What Was Your Last Impulsive Pen Acquisition?

[senzen]

Couldn't resist... Again. An Ibis which may or may not work and an Aquamarine M205.

[WLSpec]

2 Asvine Skeleton pens. Probably going to order some interesting nibs to put in them too... maybe those Kaigelu steel calligraphy nibs.

[sappie66]

1 hour ago, N1003U said:

That depends: with or without the extension? With the extension, I find a posted Supra is very back-weighted. It is one of the few pens I own that I tend not to post unless I am using it in short mode. I tried posting the Supra with extension, but I found it had too much oversteer. Fun in the corners, but sometimes too unstable to be safe, especially at high speed. 😜

 

I tend to post the majority of my pens. In fact, one of the reasons I think I am such a Pelikan fan is that so many Pelikans balance exquisitely in my hand when they are posted. One might even speculate that they were designed to be posted.

There are others who don’t post their pens for a variety of reasons.

Of course I’m talking with the extension. Without it would not warrant comment!  ☺️

Too much oversteer!  👍
 

I find it manageable enough.  Maybe not for long periods.

[A Smug Dill]

5 hours ago, sappie66 said:

I went into the shop thinking I would pick up the MB 149 Platinum, but left with the Enzo instead.  I will probably get one eventually.

 

Or maybe this one is next?

https://www.montblanc.com/en-lu/fountain-pens_cod38063312418294526.html

[sappie66]

54 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Or maybe this one is next?

https://www.montblanc.com/en-lu/fountain-pens_cod38063312418294526.html

It's pretty!!!

[OldTravelingShoe]

4 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Or maybe this one is next?

https://www.montblanc.com/en-lu/fountain-pens_cod38063312418294526.html

Nice pen! La Couronne du Comte advertises it on my neck of the woods. And @fpupulin(and others) make such a compelling argument for the nib in their epic, The Meisterstück 149 Calligraphy Appreciation Thread:

 

[A Smug Dill]

3 hours ago, sappie66 said:

It's pretty!!!

 

I have to agree that it is. Most of Sailor's so-called limited edition colourways are a shame, compared to this. I really like the look of it.

 

1 minute ago, OldTravelingShoe said:

Nice pen! La Couronne du Comte advertises it on my neck of the woods.

 

It's from LCdC's newsletter that I learnt about it.

 

Alas, I'm extremely wary of (even, or perhaps especially, lauded) Western ‘flexible’ and/or ‘calligraphy’ nibs on fountain pens these days. As a not-exactly-cheap experiment, I got a Scribo FEEL with a 14K gold flexible EF nib, and was rather disappointed by how not Extra Fine it writes when little or no downward pressure is applied; how far the tines will spread to produce broader lines no longer mattered. So I don't think I'll take another leap with a pen that is about double my self-imposed ceiling of price per pen, and a Montblanc at that, since it is one of four brands I said I wouldn't buy — and every time I've broken that ‘rule’ in the past three years, things didn't turn out well for me.

[sappie66]

52 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

I have to agree that it is. Most of Sailor's so-called limited edition colourways are a shame, compared to this. I really like the look of it.

 

 

It's from LCdC's newsletter that I learnt about it.

 

Alas, I'm extremely wary of (even, or perhaps especially, lauded) Western ‘flexible’ and/or ‘calligraphy’ nibs on fountain pens these days. As a not-exactly-cheap experiment, I got a Scribo FEEL with a 14K gold flexible EF nib, and was rather disappointed by how not Extra Fine it writes when little or no downward pressure is applied; how far the tines will spread to produce broader lines no longer mattered. So I don't think I'll take another leap with a pen that is about double my self-imposed ceiling of price per pen, and a Montblanc at that, since it is one of four brands I said I wouldn't buy — and every time I've broken that ‘rule’ in the past three years, things didn't turn out well for me.

Am I missing something or are you calling it a very pretty dud?

[OldTravelingShoe]

1 hour ago, sappie66 said:

Am I missing something or are you calling it a very pretty dud?

Hehe, don't think so. I read @A Smug Dill's comment differently, as a sequence of three key arguments:

1. That objectively, and unlike a broad-range (UEF-BBB) traditional flex, the modern Western pens lack the finer part of the range in their flex, say UEF and even EF. 
2. That @A Smug Dillis wisely having a cap on how much to spend on any one pen. 
3. That @A Smug Dill is not keen on paying for the hype (desire) that Montblanc and similar brands capitalize on. Veblen goods was a term I've just seen used in this context. 

To be seen, but objectively with this much money one could try out many  vintage and modern pens. Also objectively, those won't be a Montblanc Meisterstück 149 Meisterstück Calligraphy Solitaire Burgundy Lacquer Flexible Nib. 

[A Smug Dill]

15 hours ago, sappie66 said:

Am I missing something or are you calling it a very pretty dud?

 

No, to both clauses in your question. If you read into it what I neither expressed nor implied, then I'm afraid you added to it, instead of missed something there.

