While Platinum has gained a well-earned reputation for creating handcrafted Maki-e pens of great beauty, the company has also made an effort to create less expensive Maki-e style writing instruments for those with a less expansive budget. While not created using all the same painstaking and time-intensive technqiues as a true traditional Maki-e pen, these are highly attractive writing instruments with all the superb writing qualities expected from a Platinum-brand pen.