Finding joy in small things: the Burnham 54 fountain pen.

April 21, 2024April 21, 2024 ~ rupertarzeian ~ 3 Comments

Recently, I was thrilled to win an eBay auction for an attractive, marbled blue and grey vintage fountain pen. It was a lever filler with a 14k gold nib. The sac had been replaced and it looked to be in good condition. I had looked at the seller’s photographs again and again in the week before the auction.

When it arrived, it looked even prettier in person than in the photographs, although much smaller than I had expected. I believe it to be a Burnham 54, although there is no imprint on the barrel and I know little about this brand. There were many variants of the model 54 and numerous other clues to look for in the finial, pocket clip, branding on the clip, the number of cap rings, the inscription on the nib and the shape and markings of the lever filler.

In his book “Fountain Pens” by Peter Twydle, (2009), he includes a few paragraphs about Burnham in his chapter on manufacturers. He writes “The pen trade has recognized Burnham, perhaps unfairly, as the poor man’s Conway Stewart.” The company was started by Harry Burnham in London in the 1920’s and continued until the 1960’s. Their pens were mostly lever fillers and used similar materials to Conway Stewart, but being less prestigious and lower priced, became thought of as school pens.

Rounded finial, branded clip and two cap rings on my version.

For a detailed account of Burnham pens, there is a comprehensive study on the WES website, (the Writing Equipment Society), wesonline.co.uk from 2011 by Alan Charlton, on Burnhamography. Meanwhile, my post here is more of a “show and tell” since I know little about this pen.

Uncapped. The classic proportions mask its diminutive size.

Had I known how small the pen was by current standards, even though beautifully-proportioned, I would probably not have bid. This would have been a great shame as I have found the pen very comfortable and enjoyable to use. As I have tended to avoid pens which I thought of as too short or too slim, this was an exciting revelation with a potential to extend the already vast rabbit warren.

After flushing the pen, I filled it with Waterman Serenity Blue. It filled well. The writing experience from the 14k gold nib was a joy: silky smooth, broad, with an optimal flow and just a little bounce, that you might call semi-flex. This more than compensated for any shortness or skinniness of the pen. I cannot tell you whether the barrel and cap material is celluloid or plastic, or whether the feed is ebonite or plastic. I have avoided posting the cap and instead have grown accustomed to holding this little pen unposted.

Very clean nib, marked “Burnham 14 ct Gold.”

The screw cap comes off in just over two full rotations. The cap threads are multi-start and I found that by inserting the pen (nib up) into the cap, pocket clip up, and turning the pen one click the wrong way before tightening, the lever almost aligns with the clip.

On a recent short break in the beautiful Shropshire countryside, I took the Burnham and used it every day for some holiday journaling in a Leuchtturm A5 notebook. The nicely-tuned vintage nib, with its heart-shaped breather hole, performed as well as any other nib I have ever experienced, at any price. One fill managed more than 12 pages, before it was time to enjoy the lever-filling experience again.

Size and weight:

Capped, the pen measures about 121mm and uncapped, only 109mm. The weight is about 11.5 grams capped, comprised as to 7 grams for the pen and 4.5 grams for the cap. These figures are pretty minimal and might sound off-putting but my experience has been that what the pen lacks in size and weight is more than made up for, by its cuteness and the sensation of writing with the smooth and bouncy nib.

Trying out my new old pen. Waterman Serenity Blue; Stalogy 018 Editor’s Series 365 days notebook.

The moral of this tale is that you might surprise yourself, using a pen that goes against your usual criteria. This is good news, unless like me, you are trying (weakly) to resist more pens incoming.

Edit: Here is a photo to show the comparative size of the Burnham 54, against a Parker 51 Demi, a Parker 51 standard and a Parker 45.

Rediscovering the Parker 45 fountain pen.

April 7, 2024April 8, 2024 ~ rupertarzeian ~ 10 Comments

I think I may have mentioned that I am fond of vintage Parker pens. My admiration dates back to the late 1960’s when I collected Parker advertisements from newspapers and magazines. A Parker was also my first “grown-up” fountain pen when I went to my secondary school. It follows that this blog post might come across as slightly biased.

The Parker 45 model was part of the current range when I was at school. Buying a new one in town was a rare treat. I remember using them in lessons to write in exercise books. If you left one uncapped for too long the nib was likely to dry out, although this is true of most fountain pens.

In those days, I would have used the cheaper, steel nib versions, mostly Medium. They were also available with gold nibs. I do not recall being aware that there was such a wide choice of gold nibs to choose from for the Parker 45. The nib grade is shown by a letter on the underside of the little black nib housing. I never ventured beyond M (medium) and F (Fine). Only recently, have I discovered the X (Extra Fine) and the R (Medium Oblique). For a list of the nib codes, see the following thread on Fountain Pen Network.

I still have a couple of my Parker 45’s from the seventies – one in grey and another in brushed stainless steel. As ever I recommend Tony Fischier’s site, Parkerpens.net for an authoritative and comprehensive history of the Parker 45 range. They were produced from 1960 until 2007 and heralded the beginning of the Parker Quink cartridge system. The all-plastic version was called the Parker 45 Arrow. The version with a metal cap was the Parker 45 Classic and the brushed stainless steel version (very desirable to my 11 year-old self) was the Parker 45 Flighter.

Fast-forwarding to the present, my fountain pen journey took me down the vintage Parker rabbit hole. Last year was my year of the Parker-buying. I swooped on the inexpensive but surprisingly good Parker 17 models at pen shows and on eBay, before moving on to the Parker 61 and 51.

In the midst of this run, I happened to spot a Parker 45 Classic with a somewhat rare Medium Oblique (code “R”) nib, which proved to be delightful. Oblique nibs seem to be the most flattering for my handwriting when using a lefty-overwriter style, whereas non-oblique nibs work better for me in an underwriter style.

My last Parker pen purchase of 2023 was bought on eBay and intended as a Christmas present for someone else. It was a black model with a 14k gold Medium nib. But here’s the strange thing: after testing it the writing experience was so utterly delicious, exquisite and wonderful, that I honestly could not bring myself to part with it and had to keep this one for myself. Selfish, shameful and shocking I know, but true.

