Personalized & Non-personalized items must be on separate orders
About
Pilot headquarters
Pilot headquarters
Pilot headquarters
Locations

Jacksonville, Florida
Headquarters, Assembly and Distribution

Corporate Facts

Pilot Corporation of America prides itself on being a leading manufacturer and marketer of quality writing instruments in the United States. Our sales continue to grow year after year because of the quality of our products, and the innovation of our Research and Development teams. Our spirit of innovation has always focused on serving consumer’s writing needs and making writing a pleasure.

Our state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in the United States, Japan and around the world operate under strict quality control standards, ensuring the superior quality of all Pilot products. G2, Precise V5/V7, Dr. Grip and EasyTouch are among our top selling brands.

In addition to the American subsidiary, the parent company has subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Brazil, Russia and Australia.

Pilot Pen is the third largest writing instrument company in the United States. Established in the U.S. in 1972, Pilot is the fastest-growing writing instrument company in the country. The parent company, Pilot Corporation in Tokyo, was founded in 1918. It is the oldest and largest writing instrument manufacturer in Japan.

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The Beginning

Ryosuki Namiki of Japan leaves his job as a professor and founds a small factory near Tokyo to produce gold pen nibs

First Official Products

Namiki expands his product line and becomes a full-fledged manufacturer of writing instruments

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"Pilot" is Born

Masao Wada joins Namiki in business, forming the Namiki Manufacturing Company Ltd. The name "Pilot" is selected as the trade name

New Manufacturing Process

Namiki Manufacturing patents a process to apply lacquer on the bodies of pens to protect them from scratching and fading. The company begins to embellish their pens using the centuries-old art form of maki-e. Fifty full-time lacquer artists are employed

Expansion

Namiki Manufacturing opens branches in New York, London, Shanghai and Singapore and begins advertising

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Expansion

Alfred H. Dunhill is fascinated by the beauty of the Namiki pens and sells them in his stores in Paris

Distributor Expansion

Alfred Dunhill Limited becomes a distributor of the maki-e decorated pens and pencils in Australia, New Zealand, India, Canada, South America and Spain

Distributor Exclusivity

Alfred Dunhill obtains worldwide rights to distribute all Namiki manufactured goods, exclusive of Japan, China and the U.S.

Name Change

Namiki Manufacturing Company Ltd. changes the company name to Pilot Fountain Pen Co., Ltd

Manufacturing of Ball Poi...

Pilot begins manufacturing ballpoint pens and continues making maki-e pens

Fountain Pens

Pilot revolutionizes the fountain pen by inventing the Capless, a fountain pen whose nib retracts completely into the barrel

American Branch Establish...

Pilot establishes its American branch and reintroduces its retractable fountain pen, renaming it Vanishing Point for the American market

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Introduction of Precise V...

Pilot introduces advanced liquid ink technology with its Precise V5 and V7 products. PV5 soon leads the market as America's #1 Selling Roller*

Pilot Corporation

The parent company name is changed to Pilot Corporation

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Maki-e Pens Limited Editi...

Pilot begins creating limited editions of maki-e pens, although not for sale in the United States

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Namiki Pens Born in the U...

Pilot introduces maki-e pens in the United States under the brand name Namiki

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1995 Release of Dr. Grip

Pilot's Dr. Grip becomes the first truly ergonomic Writing Instrument on the market

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"The White Tiger of Asia"

Pilot introduces the first luxury Namiki Limited Edition pen in the U.S. - "The White Tiger of Asia" – only 300 pens are produced

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Release of G2

Pilot puts G2 on the market – the smooth writing Gel ink pen quickly earns its place as America's #1 Selling Gel Pen*

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Release of Chinkin Artist...

Pilot introduces Chinkin artistry to the United States with the Limited Edition Pheasant and Sakura pen

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Release of FriXion

Pilot introduces FriXion Ball, the first pen that utilizes thermo-sensitive ink that disappears with erasing FriXion. The FriXion Light erasable highlighter was introduced in 2009.

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Release of B2P

Pilot introduces the B2P gel roller, the first pen made from recycled plastic bottles.


Products
Pens, highlighters, markers, mechanical pencils and fountain pens
Trademarks
Ageless
G6
B2P
Namiki
BeGreen
Precise
Better Ball Point
Razor Point
Dr. Grip
Spotliter
EasyTouch
Vanishing Point
FriXion
Varsity
G2
VBall
Parent Company
Name
Pilot Corporation, Tokyo
Founded
January 27, 1918
Chairman
Hiromoto Watanabe
President
Shu Itoh
Trading
Tokyo Stock Exchange, First Section, "Pilot"
2016 Revenue
US $889 million
Employees
1,047
Products
Writing instruments, stationery, jewelry
Subsidiaries
United Kingdom, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore, Sweden, United States, Australia