It’s that time of year again – time for putting up the Christmas tree, lighting menorahs or kinaras, and spending time with family and friends. With the holiday joy comes the joy of giving gifts to those we love. If one of those people in your life loves fountain pens, then this post is for you! Fountain Pens Depending on your budget, there are a number of great options for the main course of your gift for the fountain pen lover. I will outline some of the best options for both small budget and large, and some accessories to go along with it. Lamy Safari & Al-Star These two pens are one of the most popular fountain pens for beginners, or persons new to the hobby. The Safari is more lightweight and made from plastic, whereas the Al-Star is a bit heavier and made from aluminum. Both come in a variety of colors to choose from, and each year or so there is a special edition color that is released. These pens feature interchangeable nibs, so you won’t have to worry about making the wrong choice on nib size. Note that they do NOT come with a converter, so you’ll want to […]
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The end of the year is often a time for reflection. When looking back on 2015, I think that this was one of the most stand out years for Pelikan in recent memory and I wanted to recap what are, in my opinion, the top 5 fountain pen releases of the year. What makes a pen worthy of this list may not be its form factor or sales figures but rather what it stands for in terms of broader market appeal and what it signals in terms of the company’s direction with its fine writing instruments. 1) M200 Café Crème The Café Crème was announced at the end of 2014 as the second pen of the 2015 line-up. The cream colored barrel, rich brown ink window, and dark chocolate appearing cap, section, and piston knob really set this release apart. It was the first M2xx in a while that wasn’t a demonstrator and not simply a rehashing of prior models with just some minor variations in trim. I think this release showed that creativity was alive and well in Hannover and that the Classic line was more than just an afterthought. While many people don’t like the smaller size and […]
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Thanks to Maybelline for inviting me to write a guest post here on On Fountain Pens! I am honored to ramble about pens and inks! I thought this would be an interesting topic, since I did indeed buy an expensive pen this year. That pen is the Namiki Yukari Nightline Moonlight fountain pen. I saw it on the website of La Couronne du Comte and couldn’t ignore it. I remember the years where a PaperMate ballpoint with grip was exciting, because it wasn’t a Bic Cristal. I also remember when I bought my first Lamy AL-Star and I thought I would never spend more than $100 on a pen. Then it was $250. Then it was $500. Then I was certain I would never cross the $1000 mark, because that would be crazy, let alone anything over that. And it is. I won’t argue with that. It is definitely crazy, but I justify it to myself in this way: I’m madly in love with the thing. I had a good few pens in my case that I had acquired over several years in the more affordable and far more reasonable price range of $100 – $300. Still expensive, but not […]
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For most Christmases that I can remember, I’ve always clamoured to receive the brightest, shiniest and newest products for the year. This year however, I’m in more of a reflective mood. This Christmas, I thought it might fun to take a walk down memory lane and look at the stuff that could have been and honor the inks that have been made unavailable (either declared as a limited edition, or being put out of production). I found 5 inks that fit the bill, along with their alternative that are available in the market that we should treasure. Let’s begin! 1. Sailor Jentle Apricot Who could forget this beautiful ink? Sailor recently discontinued the old Jentle line in mid 2014, leaving a trail of disappointed fans in its wake. With their new release of the Four Seasons series, there was no orange in the series to replace Apricot, as with some of the other colours in the older series. Apricot is a bright yelllow-orange which would accurately depict its name, and a subtle orange sheen to go with it. Here are some suggested replacements: Iroshizuku Yu-Yake Noodler’s Apache Sunset Diamine Blaze Orange Pelikan Edelstein Mandarin 2. Montblanc Alfred Hitchcock This is one […]
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My name is Nick Stewart and I am a creative director based in Rochester, UK. Since June this year, I have been on a mission to swab test fountain pen inks using water and bleach. Why? Because I believe that fountain pen inks have qualities that can be exploited for purposes other than just handwriting. My test process is very simple: I saturate an area of heavy rough textured water colour paper and then add a drop of ink into that wet area. The ink blends with the water and reduces in concentration as is spreads away from the point of entry. As the ink comes out of solution the dyes that make up the ink can be observed in different areas as the paper dries. And once dry I can write or paint on top with bleach which reacts at a different intensity depending upon the density of the ink underneath. The reactions can vary from a dull gold over dense ink areas to a vibrant neon effect over less dense areas. But what is of key importance is that it is only with fountain pen inks that this bizarre reaction happens. This process is very much serendipity-led and […]
