12 Friday Jan 2024
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So here is something you would never have thought could be a item of contemplation. Separating the cap of a pen from the barrel to allow us to write. Simple. We talk about removing the cap, yet for many of us it is actually the opposite. We remove the body.
Continue reading29 Friday Dec 2023
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Traditionally each year I visit the two London Pen Shows, make most of the Southern Pen Club meets, buy too many pens, and procrastinate about selling some of the collection. So how has 2023 compared with the past?
Continue reading21 Thursday Dec 2023
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Asvine, Chinese, fountain pen, Hong Dian, Hong Dian 1851, Hong Dian Forest, Hongdian, HongDian 1851, HongDian Forest
Do a search for the Chinese firm Hong Dian (also written HongDian) and you will find, primarily on Amazon or Etsy, a list of pretty generic fountain pens though none are clones and one model does stand out as slightly different. A thin straight pen which has obviously been designed for the cap to be posted. Depending on the colour or finish this pen either has no name or is called the Forest, though as far as I can tell the model is actually the 1851 (on etsy, however, the range of 1850-1861 is used).
Continue reading17 Sunday Dec 2023
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Thought I really ought to post some plans as visiting family and meeting friends will throw an already lazy schedule out of sync.
Continue reading08 Friday Dec 2023
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Many fashion, jewellery house and accessory brands have dabbled with writing implements and Cartier are no exception. At present their only fountain pen is a hand made £136,000 gauche product, however early to mid last decade they sold the Art Deco inspired Diablo at a far more reasonable price.
Continue reading24 Friday Nov 2023
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As I write it is Black Friday and fountain pens are once more being discounted, but is today the best day to buy, after all Fountain Pen Day was just three weeks back and we’re not yet (in theory) in the Christmas period.
Continue reading10 Friday Nov 2023
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The arrival of a Fountain Pen Day purchase made me think about one thing I always do with a new pen or converter. It is also something you still see posted as a possible fix for the lack of ink flow with a new pen. While many of you will already follow this process, there are those of you new to the hobby who may not. As the title says, this is flushing the new fountain pen with water.
Continue reading03 Friday Nov 2023
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Once more is is the first Friday on November and that means International Fountain Pen Day.
Continue reading29 Sunday Oct 2023
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The number of small pen makers seem to be proliferating and this can only be a good thing for us collectors. Many are either commercialising a hobby or branching out in to a second career. While this may make the market place more crowded, the competition is friendly (in the UK at least) with many chatting to each other at pen shows and even buying ‘rival’ pens. However it also helps if there is something different or something that stands out to grab the attention of the buyer. Such is the case for me with this pen.
Continue reading20 Friday Oct 2023
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This is always a very busy time of year for me due to my other major hobby. Presently creating over a dozen documents, some of which require research, and all need printing. The net result is, while I am a third to half way through the creation of a pen review (before photos) I will not get a chance to complete it until mid next week, so hopefully it will be next Friday’s post.
dapprman 