New Year’s Hobby Box & Red Chalk

January 1, 2014

Unable to say much about the look of things beyond the tees but the first day of 2014 along Old Dixie Lane is cloaked in a twilight of semi-darkness with all the damp of a falling mist. Does it reflect my mood of still being denied Internet access? Not hardly. Even on a less than sunshiny New Year’s day there are simple pleasures apart from gloomy weather and no Internet. Some might even get a kick out of watching their dog search out and eat fallen acorns as skillfully as any squirrel hiding in the tall trees. I happily occupy myself for a good hour digging up more empty shell casings discarded by the long ago owner-gunsmith. A puzzle just why he didn’t either reload the shells—a gunsmith, after all—or throw them in the trash. Instead he chose to throw them day after day onto a plot of ground to the right of his firing stand. And now I dig them up, no less than a hundred a day, in all sizes and caliber. 

Farina on the Picnic Table

I passed a frustrating hour on the telephone yesterday trying to get some help with a newly installed modem that lit up only halfway and left me still unconnected to the world wide web. As I suspected all along, the problem is not going to be solved by me or a tech support person on the telephone—even one with understandable English skills. Next step of the plan is a visit from a technical expert on January 3. The woman on the phone explained, “He come, you pay twenty-nine dollar.” She must have understood when I said that I wasn’t paying twenty-nine cents for a failure of their equipment because she put me on hold and came back later to say the fee would be exempted this time. Obviously, the supervisors instruct telephone representatives to try passing a charge off on customers. Similar to the methods at AT&T, one more amoral attempt at exercising greed. 

A couple of tidbits for the fountain pen aficionados wandering into these pages… Along with a new modem, yesterday brought a new issue from Japan of the magazine Stationery Hobby Box (Shumi no bungu bako) This issue (No. 28) is devoted in good part to ink from around the world, with attention to everyone’s favorites, Iroshizuku, Herbin, Montblanc, Pelikan, Sailor, Diamine and a few dozen others. I expect that many American enthusiasts will wonder if Noodler’s ink is included in the magazine’s coverage, and it may come as a surprise to learn that Noodler’s, while available in a few Tokyo stores, is not a popular brand of ink in Japan. I have friends there who won’t touch it. 

Apart from various articles on ink, one I found especially interesting is a piece on the magazine’s choice of the Top Ten fountain pens of 2013. As a great fan of Pelikan fountain pens, my reaction to the No. 1 Pelikan Souverän M800 was something like, “Naturally. What else?” Numbers two and three on the list are respectively, the Montblanc Meisterstück 149 and the Pilot Custom 743. Rounding off the list at No. 10 is the Platinum #3776 Series and except for the Lami Safari at No. 8, the most inexpensive pen on the list at about $165.00. I believe because they are popular with Japanese, all fountain pens on the list are either German or Japanese made.

Montblanc is releasing this month a new design in the Great Characters (Famous Names) Limited Edition series, this one the Leonardo 74. The 74 reflects the number of pens made, but at the price listed, there aren’t many able to afford a fountain pen costing over 3,633,000 yen. I'll leave the yen to dollar ratio to those with a big calculator. Montblanc is also releasing at the same time another Da Vinci model, the silver Leonardo 3000. At $39,000 this one is slightly more affordable…for some.

I think I can afford the new Montblanc ink being released along with the two pens. The color is taken from Da Vinci’s sketchbooks and is called Red Chalk.

Fountain Pens: Starting Young

The mailman brought a breeze of fresh air on Saturday. No matter the enticement of lush green outside my windows, August is ablaze in eastern Florida and days are defined by heat, humidity and mosquitos ready to pounce. Happily, a good part of all that was relieved by the arrival from a longtime Tokyo friend, of the latest issue of Stationery Hobby Box (Shumi no bungu bako). Since leaving Japan a few years back, Kumiko has never missed sending the magazine as quickly as a new issue appears on bookstore shelves. Volume 26 came out in June and like every issue contains over 150 glossy pages of articles and photographs highlighting fountain pens, ink and paper, pencils and a few dozen other stationery-related products.

The bold black copy on the cover this time suggests that people want to write with fountain pens (mannenhitsu de kakitai) and in Japan that is a not an exaggeration. Related to that idea is the magazine’s feature article about eight people who treasure their fountain pens and use them as a daily tool. Among them is a film producer, a stylist, a couple of businessmen, a teacher, and a high school student.

Yûdai Kamei is a seventeen year-old high school student in the Tokyo suburb of Saitama who got his first fountain pen in the third grade. Since that early age his enthusiasm has been nourished by parents who share to some extent their son’s interest in fountain pen history and quality writing instruments. How many fathers take their son on a summer holiday with the specific aim of browsing pen shops?

