What Fountain Pen Have You Lost?

[ethernautrix]

 

 

I felt terrible just reading this. Wow.

 

It's a shame the vintage parker I just mentioned wasn't a 75, or I'd send you the barrel. It's still sitting here unused to this day.

Awh! No need to feel terrible. I mean... I felt terrible but have a knee-jerk make-the-best-of-it reaction. Sucks, but can't undo such losses. (Meaning, every once in a while a lost pen reappears in the pocket of a rain poncho months or a year later (felt like a year) (felt like I lost the sentimentally-significant Waterman relatively cheap rollerball that I'd bought on Blvd. St. Germaine, Paris, a model that I bought multiple times, cos (huh) I kept losing it. This was the last one I bought, and I still have it. Whew! It's one of my memento pens, so "it doesn't count." (In the question of "how many pens do you have?"))

 

Thank you so much for saying that you'd send me the Parker 75 barrel if you had it. Warms me heart. *Smiley* So kind!

 

 

Edited (could probably use more editing) cos nested parentheses are confusing, and I'm not sure I corrected them. (It's nearly 06:00 here, and I'm still up. Ha.)

Edited November 8, 2019 by ethernautrix

[essayfaire]

What a shame that we don't have a way to obtain backup copies of real objects the same way we do digital ones; I suppose it's one reason we value the physical objects, however. At least none of us were so heartbroken that we vowed never to have a good pen again.

[A Smug Dill]

What a shame that we don't have a way to obtain backup copies of real objects the same way we do digital ones; I suppose it's one reason we value the physical objects, however.

 

 

"In the same way" just sets off alarm bells, because it seems to suggest far more than simply the facility to make an exact duplicate to be put away in storage, but also imply the ease and low (or absence of) cost in doing so, as opposed to, "I value this thing so much, I'll offer twenty-fold the price I originally paid just to have it back and whole should mine be lost or broken."

 

"Limited edition" or "one of a kind" products no longer have any meaning, and as a consumer I'd hate that. Part of the gratification is to secure one of the very few units in existence of what I like, on the assumption that there is more (latent or active) demand for it than there are items to fulfil that demand, and it becomes something of (winning) a competition between fellow enthusiasts.

[essayfaire]

 

 

"In the same way" just sets off alarm bells, because it seems to suggest far more than simply the facility to make an exact duplicate to be put away in storage, but also imply the ease and low (or absence of) cost in doing so, as opposed to, "I value this thing so much, I'll offer twenty-fold the price I originally paid just to have it back and whole should mine be lost or broken."

Perhaps it wasn't quite the right phrase - but my pens are not worth enough monetarily for me to put them on an insurance rider, yet are worth enough that I can't just go replace them.

 

Based on posts of yours throughout the forums, I suspect your pens may have a higher monetary value than mine; it remains that most pens, however, even LEs, are one of a set of objects (like a lithograph, say) as opposed to a singular creation (like a painting). This in no way implies that the pens are not worth a great deal to the pen-owner, but puts their replacement in the financial rather than existential realm. It's ironic that if my pens were worth more money I would be more likely to insure and therefore replace them (if need be).

[ErrantSmudge]

Lost two Lamy Safaris, at different times, in the past year. I don't know what happened to the blue one, the green one disappeared when I took it out to take notes while shopping, and then forgot about it.

 

Neither one was special to me and I could easily buy replacements, but each one was a source of regret. I hope I never lose one of the expensive or sentimental pens in my collection.

Edited November 15, 2019 by ErrantSmudge

[ka7ple]

I left a pen case with three pens including a Dupont Vertigo and a Pilot VP Guilloche on an airplane to London. I didn't notice until getting to the hotel a couple hours later. I immediately filed a claim with the airline and airport but knew my odds were low. Six days later when I went to the airport for my return flight I asked the gate agent if they had a lost and found, not expecting anything. Ten minutes later the agent showed up with the pen case with pens still included and I was shocked. I now always keep a business card in my pen cases and am obsessive about checking for them while traveling (and I avoid bringing LE pens).