Easy to disassemble. No heat gun or shellac required.

But then, like a drug (I imagine), or at least chocolate, I craved another one. Happily at the London Spring Pen Show in March, I spotted and pounced on a lovely midnight blue model with a Fine nib. And then finally, back more recently on eBay I bought a burgundy red model with the less-common Extra Fine nib.

You can just make out the “X” for Extra Fine on the nib housing.

And so in the last seven months, my little Parker 45 family grew from two to six pens. My four recent buys all having 14 gold nibs, have all been superb and yet each cost between around £20 to £25 only.

The four on the right have 14k gold nibs in Oblique medium, Medium, Fine and Extra fine, respectively.

“What is so good about them?” you might ask. Here are a few answers:

Comfortable to hold (not too short, long, heavy or light; not having any step or cap threads);
Well balanced whether used unposted or posted. The lightweight cap posts very deeply and does not throw the balance off;
Convenience of accepting cartridges or a converter;
Great-looking pen (subjective and in the eye of the beholder, I know);
Best of all, having a screw-in nib housing. The nib, feed and housing can be removed easily for cleaning or nib adjustment; this is where the 45 scores over the 17, 51 or 61.
Can be found at pen shows or on eBay for a very modest outlay – similar to the cost of a Lamy Safari or Cross Bailey Light, both of which would have steel nibs.

The rather rare “X” (Extra Fine”) nib in 14k gold.

In summary, it comes down to good design. I read on Tony Fischier’s site (linked earlier) that the Parker 45 was designed by Don Doman who also designed the Parker 61 and Parker 75 amongst others.

Are there are any negatives? Yes, the type of plastic material used for the Parker 45 is softer and inferior to the material of the Parker 51. It would show bite-marks, rather like a chewed cap of a Bic Crystal biro.

Size and Weight: The length capped is around 136mm or uncapped, 127mm. The length posted is 145mm. The all-plastic version weighs around 17 grams, or 12 grams uncapped, whilst the Flighter is only slightly heavier at around 20 grams.

For anyone who has any liking for fountain pens, let alone an obsession, vintage Parkers can save you money, so long as you do not buy too many of them. Which is why (as politicians annoyingly say), I have garnered a reputation in my pen club as the vintage Parker influencer.

Parker 45 with the Filofax A5 Lockwood zip in Garnet.

Off-topic: a look at a Bulova model 96A189 automatic watch.

March 17, 2024 ~ rupertarzeian ~ 16 Comments

On 9 January 2024, I wrote about my brief ownership of a Lorus automatic watch. The episode concluded with me taking it back to the shop, which was rather a down-beat ending.

But in case I misled anyone into thinking that I was left sad and watch-less, here is What Happened Next.

I do not buy a new automatic watch very often: aside from the Lorus, I had not done so since 1999. After the Lorus episode, I next took a renewed interest in the Seiko ranges of automatics, the “5” series and the Prospex. To do so is to dive down another enjoyable rabbit hole. For instance, I read that Queen’s Brian May had bought a Seiko 5 diving watch in Tokyo which he had worn since the 1970’s and that Seiko made a special Brian May limited edition in his honour.

It was informative to browse the line-up of Seiko watches in my usual haunts. But it was while looking casually around H Samuel’s Oxford Street branch in mid-January (intending to look at their Seikos) that a Bulova caught my eye. I was attracted by the uncluttered dial, the absence of numerals and the absence of any day and date complication. The face has a round hole at the 7 o’clock position to show the balance wheel in action. The watch was not actually running at that stage and my initial reaction was that I would have preferred it without this porthole, which I later learned was called the “open heart” feature, (as opposed to a skeleton dial which shows the whole movement at the expense of making it difficult to see the hands and read the time).

I liked everything else about the watch including its dark blue dial, silver-tone indices and supple steel bracelet. Unlike the Lorus, this movement allows manual as well as automatic winding and also allows hacking: the pausing of the second hand by pulling out the crown, in order to set it precisely.

As well as it being the most appealing in the display, it was also 50% off the list price. I asked to have a look at it. The helpful assistant commented that the colour suited me, although I was wearing a navy blue shirt, jacket and carrying a navy blue shoulder bag! I certainly did like the colour of the dial and had never had a watch with a dial other than white or black. She adjusted the bracelet, removing two links from each side, which still left it comfortably loose but secure. I was a happy and lucky man.

It also has an exhibition back and this, together with the open heart dial (a term I do not like very much) means that you can actually hold the watch and see through it. The movement includes a rotor which, I was surprised to see, is a D outline but open in the middle. Is this to save weight? If so this seems to rather defeat the object. Perhaps it is to allow a better view of the inner workings. In any event, the rotor is very sensitive and works perfectly. The watch also has some modest water-resistance although not a screw-down crown and so I would not wear it in the water.

Exhibition back and Miyota 21 Jewel movement.

Swiss chronometer accuracy is no longer of such importance to me as when I was twenty, or even forty and buying a Rolex. Nevertheless I was curious to check the Bulova’s time-keeping. Over the first seven days it gained about 12 seconds a day. I then tested it over the next seven days too and got the same result. However, trying this again more recently, the deviation had lessened and it was gaining just 7 seconds a day. I hope that it remains there and does not continue to slow much further, but will check it now and again.

I also tested the power reserve – the amount of time for which the watch keeps running when not worn. I ensured that it was fully wound and then set it down. It managed a very respectable 44 hours.

I have had this watch for over two months now. I still get a little thrill every time I see it on my wrist. As well as enjoying the sight of the second hand scurrying around the dial, I soon came to enjoy seeing the intricate movement through the porthole, which is much better when the watch is running.

I had thought that I might rotate the Bulova with the other watches in my modest collection. In practice though, I have worn it every day since I bought it except for the weekend when I checked the power reserve. And this is perhaps the best testament of my high opinion.

The London Spring Pen Show 2024: my haul.

