Author Archives: dapprman

Stipula Etruria Faceted Alter Ego

26 Thursday Mar 2020

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There are few things more dangerous to a collector than going to a show or viewing a for sale list.  To cut a long story short, buying one long sought after pen resulted in another three, including this Stipula Etruria Faceted Alter Ego.  All based on a couple of photos and a very good price.  I will detail the story at the end for those interested, but the net result was the arrival of this limited edition pen with a celluloid body and sterling silver fittings.

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Pens Shows and Covid-19 Virus – Updated Attendee Info 23:40 6/3/20

06 Friday Mar 2020

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It’s the Spring London Pen Show this Sunday and at the same time it’s hard to avoid the fact there is now a globally spreading infection, Covid-19 also known as Coronavirus.  The WHO is yet to declare it a pandemic and it is still considered mild in the UK, but certainly people are worried.  It will be interesting to see if numbers at the event are heavily affected.

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Daily Carry – Late February 2020 Edition

29 Saturday Feb 2020

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Hold the front third page, Dapprman has actually changed the pens in his daily carry!!  This has partly come off the back of the purchase of a number of second hand pens, all of which have made the main six (well seven if you include the Pelikan Duo highlighter).  Thing is it could change again within just a few weeks as the Spring London Pen Show is in just eight days time, and while I’ve nothing specific I’m looking for (maybe a Platinum Curidas or a Sailor Realo), I suffer from my ‘ooh shiny’ weakness moments.
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Pilot Custom Urushi Vermilion

18 Tuesday Feb 2020

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Flagship of the Pilot fountain pen range and a comparative behemoth in size, the Custom Urushi has shown that simplicity and cleanliness of design can be as appealing as complicated art works.  Available primarily in black, it is also made in smaller numbers with a vermilion finish to the cap and barrel.  For a long time it was only available in Japan and the USA, however as of recent it can now be bought from an increasing number of European and UK based retailers. Continue reading →

Pilot Vanishing Point

09 Sunday Feb 2020

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Click, click, clickity, click …. if ever there was a fountain pen to distract the wielder and annoy colleagues it is Pilot’s Vanishing Point/Capless/Decimo (depending on country and width). Until very recently no other fountain pen had been on sale for a long time with a ballpoint type clicker mechanism. Sure it’s not the only retractable fountain pen out there, and even around the time of launch there were JDM rivals, but for single handed ease of use there has been nothing comparable until this month (February 2020) with Platinum’s launch of the Curidas.
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Pens in Rota – Do we use all our pens enough?

31 Friday Jan 2020

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Here’s one to think about on a Friday.  How you decide what pens you use.  I was considering an update on my daily carry, except I realised there was no change from last time, which was back last November.  Personally, where things have changed is at my PC/desk, where the number of pens grows and shrinks depending on what’s new and if I’m reviewing something. Continue reading →

Update on the Yard-O-Led Astoria Grand

29 Wednesday Jan 2020

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Just a few weeks back I posted my review of a Yard-O-Led Astoria Grand I picked up at last October’s London Pen Show.  I mentioned how I had contacted YOL over the history of the pen and the possibilities of replacing the clip band with the correct sterling silver one (with hallmarks).  Within a day I had a reply.

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