Several years into my teaching career, a long time ago now, I found myself going to lots of meetings. I was not very good at meetings. (I’m still not.) My mind wanders, I get fidgety and I get bored. I needed to make notes but that seemed like piling tedium upon tedium. I wasn’t keen. Just in time, along came Merlin Mann’s 43 Folders and David Allen’s Getting Things Done. In amongst many great ideas that, to this day, help keep me relatively sane, was this great tip: use tools that give you joy and so turn chores into pleasures. I went out and bought a black Lamy Safari and a Moleskine. (As I said, this was a long time ago, when Moleskine notebooks were quite good.) It worked. Writing became fun. I wanted to take notes because I wanted to use my pen and notebook. I won’t everything down. I paid attention. I didn’t get sacked. Many people wonder why anyone would want to spend so much time and effort on something as everyday and unremarkable as pen and paper. Yet it is this ubiquity that makes it worthwhile. If you are going to be writing more than a […]
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With 2015 drawing to a close I thought I would cover what ended up being my top 3 pen purchases this year. It was a bit tough as this has been quite the year for new acquisitions with over 50 pens joining the collection ranging from the inexpensive Pilot Metropolitan to the exquisite Visconti Opera Metal. When I sat down to pick, it ended up coming down to flexibility, reliability, or uniqueness that helped these three stand out from the crowd. With that said and in no particular order this is who came out on top: Lamy AL-Star Copper Orange w/ 1.9mm Nib This was one of the first pens added to the collection this year and became an instant favorite. The design is very clean and the 2015 special edition Copper Orange color is excellent (as is the ink if you can find it). The pen is easy to fill and clean with a solid convertor while the nib and feed unit is pretty bulletproof. I swapped out the fine nib shortly after getting it to a 1.9mm Italic and it is perfect for doing calligraphy. The nib starts instantly every time and is not too wet or dry […]
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Fountain pens are the most customizable writing instruments on the market. Styles and shapes are endless, and mix in a range of nib sizes and thousands of inks on top of that and there is infinite choice. I love choice, but it can be overwhelming for those just starting in this hobby. So, I want to elaborate on one topic that all beginner, and some experienced, fountain pen users can think about when making their next buying decision: Steel nibs are awesome. The perception in the community is that gold nibs are the ultimate fountain pen writing experience. If by ultimate you mean most expensive, then yes they are amazing! And I’m not here to poo-poo gold nibs. I love them. I own four Nakayas and I wouldn’t think of having anything but a gold nib in any of them. But when choosing a fountain pen and nib combination that will give you a great writing experience, steel nibs are a fantastic option. The first thing you should be aware of with steel nibs is that, in general, they are stiffer than their gold counterparts. Makes sense, right? Gold is a softer material, so that translates to a softer nib. […]
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My colleague sat in front of me, jubilant, squatting toad-like in a chair in our newly refurbished, workflow efficient office space. The workspace was now complete. You could survey the vista of differentiated work pods, hot desks and computers of every description. The atmosphere bristled with wi-fi and everything was new; everything except what I was doing… “It’s the 21st century, why are you still using a fountain pen of all things?” His incredulous words hung in the air like a bad smell as I continued to carefully finish refilling my fountain pen, wipe it clean, then deposit the ink bottle and blotting paper back in my bag ready again to jot down notes from our database so that I had information to hand when I left the office and travelled to the homes of service users. I thought momentarily about ignoring his smug and annoying question. Why indeed… was it merely a matter of style, novelty or perhaps eccentricity? My initial answer was a mixture of a whole host of things as I remember. But as I’ve thought about that question over the years my answer has developed accordingly. These days when that question is asked of me, as […]
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Deciding which pen(s) and notebooks I carry with me day to day has also been a challenge for me. For work, I usually end up throwing every inked pen in my bag so I always have my favourite pens at my side. I know this is overkill, but they don’t take up a lot of room and I use pens most of the day there. Christmas time is a completely different story. I want to take all of my pens, but I know I will barely use them since most of my time will be spent with family. My fiancé has even told not to take any, hinting that I will be getting a new pen, ink, and notebook for Christmas. How exciting! With this little hint, I will still bring at least one pen, but choosing just one pen is more challenging that you think. Will I cave and just pack a full pen case? I did last year and barely used any of them. The only thing I use my pens for is keeping score during family card games, the odd doodle, and the occasional note to remember later. My favourite games are Kaiser and dice (not a […]
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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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