Time flies and we have had another pen meet yesterday. Even during the pen meet, time flew and in the blink of an eye, it was time to go home. Good times pass really quickly but memories are well-kept in photographs: We had Fook Hing Trading Co sponsor our event, and they provided us with Franklin Christoph products. What wonderful products they are! So far, I have been impressed with Franklin Christoph products especially the Penvelope 6 that I’ve made my first video review of. We held a lucky draw and the prizes were as follows: 1st Prize Model 66 Pearl Red with Masuyama Customized 18k Needlepoint Nib 2nd Prize Model 66 Pearl Red with HPSteel 1.9 Christoph Nib 3rd Prize Penvelope 6 Saddleboot Pen Case 4th Prize Classic 3 Saddleboot Pen Case 5th Prize Classic 2 Saddleboot Pen Case 6th Prize Classic 1 Saddleboot Pen Case They also sponsored Franklin Christoph inks, and the members had a blast testing them out at the ink testing station. The 8 inks sponsored were Blue 72, Brown 732, Classic Black, Dark Chocolate, Emerald 357, Midnight Emerald, Noir et Bleu and Red 187. Personally I love the Noir et Bleu the best, as despite being […]
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The Lamy Logo fountain pen is yet another Bauhaus, industrial-looking pen. The first time I saw it, I thought it reminded me of one of my first fountain pens, the steel Parker Vector. Thanks to Pen Chalet‘s sponsorship, I got a chance to touch and feel this pen, but all opinions in this piece are my own and not influenced by Pen Chalet or anyone else. I have been hoping to get the brushed steel Lamy Logo, but instead received the matt stainless steel one. The brushed one reminds me a bit of the stainless steel Lamy 2000, with a more special and elegant look to it, while the matt one looks a little more “raw”. It was interesting to unbox the pen. When you slide the box out of the cardboard covering, it looked like two cuboids of plastic stuck together. The mechanism of opening the box was also interesting – First, you push the two sides of the box apart in the directions of the arrows: It reveals a platform inside, on which the pen is supported via a rest… … then you open the other side of the box and voila, the whole platform is exposed, as […]
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I spotted this beauty of a pen the other day and decided to set up a #pendelight article on it. This is the Caran d’Ache Year of the Goat Limited Edition fountain pen, which I should have talked about during the Chinese New Year, but did not get a chance to. The pen is designed for the Year of the Goat, which is the 7th animal in the Chinese zodiac sign, and also the sign representing this year. Those of you who like (or were born in) the Goat Year, and like Caran d’Ache, you are in for a treat with this pen! On the pen barrel, you see the outline of a goat being carved onto it. The metallic material inside the carvings is rhodium-plated. It gives off a lively and vibrant feel to the pen. There are also carvings on the section, which I thought was interesting as sections are not often places penmakers would put an artwork on. Caran d’Ache is a Swiss pen brand from Geneva, Switzerland, so you see the words “Swiss made” engraved on the trim. This pen also makes use of black Chinese lacquer for the body. We often hear of Japanese […]
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Warning: Many photos in this post! Sometimes we all get a little tired of seeing beautiful, sleek, serious, high-end fountain pens, and it’s about time we explore the lower end, cutesy fountain pens, just for fun. Thanks to two members of the SFPL group, I have in my possession two cute fountain pens which are clearly very suitable for children (or adults who like cute stuff, like me sometimes). In terms of pricing, both pens cost $3 (SGD) or less, which is pretty amazing, and you will know why later. I will go into details of each pen one by one. CELLO FOUNTAIN PEN (DISNEY – SNOW WHITE) Cello Writing Instruments is an Indian company that manufactures stationery products. This fountain pen has been offered to me by Burhan from Jalalpen, a Singaporean pen company that has emerged recently. Even though I received this for free, my review is only of my honest opinion of the pen. The colours on this pen are bright pastels, which at first glance looks like something that children will be attracted to. In addition, the barrel has a printout of Snow White, a Disney character. There are also other pens with other colours that feature other […]
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Sorry for the delay in putting up the winners of the Backpocket Ink Testers. 1st Winner Congratulations to Jeff from the U.S.! Your winning entry is the comment you left on my blog post. 2nd Winner Congratulations to Dale, also from the U.S.! Your winning entry is by following me on Twitter. To Claim Your Prize You will each receive one Backpocket Ink Tester notebook. Look out for my email which notifies you of winning. I will send the prize if you complete the following: Leave a comment at this blog post to acknowledge winning Reply to my email with your mailing address Do both of the above by Saturday, 13 Jun 2015. If I don’t receive any notification from you, I will pick a new winner. Meanwhile, if you really love the Backpocket Ink Tester, you may visit Straits Pen to ask about availability and to see what else they have there! Also, Curnow Bookbinding & Leatherwork has graciously allowed to let me share a photo of their notebooks with you (below). If you happen to be interested in what other kinds of notebooks they have, visit their Facebook Page. As for the photo below, Steve Curnow has informed […]
