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Hi gang, Some of you may remember me as Bonhams Auctioneers former penman-in-chief. Well, I've moved on to San Francisco's PBA Galleries, and we're launching our debut Fine Pens sale on Thursday, July 19th at 11:00 am PST. Here's a link to the online sale listings: https://www.pbagalleries.com/view-auctions/catalog/id/454/ The catalogue goes to press today and will be mailed shortly. It's a fairly big sale, 361 lots, including many modern and vintage Montblancs; rare vintage eyedroppers from Waterman, Parker, Aiken Lambert, Edward Todd and others; limited edition Montegrappas, Namikis, Stipulas, OMAS, Sheaffers and more. As a big personal fan of Henry Simpole's wonderful creations, I'm especially pleased to offer four rare Simpole overlay pens. Our buyer's premium is 20%, with a 1% discount for cash or cash-equivalent payments (Bonhams premium was 25%, no discounts). Definitely factor the buyer's premium into your bid amounts! There's no credit card maximum (Bonhams max was $25K). You can register to bid on our website (the process is simple), and you can bid online, in person, by phone or by absentee bid. I've tried to include a broad range of pens to suit various budgets, and I hope that many of you will find treasures to enhance your collections! Our next sale will be on December 6th, and we're accepting consignments now. You can contact me at: ivan@pbagalleries.com. Cheers, Ivan Ivan Briggs Director of Fine Pens and Comics PBA Galleries Pictured: HENRY SIMPOLE: Tendril Sterling Silver Filigree Limited Edition Fountain Pen: Premiere Example. Estimate: $1000-1500 The Tendril's wonderfully elaborate openwork filigree was inspired by a Japanese silver overlay pen that Mr. Simpole saw in a 1990s auction catalogue. The filigree is overlaid on a Conway Stewart body. 160mm. Broad 18K gold Conway Stewart nib. Outer box, lacquered wood display box lined in red velvet and cream satin, illustrated leaflet, signed limitation certificate. Limited Edition: No. 1 of only 6 examples made. Excellent condition, not inked. Henry Simpole is the consummate penmaker's penmaker, and his overlay pens are among the very best limited edition writing instruments of the modern era. Each of his designs is handcrafted in small numbers to the most exacting standards, and they perfectly blend the superior aesthetics of the eyedropper era with the advanced materials and filling technology of the present day. Mr. Simpole's pens are exceedingly difficult to obtain on the secondary market, and the few examples offered in this sale represent a rare opportunity for collectors to obtain his legendary handiwork.

One of the newest models of fountain pens released by ASAPens is the Asa Genius 2015 Fountain pen. ASAPens generally makes ebonite ED fountain pens at reasonable prices which is of great value to pen connoiseurs in India and abroad. This Asa Genius is a mini variant of the Asa I can pen already reviewed by mehandiratta (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/284421-asa-i-can-beyond-bang-for-a-buck/?p=3266558) DESIGN The ASA Genius pen is an Indian ED pen. The design is very minimalistic and no embellishments are added. The base model comes with a generic IPG nib. But, one can add a JoWo #6 Friction fit Nib in F, M and B variants. You can also convert it into a 3-1 pen by buying threaded Jowo unit with a converter attached. All this can be done by ASAPens. The pen has a fairly big grip section and is very comfortable to use. One of the problems of the Asa I can pen is the inability to put it into a shirt pocket. The relatively short barrel of the Genius alleviates that. One can also see the Pelikanesque clip on the cap. NIB AND SECTION The pen is fitted with a JoWo #6 F nib. This is a steel nib which is smooth with a hint of feedback. The pen comes with an ebonite feed which is traditional in Indian ED pens which suits the theme of the pen. The relatively long section should prevent burping of ink. The pen is availbale in 5 finishes- Shiny Black, Matte Black, Light and Dark Brown Mottled and Green mottled. The pen wrote immediately after filling it with ink. No adjustments were needed. CONCLUSION If one is in the market for affordable ebonite EDs, this is your best bet. ASAPens have done an excellent job in crafting an EDC pen which can be put in your shirt pocket. Also, the option to convert it into a 3-1 pen is also very good. They have priced it very reasonably. My only gripe is if it had an ink window, it would have been very nice but that is just nitpicking. Since this is my 1st review, comments are welcome

Hi gang, I hope it's ok to make this announcement here (I formerly made similar announcements here in my Bonhams days). I was Bonhams Auctioneers' pen specialist through December of last year, when I sold over a million dollars in pens in Bonhams' final pen auction and attendant private treaty sale. Bonhams decided to stop hosting pen auctions, and now I've landed my dream job for PBA Galleries auctioneers in San Francisco, as PBA's Director of Fine Pens and Comics. My debut pen sale for PBA will be held in San Francisco on July 19th, 2018. Bidders can participate in person, online or by absentee bid. We're accepting consignments for the sale through June 1st, although there's been a groundswell of enthusiasm for the debut sale, and although I've only been on the job for two weeks, I've already accepted about $100K in consignments. So there's a good chance that the sale will fill up early. We're looking for great pens of all kinds, valued from $300 to $300K. We're especially interested in: Modern Limited Montblancs (in particular, Writers Series, Patron of Art Series, and Special Editions)Early American eyedroppers, especially Parkers and WatermansVintage MontblancsVintage overlay pens, especially Toledo and Nielo overlaysNamiki pens (vintage and modern). Pre-war Dunhill-Namiki Emperor pens are of special interest Anyone who'd like to consign should PM me, as should anyone who'd like a complimentary copy of the catalogue. Cheers, Ivan

Seems a little illogical to me. By the time the nib has corroded the threads or other metal parts in the barrel would have done so, but I've not heard of anyone having to replace their pen because of a corroded nib. I assume that this corrosion will take place over decades, so why the warnings not to convert pens with metal threads into eye droppers when the steel nib is in contact with ink as much as the threads. Yours confusingly B