Yûdai’s collection of fountain pens now numbers ten. The article offers no listing of exactly what those pens are, but looking closely at the photos it is easy to spot a Montblanc Meisterstück 146 Doué, Pelikan 800, Pelikan M200 Demonstrator, Pelikano Junior, Pilot Custom 742, Lami Safari, Lami AL-Star, Platinum 3376 Century and two others difficult to distinguish, though one is a Montblanc. The photograph below shows his stated favorite, the Meisterstück 146 Doué, a gift from his parents at the time he entered high school.

Below the fountain pen in the photo is a bottle of Sailor Jentle Ink and a page from Yûdai’s school notes. The bottle of ink is Miyougi Amber bought on the above mentioned summer pen-trip with his father. The color is reflected in the brown ribbon running down the bottle from cap to base and again at the bottom of the page to the right. The ink is one he first saw in the August 2011, vol. 20 issue of Shumi no bungu bako. To the right is a page of school notes from the morning newspaper, different articles distinguished by a different ink. 

As a way of trial and error, Yûdai uses his journal to get a feeling for his pens used with different inks, a natural extension for any fountain pen aficionado striving to better understand a specific pen or ink. The photo shows a sample of writing with the Pelikan 800 and the Sailor Miyougi Amber ink.

Born in Saitama Prefecture in 1996, Yûdai is currently in the 11th grade and his favorite subject is government economy. Apart from fountain pens, his interests include cars and leather goods. He is also an avid reader, getting through about two books a week.

……………

For those who deny themselves nothing in the way of fine writing instruments, a full page advertisement in this latest issue of Stationery Hobby Box offers the new Montblanc Paul Klee Limited Edition fountain pen for a mere $28,643. ‘Limited Edition’ in this case means Montblanc made only seventy-nine of them.

Four Favorite Inks

It’s been some time since Scriblets has featured a post from the world of fountain pens and ink, and as a result the feeling of neglect is knocking about in my head. Easy to explain in some ways and daily habits do still include the use of one or more fountain pen and a whole assortment of inks. Most of my pens get a regular workout, and I’m often dithering over this or that ink to a degree many would call unreasonable. Still a passionate hobby, but one that has been affected in a large way by a change of scene.

It could be true that only a fountain pen hobbyist who has made the move from a major city to a very small and isolated town can understand the impact of change as far as fountain pens and inks are concerned. For many years my world was a heavenly realm of pens, ink, paper and fellow enthusiasts, Tokyo a paradise of stationery goods, an anytime avalanche of choices from basic to connoisseur. My little post-Tokyo beachtown in Florida is home to those for whom a Bic ballpoint and a giveaway memo pad are instrument enough for whatever needs jotting. And my guess is, you’d be confounded if you were shopping for a color other than black, blue or red. The inability to browse and experiment has had a negative influence on my love of pen and ink. Sure, there is a wide world of choices to look at and buy on hundreds of different websites, but my initiation was hands-on and looking at a digital image onscreen is nothing compared to holding it in my hand and giving it a try.

But still I scribble with my assortment of fountain pens, change ink for small reason, dabble with bottles of ink and Q-tips, read what I can to keep up with the game but purchase little outside of ink or paper from online stores. I can count on one hand the fountain pens I have purchased untested from online sources. Happily though, ink continues to be an easier and more trustworthy buy from distant vendors. Unless someone is badly screwing up the scans or photos of swab samples, ink is a safe bet without actually getting it on your fingers before purchase.

I have my favorites, though they change often enough to confound those on the outside, whose first question is always, “How will you ever use so much ink?” But for those on the inside, the question is hardly relevant. I have a bottle of Montblanc black ink purchased in Tokyo in 1985 which only improves with age; rather than using it up my concern is making it last. Ever changing, the three or four at the top of my list this month are shown below, all colors I use if not every day, then every other day. The case will probably be different in two or three weeks, but for now…

None of them new, and one unfortunately discontinued, these are the inks that color, stain, smear and highlight my journal pages these days. The oldest is the marvelous classic shade of gray-green from De Atramentis, Charles Dickens. Next is in my opinion an incomparable Turquoise from Montblanc, an ink no longer available and another I use carefully. Wine inks can be risky and shouldn’t be left too long in a fountain pen, but the Dornfelder from De Atramentis is one hard to deny. Nothing too special except it is a shade of red that appeals to me. The Diamine Denim is the newest and a very special shade of blue that instantly erases thoughts of ‘boring blue’ and hits the target dead on in terms of name and color. Seems like they stole the color straight out of the Levi Strauss dye pot.