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This year is a milestone year for Singapore. 2015 marks the 50th birthday of Singapore ever since it became independent in 1965. Over 50 years, the country/island/city has evolved at top speed from a developing nation to a first-world country today! Since the Golden Jubilee is an important event, a nationwide celebration effort has taken place, known as SG50. To join in this effort, Staedtler has launched the SG50 Flora and Fauna Limited Edition fountain pen on 6 June 2015. I was at Fook Hing Trading Co. right on this very date and had the chance to experience the pen for myself! This pen is based on the Intium Corum Urbes range of premium writing instruments by Staedtler. The first thing you’ll notice is the colourful design on the barrel of the fountain pen. The barrel has a roll of fine quality cowhide leather around it, with the design of a bird and a flower on it. The bird is known as the Crimson Sunbird, the unofficial national bird of Singapore. I have never seen this bird myself in real life, but seeing it in pictures, I can tell it looks really pretty! The flower is Singapore national flower, a […]
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This pen has been sponsored by Pen Chalet, but all opinions are my own. I was browsing Pen Chalet’s online catalogue when I chanced upon the Monteverde One Touch fountain pen. It caught my eye immediately and I knew I wanted to check it out. As I was asked to choose a couple of pens to review, I immediately contacted Ron from Pen Chalet, requesting to have this pen to review. Thank you, Pen Chalet, for providing me with the Monteverde One Touch fountain pen! The Monteverde One Touch pen arrived in a cardboard box which is mainly yellow, black, and silver in colour and design. The whole package gives a very technical/industrial feeling about the pen, and I suppose that is the point – you will see why later. Other than the box and the pen, there are two cards inserted diagonally inside the box. One is a “holder” onto which the pen is clipped, and it contains a description of what’s available in the One Touch range. The smaller card slip shows a picture of the main parts of the pen, and instructions on how to refill the pen with a cartridge. I call this the Swiss Army Knife of […]
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I have lately received an interesting product from Straits Pen, and the product is from a company I have never heard of before. It is the Backpocket Ink Tester. I love new products from new brands, so I was pretty excited to review this notebook! The Backpocket Ink Tester is a pocket-sized notebook which reminds me much of Field Notes, the super-popular pocket-sized brand of notebooks that everyone seems to love. It is made by Curnow Bookbinding & Leatherwork, from Dixon, California. These are handmade journals, which makes it even more appealing to me! When you flip to the middle of the book, you will be able to see the binding, which seems to be some sort of wire or twine. It’s an interesting way of binding (while Field Notes are bound by classic staples). Within the book, there are 46 pages of forms for you to fill out your ink records, so you can record 46 different kinds of inks in one single book. The fields allow you to record the ink brand, ink name, the pen and nib you used for the record, and the date. Following those, you can give star ratings for ink characteristics like shading, saturation, […]
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I’ve been rather busy and still ill, so I’m going to just put up a short post! The Singapore Fountain Pen Lovers have just had a pen meet on Saturday, May 30, 2015. The turnout had been excellent, and there has been a lucky draw as well! Everyone was eyeing the prizes as they are Montblanc products sponsored by Fook Hing Trading Co. The meet was held at the Tea Party Cafe again, which seems to be our usual haunt for official pen meets. It’s a spacious cafe with a nice concept, and serves good food! Despite the abundance of space in the cafe, it was almost literally overflowing with fountain pen enthusiasts. There was an ink testing station set up at a corner of the cafe, where we could go and have a look at the 8 Montblanc fountain pen inks in beautiful slipper glass bottles. As admin, I helped to prepare ink swab samples for ease of colour referencing. I also brought two glass pens for the members to dip into the bottles of inks to test out the colours. It was so crowded that, being the introvert that I am, I didn’t know really who to talk […]
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I am a music-lover, and used to be a student of music. All that time spent drawing crotchets and quavers, treble clefs and bar lines, has been memorable indeed. It is not until my interest in fountain pens started that I learnt about the existence of music nibs. Did the composers in the past really use nibs like that to write their music? Here is a picture of a handwritten musical manuscript: The style is characterized by very thin strokes for stems and lines, big saturated blobs for the notes, and thick fat lines for joining notes together. You can also see line variation in the handwriting. I’ve decided to investigate whether music nibs are able to produce a similar effect. Thanks to Parkablogs, I have managed to try out a Sailor music nib for myself. Previously, I have reviewed the Platinum music nib and liked it pretty much. I had spent quite a bit of time deciding between the Pilot, Platinum, and Sailor music nibs, and finally decided on the Platinum because of the writing feel on paper. Sailor’s music nib does not have 3 tines like the Platinum, and I had felt that it didn’t look as special, […]
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