I have this pen with a medium nib and it feels and performs beautifully-copious flow and very expressive on paper. I do think ink choice makes a difference here-with MB Corn Poppy Red on white Clairefontaine paper, this Yukari Royale sings sweet and true.
You didn't compare with a classic Montblanc 149 or said what makes special this nib. You didn't consider eyedropper will lose ink and will need change of piece when the serration will inevitably will lose his force!😮 and you need to send it to Japan! Instead a converter will be changed with a very low price and no shipping of pen!!🎉
That just seems like a very manageable pen especially when compared to the Emperor (which is huge!). The price most likely reflects the work that goes into the urushi work. Thanks to Helene for lending you this pen so that you could share it with "us".
From my experience urushi on brass can be more prone to accidents and chip/cracks than urushi on ebonite. You have an Emperor too, Dr Brown, have you noticed/heard of any cases supporting this hypothesis?
It looks simiar to the Jinhao 9016 or 9019. It will be interesting comparing the size of this Vs the Jinhao. Very beautiful pen. Greetings from Mèxico.
Have you had your namiki long?has the urushi discolored?I'm thinking of getting the 845 in black or vermillion, but am afraid the colour will change.i guess I could always put the 845 nib in an 823 should it happen.
It's what I think of as an absolute classic design. Namiki might be overly reliant on the mysticism around Japanese craftsmanship. We have no way of qualifying the quality and strength of the urushi, which is the only thing that sets this pen apart.
Looks like the price increases for Pilot Namiki have gone through, the emperor sized is now $2000, and the yukari royale is $1500 at nibs, as always ymmv and hopefully you can find it cheaper.
@@jgm1397 just an update all my orders have fallen through according to emails i recieved pilot is out of stock with a 2-3 month backlog so the stores didnt want to accept my order
6.12.2024. This year most vendors sell this pen for $1,500 to $1,600; one for an outrageous $1,800. I got mine for $1,435.35. I have a M nib on mine, but it writes slightly on the B side; should have got a F. Mine writes extremely smoothly with excellent ink flow; no feedback that I can discern. Quality of manufacture is excellent; no defects whatsoever.
Very pretty color Stephen. Thanks for the review. I for one would be the one complaining if you left out a writing sample and I would complain precisely in that winey voice.
The "feedback" on the nib that you get, I find, is similar to the Custom 823. I had watched your 823 review before, and think you found a bad nib, since almost every other reviewer, had the same experience as me that the nib is smooth, yet has that distinctive feedback. With all that said, even before you mentioning the nib, I found myself comparing this to the 823. Both pens are beautiful in their regard, but I think the 823 trumps this pen. Reason being, is that the 823 is such a good product, for the value that you pay... very very good product. While in this one... just a little bit more ($400 more is relatively little in this scenario right?), you'd get a better, more stunning pen, which is the emperor. Still, this is comparing it from the same brand, and as such, is tough competition, since Pilot makes *excellent* pens. And as such, you're still getting a good pen for the price that you pay.
Stephen: Enjoyed the Namiki review. I strongly advocate your continuing to add bizarre humor. Another request: can you review more affordable pens? I suspect that the majority of your viewers can not afford the luxury models that you present. Hence, viewing the videos becomes more of an aspirational than a practical exercise. I have tried writing with some very expensive pens, but in my opinion, few if any write better than a Jinhao x450 equipped with a broad Goulet nib. This has become my standard of comparison for all fountain pens. If an expensive fountain pen truly surpassed the Jinhao's performance, I might then seriously consider the purchase.
Hi Philip, Stephen has reviewed an absolute shedload of reasonably priced pens, check his old videos. Some of his more recent uploads have been related to his collection of great and more expensive pens, but that’s not the norm.
