Pilot Justus Fountain Pen

Pilot Justus Fountain Pen

The Pilot Justus fountain pen is, at first glance, a classic high-gloss black lacquer fountain pen with silver or gold trim. It has a very fine a subtle barleycorn pattern engraved on the cap and barrel that gives the pen a delightfully antique appearance. The trim consists of the metal clip, finial bands at both ends, a pair of cap bands and a fine band at the top of the section. The (main) cap band is engraved with “PILOT JAPAN” on one side, and “JUSTUS 95” on the other, underneath the clip.

However, the real eye-opener about the Pilot Justus 95 fountain pen is in the design of its nib, which is 14ct gold (palladium plated in the silver-trim version). By turning a narrow knurled band in the section, a reinforcing adjuster plate on top of the nib can be moved back and forward with the effect of changing the nib’s firmness. With this plate withdrawn to its fullest, the nib is a (semi-)flex, but twisting the plate to its furthest extension makes the nib much firmer.

In fact, the adjuster plate does not change the nib’s underlying flexibility, it changes how much of the nib is free to respond to pressure of the hand. Those who wish to draw with the pen as well as write with it will find the adjuster plate will allow them to produce constant thickness lines in a range of thicknesses.

The Pilot Justus fountain pen is beautifully balanced, because the adjuster mechanism places much of the pen’s weight firmly in the hand. The barrel is long enough for even those with large hands to write comfortably with pen alone, but posted the pen becomes almost extreme! However, the weight of the section means that the pen’s centre of gravity remains within the hand.

The cap is a screw-fit and is cap-over-pen, so there is no great step down to the section, which many find so irritating. Also, the knurling of the nib adjuster band is small enough not to be awkward under the fingers whist writing.

The Pilot Justus 95 fountain pen comes equipped with the CON-70 button converter, which gives reasonable ink capacity, but this is a push-fit and can be removed for those who prefer cartridges. The nib is available in Fine or Medium.