Travelling with ink, China 2017. Part 2: Finding a Picasso.

~ rupertarzeian ~ 11 Comments
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Terraced rice fields, Longji, near Guilin

Time now to conclude this two-part post, about shopping for fountain pens while on holiday in China. For Part 1: Meeting the Heroes”, follow link here: Part 1 . (Update: a Part 3 epilogue was later added).

After Shantou, we sped by bullet train at over 200 Kmph, southwards down the coast to Shenzhen, a city on the border of China and Hong Kong. Taking a short walk along a bustling shopping street near our hotel, we came to a shopping mall and department store and popped in to have a browse. The supermarket had a stationery section, with pens and exercise books. There were few fountain pens to be seen, but I picked up one which looked unusual.

This was the Maped Reload. In a blister pack, it was not possible to handle the pen before purchase, but at around £2.00 in our money, it seemed worth a shot. The name “Reload” is a reference to the filling mechanism, whereby you slide back a chamber in the barrel, insert a standard international cartridge, plus a spare one, and slam it home again, like cocking a Winchester. The closest thing I had seen to one of these before, was a Bic Easy-Click child’s pen. However, the Maped Reload appeared to have several advantages over the Bic, in that (1) at around 138mm uncapped, it is a full size pen and does not need posting; (in fact you cannot post the cap as it simply will not fit on the barrel); (2) you get a stainless steel nib with tipping material, rather than a butterfly, folded nib tip; (3) there is room to carry a spare cartridge in the barrel; (4) you get a strong, metal pocket clip.

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Maped Reload. Look after your thumbs when removing the cap.

The pen has a snap-on cap and a rubberised grip section with three facets and is reasonably comfortable to hold. On the down side, the pen is very plasticky as you might expect at this price point. However, that was not my biggest complaint. What really turned me against the pen was the force required to pull off the cap. Holding the barrel with my thumbs at right-angles to the barrel, I found myself exerting an ever increasing amount of lateral force on my thumbs until eventually my joints almost gave way. Moral: look after your thumbs; keep them in line with the pen, not at right angles, when dealing with stiff caps or caps of untried stiffness!

Just as we were leaving the shopping centre, I spotted a pen shop on the ground floor. The signage advertised Parker, SJ Dupont and several other well-known brands although the stock in the glass display cabinets was for the most part, either Parker or local Chinese offerings. The prices of the Chinese fountain pens were very modest and furthermore, there was a 50% reduction on all marked prices.

The first to catch my eye, was a bright red and chrome pen, with stainless steel nib and brushed stainless steel section. This brand was called Picasso and featured a cubist face logo on the cap and nib and the Picasso signature etched in the section. A converter was included. Metal lacquered cap and barrel. Metal threads. A decent gift box and a colour booklet. The cost? 98 RMB reduced to 49 RMB, about £6.00. And it writes beautifully.

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Picasso fountain pen.
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Cubist logo on the Picasso fountain pen nib

In this sudden flurry of holiday shopping activity, I picked out another Picasso, a slightly different and larger model but again, a stainless steel nib pen with metal lacquered cap and barrel and a good quality feel. This cost a little more and was called the Pimio.

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Another Picasso, this one is the Pimio.
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Picasso Pimio finial

I later read on the included booklet, that Picasso pens are produced by the Shanghai Pafuluo Stationery Co Ltd (web site http://www.sh-picasso.com, which is worth visiting).

The last of my pen purchases, perhaps the most unusual and the one which had caught my wife’s eye in the display, was burgundy with three bands of gold glitter running down the cap and barrel. The pocket clip was of both silver and gold colour, nicely introducing the bi-colour 18K gold plated stainless steel nib within. This was the SZ LEQI 700. No, I had not heard of it either. It is crying out for a shimmering ink!

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SZ LEQI 700 fountain pen
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Bi-colour nib of the SZ LEQI 700

I hit upon this shop shortly before closing time and the lady was pleased to sell me three fountain pens in as many minutes. As well as the gift boxes that the two Picassos came in, she gave me one of her empty 10 pen plastic trays with see through lid which proved ideal for transporting the eight old pens that I had been given by an uncle a few days earlier.

Back at the hotel I enjoyed dipping the new additions and then inked them up with Aurora Blue Black, the only ink that I had on the trip. All wrote very well.

However, this was where my fountain pen spree came to an end. In Guilin, our next destination, after two full days of sightseeing, I was laid low with Sciatica for the remainder of the trip. Thus, once back in Hong Kong, I was not able to go searching for the elusive Pilot Custom 823. However, being incapacitated cured me from any urge for further pen shopping. So if you ever need a remedy for too much pen-purchasing, there it is. Sciatica.

Guilin, incidentally, is the place to go to see steep limestone pinnacles. A few hours’ drive from the city, we visited the Longji terraced rice fields which are spectacular even though the colours are not the best in December. We saw women of the Yoa minority whose custom is to not cut their hair. Many had hair of over 2 metres long and I end with a few more pictures.

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A display of long hair from the Yao women of Longji.
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Rafting on the Li River, near Guilin

Travelling with ink, China 2017. Part 1: Meeting the Heroes.