 

That is a great Idea. I am also going to borrow the idea of a business card in my pen case I use for my EDC.

Thanks!

 

[essayfaire]

 

I left a pen case with three pens including a Dupont Vertigo and a Pilot VP Guilloche on an airplane to London. I didn't notice until getting to the hotel a couple hours later. I immediately filed a claim with the airline and airport but knew my odds were low. Six days later when I went to the airport for my return flight I asked the gate agent if they had a lost and found, not expecting anything. Ten minutes later the agent showed up with the pen case with pens still included and I was shocked. I now always keep a business card in my pen cases and am obsessive about checking for them while traveling (and I avoid bringing LE pens).

 

That is a great Idea. I am also going to borrow the idea of a business card in my pen case I use for my EDC.

Thanks!

 

 

Ditto on the idea. I keep a card in my bullet journal but if I have my pens in a separate case I suppose they deserve a card of their own.

 

I'm so glad that one of these stories ended up with an (incredibly) happy ending; perhaps there is hope for us all.

[A Smug Dill]

I suspect your pens may have a higher monetary value than mine; it remains that most pens,

Only some of them, and that's just an assumption on both our parts.

 

however, even LEs, are one of a set of objects (like a lithograph, say) as opposed to a singular creation (like a painting).

Nobody can replace a Lamy 2000 Bauhaus with serial number 0001/1919 or 0888/1919, though, unless Lamy incredibly chooses to remake it on request (and confirmation that the original has been destroyed or is truly lost forever). Every physical object is unique if and for someone who chooses to focus on the characteristics and aspects that make it unique, and assign worth to such. A buyer who, as a person, values being first and foremost will in all likelihood be prepared to pay a higher price for the pen with serial number 0001/1919 and not 0874/1919, even if the seller(s) of those respective pens don't subscribe to the same values, should both pens be available concurrently from which the buyer can choose.

 

This in no way implies that the pens are not worth a great deal to the pen-owner, but puts their replacement in the financial rather than existential realm.

In which realm would you regard bragging rights to be, with pretensions of prestige, astuteness and control all rolled into one? As in, "I managed to secure the 0001/1919, and because I have it, anyone who would also want it cannot have it in turn unless I say so?"

 

When that pen is lost or destroyed, it's more than the object that becomes permanently unavailable to either the most recent owner or would-be buyers forever. Of course money can buy other bragging rights, but just not that with which to "taunt" someone who really want the Lamy 2000 Bauhaus LE but not the (say) Aurora 88 Luna with serial number 001/153, or even set 01/33 of the Lamy Dialog 3 Urushi pens.

[melissa59]

I have lost or maybe just misplaced two pens. Both are Lamy Safari. One is a shiny black and the other was a "limited edition" apple green. I'm not heartbroken but I am a little bummed about the green Safari. It's not that it was a limited edition color, but because it was my only green pen. And since it's been gone, I've not used my green ink. (Yes, I am one of "those" people, a nut who thinks the ink should match a pen's body!)

 

BTW, my so-called "limited edition" color appears to now be part of the Safari standard lineup, but with a black finial instead of the matching green. Thankfully, I'm not a collector. If my original green Safari doesn't show up, I'll eventually get one of the newer green Safaris to replace it.

[essayfaire]

 

In which realm would you regard bragging rights to be, with pretensions of prestige, astuteness and control all rolled into one? As in, "I managed to secure the 0001/1919, and because I have it, anyone who would also want it cannot have it in turn unless I say so?"

 

When that pen is lost or destroyed, it's more than the object that becomes permanently unavailable to either the most recent owner or would-be buyers forever. Of course money can buy other bragging rights, but just not that with which to "taunt" someone who really want the Lamy 2000 Bauhaus LE but not the (say) Aurora 88 Luna with serial number 001/153, or even set 01/33 of the Lamy Dialog 3 Urushi pens.