The samples above (from top to bottom) were written with: (1) Pelikan Souverän 600 and De Atramentis Charles Dickens ink; (2) Sailor Profit with a Naginata nib and De Atramentis Dornfelder ink; (3) Montblanc Marcel Proust pen from the famous writers series and Montblanc’s Turquoise ink; (4) the wonderful Pelikano Junior with Diamine Denim ink.

All of the inks are available at Goulet Pens, where quality and service are unbeatable.

Visconti’s Van Gogh

Visconti is an almost new member of the fountain pen brotherhood, only beginning in 1988 to handcraft writing instruments in Florence, Italy. By the time I first discovered Visconti pens, I was already devoted to Pelikan and Montblanc pens from Germany, and Sailor pens from Japan. In this light, Visconti had a rough time attracting my attention. Once or twice in various pen shops I sampled a Visconti fountain pen, but never had the inclination to buy one. Always had trouble with their nibs, which impress me as hard and inflexible. I would like to think the 14K gold nibs write more smoothly than the steel nibs, which all seem to have an unbending resistance I don’t care for.

I have here in my possession now (temporarily at least) a Visconti Van Gogh Maxi in the tortoise shell design. The Maxi comes in a range of about seven colors or designs, and the tortoise shell version, for some reason is the least visible. It appears that a good many of the US online dealers don’t carry the Van Gogh Maxi in tortoise shell. The one I have here in front of me came from Shosaikan in Tokyo, a pen boutique with a huge inventory of fountain pens.

If I were buying a Van Gogh Maxi for myself, the tortoise shell just might be my choice, but hopefully one with a 14k gold nib, instead of steel. Interesting choice of options to my mind, but Visconti makes the Maxi with a 14K gold nib, as well as a steel nib version. Not sure I understand the reasoning behind that.

A little about the creation of the tortoise shell and other designs…

Visconti came up with a process they call ‘press mould’ using natural resin and vegetal components to produce colors of great depth and translucency. According to Visconti’s boast, patterns vary from pen to pen and no two are the same. This I cannot see myself, but they also brag that the press mould gives the illusion of being hand-painted, recalling the impressionist paintings of Vincent Van Gogh. I have to draw the line there. These pens evoke the impressionism of Van Gogh about as much as Andy Warhol soup cans. Just another example of ad agency bull. No need really, because the colors and patterns in the Van Gogh Maxi series are all beautiful without allusion or pretense to impressionist art.

One interesting thing about the pen is its pocket clip, which opens rather wider than most. The description says that the wider opening makes putting the pen in your pocket easier. Maybe so, though I myself don’t generally put fountain pens in my pocket. There is a somewhat large screw on the back of the cap which secures this wide-mouth clip.

Writing with the steel-nibbed Visconti, even on my favorite paper—Clairefontaine 90g—is sometimes a struggle. Too many skips on downstrokes and on the curve of more than a few letters. I don’t seem to have as much trouble with the steel nibs on my Lamy pens, and the feel of the Visconti nib is altogether different.

The Van Gogh is a handsome pen, and there are things I like about it, but for it to ever be a fountain pen I am likely to pick up often, a nib change would be necessary.

Heart of Blue

One definition tells us that blue is, ‘a color whose hue is that of the clear sky, or that of the color spectrum lying between green and violet.’ For most people blue evokes thoughts of water, sky and perhaps universe. Who hasn’t seen the well-known photograph of a blue earth viewed from space. Apart from sky and water, blue carries a wide range of associations. It is at times a calm, peaceful color, one aligned with infinity, eternity, faith, purity, chastity and peace. Illustrations often show the Virgin Mary and Christ wearing blue. The color has also been linked with melancholia, probably a connection that grew out of the blues sung by African slaves. Another more modern link is with pornography, or the ‘blue movies’—dim screenings of once secret films.

Surveys might suggest that a majority of people polled choose blue as their favorite color. That certainly has been the trend as far as fountain pen ink goes. Blue is the first color of ink offered by ink makers, and since the 20th century has long been a standard color in documents where black once dominated. Without checking sales charts, I would venture to say that the average person buying ink today will choose something close to the standard blue.

But for some of us looking for blue ink, there is an urge to look past the familiar stand by and go for something further along the spectrum. Distinctive fountain pen ink is enjoying a wave of popularity among many these days, especially for those of us with a passion for interesting inks.

