I got this pen today

[Misfit]

I got two pens in the mail today. One is a Monteverde Mountains of the World Ruby Mountains with a 1.1mm stub nib. The other is a Kaco Retro in red. 

[Paul-in-SF]

On 4/5/2023 at 8:58 AM, Paul-in-SF said:

A coral-colored ST Dupont Fidelio, via FedEx, from elsewhere in my own state.

 

This thing looks like candy. I feel like I shouldn't love a pen because of its looks, but I can't help it with this one. 

[51ISH]

41 minutes ago, Paul-in-SF said:

 

This thing looks like candy. I feel like I shouldn't love a pen because of its looks, but I can't help it with this one. 

 

Any news on your pens that are stuck in Customs?

[Paul-in-SF]

4 hours ago, 51ISH said:

Any news on your pens that are stuck in Customs?

 

Oh, I forgot to update that one. It was one pen, really, that was not giving me any tracking updates (because it was from Serbia) and was longer than usual in transit. Total time was 17 days, and it actually arrived last Saturday. 

[Penguincollector]

7 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

 

This thing looks like candy. I feel like I shouldn't love a pen because of its looks, but I can't help it with this one. 

 

8 hours ago, Misfit said:

I got two pens in the mail today. One is a Monteverde Mountains of the World Ruby Mountains with a 1.1mm stub nib. The other is a Kaco Retro in red. 

Is it time for a red pen thread?

[jchch1950]

Any comments about the Kaco Retro? 

[Misfit]

@Penguincollector  yes, perhaps it is time for the Red Pen Club. Hmmm, it’s almost RGB for the first three pen clubs if we choose red next. 
 

@jchch1950 I haven’t had a chance to put ink in it. There are lots of reviews about the pen. I’m not sure what ink I want to put in it. It has a hooded EF nib. I looked at some reviews, and learned from two of them that the Kaco takes standard international cartridges. I think I’ll put a cartridge of Diamine Oxblood in it.  

[Paul-in-SF]

6 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

Is it time for a red pen thread?

 

Red? I did my best with the photo but it still leans a little dark. It is, in fact, Coral, a breathtaking orangy-pink that was so popular in the 1950s when I was growing up. So it's in the red family, but only like that second cousin who's always in the back of the family photos (but who draws your eye every time). 

[DvdRiet]

20 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

 

This thing looks like candy. I feel like I shouldn't love a pen because of its looks, but I can't help it with this one. 

GORGEOUS!! Yes, you’re definitely allowed to love a pen for its looks, in my book anyway. Loving that color 😍

[PithyProlix]

20 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

 

This thing looks like candy. I feel like I shouldn't love a pen because of its looks, but I can't help it with this one. 

 

Lacquered earlier Dupont models - Classique, La Plume Ultime, Gatsby, Lady Mascara, and Montparnasse - are one of the few non-Japanese pens I really look out for. To my eye, they are real beauties - very classy yet minimal, clean aesthetics. A dark blue La Plume Ultime is on its way to me now. 

 

I see quite a few of these earlier Duponts (and, unfortunately, a good many fakes)  come up for sale here in Thailand and I suspect they must have been popular among the so called "HiSo", i. e. high society. (Nowadays it seems like Montblanc is the thing here.)

[Misfit]

@jchch1950

 

[Waltz For Zizi]

2 hours ago, Misfit said:

@jchch1950

 

Have you tried the jinhao 86? if yes, which one would you say is better between the 86 and the kaco?

[Misfit]

@Waltz For Zizi  Hi, no I have not tried a Jinhao 86. Sorry I can’t be of help. 

[51ISH]

1 hour ago, Waltz For Zizi said:

Have you tried the jinhao 86? if yes, which one would you say is better between the 86 and the kaco?

From the reviews I've seen the Kaco is the better pen. Just be aware it tends to write a western F/M. So the Jinhao 86 probably writes a finer line if that is what you are looking for.

[Paul-in-SF]

10 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

these earlier Duponts

 

I know nothing about these pens, I stumbled on them by accident. How early is this one likely to be (and/or, how long did the Fidelio line run)?

[jchch1950]

10 hours ago, Misfit said:

@jchch1950

 

Thank you for the answer. Hope you will enjoy it for a long time.

[PithyProlix]

1 hour ago, Paul-in-SF said:

 

I know nothing about these pens, I stumbled on them by accident. How early is this one likely to be (and/or, how long did the Fidelio line run)?

 

Actually, I don't know much about the Fidelio because I only buy locally here in Thailand and, even though Duponts continue to be sold here, we don't see many models - at least ones that are not fake - later than the Montparnasse. (I believe Montblanc became the HiSo brand of choice.) But here's some information, indicating 1990s to 2013: https://penstylo.blogspot.com/p/dupont-penography.html#d07

 

Also there's this fantastic thread which, unfortunately, is missing many of the photos: 

 

 

You probably already know that your pen is lacquered with Chinese urushi.

 

Be careful - Duponts are a slippery slope - and can be a fairly expensive one, at that. And there are a lot of well-done fakes. I'm happy with the earlier models, not only because they are available to me locally, but also because I prefer the more cylindrical designs and I've learned to identify fakes of these models pretty well.

 

Take a look here https://penstylo.blogspot.com/2017/06/st-dupont.html at the special/limited editions, too. Many are way over-the-top gaudy but fun to see.

[Bo Bo Olson]

4 hours ago, PithyProlix said:

And there are a lot of well-done fakes.

I had a Vertigo fake, had I known then about nib polishing, I might have kept it......very, very well made, but for €35 it was a flea market hope only....and Jar let me know the sad truth I really didn't want to hear.

 

The box is fake, and why should there be other advertisements for Dupont pens in your box? That would be tossed by anyone having bought one as unnecessary junk, if they were there in the first place....the box and the paperwork are a  tiny bit off, one should look up the way the real boxes and paper work and instruction booklets look. Fake's paper goods are just a little bit off and the  gold nib, IS Not Magnetic!!!!

Mine was very well made.... such a pretty pen............ Sometimes you get what you pay for.

 

 

[PithyProlix]

33 minutes ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

I had a Vertigo fake, had I known then about nib polishing, I might have kept it......very, very well made, but for €35 it was a flea market hope only....and Jar let me know the sad truth I really didn't want to hear.

 

The box is fake, and why should there be other advertisements for Dupont pens in your box? That would be tossed by anyone having bought one as unnecessary junk, if they were there in the first place....the box and the paperwork are a  tiny bit off, one should look up the way the real boxes and paper work and instruction booklets look. Fake's paper goods are just a little bit off and the  gold nib, IS Not Magnetic!!!!

Mine was very well made.... such a pretty pen............ Sometimes you get what you pay for.

 

 

I bought a fake second hand Dupont Olympio on purpose - it was like $3 or thereabouts - just to learn more about fakes. Even though it's a fake the nib is not magnetic (false positive) so it's not a reliable test for a fake pen real gold nib, though if a magnetic is attracted to a nib it should indicate that the nib is not gold (true negative).

 

The Olympio fake I have is a really good, robustly built pen that's developed some flow problems, unfortunately. That said, it's not a good enough pen that I feel motivated to try to repair it. Vertigo is a special version of the Olympio (also probably my choice for the best film ever ...).

Edited April 9, 2023 by PithyProlix
precision

[Misfit]

9 hours ago, jchch1950 said:

Thank you for the answer. Hope you will enjoy it for a long time.

I appreciate that.