What pen(s) are you using today?

[OldTravelingShoe]

21 minutes ago, lionelc said:

back home after a long trip with my travelling pen - pilot vanishing point

 

Amazing pen, @lionelc. Did you get it from PenSachi? 

[A Smug Dill]

30 minutes ago, lionelc said:

 

Ah, that's the one variant of the Pilot Capless raden Vanishing Point pens I didn't get, opting to have two of the ‘galaxy’^† and one of the ‘stripe’ instead. (I always get confused why the variant with the interspersed raden stripes is ‘water surface’ instead of ‘stripe’, when I thought the names should be the other way around.) My mistake; my regret.

 

^† My wife liked the raden ‘galaxy’ pen, so I gave mine to her and promptly ordered a replacement for myself, instead of acquiring all three different variants for our joint stash.

[mallymal1]

On 4/13/2022 at 8:42 PM, OldTravelingShoe said:

Thanks for sharing, @mallymal1! 

 

To me, the pen looks even more distinguished this way. But, because it makes me curious, I have to ask: should one want to refresh the plating, would it be possible? Would it be easy or even trivial? Where would one go for such work, to which kind of professional? Thanks in advance for answering this; I know very little about so many things pen-related, but I am very excited to learn. 

 

🙂

 

Not at all sure about re-plating overlays, as it's not something I would do.

 

I know that some restorers/nib workers offer nib plating services.

 

I guess that jewellers would do gold plating work?

 

[mallymal1]

On 4/14/2022 at 4:47 AM, dms525 said:

Conway Stewart Belliver in Nebula resin. Medium italic nib ground to make it crisper. I haven't inked one of my Bellivers in a long time. It's a shame, because their bouncy italic nibs are among my favorites.

 

 

David

 

Very nice.  👍

[mallymal1]

This thread is brilliant. 

 

Big shout out to all those who share their pens!  

 

😊

 

 Today @OldTravelingShoe I'm using a Conway Stewart 75, in green marble, inked with Diamine Emerald.

 

 

Here's my small selection of 75's...

 

[OldTravelingShoe]

18 minutes ago, mallymal1 said:

This thread is brilliant. 

 

Big shout out to all those who share their pens!  

 

😊

 

 Today @OldTravelingShoe I'm using a Conway Stewart 75, in green marble, inked with Diamine Emerald.

 

 

Here's my small selection of 75's...

 

They look amazing, thanks for sharing, @mallymal1! I am becoming acutely aware I should follow @stan's advice and become focused in my collection, but such pics are making it very difficult 😄

 

[mallymal1]

5 minutes ago, OldTravelingShoe said:

They look amazing, thanks for sharing, @mallymal1! I am becoming acutely aware I should follow @stan's advice and become focused in my collection, but such pics are making it very difficult 😄

 

 

Absolutely!

 

While this thread is brilliant and highly enjoyable, it is also a huge source of temptation.  😁

 

I wonder, admire, and am inspired by the variety and beauty of the pens and inks shared here. But I have to be strong, and resist the temptation to purchase everything laid before me.   😇

 

I myself, have only purchased one pen (the Kaweco Iridescent), and no inks, in the past nine months. 

 

 I have so many Conway Stewarts, because at one time, that was what I focused on...and that was over a number of years. 👍

 

 

[PAKMAN]

MB Sterling Solitaire 146

[inkstainedruth]

So far, today, it's been the Parker Vector Geometric, M nib, with diluted Robert Oster Dragon's Night [which goes from being a fairly dark blue violet to a medium cerulean blue when diluted) and the recently restored Parker Laidtone Dusty Rose vac filler, F? nib, with vintage Quink Microfilm Black.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[lionelc]

got it in one @OldTravelingShoe - pensachi when they had a sale on a few years back

which they are having again @A Smug Dill - you have a better eye for sales than me, what do you think of pensachi's current easter sale?

[A Smug Dill]

2 hours ago, lionelc said:

@A Smug Dill - you have a better eye for sales than me, what do you think of pensachi's current easter sale?

 

Frankly, it is not worthy of my attention.

