Record-breaking attendance at our November meeting!

We had excellent attendance for our meeting on November 15th at Perks pen store! Twenty-five VPC members showed up to see some exciting new Sheaffer writing instruments that are on the near horizon, as well as some older Sheaffer fountain pens brought in for our monthly theme. Thanks to all members who attended, as well as special guests Patrick Clarke and Nathaniel Clarke of Morton-Clarke & Co. Ltd, the Sheaffer distributors for Canada, who took time out of their busy schedules to come to our meeting and tell us about the new Sheaffer pens that will be launched very soon. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reminder---we have no meetings in December, so the next VPC meeting will be on Thursday January 17, 2013, usual place & time (unless we need to change it, so please check our website) Theme: to be announced "Demonstrator Fountain Pens"! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (~all photos courtesy of Bill K ~ click on images to enlarge ~)

(above: Patrick (just right of center, holding pen) and Nathaniel (far right, with cap), representatives of Morton-Clarke & Co. Also in the photo are (L-R) David S. (partially hidden), Sam, Dexter and Christopher R.)

(above: Patrick and Nathaniel talking to VPC members about the Sagaris model (coming out in late 2012) and the Taranis (due: early 2013).

(above: a close-up of the pens Patrick brought---(from left to right) seven Sagaris pens and five Taranis pens, all very attractive and classy-looking additions to the Sheaffer lineup)

(above: (from L to R): Bill K, new member Peter, Michael, Glenn C--in the background--and Glenn Marcus, in the foreground)

(above: It was a busy meeting, but I had enough time to resack Bill's Esterbrook desk pen, which I had traded to him a couple of years ago)

(above: Ralph looking on as I attempt to remove the old sac remnants. For some odd reason, the sac detached itself from the section, and simply disappeared. The mysteries of vintage pen repair!!)

(above: new member Al Brunelle, Sam and Dexter looking at some pens in Sam's orange Delta Markiaro pen case, while my vintage Sheaffers look on in the foreground)

(above: VPC member Mark Harcourt doing some in-store pen repair at Perks during our meeting. Mark has set up a workbench inside the Perks store on Cambie Street and has opened up shop for local pen repairs)

(above: It was great to get a hands-on demonstration of the Sagaris and Taranis lines of Sheaffer pens coming out---photos don't do them justice!)

Sheaffer night at Perks!

Many thanks to Patrick Clarke and Nathaniel Clarke of Morton-Clarke & Co. for coming to our pen club meeting on Thursday (November 15) to talk about the new offerings from the Sheaffer Pen Company. Patrick brought some prototypes and samples of the not-released-yet "Sigaris" and "Taranis" models for us to see (you can see the trays of pens that he brought in the videos below).

Both the Sigaris and Taranis are handsome writing instruments, and it's great to see that Sheaffer is still coming up with innovative designs. Patrick's talk was well-received and we had record attendance that night (25 members!), so it was a fun evening. Many thanks to Christopher R. for taking the videos!



The Sagaris isn't on the official Sheaffer website yet (and it's coming out in December 2012, we were told), but I found some nice photos on Jim Mamoulides' amazing Penhero.com site: http://www.penhero.com/News/SheafferSagaris.htm



The Taranis is due out in the first quarter of 2013 (probably March, according to Patrick). Here's a photo of the model that was posted on Fountain Pen Geeks, one of my favourite pen sites: http://fpgeeks.com/2012/08/sheaffer-knocks-one-out-of-the-park-with-the-refreshing-design-of-the-new-taranis/

Visconti Divina Medium Size Black Fountain Pen

Posting this great photo of a Visconti Divina fountain pen on behalf of one of our pen club members who has a keen interest in pens and digital photography. Many thanks to Al for the photograph & text below! (~click on photo to enlarge~)

Al writes: I have been doing photography since I retired from the workforce nine years ago and have now expanded to studio photography. I started collecting pens this year and this fall I decided that I would attempt to take photos of my pen collection. Photographing pens is a real challenge with the biggest challenge being the lighting due to the shape of pens and reflective materials used in the manufacturing of pens.

The Visconti Divina Medium Size Black Fountain Pen is modeled after Visconti’s Divine Proportion limited edition. This new collection represents a simplification in style and construction with the result being an attractive and original design. The Divina is more suitable for daily use and a pleasure to write with. The Divina Proportion is inspired by the Nautilus, or “Golden Spiral”, built according to the sequence of Fibonacci and the Golden proportion of 1618, comparing the length of the cap with the length of the pen, both opened and closed. The pen comes with Visconti’s unique Push and Pull Touch down filling system with a 14K nib.

The photo was taken with a Canon 5D Mark II using a Canon EF 24-105mm 1:4 L IS USM lens. Edited in Photoshop CS6. The photo background is the January 2008 issue of Pen World.

More photos can be viewed at: http://alsmcphotos.smugmug.com/Other/My-Pens/26359471_XVQddh#!i=2197293852&k=Pbd4BHq These photos are available for downloading.

Feedback is always welcomed, email me at: alfo2010@gmail.com

Cheers Al Brunelle

November meeting details (last VPC meeting of 2012)

Since we do not have meetings in December (due to the holidays), our November meetup will be the last one of 2012. Here are the details:

Date: Thursday November 15, 2012
Place: Perks pen store, 5844 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC (ie. the usual place)
Time: 6:30pm-8:30pm ("early birds" welcome at 6:00pm to chat before the meeting).
Theme: "Sheaffer Fountain Pens--Past & Present" (ie. vintage and modern fountain pens made by Sheaffer). As usual, "Newest Acquisitions" is our secondary topic, so if you have some cool new pen/ink/paper/accessory to show, please bring it along, too.

No RSVPs necessary for any meetings held at Perks pen store. We're a very friendly, casual club with no membership dues or duties. New members are always welcome! Hope to see you there!

Happy Fountain Pen Day!

Yes, the first Friday of November has been deemed "Fountain Pen Day", the very first such day dedicated to our favourite writing instrument! Here is the link to the official website with suggestions on how to celebrate the occasion: www.fountainpenday.com/