06 Monday Jul 2020
Posted in Pens
Mid 1982 and I received a present from either relations or friends of the family. A Parker 45 Harlequin fountain pen and ball point set, complete in a brown and beige hinged box. The latter in hindsight was appropriate to a young teenager for the Flighter, as the Parker 45 was also known, looked distinctly dated compared to the modern and edgy 25s I was using at school.
Continue reading26 Friday Jun 2020
Posted in Pens
I must have been around 10 or 11, maybe slightly younger, when I bought a Platignum fountain pen with my pocket money. I don’t think it was my first and I doubt I would have been allowed to use it at school as they provided free pencils, plus dip pen shaped ballpoints to those in the final year who had passed the writing test (so everybody by the final term in theory). This calligraphy set will have come later, but I suspect I still bought it before I was 14 or 15, which in some respects was odd as I hated writing and my calligraphy (from mandatory art classes) was poor at best.
Continue reading25 Thursday Jun 2020
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Just a quick note before today/tomorrow’s regular post. While I know quite a few of you are looking forwards to my present views on my Parker 25, at present it (and the 45) are being used as dailies to remind me what they are like and what I think of them now. As a result the probable order will be:
19 Friday Jun 2020
Posted in Pens
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A mixture of the present lock down situation, plus posts from other bloggers has got me to thinking back about earlier pens. Thus in the near future I will start reviewing the ones I still own as a trip down my memory lane, but for today a little personal fountain pen history.
Continue reading12 Friday Jun 2020
Posted in Pens
Not sure anything else raised so much hype, confusion, divisiveness and controversy in the fountain pen world in 2020 (so far). Limited supplies, production/design problems, different perceptions on costs have already created plenty of bandwidth on the various on line forums. But is the Platinum Curidas any good? (for me the title may be a bit of a give away).
04 Thursday Jun 2020
Posted in Pens
Franklin-Christoph must be one of the worst kept secrets in the fountain pen community. A small North Carolina based company who only sell on line and at US pen shows, yet try finding a fountain pen club around the world where at least a few of their members do not own one or more of their pens.
29 Friday May 2020
Posted in Pens
In the last few years Leonardo Officina Italiana (to use their full name) have been building quite a reputation through their Momento Zero, Furore, and Momento Zero Grande models. All are of the same basic design with the differences being in the finials and size. Now in 2020 they have released a new model, the Messenger, with just 366 examples being made in each of five translucent colours.
27 Wednesday May 2020
Posted in Uncategorized
With the present global Covid-19 situation, rather than announcing the new Pelikan Hubs event and opening registration, Pelikan have taken the sensible approach and not take a guess at what things will be like in September with the result they are cancelling this year’s event.
21 Thursday May 2020
Tags
capless, EDC, EDC Fountain Pen, lamy, lamy dialog, lamy dialog 3, musings, pilot capless, pilot vanishing point, platinum, Platinum curidas, retractable, vanishing point
I’m guilty. I jumped on the bandwagon of fountain pen fashion. I bought a Platinum Curidas in green with a medium nib. To be honest, when the original pictures came out my interest was piqued, after all I have to others, with which I will lightly compare it, the Lamy Dialog 3 and the Pilot Capless (nee Vanishing Point).
15 Friday May 2020
When is a Dolcevita not a Dolcevita, when it’s a Frederico, or is it? Towards the end of Delta, in 2014, a range of ‘cut price’ pens was offered through a partner site, Martemodena, both direct from their website and through certain auction platforms. Visually these were very similar to the originals, so how was the price brought down? In the last eight months I’ve been fortunate to pick up the stantuffo (piston filler) version of both the Dolcevita and the Dolcevita Frederico allowing me to compare.