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‘Tis the season of giving, pen lovers all over the world giving, happily I might add, our hard-earned money to pen shops everywhere! The end of the year also marks the receiving of the annual wage supplement (AWS) also known as the 13th month payment from our employers for many of us. Maybe you are also one of the lucky ones who have variable bonuses this year. This is the time of the year, when most of us are flushed with cash that didn’t got ear marked for something else within the first week. I am not quite sure if this is how companies work in other countries but this definitely applies to Singaporeans. Anyway, I am not here to give you a gift guide for the pen lover in your life. This is a 2016 wishlist of the pens I hope to add to my collection. Maybe this list can serve as a guide for your own wish list for 2016. Number 5: Pilot Custom 742 with the Falcon nib This has been a go-to fountain pen for people looking for the modern day flex nib. I have tried the falcon nib many times during the monthly local pen […]
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InCoWriMo stands for International Correspondence Writing Month. The idea is to write a letter, a postcard or note to someone every day during the month of February. Why February you may ask, it is the month with the fewest number of days so it is easier to stay commited. I took part for the very first time last year. I was new in the realm of using fountain pens. However, in the increasingly digital world that we live in, I found I had very few opportunities to break out my beloved fountain pens to jot down a note or write myself a to-do list. I found myself inventing excuses to use my pens. Luckily it was during this time I had stumbled upon InCoWriMo. I went browsing in the FPgeeks forum looking for 28 people to write to. There was no rule saying that I had to only write to people I know so I made it a point to pick people from as many different countries as possible. I made a list of their addresses and began drafting my letters. I admit I had cheated a little, I didn’t write a letter everyday. I had written 3 letters a day in […]
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As a fellow lefty, Maybelline and I thought it might be appealing to have my perspective on fountain pens for left-handed writers. I’ve written a previous piece for The Cramped about the things left-handed writers should consider when purchasing a fountain pen. But here, I’d like to talk about my favorite fountain pens — all of which are lefty-tested and lefty-approved! 1. Kaweco Classic Sport My absolute favorite is the Guilloch 1930 which adds some finely etched lines onto the cap and barrel of the pen giving it a classy, vintage look but any standard Kaweco Sport is a good option from the humble plastic to the weightier raw aluminum. Its available in a wide array of nib sizes from EF through BB and there is even a calligraphy set available but I’ve been given the impression that the feed system on the calligraphy set is different than the regular pens to allow greater ink flow to support those wider nibs. I wouldn’t recommend more than a 1.1mm stub nib for a lefty just because the flat wide nibs are difficult to make consistent contact with the paper for most lefties. Kaweco nib units are swappable so if you find […]
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People will tell you that they collect various things, but more often than not they are collecting memories. That’s certainly true for me with pens and writing implements. When Maybelline asked me to participate in her “12 Days of Christmas” event here at On Fountain Pens, I jumped at the chance because, for me, Christmas always reminds me of why I got into this hobby and takes me back to gifts from my childhood that started me down this road. Like many people who collect writing instruments, I’ve had a thing for pens, pencils and paper since I was little. As far back as I can remember, actually. My parents never turned us down when we wanted books or writing materials, but still thought I had an unhealthy obsession with shopping for school supplies. (Go figure.) At Christmastime, we always had a fresh dozen high quality pencils, a notebook or two, or a new pen in our stocking. I first became really particular about the pencils I used at school. I preferred — and still prefer — drier, even slightly gritty, graphite. Back in the 80s, Berol/Empire/Pedigree made a line of really cheap pencils with a super waxy core that […]
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My fountain pen story began back in April 2013. I had stumbled upon the Pen Addict podcast. I listened to episode after episode of Brad and Myke talking about micro gel tipped pens and fountain pens. I remembered thinking to myself: why would anyone want to use fountain pens? My only experience with fountain pens was the mandatory penmanship class I had to take during secondary school. I think this penmanship class was imposed on a certain generation of students and I was one of them. I remembered scratchy nibs and horrible writing experiences during those penmanship classes. However I am one who loves hanging out at stationery sections, so I got myself a Pilot Petit1 to give it a go. That didn’t turn out well for me. I gave it away and purchased a Platinum Preppy not long after. I couldn’t stand the nib feedback of the Preppy and I gave that away. Then third time’s the charm, I purchased a Kaweco ICE Sport (reviewed here) and I was hooked. At first I found it hard to incorporate these analog tools into an inceasingly digital lifestyle. I switched from using an app on my iPhone to a notebook and […]
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