From ten bottles of blue ink I have selected six for their special, unusual or particular qualities. Again, I make no mention of writing quality, but focus only on color. Similar to the earlier post on green ink (here), this swatch sample, too shows color, maker and tool used to produce the sample swatch. Starting at the top left and reading across and down…

1. Turquoise • Montblanc • Brush

2. Blue • Pelikan • Q-tip

3. Blue • Conway Stewart • Brush

4. Kon-peki • Pilot Iroshizuku • Q-tip

5. Blue Suede • Private Reserve • Folded paper

6. Hans Christian Andersen • De Atramentis • Pen

Sadly, the Montblanc turquoise is another ink the company has decided to discontinue. I will sorely miss it when my last bottle comes up empty. The Pelikan blue is a standard shade, and in my opinion inferior to none. The Conway Stewart blue is another standard, one with a good depth. As so many of the Iroshizuku inks are, the Kon-peki is a standout, and a particularly distinctive and beautiful blue. Blue Suede by Private Reserve is another color that shows some distinction. To me, it is nothing less than exquisite. Another in the famous names series, Hans Christian Andersen from De Atramentis is close to the Blue Suede, but darker and thereby a touch more traditional. I have one friend who uses this ink exclusively for business papers.

And last, from the imagination of one young student contemplating it all:

“Blue”

BY DAN AT THE ORCHARD SCHOOL

Blue are blueberries freshly picked

a sapphire stone

and an aquamarine shine

Blue is the color of ink in a pen

A long line that never ends

Conway Stewart: Benign Neglect

It suddenly occurred to me this morning that for reasons I don’t understand, as far as ink goes, Conway Stewart is a neglected brand in blog pages related to pen and ink. Thinking about it now, I can’t recall reading a single ink review for a Conway Stewart ink. What could the reason be?

A quick Google search shows that the choices are severely limited for someone looking to buy Conway Stewart ink. In addition, the available colors have shrunk from few to paltry. Two or three online stores offer blue or black, but nowhere could I find the full palette of eight colors. Pendemonium has in stock seven of them, lacking only the CS Green featured in this review. This situation makes you wonder if Conway Stewart is gradually withdrawing from the market, or if the demand for their ink has fallen off. I purchased a box of four Conway Stewart inks three years ago, and I believe it was from Classic Fountain Pens in Los Angeles. Now they don’t list Conway Stewart ink on their website. The set of four inks I got included blue, black, green and CS Green.

I’ve done little more than try the blue, black and green in an abbreviated fashion, mainly because the colors are too basic, too ‘vanilla’ for my tastes. On the other hand, the 30 ml bottle of CS Green is now almost empty. This is an ocean water blue-green that is beautiful, practical and eye-catching all at once. The occasions where it would be both acceptable and admired are enough to make it a basic, daily-use shade of ink.

The brief list of CS Green qualities in the photograph here reflect good results. On what I often consider to be a difficult 100% cotton paper (Crane stationery), the CS Green in my Pelikan 425 showed no feathering or bleed through. The flow of ink, the lubrication both good. I did something to test the waterproof qualities I’d never tried before. First, I submerged a sample in a bowl of water; a good amount of the ink washed out, but words were still legible. Next, I held the paper under running water for half a minute—still legible. Results were a heck of a lot better than someone leaving the cake out in the rain. (Mmm…Am I dating myself?)

The upshot of it all…If you can find a dealer who still has CS Green ink, buy yourself a bottle.

A Basket of Good Things

Weather today has played some dismal notes on my frame of mind. Rain, sleet and finally snow in all its metropolitan inconvenience make me yearn for different scenery, something to brighten and bring warmth to an opposite outward aspect. So I sit recalling the good things of past days, those out of the ordinary tidbits that have made me stop and exclaim, “Awright!”

Fountain Pen and Ink of the Week

Most every day for the past week I have used my Pelikan 200, dripping with the punchbowl red of Caran d’Ache Sunset ink. Please don’t misunderstand my use of ‘dripping’ to mean pen and ink are behaving badly. Both are splendid and just the thing for foul weather days.

A Drawing Much Appreciated These Days

An artist friend of mine told me last time we met to look through a stack of sketches and take one I liked. The nude life study (ten minute pose with a live model) in the photo here is something I found in that stack. I put it in the plainest of black frames with white matting.

Soundtrack: 187

Something I’ve almost worn out with repeated play, this is an oldie from 1997, a movie that starred Samuel L. Jackson. Artists include Massive Attack, Everything But The Girl, Galliano, Jalal and Bang Bang. Listen to some clips here.

Blog Posts Enjoyed More Than Once

Julie at Whatever put up a post on February 15 called, “A Year in the Life of a Tree,” which is a 52 week record of the gradual changes in her Golden Raintree. By all means look at it if you haven’t already. It’s here.

