound, the intro sound was so loud compared to your voice volume.
Noted! Thank you
I wasted no time. 1 month in and I ordered an 823.
well I think you are going to like it a lot and it wont be a wrong step even one month in :D
I8
This price for simple piece of plastic with a few rubber rings and 14k gold nib (probably worth of $3). Not even 23k.... OMG where our world is rolling....
well... I want to tell you a similar story... take 10grams of steel and make a few nails out of it and ill be close to the price of the raw metal almost ... take those 10 grams and make out of them parts for mechanical watches... and ill cost a few thousands of times the price for the raw metal / gram... its not only about the material cost ... its about how it gets combined and the end purpose/function/product
Well put.
Pilot needs a director of aesthetics. I’d love to buy the pen, but ugly, ugly and ugly. It they at least put silver hardware on the clear version, I might buy that one, but for $330.00 they need to make the pen more visually appealing. If they offered colors like the Custom 74, they’d have a money printing machine….So much for Japanese intelligence. “Le bon sens n’est pas si commun.”
Of course, money isn't the most important thing, but looks DO count. That’s how human beings operate. Looks are our chief way to know the world, only a brainwashed, fool would pretend looks aren’t important. If I wanted just a writing experience, I have dollar store roller balls that write as well or BETTER than I30.00 fountain pens and they cost me two for $I.00 ( Before Biden). If I was crazy enough to spend $30.00 on damned french paper, so my $300.00-I,000.00 pen can actually write properly, maybe that wouldn't be the case, but I’m NOT going to do that just to take notes on things that I read. I’d buy a crate of Gel pens and a bunch of cheap paper and write away. My money is waiting for you Pilot. Give me a beautiful pen, and some choices, and not your damned $I0,000 Urushi pens ( which are pretty boring looking). Instead keep the price realistic, and just give me some color, and you’ve got my money. I want this pen. It feels good in the hand, and holds a lot of ink, but $330.00 for a boring black pen, with ugly gold trim. . . I haven't been able to make myself order one.
:D if all would do the same thing - what is the point of collecting. Pilot has a more conservative classic style and line. Far for ugly ... it just calling for a different taste that you ether have or you acquire while collecting and learning about how many of todays pens and their features are rooted into pilot research and patents from a long long time ago.