March 9, 2024March 9, 2024 ~ rupertarzeian ~ 14 Comments

Well, what a great day that was! I felt like there was nowhere I would rather be, and nothing that I would rather spend my money on: the London Spring Pen Show at Novotel, Hammersmith, on Sunday 3rd March 2024.

This time, my wife Ling accompanied me. She enjoyed meeting all my pen club friends and a big group of us had arranged to meet for a lunch break at nearby Latymers. Almost everyone to whom I introduced her, joked that I was a bad influence in my penabling, particularly with regard to vintage Parkers! I do tend to gush about Parkers but I make the case that buying these actually saves you money, compared to the cost of a modern equivalent gold nibbed fountain pen. Oh well, more for me then.

Ling came to support me and meet my friends.

This post will list my purchases at the show, rather than naming all the wonderful stall-holders and fellow enthusiasts in the pen community who were there in force. It was good to see so many familiar faces and I am grateful to all the organisers and dealers for making the day so successful and enjoyable. We tend to forget all the work that goes on behind the scenes before and after the show: the preparation, the travelling, the setting up, and then the packing up and more travelling. Several folks such as Sarj Minhas had literally only just returned from the California pen show the night before

So, what did I buy this time? Despite not hunting for anything in particular and trying feebly to stop accumulating, I did not expect to go home empty handed. Here I will try to justify, to myself at least, some of my purchases.

Parker 45, blue with chrome trim, 14k gold nib, Fine.

First up was this Parker, which I spotted on the table of Janse van vuuren (Justin). It was in its original box with filling instructions and guarantee dated 21 April 1976, original press-bar converter, and two blue cartridges still taped under the pen tray with some very yellowed Sellotape. I used these pens throughout my secondary school years although mostly they were the steel nib versions. Last winter I bought a very similar one to this, but in black with chrome trim and with a Medium gold nib which is an absolute joy to use and cost only £20.00. Coincidentally, this gorgeous dark blue one was also just £20.00 and being in such good condition and with a Fine nib, was an easy decision for me.

Aside from the style and comfort of these pens, one of their best features is the ease of cleaning and maintenance. For those not familiar, you unscrew the little nib-housing to remove it from the section. Then, being very careful not to bend or break the long feed or lose the nib, you slide the housing backwards off the feed. The nib can then be lifted off the feed, and cleaned or adjusted. When putting it back, it slots into place over the feed and does not move, so you know you have the correct position. That evening, I took the nib apart and gave everything a very satisfying wash, before filling with Waterman Serenity Blue. It writes like a dream.

Nib unit disassembled. Note the “F” for Fine on the housing.

Parker 51 vacumatic.

I am happier when I can see the price of a pen, without having to ask. Some dealers have pen trays grouped by price, “everything £40.00” which is where I found my next purchase in a tray of Parker 51s. All but this navy blue and gold-capped one were aerometrics. I spotted the tell-tale blind cap of the vacumatic and had a closer look. On removing the cap, I found the section covered in wet ink. This did not put me off but just added to the attraction and my desire to take the pen home and clean it. The pens in this tray were all tested and so I did not worry that it might leak. The condition of the nib and the barrel all looked very good and the plunger button responded nicely. The rolled-gold and striped cap had brassing at the rim, which I did not mind. I am not sure whether the cap is the original one for this pen.

At home I took great pleasure in flushing the pen and cleaning out the inside of the cap. I considered leaving the pen to stand in some water overnight but was too impatient to ink it and so decided that I would only soak it if it needed.

Again, the pen filled and worked well. This one writes a little dry but I did not want to rush into any adjustments, given that the pen dates from the 1940’s and is around 80 years’ old. I used it for a few days, as it was. This weekend I have flushed it again and let it stand in water for 24 hours. I am hopeful that this might improve the ink flow but if not, I can ease the tines apart just a fraction. I am thrilled to have my first Parker vac, and at just £40.00.

As I write this, the Vac is having a long soak.

Parker 51 Aerometric, forest green.

Readers may remember that I passed up a beautiful, mint condition Parker 51 in forest green, at the pen show last year. This time I spotted another one, again in great condition but at a much more affordable price at the tables of Jeremy Collingridge (from whom I bought a lovely Parker 61 Heirloom last time). I was invited to try the Parker 51 but despite several dips, it refused to write. With permission, I even tried filling the pen but still it would not write. Nevertheless, I was not put off but was only drawn to the pen all the more. I suspected that there was nothing wrong but that it just needed a thorough clean. This proved to be correct. It is a stunner and I love the green!

Sailor Profit fude nib pen.

This was an impulse buy from Pure Pens’ table. Having enjoyed the Duke 551 Confucius fude nib pen bought earlier this year I was interested to try this much smaller and lighter pen. It came boxed with two Sailor cartridges, at £22.00. The fude nib is marked only with the anchor logo and the initials MF.

The pen actually performs extremely well and as I hoped, can write with a variety of line widths, depending upon how you hold it.

Aside from these four pens, my other purchases were:

Two packs of Aurora cartridges, from Kirit Dal and daughter; (as anyone who has tried will know, these cartridges are very difficult to find in the UK);
A 12-pack box of Pilot Namiki blue black cartridges, from Amaya Cerdeirina of Penfriend. These are for my Pilot Custom Heritage 912;
Another bottle of Diamine’s Conway Stewart Tavy, blue black ink. I buy one almost every year;
A handy little x5 loupe;
A Jowo fit nib, feed and housing with rose gold coloured coating, from John Twiss.

Sometimes, after buying several pens in a day, I ration myself to trying one new pen per day. But not this time. Within a few hours, all four new arrivals were cleaned and inked and being introduced to my Stalogy notebook. All in all, it was a very successful day. My total spend at the show was just over £200.00 and for that, I have lots of lovely new toys to play with and no buyer’s remorse whatsoever.

My day’s shopping plus some gifted ink samples.

The new nib unit in my Wancher Crystal fountain pen.

Some overdue love for the Parker 75 Laque fountain pen.

February 18, 2024February 18, 2024 ~ rupertarzeian ~ 15 Comments

I have had this pen since 27 December 1986, bought at WHSmiths, Uxbridge. I know this because I still have the box with the Access card sales voucher, with the guarantee and care guide, folded up beneath the pen tray. So, that’s 37 years.

