This is a fun and creative guest post about switching around parts of the Platinum Preppy, Plaisir, Desk pen, and highlighter, written by Thomas Teo! For more information on the Platinum Preppy and Plaisir, check out my review. ~~~ So, the story goes….. You want a fountain pen that is yours. I mean not just yours, but truly yours. A pen that has the right color combinations, writes well and works well. Most important of all, it represents you! Think that you are that Tony Stark, and want a gold (obviously!) and hotrod red. Something to suit that suite of yours? :) But yet you don’t have that kind of fortune… 🙁 Well, Tony did built his first suit in a cave, didn’t he? Can’t a fantasy be a reality? And then…. You get yourself a preppy, a simple and cheap fountain pen. And there is a gold-colored 0.3mm nib! Good to use, nice to hold, easy to break… 🙁 Then you found another gem, the Platinum Plasir in red! That hot-rod metallic red fits the bill! And home it is coming with you! But it comes with a 0.3 red nib, and there is no color variation. But wait, you have […]
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(Note: I have invited Martin Pauli from ManuPropria to do a guest post on my blog and share his great knowledge on Urushi and the art of the Japanese lacquer. This post is written by Martin Pauli himself, with some very minor edits on format and punctuation by me.) First I would like to thank Maybelline for her excellent post and event on my fountain pens. I would also like to express my appreciation on all your positive comments after visiting my website. I allow myself to write down some information on urushi lacquer for those that are not too familiar with it. Urushi is a precious natural material and is the most important material in Japan lacquer art. Only 150g of sap can be collected from each mature lacquer tree over ten years old. In comparison to the world’s annual yield of diamonds which is about 30 tons, only 1.5 tons of the internationally recognized highest quality Japanese urushi can be obtained in a year. Last February I had the chance to pick up 1.5 kg of finest “sakari urushi” harvested in late Summer 2007 in the mountains of Nagano, Japan. Today in Japan, 90% of the urushi lacquer used is Chinese origin, processed in Japan because it […]
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In bygone years, a pen was considered a status symbol. The highest-class citizens used quills with extravagant feathers attached, fountain pens were made of gold and symbolized knowledge and education, and you can bet that the Declaration of Independence wasn’t signed with just any old writing utensil. While the invention of the computer led to a decline in the importance of pens, owning a high-quality luxury pen still portrays a look of class and intelligence. If you’re looking to purchase a statement pen that will make a long lasting impression on colleagues and potential clients, this handy guide will show you just what to look for. Know the Types Becoming knowledgeable about the different styles of pens is important for two reasons. First, it will help you to choose the one that will work best for your lifestyle and your unique penmanship. Aside from the mechanics, knowing the different types of pens is important because your new pen will surely become a conversation starter. When someone notices an extravagant or handsome pen, they’re sure to ask questions about it — you don’t want to be left stumbling around your lack of insight into your writing utensil. The major types of […]
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by Nancy Olson A company’s archives always provide a wealth of information and frequently fascinating finds. Such was the case when the co-owners of Curtis Australia—during a bout of fall (yes, it’s fall in Australia) organizing—came upon an amazing discovery. “We noticed a sealed padded bag hidden in a far corner of our vault, underneath a large quantity of paperwork,” says Heather Curtis of a find she and her husband, Glenn, recently made. “When we opened the mysterious bag we found 60 sterling silver Abraham Lincoln pen overlays we had produced. Needles to say, we were absolutely stunned,” she continues. “It was like uncovering buried treasure.” Treasure indeed. The mold for these overlays had been publicly destroyed at Fahrney’s pen store in Washington, D.C. in July of 2009, insuring that the number of pens produced would be clearly limited. There are 1,809 pens in the Lincoln limited edition, reflecting Abraham Lincoln’s birth year, and while this new discovery will not affect that number, additional—and unexpected—pens are now available. Coinciding with the 12 Oscar nominations Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln received, as well as the Best Actor award it garnered for Daniel Day-Lewis in its title role at this year’s Academy Awards, this […]
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Note: This review has been nicely contributed by The Pen Stabber a.k.a. Hwee Min from my Fountain Pen Lovers Facebook Group. She has done a guest review before, and we hope you will like this one too! Hello there again. This is the Pen Stabber and I’m back with my 2nd Review! I’ll like to say that I’m more interested in vintage fountain pens, and they are a huge part of my young collection. Hopefully, I’ll be able to bring more reviews with interesting pieces of history to this blog’s readers in the future. I have the Esse Fountain Pen from Tabo. This is a wonderful, petite Italian fountain pen with a flexible nib. That about sums it up. On yeah, how can I forget? This is one GORGEOUS, gorgeous pen. Take a look. First Impression: I saw this pen on Sanpei’s website. Those familiar with FPN will know that Sanpei sells vintage Italian fountain pens through FPN listings. He has other selections from his website as well. When I saw it, I did a double take. It looks like a Parker Vac, in BLUE. And a prettier blue than I’ve ever seen on a Parker Vac. I had to […]
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This article and all the pictures in it has been contributed by Mike Grove, one of my blog readers. Thank you Mike, for being so nice as to share about your pen on my humble little blog! Hopefully this review will help out those who are looking for a nice Visconti pen! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I discovered this pen on the internet a couple of weeks ago when I was bored at work (so it’s their fault that I fell in love with it – I think they should pay!). It’s big, black, and heavy, like all the best pens…(well, except my Conway Stewart Nelson, which is a sort of swirly red colour). Here’s a picture to whet your appetite; The body of the pen is high gloss resin with Rhodium plated trims and, unusually for a fountain pen, is octagonal in shape. This means that you can put it down on a sloping surface and it won’t roll off and leave an ink blot on the carpet (like that Conway Stewart I mentioned!). Here’s another picture, with the cap removed; I ordered it with a Double-Broad nib (BB), because I like wide nibs – they help make me write larger […]
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The fountain pen being reviewed today is not in my possession, and neither is the review done by me. I am very happy to have a friend from the Singapore Fountain Pens Lovers Facebook group do a review of her blue Jinhao fountain pen to be shared on my blog to all you readers out there! I’d like to first comment on Hwee Min’s review style and why I like it. It is surely different from mine in that she has done a written review, while my reviews are mostly typed out. Also, she seems to have a better-quality camera than I do, because her pen photos look like brochure-worthy material as compared to my less professional photos which are generally taken with my phone’s camera! One important note: Hwee Min is right-handed, while I’m a leftie. You can probably expect the difference in handedness from the way she structures her review below fact that she has a STRUCTURED review, something I would say is typical of a left-brain-dominant right-hander. In contrast, my reviews are mostly unstructured, not unlike tangles in bushy hair sometimes, and I have an excuse for that: I’m a leftie who is right-brain-dominant. If I may […]
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I’d like to think that Maybelline (being the good friend that she is) is my enabler in all things related to writing material. But really my obsession with pens may have started when I was younger. See, I used to write for my school paper and my notebooks in school had more doodles and stories than actual notes. So between the stress of the deadlines for the paper I contribute to, my school work and my other extra-curricular activities, a girl has to have her means for coping. Some people use chocolates (which was my fall back too), others smoked their stress away. In my case, it was indulging in retail therapy for office supplies. Yes, as strange as it may be, office supplies were my crack. Just the thought of having a new notebook to jot my whims of fancy down or a new ballpoint pen or eraser was enough. If I didn’t have to buy another notebook in my lifetime, I’d probably be all set since I’ve bought enough to supply my future, unnamed, currently faceless kids. So it is but a natural progression that I got into pens. What’s paper without a nice set of writing tools? […]
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