Search the Community

Hi, my name is Anna. I was given a fountain pen September 2018, a Pelican M205 with a broad nib. It brought back the joy from learning writing at school in the '70s. We used a slanted French round hand in the Netherlands, with fountain pens. The Pelikan showed me quickly that I prefer lighter pens, with finer nibs. And that I hold my pen ridiculously far away from the nib. Somewhere half way the pen? And use it uncapped. As I went out and looked for a pen matching those preferences I found out I may be a bit of an odd duck with today's enamourement with broad heavy cigar type fountain pens. I had a lovely trip to Akkerman in The Hague and to the Nijmegen Pen Shop. At Akkerman I bought a Sailor Chalana which I use daily as it fits into my notebook. And some glitter ink (Diamine) that clogs up fine nibs... The owner of the Nijmegen Pen Shop taught me a lot about my preferences. He kept pulling pens from everywhere! Light pen, fine nib, usually a click closure to prevent holding it at the thread and.... a gold nib. I love how one can talk about these nuances -for which I of course lacked the words, I only know what my hands tell me- but a professional recognizes what's important. He educated me. Showed me variables. Let me feel the variables. Together we found the fountain pen that suits me to a t: a celluloid Boston Diamond from the 1930's. What? yeah. It's the one that my hands loved. It was My Pen the moment I picked it up. It's a vintage if not antique Dutch brand. Parts came from various countries and assembly was in the Netherlands. Celluloid. Mine is more slender than usual and an absolute light weight. It has a push system(? I do not possess all the words yet. It has a sack inside.) Here are some pictures and also a picture of the font I was taught at school, at age 6. I let my muscle memory do the work, hence why there are some wrong ones like the first E and the w. Hope you enjoy and hope to talk to you. I've learned so much already on this forum. It was my first go to when I wanted to learn more about fountain pens last November. And I keep coming back.