I got this pen today

[Bo Bo Olson]

I eventually got a real Dupont...nothing special, at a live auction for €90. One needs to have a Dupont for the workmanship.

((Had to look it up....too many pens and I don't collect Duponts.. it is my only one.....ST Dupont...dark blue (near black in the wrong light)... classique china lacquer fountain pen 18K 750 solid gold ...mine looks F/M nib to me but can't find any nib markings. Is an M, same as my P-75 M.

 

On German Ebay if impatient you can get it for only €280...saw a similar one for €100 less.

Someone's picture in I take the worlds worst picture and I really expect much from the spade nib, in spite of having a dirt cheap Reform semi/maxi-semi-flex spade nib.

 

It has been many a year, per-telphone/computer bidding and in the middle of summer vacation. Only three people in the Auction Hall. I picked up a poor near mint lonely 146 that I'd not wanted then too, for start price.

 

There was a woman sitting right next to me...who wants that Dupont for her husband, so instead of being a Somegi for €20 start price, i had a battle royal...for €90.

 

I don't really use it, in it's a nail. Just like I don't use my C'dA one either. But that one was part of live auction lot; not something I was aiming at like the Dupont.

 

Semi-nail !!! .....Looks like I'll ink it. I'm using my semi-nail P-75 on it's second back to back loading.....and I'm down to seven inked pens....somehow. Which is where I am supposed to be...a month ago with new inks i ended up inking 20 pens....the good thing about piston pens....could be converter pens also, is I don't have to fill them all the way up.

The cap posts well. Un-posted it's a bit heavy and too short for my 'forefinger up' grasping method. so it will have to sit in the pit of my thumb at 35 degrees..

Pelikan smokey quartz is the ink.

It sat for who knows how long before sitting a decade by me....a minute on the buff stick, made it smooth on mondi color copy 100g...a paper that impressed me...cept for the price.

It has a fairly wet nib in the shading on the Edelstein smoky quartz is not as much as I expected.

Mondi is smooth enough to write on, but I'm noticing wetter inks or nibs reduces it's shading.

 

There I have a gray plastic index card box, with cards with most of my pens in it, and supposedly what ink is in the pens......if I ever used it....another 5 mystery inks.

 

 

[PithyProlix]

There are 3 different versions of the Dupont Classique nib. I have only one Classique (in black - I will get more as I find good prices, I am sure) - the second version. I think 'semi-nail' describes it well and it is pretty similar to the P75's nib in feel, I think. It's a very pleasant nib to write with - not exciting - and all my Duponts are very reliable writers. But the workmanship, Chinese urushi work, and physical & visual design are exceptional. 

[Mercian]

Today, my Pilot Plumix ‘F’ arrived 🙂

 

It’s a European one, and it came to me in its original point-of-sale packaging, with ‘goodies’ included:

 

 

 

I like the inclusion of the livret d’initiation, and obviously the inclusion of two ‘short international’ cartridges too.

(I do wonder what ink might be in the cartridges. Did Pilot ever make SICs that contain its ink? 🤷‍♂️)

 

But my favourite thing about its point-of-sale packaging is neither of those things.

 

It’s this…

 

 

…the fact that Pilot actually printed the nominal width-measurements of the different grades of nib on their Plumix pens 🙂 

 

I currently have some dish-soap-solution wicking through the pen’s feed-&-nib.

 

It will only get inked when one of my currently-inked pens runs out of ‘fuel’.

[51ISH]

44 minutes ago, Mercian said:

Today, my Pilot Plumix ‘F’ arrived 🙂

 

It’s a European one, and it came to me in its original point-of-sale packaging, with ‘goodies’ included:

 

 

 

I like the inclusion of the livret d’initiation, and obviously the inclusion of two ‘short international’ cartridges too.

(I do wonder what ink might be in the cartridges. Did Pilot ever make SICs that contain its ink? 🤷‍♂️)

 

But my favourite thing about its point-of-sale packaging is neither of those things.

 

It’s this…

 

 

…the fact that Pilot actually printed the nominal width-measurements of the different grades of nib on their Plumix pens 🙂 

 

I currently have some dish-soap-solution wicking through the pen’s feed-&-nib.

 

It will only get inked when one of my currently-inked pens runs out of ‘fuel’.

 

I hope you have better luck with your 'Goodies' than I did... mine were all bone dry... 

[Mercian]

1 minute ago, 51ISH said:

 

I hope you have better luck with your 'Goodies' than I did... mine were all bone dry... 

 

That would be decidedly unfortunate with a nib this narrow! 😬

 

I might try Waterman ‘Serenity Blue’ in it first. Because I ‘know’ that ink already, so using it will enable me to gauge how ‘wet’ or ‘dry’ this pen is.

 

LizEF uses a Plumix EF nib for her ink reviews (albeit on a Prera pen-&-feed).

She got good results from Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black - which is an ink that I would have expected to be really dry.

Liz also found that Sailor Kiwa-Guro felt dry in her pen - whereas I’ve found it be ‘liquid silk’ in the pens that I’ve run it through.