I wish I could say that during that time, the pen has been a constant companion, always to hand, faithful and dependable, travelling with me everywhere. But that would not be true. Certainly, that was the aim, but for some reason things did not work out and I never gelled with the pen.

As I still have my old diaries, I dug out my old 1986 volume to see whether I had written anything about the purchase. Sure enough, there was a line near the top of the page (after a reminder to watch the movie “Splash” at 8.30pm), which reads “See about Parker 75 Lacque (sic) £60!?” So, I was aware of the pen and its price and planned to give it another look. Perhaps I had seen it, possibly marked down in the post-Christmas sales.

My diary entry went on to say “I went to Uxbridge with Hilly (my sister) & bought the Parker 75 Laque fountain pen. Also got us an A4 size diary each and went in M&S & got some pre-faded jeans for £14.99! Pyjamas in Burtons where they were playing “If she knows what she wants” (Bangles).* My pen was an example of reality not matching up to the dream…grips in the wrong place & writes a little dry. Watched Splash with mum & felt a bit sad.”

Not much of a honeymoon period for the Parker then. I was already disappointed with it, the day I bought it. This sounds to me like an early case of buyer’s remorse.

The pen cost me £60.00. This was quite a lot of money for me at the time, when I might have been accustomed to buying steel-nibbed Sheaffer No Nonsense pens for about one tenth of that amount. Indeed, a quick calculation in my diary recorded the meagre total of my savings at that time. Expectations for the pen costing 2.3% of my net worth, would have been high.

I see that I took an almost immediate dislike to the facets on the grip section (but not quite quick enough to stop me buying it). The pen was also quite small and slender, compared to what I had been used to.

It’s worth reminding ourselves that this was before the age of the internet, websites, YouTube reviews, nib-meisters and the interconnected global fountain pen community. This was 10 years before I possessed a PC. I was on my own, unless I wrote a letter to Parker (which I did once, to ask about an image used in one of their advertisements).

As I did not enjoy using the pen very much, it stayed in its box, largely untouched for the next 37 years.

Thinking back, I do not remember even being aware of the pen’s special and possibly unique feature for that time, namely that the nib and feed could be turned a few degrees to the left or to the right in the section, to alter the alignment of the facets in relation to the nib. Supposedly this was to help people, such as myself, who liked to rotate their pen (in my case, to the right) but then found that the symmetrical facets were no longer equidistant from the centre of the nib: you were left with thumb and finger resting on an uncomfortable sharp ridge.

Perhaps this innovation would have helped me. I simply cannot recall now whether I had tried experimenting with this facility and still not liked the pen, or whether I was completely unaware of the feature. I need to look back for any more references in my diaries.

On the rare occasions when I did get the pen out again, I noticed a little corrosion on the gold plated ring at the end of the section (called a “rust ring”). This did not help endear the pen to me.

It was only last year, when a friend wrote to me and mentioned the Parker 75 and its adjustable nib feature, that I remembered that I had one and got it out to try turning the nib. It is very easy. No tools are required. You just grip the nib and feed and twist them left or right, as desired.

The only other pen I know of now that had this feature, is a child’s beginner pen, the Stabilo EASYbirdy (not to be confused with the EASYbuddy which does not have this ability).

Last year was a year in which my enthusiasm for vintage Parker fountain pens flourished, helped by eBay and pen shows. I collected a number of Parker 17, 45 and 61 models as well as a Parker 51, all of which I enjoyed very much. I am glad to have a Parker 75 in this line-up.

One thing I have learned in recent years, is how to make some basic adjustments to a fountain pen nib, to make it write wetter or smoother, using a loupe, some brass shims, some micromesh pads and a bit of courage and/or recklessness. A few weeks ago, I got out my Parker 75 again. I spent a few minutes examining the nib and then eased the tines apart just a little, until a gap could be seen all the way to the tip. Then, checking that the tines were still aligned I tried writing with the pen once again. A few minutes’ effort had made a huge improvement. I found a suitable converter, filled the pen with Waterman Serenity Blue and have been enjoying it ever since. The medium nib now writes with a smooth, easy flow and has just a little softness too.

Better late than never. I no longer regret buying the pen, but only that I did not have the knowledge to tinker with the nib all those years ago. The main thing is that we are getting along again now. Feel free to reflect upon the lessons of this post, when you next hear Billy Joel singing “Turn the Lights Back On.”

*”If She Knew What She Wants” song, by The Bangles.

Inky pursuits: January 2024 round-up.

February 3, 2024 ~ rupertarzeian ~ 2 Comments

Inky pursuits is my series of occasional posts, gathering together some of my recent pen-related shenanigans which might not otherwise be blog-worthy stories on their own.

Duke 551 Confucius update.

This was my only new fountain pen acquisition in an otherwise dry January. I am enjoying it immensely although it takes a bit of getting used to. The size and weight are like nothing else in my pen cup. I love the look and feel of the natural bamboo wood of its barrel. I read in the Amazon description that this is Golden Silk Bamboo, whereas the Duke 552 is said to use Golden Stripe Bamboo which looks darker and more exotic.

I need to correct one statement made in my recent early thoughts post on the 551, where I said “It is not a zoom nib and there is not an easy way to get a medium width line between these two extremes.” With a little experimenting, I found that by lowering the angle at which I hold the pen it is actually very simple to get progressively broader lines, until you end up with the entire flat part of the nib on the paper, giving a line about 4mm thick. It can fill a row, in my Stalogy 4mm grid paper journal. Also, the twin slits/three tines nib ensures that the flow keeps up with demand: even when repeatedly laying down lines of the maximum width.

A sample of line widths from this fude nib.

Montegrappa Blue Black ink.

The pen drew much interest when I brought it along to our January pen club meet. I was asked about the ink in it, Montegrappa Blue Black. I had bought a bottle in Selfridges in 2018, when buying my Montegrappa Fortuna:(that was a good day!). I had not used the ink much, feeling that the colour was a bit light, and preferring my Diamine Tavy blue black. Now, six years on, I find myself liking the Montegrappa ink more and am glad to have kept it. Unfortunately, it appears no longer available as I have not been able to find any online. However there will no doubt be many close equivalents from other brands.