~ rupertarzeian ~ 11 Comments

Our recent holiday in China saw us spending time in the cities of Shantou, Shenzhen and Guilin plus a brief stay in Hong Kong at each end.  Shantou and Hong Kong are where our Chinese friends and relatives live, whilst Guilin was purely for sightseeing, in a spectacular region of strange limestone hills, ancient terraced rice fields and quiet rivers.

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Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Filler having a selfie near Guilin.

My pens chosen for this trip were the humble blue plastic Parker Reflex, filled with Aurora Blue and a red Conklin Mark Twain crescent filler, in which I had put a Jinhao nib. I judged it best to fly with the Conklin empty but carried a bottle of Aurora Blue Black ink, a recent favourite, to use when I got there. The box makes a handy pen cup.

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Improvised pen cup. Traveling with the bare essentials.

I had rather hoped that there might be time to do a little pen shopping in Hong Kong and possibly track down a Pilot Custom 823 and had even noted down the address of a shop to look for. As it turned out, this did not happen, owing to unexpected events but I still managed to come home with a staggering seventeen additional fountain pens (old and new) that somehow attached themselves to me during our travels.

First, on arriving in Shantou some cousins presented me with a very smart, hefty, black lacquer and chrome fountain pen, a Hero 912.  Hero is a long-established and well regarded pen manufacturer in China. This model has a bi-colour stainless steel nib, a push on cap and a Hero branded, slider-type converter similar to those made by Parker. Nib and feed were friction fit. I inked it up with the Aurora Blue Black and was very pleased with the result.

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Hero 912 fountain pen

Also tucked into the box as an extra gift, was a brushed stainless steel pen, which looked at first glance to be a ball point but was also a fountain pen. There were swirly patterns on the barrel and cap and the words “Beijing 2008” and so this was presumably a souvenir from the Olympic games. The stainless steel nib had some scroll work and the word “CHINA” and an Aerometric style push bar filler. This one had been inked before and had a little corrosion at the end of the section. I took it apart and gave it a quick clean but found that the sac struggles to draw up ink. Still, an interesting specimen and I will enjoy tinkering with it.

It is customary to visit the older, senior relatives first and we arranged to visit my wife’s elderly uncle, whose flat was just a couple of blocks from our hotel in Shantou. He lives with his son and daughter in law and grand-daughter, a school student. In his younger days he had been fond of writing although his eye sight was now such that he had no further use for his pens. To my surprise, he gave me a bag of eight old fountain pens, assuring me that he did not need them any more, that no-one in the family would want them and that they would otherwise only be thrown out. I was thrilled at the prospect of giving them a new home and cleaning each of them and trying them out.

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Uncle passing on his fountain pens to the next generation.

Uncle’s pens were all Chinese and included four with hooded nibs and steel caps, of the Hero 616 type and similar – being a Parker 51 Aerometric copy.  He had one each in teal, burgundy, grey and black. Then there were a couple of brushed stainless steel pens and two laquered pens with the name “Jin Rong” and one which appears to have a fude nib. All eight pens had the Aerometric style push bar filler. I shall enjoy cleaning them up and seeing how they write.

I had an interesting chat to his grand-daughter, aged 17, who had studied English since the age of 10.  Her bedroom in the modern flat was a marvel of storage space solutions, with hidden compartments under the floor, under the bed and under the bench seat in the window. School starts at 8.00am each day and they have nine subjects for homework.

During our few days in Shantou, we did visit a modern shopping mall, on three floors with a huge Walmart supermarket and car park occupying the basement levels. We browsed around, what were mostly clothes and shoe shops. I did not find any stationery shops. However, in Walmart, to my delight, there was an entire aisle of stationery – with writing materials on one side and notebooks on the other. There I saw some Lamy Safari-style pens (shall we say, Safari tributes or homages), plus some other models not available at home in England and at very low prices, all hanging up in blister packs.

Perhaps the most inviting of these was a Hero 975, in a metallic blue finish and gold. Displayed in a sealed pack but in its opened gift box within, the pen appeared to have a screw on cap which appealed to me. Add to basket. I leafed through the other models behind it on the peg. One pack had been sliced open and the pen removed, which was sad to see, given its modest price.

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Hero 975. No, those are not cap threads; the cap just pushes on.

Also there was another Hero, the 2017. Again, I had not seen one before and it was notable for its very rich coloured laquered cap and barrel, (in blue or burgundy) and a hooded nib in a half metal section. At just a few pounds each, I took one in each colour. The blister pack also included a 15ml bottle of ink! I picked up a nice bound A5 notebook too.

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Hooded nib of the Hero 2017 fountain pen.

I may review these in due course. For now, I should add that the Hero 975 does not have a screw cap and that what appear to be cap threads are just part of the design. The cap simply slides on over them. Still, it is quite a handsome pen.

As for the Hero 2017, with its hooded nib, this came with a converter and performed reasonably well. The finish is lovely. However, the bottle of ink that it came with turned out to be almost useless. Instead of the jet black that I had expected, it was a very weak wishy washy sepia and barely legible and I threw it away. I cannot believe that this is how it was intended to be and so it was perhaps just a faulty batch or past its best.

More China pen stories to follow in Part 2.

 

 

 

The joy of macro.