 

14 hours ago, OldTravelingShoe said:

Hehe, don't think so. I read @A Smug Dill's comment differently,

 

Thank you!

 

The ‘Western’ pens that delivered on what I would class as true EF nib performance (from a nib so marked) out-of-the-box are few. Notable examples are the JoWo-made #6 steel EF nib on the my Edison Collier, which writes as fine as — if not finer than — there average F or even EF nib by the Japanese Big Three brands; the Bock-made(?) #6 steel EF nib on my Diplomat Aero; and the steel EF nib on my Rotring 400. (Worthy of a mention are the excellent JoWo-made #6 steel EF nibs on my three pens in Fine Writing International Planets series; but then FWI is actually a Taiwanese brand.) So it isn't as if I've never encountered a Western pen (sporting a JoWo-made or Bock-made nib, or something produced by a brand in-house) that is fit for the purposes of writing Chinese and Japanese to fit a 5mm square grid, or in an European language that uses a Latin-based alphabet to fit either a 5mm grid or 6mm ruled lines (with x-height of ~2.5mm); that is what I would expect the finest grade (among regular nib options) on offer to cater to, and for most brands that is the width grade of Extra Fine.

 

 

Nemosine's JoWo-made #6 EF nibs weren't bad. Aurora's EF nibs are a bit inconsistent in that regard out-of-the-box; some are OK. The EF nib on my Santini Italia Calypso pen was specially ground for me before it left the manufacturer's premises, and it's fine; but my understanding is that the brand's regular EF is nominally 0.5mm.

 

So, when it comes to writing with flair (i.e. line variation), I would want a nib to consistently deliver finer hairlines than 0.3mm, but produce swells that are stylistically appropriate for x-heights between 2.5mm and 3mm, especially if that line of ‘flexible’ or ‘calligraphy’ nibs come in multiple width grades. (If the finest nib in the line is able to produce calligraphic script for x-height of 5-6mm or even larger, and hairlines and swells of the appropriate widths to match, that would be a bonus.)

 

I don't trust the Montblanc flexible nib on its ‘calligraphy’ pen to deliver that. Maybe one day I'll bring my loupe (with an attachment for width measurement) with me, and walk into a Montblanc boutique and ask to try such a pen. However, it's a Montblanc — a brand I dislike, on account of the brand image that it seems to happily market to certain image-focused types who are keen to put status symbols on public display, and that includes my first manager from whom I had nothing but distaste — and the local asking price of the pen is likely to be threefold the maximum I'm prepared to pay out-of-pocket for a fountain pen; and so it doesn't feel right for me to do so. As well, I'm not going to order the pen, sight unseen, from my preferred (overseas) retailers who usually offer me a non-trivial ‘courtesy’ discount; the price is too high for a leap of blind faith, especially after the (performance-wise) supposedly comparable Scribo FEEL flexible EF nib disappointed me. (Now that would have been a very pretty dud, other than for the fact that I offered it to my wife even before I ordered it, and let her choose her preferred colourway; she doesn't mind nibs that write a little broader than my requirements.)

 

Edit:

I can now see that the local RRP for the pen is A$2,600. That's more reasonable than the A$3,000 I was expecting, but still above what I can bring myself to spend on a single pen, however pretty.

 

Interestingly, the close-up photo of the flexible nib on the Meisterstück Solitaire Calligraphy Gold Leaf Flexible Nib Fountain Pen shows a far pointier nib than that on the Meisterstück Calligraphy Solitaire Burgundy Lacquer Flexible Nib fountain pen. The latter just leaves me cold.

 

Edited January 10, 2022 by A Smug Dill

[awa54]

Managed to acquire my *second* Pilot Custom Sterling Hannya Shin Kyo this afternoon...

 

like the first one, it has a fine nib and looks to be in excellent condition (at least that's what the auction photos show), but unlike that initial purchase made back in the early 2000s, the nib doesn't appear to be bent and more importantly, I can actually afford the price I paid, so I won't be losing money by flipping this one in a partial trade for a Parker 51

 

I *was* outbid on the matching ballpoint, which went for a very fair price as well, but I didn't chase it, since the FP was what I really wanted/will use.

[sappie66]

10 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

No, to both clauses in your question. If you read into it what I neither expressed nor implied, then I'm afraid you added to it, instead of missed something there.

 

 

Thank you!

 

The ‘Western’ pens that delivered on what I would class as true EF nib performance (from a nib so marked) out-of-the-box are few. Notable examples are the JoWo-made #6 steel EF nib on the my Edison Collier, which writes as fine as — if not finer than — there average F or even EF nib by the Japanese Big Three brands; the Bock-made(?) #6 steel EF nib on my Diplomat Aero; and the steel EF nib on my Rotring 400. (Worthy of a mention are the excellent JoWo-made #6 steel EF nibs on my three pens in Fine Writing International Planets series; but then FWI is actually a Taiwanese brand.) So it isn't as if I've never encountered a Western pen (sporting a JoWo-made or Bock-made nib, or something produced by a brand in-house) that is fit for the purposes of writing Chinese and Japanese to fit a 5mm square grid, or in an European language that uses a Latin-based alphabet to fit either a 5mm grid or 6mm ruled lines (with x-height of ~2.5mm); that is what I would expect the finest grade (among regular nib options) on offer to cater to, and for most brands that is the width grade of Extra Fine.

