What Was Your Last Impulsive Pen Acquisition?

[Bikerchick]

A little Montblanc 342 with gold nib. My very first Montblanc too! Asked a friend for advice on it, she said it seemed like an OK deal, so I bought it 3.5 seconds later.

 

[Bikerchick]

And this beautiful Eclipse landed on my desk last week. Paid 10€, shipping included, on account of a busted nib. A special thanks to @mizgeorge for coaching me on how to give this nib a second life by turning it into a stub. Other than the broken nib, the pen seems in excellent condition. This obviously was someone's pride and joy (till they dropped it). There are no cracks or  real scratches to speak of, and the filling system works perfectly. 

 

 

 

[DvdRiet]

2 hours ago, Bikerchick said:

And this beautiful Eclipse landed on my desk last week. Paid 10€, shipping included, on account of a busted nib. A special thanks to @mizgeorge for coaching me on how to give this nib a second life by turning it into a stub. Other than the broken nib, the pen seems in excellent condition. This obviously was someone's pride and joy (till they dropped it). There are no cracks or  real scratches to speak of, and the filling system works perfectly. 

 

 

 

 

Very, very nice!!

[NumberSix]

Just ordered two big Indian eyedroppers from the FPR Halloween sale:

• Guider Zimbo, line green ebonite
• Airmail 71JT

 

I have been meaning to try both of these pens for quite some time, and they're frequently sold out. So when I saw the sale price and that they were actually available, I impulsively ordered (along with some inks).

[KB3K]

A Jinhao 100 and a Wing Sung 601. I have other pens from both companies that I like, but these were a bit of a price jump from what I normally spend on Chinese made pens. Both are great so far. If they last reasonably long I’ll have no complaints.

[Gloucesterman]

10 hours ago, Tas said:

Yesterday, I ordered what to me looks like the Sheaffer PFM / Taranis' love child, the Sheaffer Icon.

I really like the Taranis AND I love the one you bought. May I ask you where you bought it and the price? If you prefer, you can PM me.

Thank you...

[sansenri]

I have just bought an Omas AM87 555s in cherry briarwood.

The pen is somewhat uncommon, and comes with an Omas steel nib.

The reason why I bought is that I happen to own an Omas #5 spare 18k nib that should fit this pen...

I can't wait to receive it!

 

[Cruisincruzan]

In a few months I’ll be retiring after a 36 year career in Emergency Medicine with 35 of those as a Director. I am retiring a few years earlier than I had planned largely because of the COVID pandemic. I decided to treat myself to a Namiki Emperor Rakucho Birds and Weeping Cherry Blossom Maki-e pen. I never thought I would spend that kind of money on a pen but this is my “grail” pen. After being as miserable as I have been over the past 2 years my wife said I deserved it, another reason we have been together 44 years. It should arrive in about 2 weeks, looking forward to it.

[brokenclay]

4 minutes ago, stepheg said:

In a few months I’ll be retiring after a 36 year career in Emergency Medicine with 35 of those as a Director. I am retiring a few years earlier than I had planned largely because of the COVID pandemic. I decided to treat myself to a Namiki Emperor Rakucho Birds and Weeping Cherry Blossom Maki-e pen. I never thought I would spend that kind of money on a pen but this is my “grail” pen. After being as miserable as I have been over the past 2 years my wife said I deserved it, another reason we have been together 44 years. It should arrive in about 2 weeks, looking forward to it.

Congratulations, both on your long career of helping others and your impending retirement. The pen sounds like a beautiful capstone, and a lovely way to enter a new phase of your life.

[Gloucesterman]

19 minutes ago, stepheg said:

In a few months I’ll be retiring after a 36 year career in Emergency Medicine with 35 of those as a Director. I am retiring a few years earlier than I had planned largely because of the COVID pandemic. I decided to treat myself to a Namiki Emperor Rakucho Birds and Weeping Cherry Blossom Maki-e pen. I never thought I would spend that kind of money on a pen but this is my “grail” pen. After being as miserable as I have been over the past 2 years my wife said I deserved it, another reason we have been together 44 years. It should arrive in about 2 weeks, looking forward to it.

Thank YOU for all of your work as well as specifically during the Covid pandemic. Your work and efforts have benefited the lives of many.

 

Wishing that you enjoy all aspects of your retirement AND savor what will be a wonderful gift to yourself. BTW, my compliments to your wife for her love, insight, understanding and obviously life long support. It sounds as if you both are wonderful people.

 

Joy and well being always and all ways.

[brokenclay]

Definitely an impulse purchase, and one that I am already regretting: an FPR Indus with a steel flex nib. I am left handed, I cannot flex. No idea why I decided to buy this.

 

Actually, I do know. I have a Kanwrite Desire, also from FPR, with a flex nib, and it is one of my very favorite pens. I don't get any actual flex writing out of it, but the flexiness manifests as softness. I don't normally like writing with fine nibs, but this pen is a joy every time I pick it up. So I thought I'd try something similar but different.

[N1003U]

8 hours ago, brokenclay said:

Definitely an impulse purchase, and one that I am already regretting: an FPR Indus with a steel flex nib. I am left handed, I cannot flex. No idea why I decided to buy this.