~ rupertarzeian ~ 12 Comments
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Staedtler Mars micro 0.7mm mechanical pencil

Who doesn’t love a mechanical pencil? I already have several but could not resist this one when it was less than half price in our local Rymans.

Recently, I have been enjoying a revitalised enthusiasm for photography, prompted by the acquisition of a new Nikon Coolpix A900. New camera day! I was attracted by a host of exciting features, particularly the articulated screen, the ability to shoot macro from 1cm, a massive x35 optical zoom with Vibration Reduction, (Nikon’s anti-shake), 4K video, 20 million pixels, Wi-Fi connectivity and many more. It was some years since I last bought a new camera, if you do not include mobile phones and things have move on a lot in that time.

There are a few things that it doesn’t have, such as the ability to shoot in RAW, or a touch screen, which I decided that I could live without. Exposure compensation settings are readily to hand, as are white balance settings and colour adjustment. It is wonderful to be able to have white paper looking white, even if taken under artificial light in the depths of winter.

It is the ability to take macro shots with such ease, that I have found most exciting. Even hand-held shots seem acceptably sharp but with a small tripod, combined with a two second self-timer delay setting it is better still. Here is my new pencil again.

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Getting up close with the Staedtler mars 0.7mm mechanical pencil.

Here is the production date stamp on the elegant black and chrome guilloche Cross Century II fountain pen:

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Date stamp on the collar of a Cross Century II fountain pen.

Obviously it is tempting to try the other extreme and see how the telephoto performs. I tried a quick shot of the moon, with a manual exposure and a few stops of under exposure. This was the result:

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The moon over London. The farthest subject that I have photographed so far.

Finally, one of the subjects that I wanted to photograph better, was paper. Not ideal with a mobile phone. I wanted to be able to capture the texture that you see, particularly under high magnification and with a low wintry sun slanting in to add contrast to the ups and downs of the paper surface. I shall continue experimenting with this but am always impressed and appreciative of the professional looking close-up photography that I see on fellow bloggers’ sites. Working during the week, there is limited time to enjoy the daylight hours at this time of year but sometimes it all comes together with a bit of sunlight at the weekend. Here was one of my early efforts. I used to think that Paperchase soft flexi notebooks had very smooth paper but under high magnification, the surface looks more like a newly plastered wall. Most of my fountain pens love it.

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Paperchase note book. Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Filler, with Jinhao X450 medium nib and Aurora Blue Black ink.

 

A quick look at the Parker Reflex fountain pen.

~ rupertarzeian ~ 17 Comments

I spotted this pen in the window of a shop selling mostly greetings cards and only a few pens, most of which were ball points. It was in a small grey Parker gift box, with the clear plastic lid and appeared to be rather dusty and in need of rescue.

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Parker Reflex fountain pen

I was surprised to see this model currently for sale. I remembered the Parker ball point pens with this distinctive rubbery grip section. I had one which has lived in my camera bag, for some 10 years or so. It was good to use outdoors, for jotting down exposure details, when using old twin lens reflex cameras. I did not remember there being a fountain pen. I have had the ball point pen for so long that I had forgotten that it was called the Reflex and had to look that up.

I decided to liberate the pen which at just £11.00, was less than I had paid for two hours’ parking at London Gatwick Airport earlier that day. I was particularly attracted to the grip section, having been thinking a lot lately about the problem I am having in gripping the slippery but otherwise enjoyable Lamy aion. I had even toyed with the idea of buying rubber thimbles, as used by clerks in post offices for counting paper.

At home, I gave the Reflex a good wash. What I had thought was dust, was actually the result of the cap and barrel having faded in the sunlight, except where the barrel had been covered by the posted cap. You can see the tan lines. I flushed out the nib section with a bulb blower.

Examining the nib under a loupe, I was delighted to find that the tines were level, that the tipping material looked symmetrical and that all looked generally well. I have often found that inexpensive modern pens do not write well straight out of the box, due to poorly finished nibs. Not so with this Reflex though.

It did not come with a converter, or even a cartridge, or any paperwork, which makes me wonder about this one’s history. There is a date code, TII on the cap. This is a bit of a puzzle. I understand that T denotes a year ending in 5 (under the QUALITYPEN system, where Q is zero). The II means that there were two quarters of the year remaining and so this was made in the second quarter. The cap is also stamped PARKER, MADE IN UK. I have read that the Newhaven factory for Parker production in the UK was closed in 2011 and so if this pen was made in the UK, in a year ending in a 5, that would suggest 2005. Could it be that this new pen had not yet been sold in 12 years?

I inserted a basic Parker converter, with the slider fill and metal agitator ball. The converter pushed in nicely, but so deeply behind the long threaded collar that the entire clear plastic reservoir area was covered. Thus you could not see how much ink it was holding.

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With Parker converter inserted, (the ink reservoir being entirely covered by the threads)

I decided on a royal blue ink to match the barrel colour and chose Aurora Blue. It wrote nicely, smooth and with ideal ink flow! That is often the gamble, part of the risk and thrill of buying a fountain pen. I enjoyed trying it out on various notebooks. At 132mm long unposted, the pen is a good length and pleasant to use. However, the cap is very light and posts securely and deeply and I prefer to use it posted, for that extra length, weight and comfort.

