Looking For Pen Store Near Fairfax Station, Va

[LouisA]

Dear members, does anyone know of any quality pen stores near Fairfax Station, VA? Wide variety of offering with good paper also?

[humblescribbler]

Dear members, does anyone know of any quality pen stores near Fairfax Station, VA? Wide variety of offering with good paper also?

 

How far can you travel, and do you have the means to do so? I have had FP transactions with ALL the ones below. ( Egads! I've spent way too much!)

 

My choices in order would be:

 

1. Fahrney's in DC on F St. is excellent but some folks find them fussy to deal with. I think they have the widest selection up and down the range. Lots of paper choices. Metro Center.

2. Closer to you with less variety is Paradise Pens, a chain, but the folks there are friendly (if not all up to speed on fountain pens.) They're at Tysons Corner (the first Tysons) and at Pentagon City malls. They too have a wide price range. I don't know the Pentagon City folks that well. This group has less paper to choose from. Both chains are on bus routes.

3. Around the beltway are Pen Boutique at Montgomery Mall, good selection that I think leans in the pricey direction, w/ less paper, and White Flint Mall w/ Bertram's Inkwell, great selection and friendly folks. I've bought first class letter-writing paper from them as well. You'll need to drive, or take a train in and out. (See another topic in FPN currently hot!)

4. At Tysons 2 there's Crane papers, with a small selection but wide price range from Lamy's to Aurora's to MB's.

5. And the big dog, an MB boutique, also at Tysons 2. The construction around that part of Tysons is nightmarish however.

 

Unfortunately the closest store w/ fountain pens to Fairfax Station is the Leather Store at Fair Oaks mall, which carries MB's and Cross, and once in awhile an Omas or Aurora I've seen in there. Strictly a sideline.

 

So, which to choose? I may have missed some. All of these retailers are mentioned in FPN in the past several years with a range of member opinions, and I believe both Pen Boutique and Bertram's Inkwell are FPN members w/ their own contributions to the discussion. Once every couple years I take a weekend and explore them all. (Fahrney's is closed Sundays.) And sometimes one or more of them appears at the DC Pen show at Tysons in August.

 

I've noted before in these fora how comparitively lucky we are in the DC area to have so many choices when I read what others have to go through just to get a pen in their hands to try out and heft and feel.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Michael

[Splicer]

My goodness! Sounds like you have a lot of info that can be added to http://www.penshops.info/location/directory/us/VA :-)

[Ryan Stewart]

Hi LouisA, I'm nearby in Warrenton, so I know that finding a B&M store in the area can be a challenge. There's Paradise Pen and Levenger in the Tyson's Corner mall (McLean area). Both have a good assortment of pens, inks, and paper. I know both carry Rhodia, but have other offerings, too. There's also Fahrney's in DC, though this is a bit farther away and their prices tend to be higher.

 

Hope this helps.

[LouisA]

Thanks to everyone who replied. Needed the information for a thread over on Badger & Blade, a similar web page that deals with "wet" shaving, that is straight and double edge razors, I'm a double edge man myself, Gillette Super Speed, Parker 22R and Merkur 25C. They have a general section and someone from the area wanted to get into fountain pens and asked for information on local stores.

[humblescribbler]

My goodness! Sounds like you have a lot of info that can be added to http://www.penshops....directory/us/VA :-)

 

Interestingly, this website lists only one in the area, and it's one I missed! (Levenger in Tysons Mall) I may get on there (I see it requires registration) and add the info. Not sure who manages that site.

 

 

Thanks to everyone who replied. Needed the information for a thread over on Badger & Blade, a similar web page that deals with "wet" shaving, that is straight and double edge razors, I'm a double edge man myself, Gillette Super Speed, Parker 22R and Merkur 25C. They have a general section and someone from the area wanted to get into fountain pens and asked for information on local stores.

 

Have them join us! (I would join them, but sorry, I'm a "disposable" guy myself, in a manner of speaking!)

 

Michael

[Groat]

Hello everybody, I am the person this thread was created to help. After discovering that new did not necessarily mean improved with razors and reading some banter on other forums about fountain pens, I decided to give them a try. I went to Staples and picked up a Cross Aventura, a cheaply made plastic pen that I certainly paid too much for. However, it was very valuable in showing me that even a bottom of the barrel fountain pen was smoother to write with and looked better than any other pen I can remember using. I ended up ordering a Waterman Phileas beginner's kit of sorts from ebay. Shortly afterwards, I pulled the trigger on a Waterman Carene that has yet to arrive.

 

Anyway, I'm a beginner who so far has been greatly impressed by the fountain pen in general. I'm a student, and the pens will mostly be used to take notes and complete assignments. I've taken my Cross to school now for a week and everything has been peachy. While I probably won't be buying another pen for some time now that I've gone and bought several very quickly, these local stores will be great for finding some decent paper and perhaps some inks to try. I have the gist of the whole fountain pen deal, but I'm sure there are probably some sticky threads that will do a beginner some good around here.

 

On a side note, my Phileas kit came today in the mail. It was packed incorrectly, which resulted in the photo below. The seller is making things right, but it's a shame a pen had to go out before it was even used.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_50mNaYtQ4Q4/TJu9zXOvi0I/AAAAAAAAEYM/8u2B8Hy4ows/s800/DSC_1744.JPG

[Felix1]

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_50mNaYtQ4Q4/TJu9zXOvi0I/AAAAAAAAEYM/8u2B8Hy4ows/s800/DSC_1744.JPG

 

Resurrecting an old thread after doing a search for a new NoVA pen store.

 

I've owned a couple like this over the years...after they rolled off the kitchen island and impacted nib-down on the marble floor.

 

Always nib-down of course.

 

OTOH, you could always pretend it's a Naginata Concord from John Mottishaw.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v436/Felix01/NaginataConcord_zpsd55db236.jpg