Welcome to The Baltimore-Washington International Pen Show!!!!! The Annual Baltimore-Washington International Pen Show was held March 2 – 4, 2018, at the Marriott Inner Harbor Camden Yards in Baltimore, MD. The show was run by Bert Oser and his staff from Bertram’s Inkwell of Rockville, MD. This was a new location for this show and it was the perfect venue. There were plenty of restaurant options with nearby parking and attractions if you needed to take a break from the show, but let’s be honest… why would you want to? This was my fourth year attending this show and I brought my father, Terry, with me. You could find everything from vintage to new pens, pencils, inks, papers, writing paraphernalia, classes, and accessories. There were also after-hours events, including a mini concert by Larry Ragland of Points of Distinction (the U.S. Diplomat importer). I want to bring you some of the sights from the show to help you feel like you were there. Arriving at the show… We parked at a nearby parking garage and after a brief but very cold walk, we arrived at the hotel. The hotel staff was very accommodating and helped direct us to the location […]
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Welcome to The Philadelphia Pen Show!!!!! The Annual Philadelphia Pen Show was held January 12th-14th at the Westin Hotel in Philadelphia, PA. This was my first year attending after hearing stories about how amazing it was. You could find everything from vintage pens to new, pencils, inks, papers, writing paraphernalia, classes, accessories, and the best find of all is the friendships and stories that you will take home with you. I want to bring you some of the sights from the show to help you feel like you were there. Arriving at the show… Upon arriving at the hotel, you could already feel the energy from the guests. Everywhere you looked, people were sharing their pen and ink collections, showing those amazing items they found at various seller tables, trading pens, and exchanging stories. There was a registration table to check in and a name tag station which Eric Orozco who was in charge of the show was helping at. The table across from the check in table was run by Pen World, offering subscriptions and giving out a free copy of Pen World. Entering the show… The main hallway had tables lining both walls with various vendors including: InkJournal, […]
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I blogged a few days ago that there was going to be a Pilot Pen Clinic in Singapore, and I had to miss it due to work trips. It was a rare event that I wish I could have attended, and met the Pen Doctor, Mr. Atsushi Takizawa, in person. It was really too bad that there was a schedule conflict! Nevertheless, Pilot Singapore and Mr. Takizawa have very kindly accommodated to my request of doing an email interview instead of a face-to-face one, so I am really appreciative of this opportunity to ask Mr. Takizawa a few questions. Mr. Atsushi Takizawa is Namiki’s nib specialist, with 14 years of expertise in mould designing for pens and jewellery before he specialized in nibs. He has been travelling globally to service Namiki pens since 2005. I was curious about some of his personal preferences and experience and was interested in his perspectives of nib choices. Here were the questions asked and the answers provided: Nibmeisters and a pen doctor like you are highly respected in the fountain pen community due to the high level of expertise you possess. It is certainly interesting for us to learn about your life as a pen doctor […]
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I recently received an invitation to the Pilot Pen Clinic in Singapore, but I am absolutely disappointed because… I WON’T BE AROUND AT THAT TIME TO ATTEND IT! Damn, why do such exciting events always clash with my business trips! The Pilot Pen Clinic will be held from 27-29 July 2016, and the esteemed Namiki Nib Specialist, Mr. Atushi Takizawa from Japan, will be present to “diagnose and heal” Namiki pens. Interestingly, he is also known as a “Pen Doctor”, since he specializes in servicing the pens. According to Pilot, a Pen Doctor is a “highly experienced nib specialist who will do his best to service your fountain pen to a reasonable condition within the allocated timeframe. Here is the background information about the Pen Doctor and Namiki Maki-e, (all information and the picture are from Pilot Singapore): A doctor of a different kind – A Pen Doctor, Mr Atushi Takizawa Mr Atushi Takizawa, Namiki’s Nib Specialist from Japan joined PILOT Corporation (formally called The PILOT PEN CO. LTD) in 1981. After 14 years of career in mould designing for fountain pens and jewellery, he joined the tip manufacturing section and has acquired vast knowledge and its technique. Since 2005, […]
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I bought the Montblanc Rouge et Noir ballpoint pen. Before any of you scream at me for buying a non-fountain pen – and a BALLPOINT PEN in fact, let me try to redeem myself by explaining why I bought it. 🙂 Truth be told, I do have a great many fountain pens, but how many do I actually use – and how many cartridges or converters do I actually finish using – in a year? Probably less than my fingers can count. It’s quite unfortunate that I don’t get to use fountain pens because pretty much the only time I get to use a pen would be at work, where I need to scribble in a designated laboratory book, of which the paper I wish I could burn. In fact, most of my time is spent at taking notes in this one and only book, so I never really got to use fountain pens that much at work. Outside of work, I don’t tend to write much. The only journal I keep is this website. I love my fountain pens, but I don’t get to use them enough. So 2 weeks ago, I went to the Montblanc anniversary private event in […]