You aren't reducing our love of our pens to mean-spiritedness, are you? As in, "I can't believe I'm lucky enough to have secured the only Vermeer painted in London" versus "I am so glad that I kept Smug from getting his hands on the only Vermeer painted in London".

 

We can never replace the books no longer extant from the library at Alexandria; this pains some of us more than others. But far be it from me to try to make interpersonal utility comparisons.

 

P.S. I readily agree that the first of a group may have a different value than later like-items of the same group. I would think the last might as well, as might other "significant" numbers.

[Rafiki76]

After 12 hours of being on campus, I met a friend for what was supposed to be a couple beers. 12 rounds later, we only had 2 beers, but the next morning as I am getting ready to go to class, I can't find my Pilot Metropolitan. It was the first pen I bought for myself for my birthday and I guess it slipped out of my pocket when I was playing pool or something. I ordered a new one and was thankful I stopped at the Lamy SF store and bought a Safari the Sunday before. My new one comes today but the original had a sentiment to me that I am not sure if the replacement can cover.

 

In the future I plan on moving my pen to my bag before going out, or stopping at home first and dropping my stuff.

[essayfaire]

After 12 hours of being on campus, I met a friend for what was supposed to be a couple beers. 12 rounds later, we only had 2 beers, but the next morning as I am getting ready to go to class, I can't find my Pilot Metropolitan. It was the first pen I bought for myself for my birthday and I guess it slipped out of my pocket when I was playing pool or something. I ordered a new one and was thankful I stopped at the Lamy SF store and bought a Safari the Sunday before. My new one comes today but the original had a sentiment to me that I am not sure if the replacement can cover.

 

In the future I plan on moving my pen to my bag before going out, or stopping at home first and dropping my stuff.

I am so sorry; perhaps the loss in sentiment can be partially soothed by the addition of your sad anecdote about the sentimental pen?

[Rafiki76]

I am so sorry; perhaps the loss in sentiment can be partially soothed by the addition of your sad anecdote about the sentimental pen?

It happens, I'm glad it wasn't a MB or something equally expensive. But yes I plan to relive the original through the replacement.

[A Smug Dill]

You aren't reducing our love of our pens to mean-spiritedness, are you? As in, "I can't believe I'm lucky enough to have secured the only Vermeer painted in London" versus "I am so glad that I kept Smug from getting his hands on the only Vermeer painted in London".

Not insofar as to acquire and monopolise an unique item or scarce resource just to deny someone else's need or their satisfaction, even though the successful buyer has little personal interest in the actual thing. On the flip side, I don't subscribe to any doctrine that utility and/or gratification from something ought to be spread widely to as many as possible and maximised for the collective value derived. If someone legitimately has clear title of a privately owned asset (or even treasure), then declines to allow others to partake in its use or enjoyment generally, and only selectively share any part of the benefit with a few of his choosing (because he can), at worst I'd say it's selfish and egotistical, and possibly overly competitive and pretentious, but I don't know whether you would deem that to be mean-spirited.

 

If only five pens in a particular line was ever made, and someone with wealth and influence goes out of his way to secure any many of those as possible for her private collection, is that mean-spirited even if it's understood that nobody else in her lifetime can have those she manages to acquire?

 

We can never replace the books no longer extant from the library at Alexandria; this pains some of us more than others.

What's that?

 

There's so much more that has been lost over millennia than of which any of us here today can even begin to know. An unfinished manuscript or score that the author or composer didn't live to complete. A song that some songwriter of note may have written for a lover as a private gift. "Secret" martial arts techniques that died with their only practitioners back in the day, because many schools had a policy of keeping them only for a single incumbent in each generation. I'm not sure cultural awareness of something that is lost make them retrospectively or arguably a greater loss to human civilisation.

[nanahcub]

My first ever fountain pen - a Parker New Slimfold. I stil live in the forlorn hope that one day it will turn up somewhere in my parents' house (though I know deep down that it won't).

Since then, too many to mention sadly.