 

 

Nemosine's JoWo-made #6 EF nibs weren't bad. Aurora's EF nibs are a bit inconsistent in that regard out-of-the-box; some are OK. The EF nib on my Santini Italia Calypso pen was specially ground for me before it left the manufacturer's premises, and it's fine; but my understanding is that the brand's regular EF is nominally 0.5mm.

 

So, when it comes to writing with flair (i.e. line variation), I would want a nib to consistently deliver finer hairlines than 0.3mm, but produce swells that are stylistically appropriate for x-heights between 2.5mm and 3mm, especially if that line of ‘flexible’ or ‘calligraphy’ nibs come in multiple width grades. (If the finest nib in the line is able to produce calligraphic script for x-height of 5-6mm or even larger, and hairlines and swells of the appropriate widths to match, that would be a bonus.)

 

I don't trust the Montblanc flexible nib on its ‘calligraphy’ pen to deliver that. Maybe one day I'll bring my loupe (with an attachment for width measurement) with me, and walk into a Montblanc boutique and ask to try such a pen. However, it's a Montblanc — a brand I dislike, on account of the brand image that it seems to happily market to certain image-focused types who are keen to put status symbols on public display, and that includes my first manager from whom I had nothing but distaste — and the local asking price of the pen is likely to be threefold the maximum I'm prepared to pay out-of-pocket for a fountain pen; and so it doesn't feel right for me to do so. As well, I'm not going to order the pen, sight unseen, from my preferred (overseas) retailers who usually offer me a non-trivial ‘courtesy’ discount; the price is too high for a leap of blind faith, especially after the (performance-wise) supposedly comparable Scribo FEEL flexible EF nib disappointed me. (Now that would have been a very pretty dud, other than for the fact that I offered it to my wife even before I ordered it, and let her choose her preferred colourway; she doesn't mind nibs that write a little broader than my requirements.)

Okay!  ☺️

[OldTravelingShoe]

1 hour ago, awa54 said:

Managed to acquire my *second* Pilot Custom Sterling Hannya Shin Kyo this afternoon...

Congrats, @awa54, enjoy the new pen! 

[OldTravelingShoe]

11 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

Thank you!

Great new post, @A Smug Dill, I'm saving it for later to take some notes. Lots to learn, thank you! 

[chromantic]

Was checking Optimas on iguanasell last Thursday and saw the Caleidoscopio Luce Rosa.

 

"OMG!" I cried, "I must have this pen!"

[MissCellany]

On 12/23/2021 at 10:49 AM, MissCellany said:

 

Still waiting to hear that they've shipped, I'm planning on sending a gentle email asking what's going on as the new year starts. I know back-orders and shipping delays are the norm, both with the holiday season as well as The State Of Things, so I'm not terribly concerned. 😌

 

So after hearing about what's going on with Pelikan, and giving it a good hard think, I cancelled this order...and used most of the refunded money to order a Wahl-Eversharp Decoband Overside in the Grigia Perla celluloid. 😌

[carola]

40 minutes ago, MissCellany said:

 

So after hearing about what's going on with Pelikan, and giving it a good hard think, I cancelled this order...and used most of the refunded money to order a Wahl-Eversharp Decoband Overside in the Grigia Perla celluloid. 😌

 

Talking about Grigio Perla...

I stumbled over an Omas 360 90th Anniversary in Grigio Perla last night.

Well... I was euphoric.

Did it matter it was sitting in Australia on the other side of the world? Nah.

Did it matter it isn´t exactly what you would call a cheap pen? Nah.

Did I make an offer? You bet I did! (And yes, it was accepted.)

[65brix]

This will be my next one with my upcoming paycheck:

https://www.penchalet.com/fine_pens/fountain_pens/waldmann_tango_imagination_18kt_nib_fountain_pens.html

 

[Calabria]

4 hours ago, carola said:

 

Talking about Grigio Perla...

I stumbled over an Omas 360 90th Anniversary in Grigio Perla last night.

Well... I was euphoric.

Did it matter it was sitting in Australia on the other side of the world? Nah.

Did it matter it isn´t exactly what you would call a cheap pen? Nah.

Did I make an offer? You bet I did! (And yes, it was accepted.)

I hope we get to see pictures!!

[Gloucesterman]

4 hours ago, 65brix said:

This will be my next one with my upcoming paycheck:

https://www.penchalet.com/fine_pens/fountain_pens/waldmann_tango_imagination_18kt_nib_fountain_pens.html

 

Nice looking pen. i have purchased from Pen Chalet several times recently and have been very satisfied with pricing, packaging and generally great customer service. Would definitely purchase from them again without hesitation.