Monday, December 31, 2018

A few more from our October meeting

Here are a few shots I took during our October meeting. Apologies for the picture quality! (click on images to enlarge)

Ray's stunning sterling silver Montblanc fountain pen with matching sterling silver desk base.
My photo truly doesn't do it justice:


A quick shot of the pens Christopher brought to the meeting -- (top to bottom):
Montblanc 'Generation' ballpoint, Sheaffer Snorkel fountain pen, Montblanc 'Noblesse Oblige" fountain pen and one of his trusty Parker Vacumatic fountain pens:
Stuart's Stratford 'Regency' fountain pen in bright orange, which he purchased from Christopher at the October meeting. For a fairly modest writing instrument, this model featured a lot of famous people in its advertising---e.g. Bing Crosby, Roy Rogers, and the Marx Brothers (among others):
I forgot to take a photo of Stuart's handsome Sheaffer 'Triumph' desk set so Stuart sent me these two shots that he took of it at home (thanks, Stuart!):



Sheaffer made a ton of desk sets over the years, and there are plenty of them still around (at fairly affordable prices on places such as eBay), so if you want a classy-looking desk pen, why not consider a vintage Sheaffer? :)



I'll be posting photos from our last meeting of 2018 (the one held in November) this week. Apologies in advance for the delay!

At long last.....October meeting photos!

We had an excellent turnout for our October meeting, held at the Kitsilano branch of the Vancouver Public Library. A grand total of 29 members were in attendance, including six newcomers (Daryl, Gabriel, Greg, Jenny Z, Liz, and Michael P).

Ricardo was kind enough to snap photos during the meeting, so without further ado, here are some he sent me to post on our club's blog. My apologies for the extreme lateness of this blog post!
(~click on images to enlarge~)...

One of our newest (and youngest) members (Michael) talking to Armando.
Michael brought in a stunning Pelikan M600 in the striped Turquoise-White pattern (not pictured). Ray (far left, who gave a great presentation on Porsche Design at our November meeting) and Glenn Marcus are in the background.
Our topic for October's meeting was "Open Format" (ie. bring in whatever pen-related stuff you want to show that you haven't brought to a previous meeting and shown to the club) and we saw some very interesting items, such as this desk pen base brought in by Armando. And yes---those are mechanical watch components embedded in it!
Another interesting item that Armando brought for our meeting---a dip pen attached to a quill!
Glenn Marcus always has some lovely Italian fountain pens to show, and this 'Momento Zero' model in Vintage Brown made by Leonardo Officina Italiana was no exception. There's a nice writeup on the pen and the pen company here on Glenn's website.


Another gorgeous Italian pen brought in by Glenn--a Montegrappa 'Extra' Otto Limited Edition in Lapis, made of celluloid with sterling silver trim and an ebonite feed:
That's Jerred in the foreground with me (Maja)---above Jerred's shoulder in the pic---listening intently to our members talk about the items they brought in for the topic, as well as their newest acquisitions (which is always our secondary topic):
That's René (center of photo, in blue shirt) talking about his newest pen-related purchase, and a couple of our newest VPC members--Jenny (to René's immediate left) and Greg (in brown cap)---listening in:
René's newest acquisition--a Pelikan M120N in "Iconic Blue", a special edition that came out this year:
The M120N is a modern version of the Pelikan 120, a famous school pen that came out in 1955. There's some good info on these models on this excellent Pelikan website .
Jenny's beautiful Pilot 'Vanishing Point' (VP, for short) in Raden Stripe made of abalone shells in a glossy hand-lacquered urushi finish. The abalone shell pieces are hand-cut and laid into the pen to create this lovely iridescent effect:
I can't remember whose Pilot VP this is, but the Blue Carbonesque pattern is very beautiful:
Longtime VPC member Julienne talking about the pens she brought in for our topic, while newcomer Liz (far left) and Joie (center) look on:
Julienne's cool Visconti 'Metropolis', a modern Italian safety pen (a pen with a retractable mechanism). Turning the end of the barrel enables the user to extract and retract the nib from the barrel:
Mindy (in cap) always has some interesting writing instruments and accessories to show us...
...such as her Kaweco 'Art Sport' fountain pen:
This upscale version of the beloved 'Sport' pocket fountain pen is made from a solid block of Italian resin and comes in many colours and patterns.
Ray's beautiful Montblanc Carlo Collodi Limited Edition (part of their Writers Edition of LEs) was created as a tribute to the Italian author and creator of Pinocchio. The cap depicts Pinocchio and his friends, and the conical barrel end is a representation of his famous nose.
You probably can't see it in this photo, but the nib is engraved with a drawing of a cricket, the representation of Pinocchio's conscience in this classic children's story.
Michael (center) listening to one of our members. Bob W (far left) is in the background:
I can't remember who brought in this Sailor Pro Gear but it looks even more beautiful in person! (Update: it's Melodie's!)
Photographer Ricardo's drawings of some of the wonderful writing instruments we saw that evening:
Many thanks to Ricardo for taking the time to snap such great photos during a very busy meeting! Thanks to all who attended, even if you couldn't stay for the entire meeting :)