A feww others that come to mind... I had a Kaweco Sport Rollerball (one of the old type that took FP cartidges) that I cannot now replace.

And a really nice Elysee fountain pen that was not lost, but snapped in half when it was in my trouser pocket. My hands were full, and I closed a drawer by pushing it shut with my leg.

 

There is a sadness in losing a pen. They do have a way of becoming a part of you...

[essayfaire]

If someone legitimately has clear title of a privately owned asset (or even treasure), then declines to allow others to partake in its use or enjoyment generally, and only selectively share any part of the benefit with a few of his choosing (because he can), at worst I'd say it's selfish and egotistical, and possibly overly competitive and pretentious, but I don't know whether you would deem that to be mean-spirited.

 

If only five pens in a particular line was ever made, and someone with wealth and influence goes out of his way to secure any many of those as possible for her private collection, is that mean-spirited even if it's understood that nobody else in her lifetime can have those she manages to acquire?

 

 

 

I wouldn't, and of course not. It's her stuff; the mean-spiritedness comes from wanting a thing for the express purpose of denying it to others. If one just doesn't want to share one's things, that's fine. I wouldn't even say buying up all the stock of pens to encourage them to increase in price and make a monopoly profit is mean-spirited. Except for those people holding on to the CON-50s...

 

What's that?

 

There's so much more that has been lost over millennia than of which any of us here today can even begin to know. An unfinished manuscript or score that the author or composer didn't live to complete. A song that some songwriter of note may have written for a lover as a private gift. "Secret" martial arts techniques that died with their only practitioners back in the day, because many schools had a policy of keeping them only for a single incumbent in each generation. I'm not sure cultural awareness of something that is lost make them retrospectively or arguably a greater loss to human civilisation.

One of the interesting things about living in a state of ignorance is that we cannot know what we don't know. Maybe we have lost great things, maybe not: but history is surely incomplete when we read of reactions to say, ancient Greek plays that we have no access to and therefore cannot put the ancient Greeks's analyses of these works in any sort of full context. As I'm sure your aware, standing in front of an iconic painting and examining it is a quite different experience than seeing a reproduction of that painting in a book or on a poster. The martial arts techniques seem more likely to be "re-invented", although particular katas may be lost. That makes me sad as well. Unfinished works are a different case as the authors/composers/artists may have been quite discontented with the form the works were in at the time of their creators's deaths.

[seaclanky]

Hey Chaps.

 

I left my Parker 50 on a ship I served on back in '82. I'm still annoyed with myself, to this day.

I could buy another one just the same...... but it wouldn't be the same.

 

On a brighter note, I rescued my late father-in-law's old FP's from the bin-bag they were about to be ditched in. I know that they are just old pens but they have a value to me. I guess, you win some, you lose some.

 

Cheers,

Graeme.

[chalkdust]

I am not happy to share that I now have a post for this thread. On recent vacation I had chosen my blue Opus 88 Koloro for my travel journaling pen because I like its ability to seal to prevent leaks during flight and its large ink capacity that can support intensive journaling for many, many days. Well, somehow by day two I could not find it. I still need to think through what I have learned for this event. It was filled with Noodler's X-Feather and worked great for the beginning of my journal. Oh well, my major daily use pens are still here at home with me.

[WarrenB]

Not an FP, but my Uni Style-Fit was in my pocket when I signed in at work this morning, and wasn't there when I went to sign out. A quick look around the site turned up nothing.

 

I guess someone pocketed it. Not a big loss, just mildly inconvenient (particularly after modifying a pencil insert to take 0.7mm leads) and "enjoy" to whoever - if anyone - picked it up. My first instance of passing on a pen, even if it was a bit unexpected. But I coulda done without the security guard's attitude about going asking about a pen, when there was a handful of chewed-up bics sitting right there on the counter...

[seoulseeker]

I lost an ST Dupont Olympio when I was fairly new into fountain pens. That was a pricey lesson - but one well learned. I've not lost a pen since!