What is the criteria of your "more affordable pens"? Is it chinese branded pens (like Jinhao) or lower end pens of well known brands, such as Pilot 78g etc. ? Thing is, if you compare Stephen to other reviewers, Stephen reviews pens mostly that are loaned to him, rather than him buying the actual pen. With that said, those brands which would send him pens, are most likely going to send him more "luxurious" pens to be advertised, rather than their lower end ones. - This is not a bad thing at all, since we don't want another Pen Habit incident. With all that said though, and this is just coming from me, I find that the nib performance doesn't really affect my pen preference much. This is because I have learned how to tune and "fix" nibs. Not so much as a nibmeister would, but enough to make a pen write excellent, no matter how cheap it is. With your example, the x450, I find that the stock nib is alright, but the pen is too heavy, so I opted for a Moonman pen (though I just want to say, that I had gone through a lot of "cheap pens" before that). It wrote scratchy at first, but I tuned it to be a bit more broader, wetter, and smoother, to my liking. It's light (which I like), and it's an eye dropper pen. Why I prefer it is not the nib, rather it's everything but the nib. I am getting side tracked here, so pardon, but my point is, if you learn how to tune your nib, you can look at all other aspects a fountain pen has, besides the nib.
@@philipbrunquell8919 I think what makes chinese pens a lot cheaper than Lamy, Pilot etc. is that they can't really be held "accountable" if you get what I mean. Just take for example, the TWSBI ECO knockoff. It costs around 10% of the original price. The performance, is about the same, albeit just a tad less. So you might say that it's really affordable, but the difference is, if for example, you crack your barrel, TWSBI will replace your barrel for free, while the knockoff, will just shrug you off. Aside from that, you can't really blame them, since you'd say to yourself, "well it is cheap".
I have this pen with a medium nib and it feels and performs beautifully-copious flow and very expressive on paper. I do think ink choice makes a difference here-with MB Corn Poppy Red on white Clairefontaine paper, this Yukari Royale sings sweet and true.
You didn't compare with a classic Montblanc 149 or said what makes special this nib. You didn't consider eyedropper will lose ink and will need change of piece when the serration will inevitably will lose his force!😮 and you need to send it to Japan! Instead a converter will be changed with a very low price and no shipping of pen!!🎉
Do you think the emperor is a better buy?if size isn’t a issue of course🤔
That just seems like a very manageable pen especially when compared to the Emperor (which is huge!). The price most likely reflects the work that goes into the urushi work. Thanks to Helene for lending you this pen so that you could share it with "us".
From my experience urushi on brass can be more prone to accidents and chip/cracks than urushi on ebonite. You have an Emperor too, Dr Brown, have you noticed/heard of any cases supporting this hypothesis?
It looks simiar to the Jinhao 9016 or 9019. It will be interesting comparing the size of this Vs the Jinhao. Very beautiful pen. Greetings from Mèxico.
Thanks for another great review, Stephen! I love your silly side.
Thank you, Stephen.
Have you had your namiki long?has the urushi discolored?I'm thinking of getting the 845 in black or vermillion, but am afraid the colour will change.i guess I could always put the 845 nib in an 823 should it happen.
I have to get this beauty. On my wish list
It's what I think of as an absolute classic design. Namiki might be overly reliant on the mysticism around Japanese craftsmanship. We have no way of qualifying the quality and strength of the urushi, which is the only thing that sets this pen apart.
Looks like the price increases for Pilot Namiki have gone through, the emperor sized is now $2000, and the yukari royale is $1500 at nibs, as always ymmv and hopefully you can find it cheaper.
Do you happen to know how much they cost in Japan?
@@jgm1397 16000 and 140000 yen so essentially same as pre increase. I order mine from Japan via proxy
@@coveringgrape5251 thanx a lot
@@jgm1397 just an update all my orders have fallen through according to emails i recieved pilot is out of stock with a 2-3 month backlog so the stores didnt want to accept my order
6.12.2024. This year most vendors sell this pen for $1,500 to $1,600; one for an outrageous $1,800. I got mine for $1,435.35. I have a M nib on mine, but it writes slightly on the B side; should have got a F. Mine writes extremely smoothly with excellent ink flow; no feedback that I can discern. Quality of manufacture is excellent; no defects whatsoever.