The London Fountaineers pen club.

As mentioned, we had a monthly meet up recently. As always, I got to try lots of different pens and inks. Looking back at my notebook, one of the stand-out pens for me was a Pilot Custom 743 with a number 15 size “SU” (stub) nib, in 14k gold. It was Bryan’s pen and was inked with Yama-budo (I think: I didn’t write that down) and felt absolutely lovely, being very narrow for a stub, and highly enjoyable for ordinary writing.

Having said that, I am still very pleased with my new Pilot Custom Heritage 912 with its number 10 size Waverly nib. As a reliable pen, with a fine nib, loaded with a blue black ink (Pilot) with some water-resistance and a nib that copes with all types of paper and writing styles, it is a very useful tool.

One of my pen club friends, a former calligrapher, gave me a huge stash of William Mitchell dip nibs, all left-foot obliques but in a variety of widths. There must have been over a hundred of them. She also gave me a couple of mapping pens – very fine dip pens, with the nib fixed in a plastic housing which can be removed from the holder and put back the opposite way around, for ease of carrying. I had never seen one before. They will be great to include with a travel kit. I am most grateful!

One of the ladies, Kim, brought along an old Parker 45 that she had been given, that was hard-starting and blobbing. I disassembled the nib and feed and was able to replace them in better alignment, which I hope was all it needed. The pen filled ok, with her Waterman Mysterious blue. I was able to give her the good news that her nib, which she had thought was steel, was actually 14k gold and that the “X” on the underside of the housing signified “extra fine”.

Inkcoming.

Whilst in Central London to accompany my wife on some errands recently, we made a short detour to the lovely Choosing Keeping, where I bought two bottles of Pilot Iroshizuku ink, in syo-ro and asa-gao, both of which had been on my radar for some time. I also picked up a couple of boxes of Kaweco cartridges (Ruby Red and Smokey Grey), this being one of the few places in know of in London where you can buy such things. Ruby Red lives permanently in my Online Campus Fluffy Cat pen.

Mark Twain goes Titanium.

In March 2023 at the London spring pen show, I bought a Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Filler, in black with rose gold fittings and a black-coated nib. Unfortunately the nib proved rather too wet for my liking and I did not succeed in adjusting it much. At a recent pen show, I had bought a Titanium nib set in an ebonite housing and feed. The housing was not compatible with the Conklin unfortunately and I could not find any other pen that it would fit and so it sat idle.

That is, until last week. I decided (just around midnight when I should be going to bed) that I could extract the Titanium nib from its housing and swap it into the Conklin. Removing the two nibs to carry out the transplant, proved harder than I had expected as they were both VERY tight in their housings. I had to resort to gripping the housings with pliers (copiously wrapped in kitchen towel) and at last they came out.

I was able to use this Titanium nib, but not the feed and housing.

I was rewarded with a much improved writing experience with the Conklin. I filled it with Parker Quink Black. I am using it as my journaling pen for February. The only slight issue is that the shoulders of the nib just touch the sides when I screw the cap on. However this is only slight and the nib seems un-affected. I could try bending the shoulders in but fear that it would risk distorting the tines or ruining the nib’s symmetry and so I will leave it alone.

All in all, the year finds me with a deep sense of gratitude, for the joy of this hobby and the friendships that it brings. Recently, I cleaned two large batches of pens and reduced my currently inked number to twelve. Right now, I want for nothing more in my pen collection and so a dry February looks on the cards. I cannot make any promises when the pen show comes to town in March, but it is good to keep an open mind.

Early thoughts on the Duke 551 Confucius bamboo fude nib pen.

January 21, 2024January 21, 2024 ~ rupertarzeian ~ 9 Comments

As early thoughts go, today’s are even earlier than usual as this lovely pen has been with me for barely 24 hours. However, my first impressions are very favourable: the quality and finish and the sheer fun that you can have with it, exceeded my expectations.

Duke 551 Confucius, bamboo fude nib pen.

This model has been around for several years now and I am informed by artist Terry Christopherson (Instagram @theTravelSketcher) and of peninkandpaint.com that it is big in the urban sketching community. I was already familiar with another model that I reviewed previously called the Duke 552, also featuring a natural bamboo barrel. I had imagined that the 551 would be similar, but with a fude nib and a more decorated cap. It turns out that they are quite a bit different.

Although the 551 is similar in length and has a similar look of bamboo barrel, black cap with silvertone furniture, it is girthier, heavier, has a much bigger nib and a section which is longer and made of metal. The differences are apparent when the two models are seen side by side.

Duke 551 fude (right) with Duke 552 (left)

However, the main difference and reason to buy the 551, is for its amazing, steel fude nib. The nib looks quite alarming at first to anyone not expecting it. The tip is angled upwards, at about 45 degrees and presents a flat surface approximately 4mm long, to the paper.

The three tine, steel fude nib with fitted ink reservoir for when dipping.

What I had not fully appreciated before the pen arrived, were two other special features of this fude nib, namely that it has two slits for improved ink delivery and an ink reservoir on top of the nib, so that when used as a dip pen, it needs dipping far less frequently. There are some Chinese characters on the nib, which my wife translated as “special calligraphy nib.”

Smooth nib with three tines, like some music nibs.

As well as its dip pen suitability, it is also a cartridge-converter filler and is supplied with a push-in converter. This contains a small coil of metal to serve as an ink agitator, which can be useful. However I saw in a YouTube video review by @chrisrap52 that this little spring does make it harder to flush the converter thoroughly when changing ink colours and he prefers to remove the spring, by unscrewing the metal collar of the converter.

The cap features an engraving of Chinese philosopher Confucius on one side and more Chinese text on the other side. My wife translated this, approximately, as “A kind person loves everybody” which is part of a Chinese saying which continues “and everbody loves him.” There is a nicely decorated finial, a very stiff and strong pocket clip culminating in the Duke crown emblem and decorated metal rings at both top and bottom of the cap.