The rubber grip section works well. It has an unusual finish, like cross-hatched tyre treads. If you want any more grip, add snow chains!

The nib appears to be the same as in the currently available Parker Vector fountain pen. You do not expect marvels at this price level but if you are lucky enough to have a Vector style nib that performs well, it can be a real joy, with lightweight and effortless writing, if you just want a simple writing tool, to write without much flex or character.

Viewed in profile, the nib and housing are reminiscent of the Parker 45 fountain pens that I used through my secondary school years and give a very similar writing experience.

Description

This is an entry level cartridge-converter type fountain pen (although neither cartridge nor converter was supplied in my case). The pen is a good size and has a light plastic body, but features an easy to grip rubbery section. The cap simply pushes on and off with a snug fit, over the chrome ring behind the rubber grip. The pocket clip features a modern look Parker Arrow. The clip is sprung, making it easy to use. The cap is not airtight and this might be due to a design decision to reduce risk of choking, or perhaps to avoid pushing air up through the nib each time the pen is capped. The stainless steel nib in my model is a Medium. The threads on the section are plastic and very long, needing about ten twists to unscrew the barrel.

Specifications (approximate)

Length closed: 141mm

Length opened: 132mm

Length posted: 155mm

Weight, capped and with converter: 14.5g

Uncapped: 10g

Cap: 4.5g

Conclusion

The Parker Reflex is a good answer for anyone who likes the Parker Vector nib but who wishes that the body was slightly wider and that the grip was fatter, easier to hold and more comfortable. I am delighted with mine and think it was excellent value.

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Parker Reflex fountain pen, next to a Lamy Safari

Happy Fountain Pen Day

~ rupertarzeian ~ 13 Comments

In recognition of today being Fountain Pen Day, I thought to do a short post about one of the pens that I have with me today.

This is the Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Filler, red chase. This was one of my happy purchases from the London Pen Show last month.

I had long been interested in the Crescent Filler and enjoyed reading of its associations with Mark Twain. The current model is not quite the same as the one from the original Conklin pen company that he would have used. I did spot a vintage black Conklin crescent filler at the same pen show and noticed how much thinner it was than the modern one.

At a very attractive show price, I came away with two of these, one in orange (or coral chase) and one red chase.

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Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Fillers, in coral chase and red chase finish.

The beauty of these pens is the lovely nostalgic feel of dipping into a bottle of ink, squeezing the crescent-shaped filler button slowly a few times and allowing the sack to fill, before locking the button again by twisting the collar back again.

The only downside is that you cannot see how much ink the pen has. There is no ink window. Also the barrel is glued to the section and so you cannot unscrew it to gauge the ink remaining. (Actually, on one of my models, the glue seal had been broken and so I was able to open it, but even then you cannot see through the dark rubber material of the ink bladder).

One thing to remember when washing these pens, is to avoid allowing water in to the barrel, through the slot where the crescent filler sits. This is because the bladder has a dusting of talcum powder to stop it sticking or rubbing on the filler bar.

If you do unscrew the barrel, then the metal filler bar can be removed. I was impressed at how long a bar there is, to press on the ink bladder and so this helps to get a good fill. To put it back again, with the crescent pushing out through the slot, you will need some tweezers. A Swiss army knife came in useful here.

Quite how much ink it draws up, I have not yet measured. However, I did find that, with a medium nib, I wrote 37 pages of an A5 size journal on the first fill, which I was very happy with. That was the coral chase model, with Diamine Oxblood ink.

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My red chase Crescent Filler, prior to nib swap with a Jinhao X450.

On the red model, this came with a Conklin Fine stainless steel nib. This turned out to be slightly catchy. On close inspection, it seems that the left tine was fractionally longer than the right so that in normal writing, on side strokes from left to right, the proud edge was snagging on the paper. I need to have a go at it with my handy micro-mesh kit, also bought at the same show.

Meanwhile however, I was delighted to read that the nibs of the crescent filler are easily swapped. The nib, feed and housing can simply be unscrewed from the section. Alternatively you can extract the nib and feed, which are friction fit, by pulling them out carefully, taking care to avoid damaging the fins of the feed, or distorting the nib itself.

Yesterday evening I swapped the nib with one from a Jinhao x450. I have not swapped the feeds, but just the nibs.

I now have the red crescent filler, with a lovely Chinese Jinhao x450 medium nib and filled with Aurora Blue-Black ink (same pen show as well), which I am enjoying.

Coincidentally, I had to visit the China Visa Application Service Centre in London today, to pick up my visa for a trip to China later this month, so it was good to have my red crescent Jinhao-nibbed Conklin for company.

A few early thoughts on the Lamy aion fountain pen.

~ rupertarzeian ~ 8 Comments

I had intended, before the month is out, to write a post or two about the pens that attached themselves to me at the London Pen Show on 1 October 2017. However, normal business has been interrupted by the arrival of the Lamy aion and so today I am instead writing about what is currently on my mind, which is this new beast.

Having come away from the pen show very happily, with five extra fountain pens, the last thing I needed was another pen. Furthermore, I have been using a Kaweco Dia2 a lot lately (which was not one of my pen show pens) and have found myself thinking how super-comfortable and enjoyable it is, such that further pen acquisitions are not necessary.

