Let’s take a look at De Atramentis Virgo! Background information I’ve talked about the De Atramentis brand on this blog before, and I don’t have anything else to add to that blurb! But if you’re new to the brand, there’s nothing wrong with an introduction, right? De Atramentis is like the German Noodler’s: it’s owned and operated by one person who makes everything! And just like Noodler’s, De Atramentis has a massive catalog. They have a ton of different colors, some scented, some repackaged as “specialty” inks (like the popular Alexander Hamilton being Aubergine in a different bottle). All De Atramentis inks come in the same bottle so far, and Virgo is no different. It’s a glass bottle with a simple paper label on the front that has the name of the ink. Since Virgo is a specialty ink, it also depicts an illustration of the Virgo constellation. You get 35 ml per bottle. It’s shaped a bit like a spool of thread, with two “rims” on it. Just like De Atramentis Pisces, Virgo comes in the Astrology line. The bottle says “olive green,” and I would pretty much agree. I think it’s a bit less yellow than the color […]
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Being a blogger is being lucky sometimes, especially when you meet people who willingly lend you their pens to blog about! SH Wong has kindly lent me his TWSBI Vac 700 to play with, and I’ve decided to write a #pendelight article on it. The TWSBI Vac 700 is a large and long pen. TWSBI has been making faceted pens since their Diamond range which I have reviewed here before. The Vac 700 has a cylindrical barrel, though. The cap has diamond-shaped facets running the length of it, and the plunger knob at the back has triangular shaped facets in a decagon. As the name of the pen suggests, it is a vacuum filler which makes use of air suction to draw ink up into the pen. There is a knob at the end of the pen that you can unscrew to pull up the plunger inside. The plunger slides up smoothly, but when closing it, the cylindrical internal part opens up into a wider chamber, so the plunger snaps through it as you push the knob. While the TWSBI Vac 700 generally has glossy metallic trims around the pen, the clip stands out in that the metal is […]
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OK, the TWSBI Diamond pens are not very new pens but I’m reviewing them because of their popularity. Yes, TWSBI pens are pretty popular for their pretty designs and reasonable prices. Here I will review the TWSBI Diamond 580 and the TWSBI Diamond 530, the only two TWSBI pens which I have at this moment. For those who didn’t know what TWSBI is: it is a Taiwanese fountain pen brand, and I think you can pretty much count on Taiwanese brands to provide good quality products. The name TWSBI is created in an interesting way – TWS is the backward initials of sān wén táng “三文堂”, which is Chinese for “Hall of Three Cultures”, while BI is the Chinese pinyin of 笔 (pen). Pretty grand! In English I suppose the most instinctive way of pronunciation would be something like “twis-bee” (rhymes with frisbee), thus the frequent misspelling of “Twisbi”. I have two TWSBI pens, the 580 and the 530. The 580 is the improved version of the 540, which in turn is the improved version of the 530. I don’t have a 540, but many who do have mentioned that there hasn’t been much noticeable difference between the 540 and […]
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Hello there, dear readers. Busy as I am, I have managed to squeeze time on the eve of New Year’s to scribble a final blog post of the year. And what could be more fitting than a summary of my best pens of the year! Upon updating my pen list a few days ago, I have realised that 2/3 of my pens have been acquired this year. That is to say, my pen population had seen an increase of about 200% in 2012, as compared to 2011! That is quite an epic number considering I am a fountain pen amateur. Alright, perhaps only amateurs like me buy every pen they see, without considering too much (I want that pen, I just want it). But this is likely a good start for such a hobby, no? I have not hit the 100s for my pen count yet, but already it is not an easy decision to only choose 10 from my entire posse. So, as the list goes on, it’s good to know that I picked these pens based on a variety of justifications: design, feel, nib, and price. The list is also made in no order of preference. I don’t […]
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