I got this pen today

[A Smug Dill]

23 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

I have not ordered one yet (though I likely will, regardless...).

 

You can see the HongDian A3 EF and ‘long knife’ F nibs in action in my review of Lamy Benitoite ink (but I know you've already seen that thread). That was originally an exercise in seeing how the HongDian nibs compare to some other small Chinese EF nibs, e.g. the one on the Jinhao 35.

[PithyProlix]

3 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

You can see the HongDian A3 EF and ‘long knife’ F nibs in action in my review of Lamy Benitoite ink (but I know you've already seen that thread). That was originally an exercise in seeing how the HongDian nibs compare to some other small Chinese EF nibs, e.g. the one on the Jinhao 35.

 

Great - that is very helpful, thanks.

 

[edited image from @A Smug Dill's aforementioned review]

 

This image is from before your HongDian A3 bicolor F seemed to lose its finer line, correct?

 

Is the text pointed to by the red arrows reverse writing? If yes, which text above is the finest non-reverse writing, written at a reasonably comfortable writing angle to the page? (I love what you are able to get out of this one nib in this review.)

 

(The HongDian A3 bicolor EF looks quite good in this review, perhaps even slightly bit finer than the Pilot MR F.)

(By the way, I love this review and format, which has a great amount of useful information in a single page. Thanks.)

[A Smug Dill]

20 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

This image is from before your HongDian A3 bicolor F seemed to lose its finer line, correct?

 

No. This was after I observed the lines produced when the pen is held between 60° and 80° to the paper getting broader than on Day One, even though I was still using Jacques Herbin Noir Abyssal (aged and half-used in a converter I plucked from the Jinhao 35) at the time.

 

(Yes, I did flush the nib unit with dilute dish soap and ammonia solution before first use; there were some faint traces of red both on the nib and in the feed, possibly from nib testing at the factory or by the AliExpress seller, being the official HongDian storefront there.)

 

It was why I decided to put a fresh fill of a dryish ink (i.e. Lamy Benitoite) in the pens for testing.

 

29 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

Is the text pointed to by the red arrows reverse writing?

 

“ĉielo, tiel ankaŭ sur la tero.” is. (“Italy” is as well.) “Hungary” was written while the nib was in normal orientation and the pen held vertically, if I remember correctly.

 

34 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

If yes, which text above is the finest non-reverse writing, written at a reasonably comfortable writing angle to the page?

 

I suppose, “Venu via regno.”

 

35 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

The HongDian A3 bicolor EF looks quite good in this review, perhaps even slightly bit finer than the Pilot MR F.

 

It is. HongDian's small-sized (26mm-long?) EF nibs are good. I don't like its larger (32mm-long and probably thought of as “#6 sized” by some folks here) EF nibs much; I struggle to put down twelve parallel and distinct horizontal lines in a 5mm square area on Rhodia DotPad paper with those.

 

45 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

By the way, I love this review and format, which has a great amount of useful information in a single page. Thanks.

 

Thank you for the feedback. Usually I wouldn't bother (cf. “lazy review“) filling a pen properly with an ink under review to check the its ‘wetness’ against the list of brown foxes written with the dip nib; but, as I've already mentioned, I wanted to test the fountain pens, which were actually the object of my main concern at the time.

 

[PithyProlix]

43 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

I suppose, “Venu via regno.”

 

It would be nice if the “Venu via regno" line was finer but it's not too shabby. The range of the nib is impressive, regardless.

 

Thanks again.

[AmandaW]

Arrived today: a Lamy Studio Black Forest and a bottle of Kaweco Paradise Blue. What is it about the Kaweco inks that makes them leak in transit? If I received one that stayed in the bottle I would be wondering if I got a fake!

 

 

[IanP2303]

On 11/27/2021 at 2:44 AM, DvdRiet said:

I couldn't help myself! This was my most recent most definitely impulse buy...

 

Wait, Gucci pens exist?

 

Thanks, Ian

[DvdRiet]

1 hour ago, AmandaW said:

Arrived today: a Lamy Studio Black Forest and a bottle of Kaweco Paradise Blue. What is it about the Kaweco inks that makes them leak in transit? If I received one that stayed in the bottle I would be wondering if I got a fake!

 

 

 

Beautiful pen! But, oh my, that ink everywhere! Hope it's only got on the packing material and there's some left in the bottle. I assume this came by air? There must be something about the way they fill the bottles or the construction of the lid that makes them particularly susceptible to changes in air pressure. (And that has just made me understand why some ink bottles I receive have extra plastic wrapped tightly around the lid!)

 

Enjoy the pen!!

[DvdRiet]

1 hour ago, IanP2303 said:

Wait, Gucci pens exist?

 

Thanks, Ian

 

Yes! (Unfortunately for my bank account...) This was a find from an Italian seller on the bay and I'm not sure when these were sold, but I've also seen a version of this pen that is all silver. I personally like the look of the combination of ebonite and silver the best. I also have no idea if they still sell fountain pens in their shops today or if that was just a temporary thing. There are quite a few luxury brands that sell / have sold fountain pens, as I am discovering.  