When the new Lamy aion first came to my attention, I took little interest. But after hearing more about it, I sought out some reviews and spent an entertaining evening in watching several YouTube reviews which sparked further interest.

The anticipation.

I had still not seen one in the flesh. My only concern was that it was an aluminium pen and that in general I am not a fan of metal grip sections. For that reason I had stayed away from the Lamy Studio. After assimilating multiple reviews, I found myself assured that the grip problem had been addressed and decided that the aion was a must have item.

I will not recite what has been said, on Lamy’s official web site and in several online reviews. Suffice it to say that this is a new design, by Jasper Morrison, a modern and un-flashy cartridge-converter pen with strong leanings towards minimalism. Promotional videos showed immaculate, sparsely furnished offices with architects’ drawing boards and angle-poise lighting, into which the modern, minimalist aion blends effortlessly.

Whilst this is good aspirational stuff, I could not help thinking that if my aion is to find itself in a crowded pen cup (or silo of pen cups) with currently well over twenty other inked fountain pens then this is not proper minimalism. But never mind that.

After a few days mulling it all over, I went ahead and ordered one, in black, with a fine nib. I chose to order through The Writing Desk, as their price included the Z27 converter and they test the nibs before despatch.

Waiting for the pen was exciting. I enjoyed thinking what ink to put in and settled on a safe Waterman Serenity blue to start with.

First impressions.

First impressions when it arrived were good. It is a stealthy matte black finish, and feels very robust and a nice weight (32g capped or 22g uncapped). The finish of the cap and barrel is slightly textured, like a very fine grade of micro-mesh. Lamy’s description is “Brushed and blasted surfaces are refined with a brilliant silk-matt anodic coating finish.” (Anodised, means coated electrolytically with a protective or decorative, oxide surface). I particularly like the length, a generous 137mm opened and unposted. It is a comfortable length to use unposted, even for my fairly large hands. I also very much liked the sprung pocket clip; just press the top of the clip and it opens to allow you to slip the pen in or out of a jacket pocket one handed. My Lamy logo clip does this too.

The nib is a slightly different shape from the usual Safari Z50 nibs. The outside edges have a different contour, the shoulders being more rounded, yet the the new nibs are still interchangeable with them.

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Lamy aion with new shaped nib

There are similarities with the Lamy Studio, in the shape of the section. Also, the plainness of the design, an air of undertstatedness, reflects the much admired Lamy 2000 of 1966.

The cap snaps on and off firmly. I think it is secured by the flange at the nib-end of the section, clipping into slots in the inner cap. When capped, the pen can rotate in the cap and there is just a little movement of the pen which can be wobbled from side to side in the cap, but not such as to be a problem. With cap removed, the section blends almost seamlessly into the barrel, with no threads, no step, no slightly tickly cap-fitting lugs. You can hardly see the join, except for the difference in texture.

So, what of the section? Again, it is aluminium. It looks stunning. But what is it like to hold? It has some texture to it but different from the cap and barrel and less grippable. Personally I would have preferred it to have at least the same amount of roughness as the barrel. But I am not a designer, just a user.

The writing experience.

Here, I have had differing experiences. As we know, a pen is held between finger and thumb and rests on your second finger under the section. The nib must be held to the paper at the optimum angle (finding the sweet spot for your nib) and then held consistently as you write. We rely upon being able to anchor the pen with finger and thumb to stop it from slipping and rotating left or right away from the sweet spot.

So, if your thumb cannot get a grip on the barrel or section where it is placed, the pen will slither around. Writing becomes frustrating. You will need frequently to release your grip (such as it is), rotate the pen back to where you want it, and then grip again.

In my case, (remembering that I have had the pen for only a few days) I have found marked differences in how I get on with the pen. This is all down to the moistness of the skin, which seems to vary at different times of the day. If your skin is dry then this pen is hard to hold steady. It feels a bit like the inside of a Teflon saucepan.

But when your skin has a slight amount of moisture, (and it only needs a very little to make all the difference) then the pen can be held steady and writes like a dream. It is nicely weighted towards the front end. The nib needs no pressure at all. The pen writes effortlessly under its own weight and you just guide it along.

I should mention that I tried Serenity blue ink at first but later flushed this out, gave the pen a good rinse and then refilled with Conway Stewart Tavy, by Diamine which is a nice blue black, that I like. I have noticed that sometimes ink starvation occurs a couple of paragraphs in which is just due to the ink staying at the far end of the converter and this is easily remedied by a light shake and then all is well.

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Note the slight difference in finish between the barrel and the secion

I think the pen likes to be held with a light touch. I keep having to stop myself from gripping it too tightly. Once you learn to let go a little and let the pen do its thing, then it is a joy to use. But it all depends on the degree of moisture in the finger and thumb!

If all this sounds too much trouble then it is wise to get some hands-on experience of the pen before buying. Or some moisturiser.

As a final thought, after just a couple of days use, when picking up my super-comfy, perfectly sized Kaweco Dia2, I felt that the latter was a little narrow in the grip. So how the aion feels will also depend on what you are used to. Here they are together.

