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.
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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21 Friday Feb 2020
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If we were to believe Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychology and psychoanalysis, then our desire to collect is the fault of our parents (more information at the end of this post). Sure Freud’s findings were based on his observations and introspection, but still it gives us an excuse – it’s some one else’s fault. Continue reading
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
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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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
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.
25 Saturday Jan 2020
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People tend to mistakenly think that when Parker moved their manufacturing to India and Platignum (not to be confused with Platinum) appeared to cease to be, that fountain pen production in the UK had halted. However, even before that time, a number of small craftsmen were already starting up. One of these, in 2003, was Bryan Lucas at the Worcester Pen Company.
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21 Tuesday Jan 2020
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Let’s be honest. It was not just the textured pattern of the Kumpō limited edition 3776 Century pen from Platinum that made it so popular. It was also the turquoise colour. A colour that did not quite match any of the inks out there. Except …..
17 Friday Jan 2020
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Astoria yard-o-led astoria, English, fountain pen, Yard-o-Led, Yard-O-Led Astoria, Yard-O-Led Astoria Grand
These days most people associate Yard-O-Led (YOL) with a range of sterling silver writing implements hand crafted from a workshop in the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham, UK, however back before the 2015 buyout from their previous owners Letts, they had other pens in their inventory.