 

Actually, I do know. I have a Kanwrite Desire, also from FPR, with a flex nib, and it is one of my very favorite pens. I don't get any actual flex writing out of it, but the flexiness manifests as softness. I don't normally like writing with fine nibs, but this pen is a joy every time I pick it up. So I thought I'd try something similar but different.

Fellow lefty here. I also like soft nibs, but I also never really found a true flex nib to be all that useful. It is occasionally pointed out to me that with a pen in the left hand, the nib angle is generally good for many pointed-pen fonts. This is true as far as it goes, but I find I will need a ton more practice to figure out when to press, and when to let up on the flex.

 

It would seem to be easy to simply press/flex on the pull stokes, and be very light-handed on the push strokes, but for me it is somehow a very unnatural feeling, and I have difficulty controlling the pressure.

 

Maybe I just need more practice…

[Tas]

15 hours ago, Gloucesterman said:

I really like the Taranis AND I love the one you bought. May I ask you where you bought it and the price? If you prefer, you can PM me.

Thank you...

 

Having searched all UK sites that came up on Google (and failing to find stock) I ended up ordering it from the uber reputable Appelboom. Firefox used a honey voucher to get £5.00 off. Appelboom almost immediately emailed me and professionally let me know that they were awaiting imminent stock.

😇

[Bikerchick]

58 minutes ago, Tas said:

 

Having searched all UK sites that came up on Google (and failing to find stock) I ended up ordering it from the uber reputable Appelboom. Firefox used a honey voucher to get £5.00 off. Appelboom almost immediately emailed me and professionally let me know that they were awaiting imminent stock.

😇

Good luck with that... 

[DrDebG]

On 10/28/2021 at 5:07 PM, Cruisincruzan said:

In a few months I’ll be retiring after a 36 year career in Emergency Medicine with 35 of those as a Director. I am retiring a few years earlier than I had planned largely because of the COVID pandemic. I decided to treat myself to a Namiki Emperor Rakucho Birds and Weeping Cherry Blossom Maki-e pen. I never thought I would spend that kind of money on a pen but this is my “grail” pen. After being as miserable as I have been over the past 2 years my wife said I deserved it, another reason we have been together 44 years. It should arrive in about 2 weeks, looking forward to it.

 

Congratulations and thank you for your years of sacrifice to help others, particularly the last couple of years!  I hope that you and your wife enjoy the retirement years ahead.  Perhaps you and your wife should celebrate by going to pick up your new pen from Japan personally.  You may really enjoy the trip.  

[DvdRiet]

On 10/29/2021 at 2:07 AM, Cruisincruzan said:

In a few months I’ll be retiring after a 36 year career in Emergency Medicine with 35 of those as a Director. I am retiring a few years earlier than I had planned largely because of the COVID pandemic. I decided to treat myself to a Namiki Emperor Rakucho Birds and Weeping Cherry Blossom Maki-e pen. I never thought I would spend that kind of money on a pen but this is my “grail” pen. After being as miserable as I have been over the past 2 years my wife said I deserved it, another reason we have been together 44 years. It should arrive in about 2 weeks, looking forward to it.

 

Very well deserved indeed!! Hope you really enjoy that pen! And some well-deserved rest after the misery of these past two years.

[A Smug Dill]

I've fallen again! I just ordered a HongDian 1841 supposedly with a 14K gold F nib. The pen's form and presentation is uninspiring; and I'm sure I wouldn't appreciate a HongDian #32 F nib, when I haven't been satisfied with the fineness of a HongDian #32 (steel) EF nib. However, I suspect this seller on AliExpress priced the gold-nibbed variant of the pen model wrong; it is listed at the same price as the steel-nibbed variants (which it sells for ~US$9 higher than any other AliExpress seller). So, on account of it being the last unit of the gold-nibbed variants, I jumped on it when I saw in checkout that it's clearly stated, “Product properties: 14K gold Wine Red +  F”. Two sellers (being different storefronts of the same seller, really) offering it more cheaply does not explicitly state what nib material was selected by the customer; a third seller, who allows the customer to explicitly select a gold nib option, almost quadruples the price when a gold nib option is selected.

 

So, why not give it a go. Time for me to try a Chinese-made gold nib, and HongDian is probably the brand I hold in highest regard when it comes to Chinese fountain pens. If it turns out not to be a 14K gold nib, I'll just go through the rigmarole of rejecting the goods and sending it back. If it's indeed a 14K gold nib but I just don't like how it writes… diddums; I'm sure I can give it away as a curiosity to someone else.

[maclink]

2 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

If it turns out not to be a 14K gold nib, I'll just go through the rigmarole of rejecting the goods and sending it back.

How do you reliably determine the difference between a steel and a gold nib?

[A Smug Dill]

13 minutes ago, maclink said:

How do you reliably determine the difference between a steel and a gold nib?

 

I'll just have to trust the inscription on the nib face. The steel nibs for the HongDian 1841 are two-toned, whereas the gold nibs for the model are all yellow-gold in colour and clearly marked 14K, according to the product's marketing images.

[IlikeInksandIcannotlie]

55 minutes ago, maclink said:

How do you reliably determine the difference between a steel and a gold nib?

Maybe measure the electrical resistance of the nib, and compare that with that of a similar unplated HongDian  nib?