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Lamy aion (right) next to the Kaweco Dia2

My haul from the London Pen Show 2017.

~ rupertarzeian ~ 14 Comments

This was my fourth time, attending the annual London Writing Equipment Show (LWES).  It was held on 1 October 2017, at the Holiday Inn, Coram Street, near Russell Square. Knowing broadly what to expect, I had been much looking forward to it.

Oh my, what a treat for the fountain pen obsessed  enthusiast! The venue comprises one large main function room at the hotel, plus the adjacent corridors, all filled with lines of tables, covered with enticing displays of fountain pens old and new, inks, spare parts, accessories and other paraphernalia. There is something for everyone, whatever your level of interest in this addictive hobby.

This year, for me there was an added bonus, of finding several familiar new friends from the recent Pelikan Hub, just over a week earlier. It was good to see them again and to have a chat and share the excitement.

It was very warm inside and rather too crowded, until it thinned out in the afternoon. It is a good idea to find a coat rack and leave your jacket somewhere. I had brought along some cash but not quite a big enough bag, as it turned out, for the purchases I made. I had not come with any firm ideas of what to look at. Last year I bought a vintage Parker 51 from Graham Jasper’s table. I had a vague plan to pick up another, but did not in the end. I had also planned to have another look at the Conid Bulkfillers, the Belgian made, precision-engineered masterpieces that I eye up every year, although I still came short of buying one.

Thus browsing, with an eager eye and an open mind, I managed to limit myself to just five new pens, (all new, but all stainless steel nibbed, modestly priced pieces), three bottles of ink and a craft box of assorted grades of micro-mesh for those occasional attempts at nib adjustments.

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My day’s shopping: Kaweco Allrounder, Conklin Mark Twain crescent fillers in red and coral, TWSBI Classic and a mystery pen. Plus three bottles of ink and a micro-mesh kit.

My first catch was the Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Filler. I had been attracted to these from seeing them online, but thought them to be rather over-priced for a stainless steel nib pen. However, at a very attractive price at the Show, I picked up both a Red Chase and a Coral Chase model, with fine and medium nibs, respectively.

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Next, and still before reaching the main hall, I lingered at the Kawecos. I have been using a Kaweco Dia 2 in recent months, which I have been delighted with and find super comfortable. At the Show, I saw the Kaweco Student and the Kaweco Allrounder, for the first time in the flesh. I was drawn to the Allrounder in a vibrant red aluminium (I think) body. It takes the same nib and feed unit as the Dia 2 or Al-Sport. I bought the pen with an Extra Fine nib, plus a Fine as a spare. These nib units are only about £8.00 and can often be fantastic, if well made.

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Kaweco Allrounder, with Extra Fine nib.

Next I bought a spare bottle of ink, the Conway Stewart Tavy, by Diamine. I bought a bottle of this two shows ago and have used it a lot, as an attractive blue black. It is sometimes out of stock on web-sites and so I was pleased to get a spare.

A few tables on, I met the gentleman selling Aurora pens and inks, who remembered me from previous years. It was wonderful to see these stunning beauties on display, including the Optima in what I presume was the burgundy auroloide resin, a grail pen for the wish list although surprisingly light to pick up. However I did buy a bottle of Aurora Blue Black ink, only available since April which I had been keen to try.

I had a look at the Onoto pens. Again, very desirable, but quite an expensive outlay for an unplanned purchase.

Now – the main hall! It can be a bit overwhelming, the sight of so many pens and people all in one place. A prominent display of Pelikans with a giant plastic Souveran model, indicates Niche Pens’ table, with a good range of Pelikan pens to handle, including the M120 and the entry level Pelikano.  Next there were Noodlers and TWSBIs. At the vast vintage Parker table, (Graham Jasper) I was impressed to see an open, 80-pen case display of Parker Duofolds, grouped with about six of each colour. Another grail pen.

Several tables had nostalgic fountain pen branded signage of a bygone era and I regret not taking some photos of these lovely displays.

Another pen purchase, was an unbranded, large clear demonstrator pen with a black cap, displayed in gift box with a syringe included for eye-dropper filling, as an alternative option to the included converter. There were several colours and I chose one with nice blue end-cap, section and strikingly bullet-shaped barrel end. The nib looked to be a very smart, stainless steel Medium with some scroll work but with an empty space where you might normally expect to see the words Iridium Point, Germany. This I call my mystery pen. I also found a stack of Micro-mesh craft kits and added that to my stash, thinking it would be useful to have the means to do some very rudimentary nib-smoothing if the need arose.

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A mystery pen. No noticeable branding on nib, pen or packaging. But it is a beauty!

Several fascinating laps later, I was nearly ready to go but paused again at the TWSBI’s. It was at this same show in 2014 that I bought my first TWSBI, a clear Vac 700 that I love and use regularly at work.  I have since added a Diamond 580 and an Eco. Now, someone next to me was trying the TWSBI Classic in a cute Robin egg blue. I had not handled one before and rather liked the faceted cap and barrel, the shiny metal piston knob and the small clear ink window (picture your favourite ink here!). I bought one, in white. Not exactly an Aurora but it has an ink window. They also had a few KWZ inks for sale (of which I have read great reviews) and I bought a 60ml bottle of Azure #4.