The cap unscrews in just over one full turn. When screwed on, it meets a rubber O ring, giving a reassuring tightness to the cap. It also makes for a good seal and, from other reviews I have read on Amazon’s site, the nib does not suffer from drying out although I have not had my pen long enough to put this to the test.

I very much like the natural bamboo of the barrel. I think the inside of the barrel may be lined in metal here, and it feels heavier than the Golden Stripe Bamboo barrel of my Duke 552 (23.5 grams as opposed to 16.5 grams).

I do not generally get on with shiny chrome sections, as they can be slippery to hold. However this one is of a substantial size. It tapers slightly towards the nib where there is some engraved ornamentation and then a step up at the end, to stop your fingers sliding onto the nib.

From my initial trials with this pen, I have not found the section to cause difficulty in holding the pen securely. I can keep my thumb on the bamboo barrel for better control. However, I am finding that where the pen rests on my middle finger, the step does feel a little uncomfortable and so it is necessary to draw your finger back from it slightly.

So how does it write? I was very excited to find out. After flushing the nib and feed and the converter, I filled the pen with Noodlers Black, a water resistant ink that would allow me to paint over the ink, once dry, with watercolours without the ink smudging.

The nib is very smooth, as I have read in other reviews. The twin slits, like a music nib, provide a more generous flow of ink to the nib, which is needed when making side strokes with that long fude nib. It covers large areas at a single stroke. It would be great as a redacting pen, for hiding confidential text from a document before disclosure.

The fude nib is designed for calligraphy, allowing for fine lines to be drawn with the tip or very broad strokes with the flat part. It is not a “zoom” nib and there is not an easy way to get a medium width line between these two extremes.

In the right hands, the pen would be great for sketching, as the line width extreme variation, and ease of blocking in areas of colour, are a real benefit. Mine are not the right hands to demonstrate this properly but I enjoyed trying.

My man bag: Duke 551 fude, Noodlers Black ink and watercolours.

As for normal writing with this pen, it is possible but in order to get a fine line, the pen needs to be held upright at a steep angle, as you would for a ball pen. If the pen is allowed to lay back towards a more typical fountain pen angle, the line will be much broader and, with a 4mm line, you would need to write very large letters to avoid all the loops being filled.

It is very early days but already I am enjoying my experiments with the fude nib. It will get through a converter of ink quicker than most pens, particular if used for drawing and blocking in large areas. Before refilling it, I am keen to test out its built-in nib reservoir in dip mode.

Duke 551 Specifications:

Length capped: 147mm
Length uncapped: 132mm (I am very happy with this)
Length posted: 182mm
Weight (total) 64 grams (compared to 40 grams for the Duke 552)
Weight uncapped: 37.5g
Weight, cap only: 26.5 grams

Well, so much for my New Year pen-buying abstinence once again. I made it all the way to 18 January 2024 this time. But then this pen is quite an exceptional piece of kit and I am unrepentant.

Off topic: a brief romance with a Lorus automatic wristwatch.

January 9, 2024February 3, 2024 ~ rupertarzeian ~ 10 Comments

This blog is generally about fountain pens as the name suggests, but I write to relate a recent tale in the world of watches. My excuse for this digression is that many people who enjoy fountain pens feel the same way about mechanical watches.

Whilst I have more than my fair share of high quality fountain pens, I do also enjoy seeing how good a writing experience can be had for minimal outlay. I regularly use a Cross Bailey Light which cost about £20.00 and various inexpensive pens from China. To a lesser extent, this curiosity sometimes spills over to watches.

Having owned several high-end watches I thought I knew a reasonable amount about automatics. It turns out that there were some glaring gaps in my knowledge.

First of all, I had looked down rather snobbishly on the brand Lorus, but learned only recently that the brand was formed by the Seiko Watch Corporation, the mighty Japanese giant and introduced in Europe in 1982. They are aimed at the lower end of the market for people seeking quality watches at affordable prices.

On a recent stay in Chichester, I was strolling the high street when I came across a display of Lorus automatics, in H Samuels. The one that caught my eye was the black dial, military-style watch with a day/date window. Given that Seiko automatics now start at around £260.00, a Lorus at £129.99 is one of the cheapest entry level options. Furthermore, H Samuel were offering 20% off, bring the price of this model to around £103.00. I walked on.

A Lorus military style automatic, reduced to £103.99.

A week or so later, back home in London I visited my local H Samuel branch hoping to take a closer look at this model. Alas, they told me that they no longer sold Lorus watches in their branch but only online. That particular model was (and still is) available on the H Samuel website but I did not pursue it. The price was certainly attractive but I was deterred by the day and the date window, envisaging that for a watch worn only occasionally, I would be forever resetting these.

A little later, whilst in John Lewis and enjoying my customary look at their watch displays, I saw a cabinet marked “Clearance”, in which I noticed a Lorus automatic watch, with a silvery white textured dial and hands in a style reminiscent of a grandfather clock. Remarkably, it was just £43.50. John Lewis is currently having its January sales, with large red signs urging shoppers to “Succumb to the sale.” This watch had a price ticket of £72.50 previously but was reduced by 40%. It had been put out just that day.

It was not the military style field watch that I had seen, but nonetheless I quite liked the whitish face, the vintage hands, and large size (42mm diameter case). There was no luminescence and there was still the issue of the day and date hassle. I asked to have a look at it.

Handling the watch, the finish and quality looked and felt impressive, with its highly polished plated steel case and a black leather strap. There was even an exhibition window in the screw-down back, showing the automatic movement and the swinging rotor, on which “TWENTY-ONE JEWELS” was stamped. For a mere £43.50, it was one sixth of the price of the nearest Seiko automatic, and I felt it was a fun purchase and in need of a home.

A glass back gives a view of the Lorus Y676 automatic, 21 jewel movement.

Even the packaging was quite decent and appropriate: a small cardboard lidded box and the watch strapped around a soft brown pillow. The instructions and two year guarantee documents were below.

I was pleasantly surprised that the initial setting up of the day and date was no trouble at all and took only a minute: pull out the crown to the first click, turn it one way to advance the date and the other way to advance the day. Set them to the previous day, then pull out the crown to the second click, and advance the hour and minute hands to the correct time, (remembering to go past 12 o’clock twice if it is after mid-day).