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Being of Chinese descent, I always celebrate New Year’s day twice in quick succession. The first New Year is, of course, the one most people know of, which occurs on Jan 1. The second new year, usually occurring within 2 months from Jan 1, is the Lunar New Year. Old Chinese traditions follow the lunar calendar which places the turn of the year during the beckoning of spring. This year, the Lunar New Year falls on Feb 8 and both the 8th and the 9th are public holidays in Singapore. HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR, all of you out there who celebrate it! If you’re into Chinese zodiacs and all that, this year is ushered in by the Monkey. There are 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac and Monkey is the 9th animal. Unfortunately (or fortunately), the Monkey has not predicted anything related to fountain pens for me this year, so it’s up to me to set my own resolutions! Adjusting to my own lifestyle To be perfectly honest, I have had very few chances to use fountain pens on a daily basis over the past couple of years. Most of my chances of writing, if any at all, are when […]
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I don’t always post about pen meets even if we hold them every month, but this time I managed to have a bit of time to go around and peek at what people are doing, and take lots of photos. The meet was held on Saturday, 17 October, at the Tea Party Cafe, which seems to have become our usual pen meeting place. It was sponsored by Fook Hing Trading Co., who contributed both refreshments and sponsored items for a lucky draw and an ink testing station. I went there a few minutes early with my fellow admins to set up the place and prepare these ink swabs for the ink testing station. Fook Hing Trading Co. has sponsored the entire set of Rohrer & Klingner inks (18 in total) for members to dip and test, or even to take a small sample of, if they really loved the ink. R&K produces a bunch of really nice, saturated inks which are all very vibrant in colour! Most of the members, however, grouped themselves together to talk about their latest pens, their grail pens, and try out everyone’s pens. The seats filled up really quickly as usual, but members also moved […]
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Pilot Pen Singapore hosted a fountain pen meet for Singapore Fountain Pen Lovers (SFPL) yesterday at Milagro Spanish Restaurant, Orchard Central. Due to the overwhelming turnout, we admins of the Facebook group had to do some attendance control before the event so that the venue wouldn’t be bursting at the seams! The total turnout was 73 pax or so. The event started off with a speech by Mr Benjamin Teh, General Manager of Pilot Pen Singapore. During the speech, he addressed some of the questions that SFPL members have asked on the Facebook group regarding Pilot products. At a corner of the restaurant, Pilot showcased a few new products that were launched recently. One was the beautiful Pilot 2015 Limited Edition Capless fountain pen, the “Twilight Blue”. The pen features a nice gradient from blue to purple throughout the body, and has an 18K rhodium-plated nib to match. In addition, another of the products launched was the 15mL Iroshizuku 3-in-a-box ink set, or what they call the “Mini Iroshizuku Inks”. All 24 colours were showcased at the meet as well. Another highlight of the day was the “special feature table” at which we could try out 3 different nibs belonging to the Pilot […]
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Aesthetic Bay held a Nakaya Pen Clinic from 25-27 August 2015 and I was happy to be invited to the Pen Clinic and the Thanksgiving session for the Nakaya team, which was held on the final day of the Pen Clinic. I arrived there right after work, and there was already a crowd gathered around the table where nibmeister Shinichi Yoshida was hard at work, tuning nibs for Nakaya pen owners. There were also many pens on display, and needless to say, I was tempted by a good many of them! It was fascinating to watch the nib tuning in progress. Yoshida-san was a humble man of few words, and he was very focused on the nib work. The speed at which he adjusts the nib was amazing! The way he ran the nib across a grey stone to smoothen it out was like an artist running his paint brush across canvas. I imagined that if I was the one doing this, I would have removed all the tipping from the pen nib. Yoshida-san also could do grinds for left-handed pen users, and I was told that he does it excellently too. To help you choose the right type of […]
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Happy Golden Jubilee, Singapore! 9 August 2015 marked the day Singapore turns 50 ever since gaining independence in 1965. For all my fellow Singaporeans and those living in Singapore, I hope you had a blast during the Jubilee long weekend of 7-10 August! To commemorate this exhilarating year, a task force has been set up to support the year-long celebrations, and it’s called SG50. Throughout the island, one can see the SG50 red dot printed on many places, and as you all already know, on fountain pens too. Before we all get back to work and school tomorrow, let’s have a look at which SG50 fountain pens are up and running about right now, and where to get them (if you’re still able to)! Staedtler SG50 Flora and Fauna Limited Edition Fountain Pen Staedtler was the first that I’ve heard which launched an SG50 pen. It features a Crimson sunbird and the Vanda Miss Joaquim orchid, Singapore’s national flower, imprinted on cowhide leather using Staedtler’s innovative inkjet technology. Such a colourful fountain pen, but is limited to only 98 pieces in the country. Check out my #pendelight article about this pen written here. Where to get it (if it’s still […]
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