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Oh, go on then. A TWSBI Classic, new model with postable cap. Now inked with Sailor kiwa-guro.

Having a New Pen Day x 5 was rather indulgent, admittedly. I therefore decided to ink only one more pen a day, throughout the week, to prolong the enjoyment. And it has been enjoyable. Each one has been a success and I am thrilled with my purchases.

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Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Filler. Currently inked with Diamine Oxblood and going nicely.

My first Pelikan Hub, London UK, 2017.

~ rupertarzeian ~ 9 Comments

On 22 September 2017, in cities around the world, the annual Pelikan Hub event took place. This is an occasion for fans of Pelikan fountain pens and inks to gather and meet each other. Anyone who wishes to attend, can register. A Hub Master is then nominated for each city, who books a venue and notifies those in his or her group of where it will take place. The Hub Master also receives gifts donated by Pelikan, to distribute on the night. It is a wonderful idea and I know of no other fountain pen company that does this.

Here in London, our Hub Master, Naresh had arranged for our group to meet at the Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill, in Portman Square, close to Oxford Street. The spacious public bar area on the ground floor was comfortable and relaxing. Naresh welcomed us and gave out the Pelikan gifts as people arrived. I was delighted to receive a bottle of Pelikan Edelstein Smoky Quartz ink, a very useful, generous and unexpected present.

Our group spread out around a few tables around a fireplace. Then, getting straight down to business, people got out the pens that they had brought along. Soon the table was sporting an impressive array of pens, pen cases and pen rolls and journals of various sizes.

I am a newcomer to Pelikan pens, buying my first in April 2016, the M205 blue demonstrator with a broad nib, which I love. I went on to buy an M800 in blue and black in November (which I use every day) and then, earlier this year, at auction, a vintage M400 tortoise from the 1950’s. These, my modest “flock” of Pelikans, I brought to the hub.

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My flock: the M800, M400 vintage tortoise and M205 blue demonstrator.

Many at our table had brought along very impressive pens. I was able to handle an M600 (claimed by some to be the ideal size Pelikan) and some limited editions. Our table included Katherine, visiting from San Francisco and Jonathan, a member of Fountain Pen Network – Philippines. Marisa was a member of the London UK Fountain Pen Club and encouraged others to come to their monthly gatherings.

I was struck afterwards by how quickly and easily, people had started talking about their pens, passing them around, inviting others to try them. Little or no introductions were needed. We all had a common interest. It was unusual and refreshing, with the same absence of formality as a child starting a conversation in a school playground.

A few slightly guilty conversations took place on the subject of how many pens one had. Someone was asked “When did you last buy a pen?” and replied “Yesterday!”

Trying other people’s vintage pens was an education. The feel of the softer, flexy nibs gives a very different writing experience. Everyone was very knowledgeable and discerning in their choices of pens and nibs.

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The joy of trying each other’s pens.

Soon, fascinating conversations were taking place on all sides. A gentleman at our table was telling us about his gorgeous Pelikan M800 Renaissance Brown and was planning to buy only one more pen this year, the Pelikan Ocean Swirl. Another of the group had planned not to buy any pens in September. There was much to learn about pens and their interesting owners.

As well as sharing stories and experiences of their Pelikan pens, some other beautiful pens were produced and I was able to try a Nakaya Piccolo, a Pilot vanishing point (or Capless) and a Conid bulkfiller.

The time flew by and all too soon it was time to leave. I left wanting more! Before dispersing, a few group photos were taken around the Pelikan Hubs banner. Similar photos can now be seen on social media from cities all round the world and it is rather nice and special to think that fellow fountain pen enhusiasts were sharing their stories on the same day, in so many countries and cities.

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Pelikan Hubs 2017 London UK.

I picked up a lot from talking to people and had a wonderful evening. Thanks to Naresh our Hub Master for arranging the venue, to the Hyatt Regency Hotel for their hospitality and to Pelikan for instigating this marvelous event – and for the beautiful ink.

I could not wait to try the ink when I got home. I have put it in two pens. I am thrilled with the unusual colour and its attractive shading. Many of our group – me included – plan to visit the London Pen Show on 1 October 2017 and look forward to meeting again then.

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Paperchase NOTO journal (large, brown) review. A lesson in line spacing.

~ rupertarzeian ~ 8 Comments

Buying a new journal is a wonderful thing. There is the anticipation of unwrapping it and opening its crisp new pages, trying out the paper and putting it into service, with all the potential enjoyment that this offers.

While prowling the aisles at Paperchase recently, I picked up this Paperchase NOTO journal. Available in different colours and sizes, I first saw a smaller, black covered version, unwrapped for display. The nicest thing about it is the leather-look cover, which does look very much like leather with its mottled tones and grain. It feels like leather too, soft and pleasant to the touch.

I decided to get the larger one, in brown, which appeared to be A5 (although not exactly), with an elastic loop closure, a ribbon page marker and 224 ruled pages.