 

The last time I placed an order with PenSachi, it was during a promotion in which you'd get 7% off a Pilot (and, if I'm not mistaken, Sailor was also an eligible brand) pen with the application of a discount code, but 15% off (automatically applied without the use of a code, which also then offered the benefit of allowing application of another code, such as one traded for loyalty points) for both pens if you put two in the same order. So I scanned for what I wanted badly enough to pay for and get, instead of wasting my time and energy exploring to discover which specific items were eligible.

 

Furthermore, the other promotion made it easier for me to focus on what I was 'saving' in comparison with what I would expect to be asked to pay (by retailers far and wide in the 'recent' market, including PenSachi with or without specific promotions) for each model being considered, and not be distracted by the (manipulatively elicited) jolt of being 'rewarded' for the effort spent hunting what the retailer made eligible for a 15%-off discount, which is hardly record-setting.

 

2 hours ago, lionelc said:

pensachi when they had a sale on a few years back

which they are having again

 

PenSachi used to run a different sale or promotion every weekend, using the narrowness of the ~48-hour window to create a sense of urgency. Instead of letting the retailer push one's buttons, I recommend sitting back and watch for patterns in how particular retailers behave, and take advantage of any opportunity to play one of them when a 'best' (one out of, say, every ten) offer comes up, instead of being played by the retailer's or marketer's psychological tricks.

 

[lionelc]

good advice smug, easter sale psychology at work here - will sit back and see what comes along.

[AmandaW]

Today's journal pen is a Lamy Lx Ruthenium with an EF nib and Van Dieman's Cradle Mountain Grey. 🖤

 

[OldTravelingShoe]

18 hours ago, mallymal1 said:

at one time, that was what I focused on...and that was over a number of years

I keep telling myself I'm just trying them out to find out what I like to draw with. 'Those beautifully colored Conway Stewarts could inspire on any slow day' and so forth. So much for focus 😄

[OldTravelingShoe]

10 hours ago, PAKMAN said:

MB Sterling Solitaire 146

Exceptional, @PAKMAN, thanks for sharing!

[OldTravelingShoe]

7 hours ago, lionelc said:

@A Smug Dill - you have a better eye for sales than me

@A Smug Dill, do you have a system for watching these sales?

There does not seem to exist a centralized overview of sales for new-pen shops, either online or offline; perhaps the closest is the Market Watch here on FPN. (In contrast, I find eBay to be one such place for vintage and even new pens, and AliExpress for new pens mostly from China.) 

[OldTravelingShoe]

20 hours ago, mallymal1 said:

some restorers/nib workers offer nib plating services.

 

I guess that jewellers

Thanks, @mallymal1, and same goes to @inkstainedruth. I was curious about the options, but without an actual case to solve. But it makes me curious why it's not done more - so many good vintage pens seem to be sold on 'that-bay' with flaked nibs and bodies, when they could be restored first - for both principled and practical reasons. 

[A Smug Dill]

3 hours ago, OldTravelingShoe said:

@A Smug Dill, do you have a system for watching these sales?

 

No, I don't, especially these days when my ‘focus’ has become increasingly narrow. There are only a very small number of brands and a small number of retailers that I still halfway actively watch, although I'm not completely closed to trying out other brands if a seemingly great discount offer comes up in the course of my ‘research’.

 

3 hours ago, OldTravelingShoe said:

There does not seem to exist a centralized overview of sales for new-pen shops, either online or offline;

 

Honestly, I'd be surprised if it existed and is reasonably up-to-date and informative for users (inclusive of information takers who don't contribute market intelligence commensurately) — especially from a global, or at least not US-centric, perspective.

[inkstainedruth]

So far, it's been a Parker pen day:

1) Emerald Pearl Vac (not sure of the size, but a smaller model), F? nib -- vintage Quink Washable Brown.

2) Parker Vector Geometric, M nib -- diluted Robert Oster Dragon's Night (I needed to grab a pen quick to jot down a phone number).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

 

[essayfaire]

14 hours ago, OldTravelingShoe said:

'Those beautifully colored Conway Stewarts could inspire on any slow day' and so forth. So much for focus 😄

Maybe the focus is having a pen collection that represents the color wheel through all the tertiaries.