25 January 2014

Pilot Capless - 1963 - C-600MW

Introduction:

The first Capless model by Pilot was released on November of 1963. Some associate it model to the incoming celebration of the Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964. It was a luxurious and expensive pen, JPY 6000 was a decent monthly income in Tokyo at the time, and had a limited success.


C-600MW.


Features:

Codes. C-600MW (basic model). Other variations encoded as C-1000DW and C-1000GW.
Original_price. JPY 6000 (C-600MW); JPY 10000 (C-1000DW and C-1000GW).
Production_years. 1963-1965 (?)
Nib_unit. Type I. Gold 14 K.
Filling_system "Double spare" cartridge. 2 units.CON-W converter can be used.
Opening_system. "Belt system". The barrel rotates with respect to the gripping section, thus releasing the nib. However, the whole releasing mechanism is inside the section of the pen. The mechanism actually pulls the nib in and out of the pen.



Dimensions:

For the basic model C-600MW.
Length closed 140 mm
Length open 146 mm
Diameter 13 mm
Weight 20.5 g


Nib unit:

Type I. In 14 K gold.

The type I nib unit. 2 double spare cartridges are attached to it.


Additional information:

There were, at least, two other versions—a gold­ plated one (C­-1000GW, JPY 10000, 1963), and a clipless unit with maki-e (seirei­nuri) decoration (C-­1000DW, JPY 10000, 1964). This was a limited released of 20 units.


The gold plated model C-1000GW.


The maki-e decorated C-1000DW model.

This pen carries two plastic dots on the section, perpendicular to the movement of the nib. On the first units, their were yellow. Later in 1964, it changed to white.

As is the case of most Pilot pens of the time, both the nib unit and the body are dated.


Back to the "Pilot Capless - 50 years" page.

Bruno Taut
Yokohama, January 2013
etiquetas: Pilot, Capless

2 comments:

ThePenabler said...

Is this C-600MW and C-1000GW hard to find? I have been searching for the twist models and it is very hard to find them. There is a seller on ebay offering it for $500 but it is too much I think

Bruno Taut said...

The basic model (C-600MW) is not hard to find in Japan, and I have even seem some units overseas. The gold plated version is a different story--quite rare.

About prices, there is an ongoing bubble on Capless pens and it is very difficult to say what is a fair price. It also depends a lot on your location.

Cheers,

BT

Post a Comment

Your comments are welcome and appreciated.