Still a lot of watch for a little money.

However, what was not so easy was then getting the watch to start. Having no power at all, it was necessary to wind it sufficiently to start working before putting it on and allowing the automatic movement to keep the watch wound through the movement of the wrist. I tried to wind the watch manually but felt no resistance from the crown. Peering in at the movement, I began to fear that the mainspring was broken. I had wound the crown perhaps a hundred times and the second hand had not budged.

The instruction leaflet did not mention winding the watch with the crown but suggested that the watch be swung back and forth, horizontally, for 30 seconds. In practice, it needed considerably longer than 30 seconds but did start eventually and the second hand came to life, in the joyous way that mechanical watches do.

I looked online for some reviews of the watch. I found one at benswatchclub.com, for a similar model where it was stated that the movement appeared to be the same as that used in the Seiko 5 models. He states “To my understanding, the mechanism labelled as a ‘Y676C’ is a rebadged Seiko 7S26C, identical to that in most last-gen Seiko 5 watches” and “If you’re familiar with the 7S26, you’ll know that this movement is durable but rudimentary, with no hacking or hand-winding capabilities. You’ll have to rotate the watch to get it going manually.”

This was a revelation. The good news was that my mainspring was not broken. But here was the second big gap in my knowledge: I am embarrassed to say that I did not know that some automatic watches could not be wound by hand.

I also learned that “hacking” refers to the ability to stop the second hand by pulling out the winding crown, necessary for military watches in order that they could be synchronised. Mine did not have that facility either.

Whilst I admired the intricate design and finish of the watch and obviously its price, (the leather strap alone must be worth half of this), I was put off by the lack of a manual winding option.

I am sad to say that ultimately the watch and I agreed that each of us was not what the other wanted. I wanted an automatic, but one which I could wind up quickly for occasional use. I like to wear a different watch at weekends from the one I wear on weekdays.

The watch, on the other hand, wanted an owner for whom it was his only watch, perhaps his first ever grown-up watch, and to be worn every day so that the absence of a manual wind option was immaterial. It did not want an owner who would compare it unfavourably and unreasonably with other, vastly more costly timepieces but would enjoy it for its own merits, not only for its cheapness.

And so, with some regret, I returned the watch to John Lewis for a refund early the next day, still a little sad to see it go but having learnt from the experience. This turned out to be a “catch and release” or as my late father used to say “easy come, easy go.”

The new year diary, 2024.

January 6, 2024 ~ rupertarzeian ~ 6 Comments

Last year, my daily journaling was done in a page a day, Moleskine 18 month volume. I bought it too late to make use of the pages for July to December 2022, but was happy to have them as a sort of bonus notebook.

I persevered with the book although it was not particularly enjoyable to use. This was not, as you might think, due to paper quality which was actually quite pleasant and fountain pen friendly, but rather because I did not like the line spacing of only 6mm row height. Added to this, I found the width of the pages, at 130mm, a bit narrow. An A5 page is 148mm wide and losing 18mm makes a big difference, particularly on days when I wished to use a balloon diagram, to confer some retrospective order on the previous day’s events.

For 2024, I have gone back to my more usual Ryman A5 Page a Day diary. This does not suffer from either of my two complaints above: the row height is 7.6mm and the page width is the full A5, 148mm size. These two features make it more comfortable for me to use. However, it is not perfect. On removing the cellophane at the start of the year, my first discovery was that the covers were thin and bendy and not stiff as I had been used to. To be fair, the description on the belly band states “2024 Soft Cover Flexi Diary, Page a Day”. The word “Soft” refers to the texture which is like a faux leather, whilst “Flexi” means “bendy”, rather than “versatile“.

Whilst on the subject of the description, the words “Page a Day” apply only to Monday to Friday. Saturdays and Sundays have to share a page, which is always a pity. Rather than add the words “but only Half a Page a Day at Weekends!”, Ryman has instead chosen silently to include an image of a double-page spread with a Friday, Saturday and Sunday in view if you look closely.

New Ryman A5 diary for 2024, alongside last year’s Moleskine book.

Other than that, there is not much to add. The Ryman paper is a cream colour, 80gsm with a pleasant texture and fountain pen friendly. The binding is sewn to help the book open flat and there is an elastic closure. Given the rather insubstantial cover, there is a metal reinforcement at the edge, to prevent the elastic from wearing away at the cover. But (a) the metal is not stuck down on the front and so leaves a sharp edge, and (b) there is no metal reinforcement for the back cover. I would have preferred that there be a hardback cover so that reinforcement is not necessary.

This will be used for my daily journal, usually written up after breakfast, recalling the events of the previous day. This is an opportunity to enjoy a few minutes with a fountain pen, as well as a memory exercise.

It has also been a recent custom of mine to stick to one fountain pen and ink per month for my diary entries. For January I have started with the Parker 45 (14k gold, medium nib) with Waterman Serenity Blue that I wrote about rather gushingly in my previous post.

A Page a Day is for Mondays to Fridays only.

Aside from the diary, I write on most days, in a Stalogy 018 Editor’s Series 365 Days Notebook A5 size. I love the paper in these. I carry this to pen club meets and when out and about, in a stiff leather cover with elastic closure. The cover is a very simple single board, not quite A5 in width and is so stiff that it wants to slam closed all the time. I liked the fact that it did not have any pen loop, credit card pockets or other features, as I found that these make for a lumpy surface if you are writing with the book open inside the cover. However, in practice I found that the cover works much better for me, with my notebook tucked in the other way around, purely to protect it and keep it closed in transit.

My backwards “traveller notebook” set-up.

Writing with a nice fountain pen in a Stalogy notebook, is one of my favourite things to do. I use it for all sorts of things, although mostly for enjoying my pens and inks for the sheer fun of it and not for writing anything profound. This is an inexpensive form of relaxation and we all need one of those.

