Platinum Century 3776 Urushi Maki-e – Sakura

Japanese Urushi art is one of Japan’s traditional decorative art forms. The Urushi lacquer process is performed using the sap harvested from the Urushi lacquer tree and has been historically used for its preservational and protective properties because the material becomes extremely durable once hardened. Ancient artifacts such as arrowheads, bowls, combs and jewelry have been preserved only in the parts that have been coated with Urushi. Objects that have been lacquered with Urushi are valuable due to the labor intensive process of Urushi as well as the value of Urushi itself. Urushi trees take about 12 years to reach maturity for harvest and harvest time occurs over the span of several months and seasons, the purity and quality of the sap differing depending on harvest season. Each tree yields just 250 ml to 300 ml of sap and after harvesting, the tree needs to be chopped down and takes another 10-12 years till the next harvest.  Platinum’s Urushi Maki-e fountain pens combine the Urushi process with maki-e, an art technique that involves utilizing gold powder sprinkled to achieve the beautiful finished motif after an intense and highly repetitive process of undercoating, painting and coloring. In the Hira Maki-e technique, used to produce this pen, the lacquered main design is filled in with the carefully sprinkled gold and silver powders, and then several additional layers of lacquer are applied. As you run your fingers down the barrel of this fountain pen, you can feel the textured design of the maki-e finish. Nib: 14k gold  Length: 5.5 in (14 cm) PNB-30000B #40 Gold trim Slip & seal mechanism Platinum cartridge and converter included Replacement cartridges available More Platinum Maki-e Fountain Pens About Platinum & 3776: Originally released in 1978, Platinum 3776, is one of Platinum’s iconic pen series and over the years, Platinum has added many colors as well as limited and special editions to the 3776 line. 3776 stands for the height of Mount Fuji, the highest mountain and when it was first released in 1978, it was awarded the “Good Design Prize” by the Japanese government. In 2011, the “Century 3776” series was released in honor of the approaching 100th anniversary of Platinum and was designed to maintain the quality standards defined by the original 3776 combined with the needs of a modern fountain pen user: new sleek design, comfortable writing balance, and smooth flow. Century 3776 employs Platinum’s own “Slip and Seal Mechanism” that employs a spring in the cap to force an air tight closure around the nib, thus preventing ink from drying out in this fountain pen for up to a year.