This was sealed in shrink-wrap and so the only other visible indication of its specifications was on a paper insert saying “specially handmade for Paperchase in Italy using recycled paper” and bearing a symbol of ruled lines and then the price sticker on the back: “LRG JOURNAL NOTO BROWN 120 PAGE”, made in Italy, and the price. On Paperchase’s own website, where you can order online, the description includes the statement, “Being made in Italy especially for Paperchase, it has natural quality and style”.

As a veteran of notebook purchases, I now have a three-point routine on getting my new notebook home. First, is to number the pages. I find this inexplicably soothing and satisfying. There were 224, not 120. Second, is to try various fountain pen and ink combinations, starting from the back pages. This gives you a good sense of the type of paper that you are dealing with and its limitations, as you check for bleed through, absorbancy (or woolliness and feathering) and show through. It also overcomes first page nerves.

The third thing, (which I have now learned from purchasing this notebook) is to check the line spacing properly, preferably before you buy. I am a wide line person. Given the choice when buying a pad of file paper, of wide or narrow line spacing, I pick the wide.

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Paperchase NOTO journal with Tesco cartridge/converter pen

 

I had not before measured what line spacing I liked and at what point the narrowness veers towards irritation and annoyance. However a simple and accurate check can be made by counting the rows in your new notebook, measuring the total height of those rows and then dividing the total height by the number of rows.

In the case of the Paperchase NOTO (large), you have 26 rows in which to write, measuring 182mm in total, which gives a row height of 7mm.

I noticed that this was somewhat narrower than the spacing on the paper insert behind the shrink wrap would suggest,  which I later measured as 44mm / 5 = 8.8mm. I also noticed that the page lines do not quite go to the edge of the paper, but stop with a margin of 9mm. Ha! This means that you cannot see the ends of the printed lines when looking at the closed notebook sideways on, which might have given you an idea of whether the line spacing is suitable or not, when the book is sealed in shrink wrap.

This led me to get out a pile of different notebooks and journals that I had used, of varying line widths, to find my preferred row height. What I learned from this exercise, is that most of these had a line width of 8.00mm or above. The widest (another Paperchase A5 journal with bonded leather cover) actually gave a very generous 10mm. The worst, was a Ryman A5 diary which I had very nearly given up on after a few days’ use, having a stingey line width of just 5.8mm. This annoyed me every day for a year. On some days I wrote on alternate lines.

A difference between 8mm and 7mm might not sound much, but it is a drop of 12.5%.

Coming back to the NOTO, it does feel well made, with proper stitched binding. The pages measure 142mm x 210mm, (which I think is just slightly narrower than A5, but the same height). The paper is of a cream or ivory colour. The weight in gsm is not given but it is reasonably thick and not flimsy. It is a recycled paper, acid free, chlorine free and pH neutral.

I do like the appearance and feel of the leather-look cover. It remains to be seen how this will wear over time if carried around.

Having bought it specifically to use with fountain pens, I was eager to try some. Whilst the paper looks and feels smooth and pleasant, it did seem a little on the absorbant and fibrous side, leading to a slightly wide and woolly line. Some feathering can be seen, especially if examined under a loupe. I have used other Paperchase notebooks with crisper results. Waterman Tender Purple ink in a Platinum 3776 Century, produced a particularly high level of bleed through. Conway Stewart Tavy, by Diamine, (my current favourite blue black) in a Kaweco Dia 2, also suffered bleed through, such that the other side of the page was border-line unusable. On the other hand, Waterman Audacious Red ink which I currently have in a Cross Century II, a Lamy Vista and Noodlers Ahab, fared well although you can produce bleed through if you try, by adding some pressure for a wetter line.

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Bleed through, worst from Waterman Tender Purple ink in a broad nibbed Platinum 3776 Century.

 

For black inks, I remembered my Sailor Kiwa-guro black pigment ink. I tried this first in a Platinum Preppy 0.5mm (medium nib). The ink performed well with this paper with no bleed through, minimal show through and with less feathering than with the other inks, thus giving a crisper edge to the lines. However the 0.5 nib was perhaps too wide for my smallish handwriting and for the 7mm line width.

The best match that I have found so far, is the same Sailor Kiwa-guro black ink but in a finer nib. I used a cheap, £2.00 cartridge pen from Tesco, a clear and red plastic demonstrator yet which has a nib that I particularly enjoy, unmarked but I would guess a medium/fine with a pleasant feedback. I use this with a converter.  I have often marveled at how good this pen is, defying its modest cost.

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Sailor Kiwa-guro black pigment ink used with a Tesco cartridge-converter pen. Performed particularly well on this recycled paper.

Since buying the NOTO journal, I have looked for reviews online. An old one from 9 April 2010 on FPN by ImolaS3, compared a variety of notebooks then available in the UK and concluded that the Paperchase NOTO was the best by far. I wonder whether the paper might perhaps have been different then from my example with its recycyled paper, since my experience was rather mixed, until I discovered a winning combination of pen and ink to pair with it.

In summary, I think this is a good-looking journal, in a practical, portable size. The 7mm line width is slightly narrower than my ideal row height but this is a matter of personal preference. The key issue is whether the paper will work for you. But if you are prepared to experiment a little to find which pen and ink combinations suit the paper, then you will be fine.

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End page. Acid free, Chlorine free, ph Neutral and Selected recycled fibres.