Thank you Stephen.
You took the Yukari out for comparison and my eyes popped out of my head a little bit.
Hi Stephen, will you be attending the LA Pen Show? Best, Vernon
Ebonite feeds do make a difference. Beautiful pen.
A wonderful pen to dream on .... ;-)
Very pretty color Stephen. Thanks for the review. I for one would be the one complaining if you left out a writing sample and I would complain precisely in that winey voice.
i can make the same letters with a eco twisbi broad nib
And it see thru as well !.
You probably could with a dip pen as well.
I can do the same with a stick in the sand.
The "feedback" on the nib that you get, I find, is similar to the Custom 823. I had watched your 823 review before, and think you found a bad nib, since almost every other reviewer, had the same experience as me that the nib is smooth, yet has that distinctive feedback.
With all that said, even before you mentioning the nib, I found myself comparing this to the 823. Both pens are beautiful in their regard, but I think the 823 trumps this pen.
Reason being, is that the 823 is such a good product, for the value that you pay... very very good product. While in this one... just a little bit more ($400 more is relatively little in this scenario right?), you'd get a better, more stunning pen, which is the emperor.
Still, this is comparing it from the same brand, and as such, is tough competition, since Pilot makes *excellent* pens. And as such, you're still getting a good pen for the price that you pay.
Stephen: Enjoyed the Namiki review. I strongly advocate your continuing to add bizarre humor. Another request: can you review more affordable pens? I suspect that the majority of your viewers can not afford the luxury models that you present. Hence, viewing the videos becomes more of an aspirational than a practical exercise. I have tried writing with some very expensive pens, but in my opinion, few if any write better than a Jinhao x450 equipped with a broad Goulet nib. This has become my standard of comparison for all fountain pens. If an expensive fountain pen truly surpassed the Jinhao's performance, I might then seriously consider the purchase.
Hi Philip, Stephen has reviewed an absolute shedload of reasonably priced pens, check his old videos. Some of his more recent uploads have been related to his collection of great and more expensive pens, but that’s not the norm.
What is the criteria of your "more affordable pens"? Is it chinese branded pens (like Jinhao) or lower end pens of well known brands, such as Pilot 78g etc. ?
Thing is, if you compare Stephen to other reviewers, Stephen reviews pens mostly that are loaned to him, rather than him buying the actual pen. With that said, those brands which would send him pens, are most likely going to send him more "luxurious" pens to be advertised, rather than their lower end ones. - This is not a bad thing at all, since we don't want another Pen Habit incident.
With all that said though, and this is just coming from me, I find that the nib performance doesn't really affect my pen preference much. This is because I have learned how to tune and "fix" nibs. Not so much as a nibmeister would, but enough to make a pen write excellent, no matter how cheap it is. With your example, the x450, I find that the stock nib is alright, but the pen is too heavy, so I opted for a Moonman pen (though I just want to say, that I had gone through a lot of "cheap pens" before that). It wrote scratchy at first, but I tuned it to be a bit more broader, wetter, and smoother, to my liking. It's light (which I like), and it's an eye dropper pen.
Why I prefer it is not the nib, rather it's everything but the nib. I am getting side tracked here, so pardon, but my point is, if you learn how to tune your nib, you can look at all other aspects a fountain pen has, besides the nib.
@@markdbenson75 Thanks for referring me to the older videos.
@@philipbrunquell8919 I think what makes chinese pens a lot cheaper than Lamy, Pilot etc. is that they can't really be held "accountable" if you get what I mean.
Just take for example, the TWSBI ECO knockoff. It costs around 10% of the original price. The performance, is about the same, albeit just a tad less.
So you might say that it's really affordable, but the difference is, if for example, you crack your barrel, TWSBI will replace your barrel for free, while the knockoff, will just shrug you off. Aside from that, you can't really blame them, since you'd say to yourself, "well it is cheap".
You never know with ball point users... 😉
I'm sorry, but I expect more from a namiki! A very disappointing writing sample.