[IanP2303]

25 minutes ago, DvdRiet said:

 

Yes! (Unfortunately for my bank account...) This was a find from an Italian seller on the bay and I'm not sure when these were sold, but I've also seen a version of this pen that is all silver. I personally like the look of the combination of ebonite and silver the best. I also have no idea if they still sell fountain pens in their shops today or if that was just a temporary thing. There are quite a few luxury brands that sell / have sold fountain pens, as I am discovering.  

Wow, I would love to know more about this pen!

 

Thanks,

Ian

[DvdRiet]

13 hours ago, IanP2303 said:

Wow, I would love to know more about this pen!

 

Thanks,

Ian

 

So would I, honestly! My brief internet research didn't yield much. All I know is that it is from something called the Fibbietta line (buckle/clasp according to my translator; the cap band has the shape of a belt and buckle), and that rumor has it the pen was made for Gucci by Stipula. Each pen is marked with a serial number etched into the ebonite barrel in Roman numerals, but mine didn't have the original box and paperwork, just the little green felt pouch. So I really have no idea how many of them there might have been, or anything more about them at all. @sansenriis the one who told me about seeing on an Italian forum, I believe it was, someone had said it is a Stipula pen. No idea if he has any more info (or has maybe dug his own out of storage... )  

[IanP2303]

5 hours ago, DvdRiet said:

 

So would I, honestly! My brief internet research didn't yield much. All I know is that it is from something called the Fibbietta line (buckle/clasp according to my translator; the cap band has the shape of a belt and buckle), and that rumor has it the pen was made for Gucci by Stipula. Each pen is marked with a serial number etched into the ebonite barrel in Roman numerals, but mine didn't have the original box and paperwork, just the little green felt pouch. So I really have no idea how many of them there might have been, or anything more about them at all. @sansenriis the one who told me about seeing on an Italian forum, I believe it was, someone had said it is a Stipula pen. No idea if he has any more info (or has maybe dug his own out of storage... )  

WOW! Awesome, I heard that Cartier made their own fountain pens once. If you have any information regarding this Gucci pen or a Cartier fountain pen, please notify me. I have learned a lot from your reply.

 

Thanks, 

Ian

[Misfit]

On 2/20/2022 at 11:41 PM, AmandaW said:

Arrived today: a Lamy Studio Black Forest and a bottle of Kaweco Paradise Blue. What is it about the Kaweco inks that makes them leak in transit? If I received one that stayed in the bottle I would be wondering if I got a fake!

 

 

Wow, I thought it was only mine. I ordered the old style bottle of Summer Purple from Cult Pens. It leaked.  But the new style that come in cardboard boxes have been fine. 
 

I contacted Cult Pens, and they offered to send another bottle. I asked for a Cross or Parker converter instead, and they obliged. 

[AmandaW]

18 minutes ago, Misfit said:

Wow, I thought it was only mine. I ordered the old style bottle of Summer Purple from Cult Pens. It leaked.  But the new style that come in cardboard boxes have been fine. 
 

I contacted Cult Pens, and they offered to send another bottle. I asked for a Cross or Parker converter instead, and they obliged. 

 

Something like my Summer Purple (this was in 2020)? And the Black Pearl that was in the box wasn't much better. Ugh.

 

[mtcn77]

On 2/21/2022 at 8:41 AM, AmandaW said:

Arrived today: a Lamy Studio Black Forest and a bottle of Kaweco Paradise Blue. What is it about the Kaweco inks that makes them leak in transit? If I received one that stayed in the bottle I would be wondering if I got a fake!

 

 

They heard you like ink swatches, so it comes ready made. It is genius.

Gorgeous pen!🥰

[Misfit]

I got this pen in the mail on the 23rd

[DvdRiet]

6 hours ago, Misfit said:

I got this pen in the mail on the 23rd

Love this color!!!

[DvdRiet]

My latest very impulsive buy has just arrived! A Reden's with two-tone 18k nib in pink shagreen leather. Well pleased with the look of it! (I have zero information about this pen other than that Reden's was a shop in Paris and the nibs are reportedly of good quality, so if anyone happens to know anything more about this pen or Reden's in general, I would welcome the insights!)

 

[amberleadavis]

On 2/11/2022 at 5:21 PM, basterma said:

Hello. I am sorry for the late reply. This crack developed when I was a teenager living in Egypt and I did not know of a repair person there (still don't know of any there now), to do anything about it. I was on vacation in Germany a few years ago and sent it to their service center, and they replied they couldn't fix it as they had no parts for it. Maybe others on this forum can help if you ask in other threads. I am in China now, and not really finding anyone I trust to fix it. I may commit sacrilege and see if I can commission someone to make a section and turn it into a frankenpen, to be able to use the nib again. The nib is that nice to use.

 

 

One of my favorite pens is a custom Newton pen that I had commissioned with a Sheaffer inlaid nib. If you love the nib, make a pen for it!

[amberleadavis]

@basterma

 

I pulled out my pen to show you.  I loved the nib and had the pen created just for it.

 

 

The other amazing pen / nib combo is the @terim Peyton Street Pen pens that take vintage nibs and create new pens.

 

Or here is a custom pen that holds a Sailor music nib.

 

[AmandaW]

Two pens arrived today - both were a long and worrying wait from opposite sides of the planet - both are as new Parker 45 with 14K nibs. Rather sweet that they landed in my post office box on the same day.

 

The red one is a US made Parker Coronet with an X nib - extra fine. The silver Flighter is UK made with a fine italic nib.