Check out the February 24 post on Inkyjournal with an especially good video from Aurora Pens called, “How to Make a Fountain Pen.” A very interesting five minute video.

Favorite Word of the Week

This is another of those rare and hard to look up words from the 19th century mind of writer Patrick O’Brian. In Chapter 8 of The Ionian Mission, No. 8 in the Aubrey/Maturin series, he writes, “…But what is much more to the point, what a set of clinchpoops we should look, was we to raise Cavaleria before the French.”

‘Clinchpoop’ is defined in the dictionary as: a lout, jerk, clod, boor, slob, boob, fathead, sap, moron and idiot. It also has two other less than pleasant meanings which I will leave out here.

Poem of the Week

“Elegy for the Personal Letter” by Allison Joseph. Read it here. (March 9, 2010 in the archive.)

With this basket of good things, I push away the chill and gloom of a day beset by rain, sleet and snow.

Don’t Let ‘Junior’ Fool You

Despite a fondness for Pelikan fountain pens, I was late coming to the Pelikano Junior and didn’t discover it until late last year. There’s been no shortage of reviews, and I’m not really sure how I managed to have my head in the sand so long. But in that regard, the old maxim ‘better late than never’ has proven to be true. Don’t let that ‘Junior’ in the name fool you. The Pelikano Junior is an OUTSTANDING fountain pen in a number of ways.

Pelikan had children in mind when they went to the drawing boards with this one. They threw in all the obvious design ingredients that both appeal to and apply to children and the classrooms where they do most of their writing. It’s bright and eye-catching; it’s inexpensive and it’s simple design is both rugged and utilitarian. Underneath all that, Pelikan has maintained the quality they are famous for. In short, the Pelikano Junior lays a beautiful line of ink down on paper. It looks like a toy and it writes like a well-engineered fountain pen.

This is THE ‘starter’ pen for anyone with a mind to lay aside their ballpoint and take up a fountain pen. The lack of a pocket clip might bother some, but bear in mind that the Pelikano can bounce around in a bag or backpack all day long and come away unfazed. If at first you are put off by the fat size, chances are you will discover how comfortable it is once it’s cuddled nicely in your writing hand. The design is ergonomic and made with a grip that tells you (and children) exactly where to place the fingers for both comfort and effective writing. One my favorite features is the two rounded bumps or protrusions on either side of the barrel which prevent the pen from rolling off the desk or table. (The pocket clip serves this purpose on other pens.) Another clever novelty, one perfect for students, is the space for a name sticker visible inside the barrel of the pen. With only four colors available (green, blue, yellow and red) mix-ups are likely in a classroom or among siblings and the interior name sticker solves this problem.

The pen and cap are plastic with a rubber grip and a steel nib. Length is a hair over 5 inches (13 cm) with the cap on (unposted); 6 1/8 inches (15.5 cm) posted. The nib is a standard M, and is of two types: L for left-handed writers, A for right-handed writers. If you prefer a finer line try turning the nib over or upside down. The pen uses a Pelikan 4001 ink cartridge, which can be easily changed to a converter. The 4001 is available in eight colors: blue black, brilliant black, brilliant green, brilliant red, pink, royal blue, turquoise and violet.

I am crazy about the Pelikano Junior and would rate it five stars, but don’t take my word alone. There are other reviews you might want to have a look at. Try Unposted , The Fountain Pen Network, Writer’s Bloc, and Another Word for Nerd.

Logos & Posters

Going to trade off words today for pictures, or maybe what is more like picture-icons. I’ve always thought that Pelikan produced one of the best-ever logos for its fountain pens, and at the same time turned out many especially beautiful posters. Always hoping that one of these days I might stumble upon one of the old posters from the 30s and 40s in a junk shop or garage sale somewhere.

Tis the Season for Pilot's Yama-guri

I am a big fan of the Pilot Iroshizuku series of inks, and often find I can’t settle on a favorite among the seventeen different colors available now. But then, why should one have to choose a favorite when such an abundance of colors allows room to fit or satisfy the mood you’re in, or the mood you want in a letter or card. Today I bought the second shade of brown in the series, the Yama-guri (Mountain Chestnut), which is darker and richer than the companion shade of Iroshizuku brown, called Tsukushi (Horsetail). I’ve scribbled some lines, made some comparisons and sort of arrived at an opinion of this Yama-guri. In the end, I could summarize this ink in only two words: “Bravo, Pilot!”

Clicking on the photo below might bring up a larger and easier to see picture of the comments about the Iroshizuku Mountain Chestnut.