Last Sunday was the Spring London Pen Show and as previously posted there was the question over how it would be affected by the present situation over the Covid-19 virus. Turns out rather well. Sure numbers were down both for traders and for visitors, but it was far from being the disaster some people feared.
A certain amount of credit has to be given to the organisers, who rearranged tables, removed one row from the main room, and put out plenty of bottles of hand sanitiser. Additionally to the vendors who came – sure some big names and many of the foreign traders were missing, but there were still some from Romania, German, Spain (I believe), and The Netherlands.
Numbers wise they were down on last year, but the place still felt busy. Maybe not packed, but the removal of a row of tables in the main room reduced some of the congestion through narrow walkways we normally find at this event.
So photos …
The entrance way:
First corridor:
Emy at Pen Venture was over from Romania
Pure Pens had moved in to the first corner, a place I believe they felt worked well for them.
Back corridor:
John Twiss, one of the new show organisers – alas my photo of Vince, the other, was blurred as he tried to duck out of the way.
Stephen Hull, author of various books on Onoto sitting where Onoto would normally be …
Main Room:
Pen Friend now in a new location.
I believe William Hannah was also happy with his new location.
I’m sure Sarj could have spread further out …
A new name to the pen maker world – Den only started commercially making fountain pens a year back.
I decided the risk of infection was worth the cookie 🙂
As found at various places around the show:
So what did I get this time. Not that much by my usual standards.
The box is a 1950s/60s Conway Stewart display case.
Pens descending
- 1990-92 Montblanc 146 – yes my very first Montblanc – a good price and the older 14k nib makes a big difference to me
- Leonardo Messenger – apparently these are to be limited in numbers, though going for a similar price to the Momento Zero and Furore.
- Den’s Pens Aequitas
- TWSBI ECO Yellow special edition.
The long blue stick box is a set of samples from The Ferris Wheel Press company.
dapprman 
Thanks for this great post. Almost as good as being there.
How do you like the Messenger, and how does it compare to the other Leonardos?
Thanks for the photos – I thought it was a great show, and appreciated the extra room to move around a bit more easily.
A mixed bag, though it might partly be down to the nib and ink choice.
Initially was looking at the teal acrylic version but, like most of the options, it was somewhat anonymous. This swirled patted, though, does look good. Writing is decent enough – it’s a JoWo nib and I went for an EF as something different. In the hand it’s also slightly anonymous – it really does miss the superb grip of the Momento Zero/Furore. One real issue is ink evaporation. All indications are the cap must not be sealing despite being tightly closed. Added to which this is the second Krishna RC ink I’ve tried which has appeared to gum up a nib/fed with evaporation.
Will see what it’s like with a different ink – no option as with an EF nib it appears I’ve lost around 4/5ths of a converter in under 2 weeks.
Great photos. Wish I could have gone.
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