| 1915 |
Ryosuki Namiki of Japan leaves his job as a professor and founds a small factory near Tokyo to produce gold pen nibs |
| 1916 |
Namiki expands his product line and becomes a full-fledged manufacturer of writing instruments |
| 1918 |
Masao Wada joins Namiki in business, forming the Namiki Manufacturing Company Ltd. The name "Pilot" is selected as the trade name |
| 1925 |
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 |
| 1926 |
Namiki Manufacturing opens branches in New York, London, Shanghai and Singapore and begins advertising |
| 1927 |
Alfred H. Dunhill is fascinated by the beauty of the Namiki pens and sells them in his stores in Paris |
| 1928 |
Alfred Dunhill Limited becomes a distributor of the maki-e decorated pens and pencils in Australia, New Zealand, India, Canada, South America and Spain |
| 1930 |
Alfred Dunhill obtains worldwide rights to distribute all Namiki manufactured goods, exclusive of Japan, China and the U.S. |
| 1938 |
Namiki Manufacturing Company Ltd. changes the company name to Pilot Fountain Pen Co., Ltd |
| 1961 |
Pilot begins manufacturing ballpoint pens and continues making maki-e pens |
| 1964 |
Pilot revolutionizes the fountain pen by inventing the Capless, a fountain pen whose nib retracts completely into the barrel |
| 1972 |
Pilot establishes its American branch and reintroduces its retractable fountain pen, renaming it Vanishing Point for the American market |
| 1985 |
Pilot introduces advanced liquid ink technology with its Precise V5 and V7 products. PV5 soon leads the market as America’s #1 Selling Roller* |
| 1989 |
The parent company name is changed to Pilot Corporation |
| 1990 |
Pilot begins creating limited editions of maki-e pens, although not for sale in the United States |
| 1994 |
Pilot introduces maki-e pens in the United States under the brand name Namiki |
| 1995 |
Pilot’s Dr. Grip becomes the first truly ergonomic Writing Instrument on the market |
| 1996 |
Pilot introduces the first luxury Namiki Limited Edition pen in the U.S. - “The White Tiger of Asia” – only 300 pens are produced |
| 1997 |
Pilot puts G2 on the market – the smooth writing Gel ink pen quickly earns its place as America’s #1 Selling Gel Pen* |
| 2006 |
Pilot introduces Chinkin artistry to the United States with the Limited Edition Pheasant and Sakura pen |
