Decided to add a PLATINUM PROCYON fountain pen to my stable and yesterday it arrived from Japan. All the Japanese vendors I dealt with on Ebay were extremely nice, always sending a small “thank you” item along with the purchase, in form of a sample tea-bag, local candy or a cute eraser this time. My daughter really appreciated 🙂
This will not be a full review of the pen, with all the technical data, measurements and writing samples, as there are already many to be found. Instead I wanted to focus on some comparisons and explain the rationale behind the purchase of (yet another) pen.
PROCYON is very similar in size to Platinum’s 3776 CENTURY but a bit heavier due to the aluminum body. To my eyes it’s somewhat nicer looking – I love the simple and clean design. The size and the styling were one of the reasons to get it, but not enough to justify the purchase.
What really made me get it was the fact that the section is interchangeable with 3776 CENTURY – that opened the possibility to have Platinum’s SOFT FINE gold nib in this body. It was a selling point to me as I don’t really care for the PROCYON’s steel nib. Not that there is any problem with it; it is smooth, efficient and works completely fine – it’s just that it is a standard stiff steel nib experience.
But once the sections were swapped, the pen became much more interesting to me. I love that Platinum SOFT FINE nib, it is, along with Pilot’s SOFT FINE, my sketching tool of choice. These are not really flex nibs, but both offer a (very) fine line with some variation and lovely springy feeling while drawing.
And speaking of Pilot, here are PROCYON and 3776 CENTURY with Pilot CUSTOM HERITAGE 912, my reference pen. Of all the fountain pens I’ve tried, that one is the best combination of size, weight, balance, feel in the hand and overall goodness 🙂 If I had to have just one pen, I guess that would be my choice.
It might also be interesting to compare the three categories that Platinum offers: COOL, PROCYON and 3776 CENTURY. There is also a cheaper category, PLAISIR, and a premium one, PRESIDENT, but I don’t have them nor I plan to get either of them.
Of these three, only 3776 CENTURY has a gold nib and a real selection of sizes and types of nibs. PROCYON and COOL have different steel nibs, but they offer a very similar feel; in terms of writing experience I don’t see a point in paying more for PROCYON (unless one is getting it especially for a different styling).
But, but, but… PROCYON accepts the section from 3776 CENTURY and thus can be turned into a gold-nib pen also.
The last of the reasons for getting the PROCYON are it’s quick-threads – it takes just about half a turn to uncap or close it. My regular everyday writer was Pilot PRERA, for it’s yummie slip-cap mechanism and that wonderful “swoosh&click” action 🙂
But PRERA is really a small pen, which is great for an everyday carry object, but I would love a bit bigger pen with the same capping. In that regard, Platinum COOL is closer to Pilot PRERA, being also a slip-cap pen, and being similarly light. PROCYON is both bigger and heavier than PRERA while COOL fits somewhere in between them.
All in all, I’m happy with my PROCYON equipped with gold SOFT FINE nib, ready for new sketching adventures!
Featured above: MALA BARKA