 

Given how narrow the nib is, I think it’s going to need a ‘dark’ ink.
Maybe I ought to try Diamine Chocolate Brown… 🤔

[51ISH]

9 minutes ago, Mercian said:

 

That would be decidedly unfortunate with a nib this narrow! 😬

 

I might try Waterman ‘Serenity Blue’ in it first. Because I ‘know’ that ink already, so using it will enable me to gauge how ‘wet’ or ‘dry’ this pen is.

 

LizEF uses a Plumix EF nib for her ink reviews (albeit on a Prera pen-&-feed).

She got good results from Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black - which is an ink that I would have expected to be really dry.

Liz also found that Sailor Kiwa-Guro felt dry in her pen - whereas I’ve found it be ‘liquid silk’ in the pens that I’ve run it through.

 

Given how narrow the nib is, I think it’s going to need a ‘dark’ ink.
Maybe I ought to try Diamine Chocolate Brown… 🤔

 

🤣 😈

[Bo Bo Olson]

11 hours ago, Mercian said:

It will only get inked when one of my currently-inked pens runs out of ‘fuel’.

That's why I try and stay away from the Ink Section................oh, I have that ink........

Back down to 7 pens inked...............don't ask how many I have in my to clean cups.........

[Misfit]

Well that was quick.  My Levenger True Writer in Turquoise arrived today. It did ship from Memphis, Tennessee, so maybe that’s why. Tennessee is one of 8 states that share borders with my state. Fun fact: Missouri and Tennessee both have 8 states sharing borders for the highest number of border states. 
 

[DvdRiet]

7 minutes ago, Misfit said:

Well that was quick.  My Levenger True Writer in Turquoise arrived today. It did ship from Memphis, Tennessee, so maybe that’s why. Tennessee is one of 8 states that share borders with my state. Fun fact: Missouri and Tennessee both have 8 states sharing borders for the highest number of border states. 
 

That’s a gorgeous pen!!

[Misfit]

@DvdRiet Thank you. With the coupon code, it cost $35 or so before shipping. The pen is on sale, likely being discontinued. 

[Bo Bo Olson]

My wife would have gone nuts for that Navajo turquoise style cracked ice.

Yep, just did.

[Misfit]

2 hours ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

My wife would have gone nuts for that Navajo turquoise style cracked ice.

Yep, just did.

It’s on sale, and a coupon code works. But am I correct that you don’t live in the US?

[Bo Bo Olson]

I live in Germany, and super high US postal costs have kept me far away from the US fountain pen market even from the days when, I'd been looking at old cheap  Shaffer's or Parkers.

I had once a big lot of Esterbrooks and pre-post war Wearevers. Slowly got rid of them.

Now I regret that, but then I'd not use a lot of them.

 

Was from English Ebay. So I could afford the postage. Still have two Esteis and two Wearevers. the wife's Turquoise  70's and the fat capped camouflaged MP/FPWearever, (in the middle next to the red pre-war Wearever) , and a one of the marbled blues and Copper Estie.

Wearever had second tier pens, besides third and forth tier ones.

 

[Nellie]

My next attempt at finding a new M-nibbed pen I actually like (although it can't be a Sheaffer 😞):

Here's the Smooth Sage together with my sage-coloured Tip-Dip:

In the shop I had the hardest time deciding between this and the Blueberry (which was much nicer IRL than I'd expected it to be. The Mint was much, much lighter, almost white, and so it was out for me):

 

[AmandaW]

A Lamy Al-Star Gold SE. Love the black clip.

 

[jchch1950]

2 hours ago, AmandaW said:

A Lamy Al-Star Gold SE. Love the black clip.

 

+1.Lovely pen colour.

[51ISH]

Just arrived.....Sheaffer No Nonsense (F) Still with some black ink in the feed....just trying to decide if that's a good thing, or a bad thing....🤔 🙂

Seems to have cleaned up OK....Give her a drink of Diamine Denim I think...not tried that yet. 🤔   

[Stompie]

I have had a number of vintage pens stored away and have not used them in at least the last 8 years. All of them had been sent away for a service or repair but have then been packed away. I looked at them yesterday as I want to give them a run again but this Parker 51 was the only one I could be sure of the state of the ink sac so I filled it and........

 

 

[Stompie]

4 hours ago, AmandaW said:

A Lamy Al-Star Gold SE. Love the black clip.

 

That black contrast is nice!

[PithyProlix]

1 hour ago, Stompie said:

I have had a number of vintage pens stored away and have not used them in at least the last 8 years. All of them had been sent away for a service or repair but have then been packed away. I looked at them yesterday as I want to give them a run again but this Parker 51 was the only one I could be sure of the state of the ink sac so I filled it and........

 

 

 

It has a nice nib, though! I can't say that I enjoy my Parker 51s much. They are great pens - very reliable, nice ergonomics, built to last - but mine have rather humdrum nibs and I'm not very inspired to use them.