I do also have an A4 Ryman notebook which serves as a bullet journal, or bujo. This is a simple book of lined pages, 37 rows per page, on which I have listed dates for a month down each left-hand page, leaving the right-hand page clear for notes, often divided into two columns. This had enough pages for 2020 to 2025 inclusive, although after four years the cover is getting a bit tatty and flaky now. I find the bujo very useful for diarising dates that are far ahead, such as insurance renewals, road tax and car MOT and service due dates and a few others. Having six years at 24 pages per year, required 144 pages. As the book has 192 pages, this left plenty of double page spreads for lists, such as books read (or to be read), albums to listen to, TV episodes to watch, monthly steps counted and so forth. The possibilities are endless. I have not adorned it with washi tape or ink stamps like the photogenic ones we see on Instagram, but each to his own. I may however create a page for “Fountain pen wish list 2024”, although what I really need to do is to practice not wanting more things. As always, we shall see.

2023: some of my fountain pen highlights.

January 1, 2024January 1, 2024 ~ rupertarzeian ~ 15 Comments

I usually start this exercise by looking at how many pens I acquired over the year and how much I spent on the hobby. 2023 saw me acquire 39 fountain pens, of which four were gifts for others, so 35 for me. The total spent was £1,676.19: not too terrible.

A strong theme throughout the year was vintage Parkers, mostly bought on eBay plus a small number at the London Pen Shows.

Always late to the party, this was really the first year in which I started looking for and buying vintage pens on eBay. Of the pens acquired in 2023, 15 were vintage Parkers and the remaining 24 a mix of other brands. I would search a make and model, say “Parker 17 fountain pen,” for example. This might find several hundred listings, which I would whittle down by filtering the results to UK only and then sorting them in order of auctions ending soonest.

Occasionally, a special item would come up, such as a Burgundy red Parker 17 Super Duofold with the early “beak” nib, which I would set my heart on winning. In the days leading up to the auction, I repeatedly checked how the bids were going and always stopped to look at the close-up photographs, particularly of the nib, front and back. Happily I was successful and that pen is now mine.

After buying a number of Parker 17s, with their 14 carat gold hooded nibs and hooped squeeze-bar fillers, I moved on to the Parker 61. Again with so many for sale I decided to be choosy and ignored any with the inlaid arrow missing from the section. By the end of the year, I had acquired four Parker 61s. Two were the early, capillary fillers, with one of these being the “Heirloom” (with two-tone rolled gold cap also called the rainbow cap). Two were cartridge or converter fillers; one was a Flighter; one was Made in USA and the others all Made in England; so, a good cross-section.

I was thrilled when a Parker 51 with an oblique nib came up and again when I found a Parker 45 with an oblique medium nib. Both are great for me to use in lefty-overwriter mode.

Eventually, my wife expressed concern that my buying of Parkers on eBay was getting “out of control,” and that temptations would be never-ending, since hundreds more pens come on the market every day. True. We agreed that a recent, lovely teal Parker 61 would be my last.

It was about this time that I happened to spot a black Parker 45, with a 14 carat gold Medium nib, in great condition. I zoomed in on the close-up nib photos and made screenshots of them. It was only £24.99 “buy now or best offer”. I held out bravely for a few days but then received a thoughtful notification from eBay that the seller had dropped the price to £19.99! This was too much to bear. I knew from the photos that the pen would write like a dream. A vintage Parker, with a pristine gold nib at less than the price of a new Parker Jotter or Lamy Safari. I could not not buy it. Then a solution came to me: I would buy the pen, but as a gift for someone else!

The pen duly arrived. As it was to be a gift, I had to check it first, flush it and test it out. The nib was as wonderful as I had imagined and needed only a light flossing with a brass shim and a rinse. I separated the nib and feed to clean and photograph them. The sac puffed out air bubbles into the water and all looked well. I dried the pen and filled it with Waterman Serenity Blue. It was a joy to write with. Ink flow was ideal, once I had ejected about three or four drops of ink.

I decided to “test” the pen over a few days. Big mistake. This pen was exceptionally enjoyable and I bonded with it. With Serenity Blue, it wrote like my Pelikan M800. There was no way I could part with it. Instead, I gave the intended recipient a lovely new fountain pen of equivalent price.

Of the remaining brands represented in my 2023 acquisitions, these included a flurry of Jinhaos, first the X159 and later the 9019 and 82 models. After trying these, the most enduringly successful seem to be the blue demonstrator version 9019 with an EF nib and filled with Diamine Tavy blue black and the 82 in Caribbean Sea Blue with gold trim, F nib and the same ink. Both start immediately after long intervals and write smoothly with good flow.

I greatly enjoyed the London Pen Shows in March and October. These are always joyous days, running into numerous friends from the online fountain pen community and talking to the sellers. Some of my favourite buys of 2023 were:

Montegrappa “Monte Grappa”, in black with 14 carat gold M nib: possibly John Hall’s last one as Write Here of Shrewsbury was to end links with this brand;
A Cleo Skribent Classic, cartridge-converter filler version in Burgundy red with 14k Broad nib (also purchased from John Hall);
An Aurora Duo-Cart, sold by Kirit Dal from his ex-samples tray at a generous discount; he kindly sent me a branded Aurora converter for it afterwards and a box of cartridges.
A Benu Euphoria Bourbon, with a broad nib, from Stonecott Fine Writing Supplies Ltd: the perfect vehicle for Diamine’s Caramel Sparkle ink.

My last and quite possibly most special fountain pen arrival of the year was a gift from my aforementioned wife, bought whilst on her trip to Hong Kong in November. It is the Pilot Custom Heritage 912 with a 14 carat gold Waverly (upturned) nib. I use it every day and it is a wonderful pen, with an element of Unobtainium about it, since they are not readily available in the UK. The WA nib is great for me as a lefty who uses both over and under-writer styles.

I have enjoyed attending our monthly pen club meets, (The London Fountaineers) whenever I can. Also, there have been daily interactions with a host of fellow enthusiasts online, via WordPress and Instagram and in correspondence from the UK and beyond.

As I do every year (and usually fail), I will endeavour once again to buy less pens, ink and notebooks and to make more use of what I already have. Thank you for reading and I wish everyone a Happy New Year.

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