Friday, September 30, 2022

A sentimental favourite

As you may know, our pen club isn't just about fountain pens. In fact, we've had meetings that featured vintage ballpoints from a wide variety of manufacturers. VPC member Christopher was kind enough to send in this lovely story of how his mother acquired two such ballpoints (one of which he owns) from a well-known local shopping mall several decades ago....

Christopher: "In the early 1960s, my family lived in Vancouver in the district of Kerrisdale. Not the Kerrisdale we of Vancouver are familiar with today, but a much simpler and basic, if not rustic, neighbourhood. Near the end of the decade before, the second largest shopping center of Vancouver was developed less than twenty minutes from our house on SW Marine Drive. Whereas most of our shopping had involved a somewhat long excursion on the interurban line into downtown Vancouver to the Woodward’s department store (which, as my mother often commented, had almost everything), the new Oakridge shopping mall, which included its own Woodward’s branch, had countless stores and services.  Amongst those services was the Woodward’s pen counter. This was almost a department in itself, with a massive selection of writing instruments under many well known banners.

(All photos courtesy of Christopher ~ please click on images to enlarge)

In December of 1961, my mother found that she was at a loss for a pen which she could carry in her handbag. It was also nearing Christmas and there was a need for a gift for my father. So while out on a grocery shopping expedition in her rather tiny Nash Metropolitan to the Woodward’s Oakridge food floor, we made a slight detour to the Woodward’s pen counter. I remember the clerk telling my Mum that Paper Mate had just released a new line of their pens under the Capri branding, and it was an impressive range for both men and the ladies. My Mum asked to see first a Capri that just might be suitable for her handbag and what the clerk bought to our attention was the Lady Capri. Of the range of colours, my mother immediately took to the ‘Dark Pink’, which was offset with a brilliant brushed chrome cap decorated with extremely attractive matching dark pink starbursts. While on the barrel there was the Paper Mate logo of two tiny brushed chrome hearts. I also recall the price as being quite expensive at the time, at $2.95 plus the tax.

(Above: Christopher's mother at about the time she bought the Paper Mate ballpoints - Dec. 1961)

But Mum carried on, asking to see the top Paper Mate pen in the Capri line. She told the clerk that it would be a Christmas present for my father and had to be something special. She added that he was using a Parker 51 fountain pen which she had gifted him with in 1948. The attendant assured her that the Capri IV would be the perfect gift and besides, it wasn’t just one of those old leaky fountain pens but a smart new ballpoint. So both pens were bought and the Capri IV went on to reside at my father’s office, while the Lady Capri became a pen which I saw often around our house and while out shopping with my Mum.

To this day, that little Lady Capri treasure has had a special place in my heart and lives on in my current collection."


What a great story! I love hearing the stories behind our members' pen acquisitions. Many thanks to Christopher for sharing the provenance behind this stylish vintage ballpoint :)

Wednesday, September 28, 2022

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 428

...and here it is, as promised -- Christopher's review of the antique fountain pen he showed us at the last meeting, a Waterman Number 6!

Christopher writes:"With the early Waterman fountain pens, you are often looking at a rather Plain Jane Black Chased Hard Rubber item, unless you are lucky enough to score one of their also early metal overlays or precious finish pens. Still, there is a lot to be said for those Plain Janes, because what they lack in sparkle, they definitely make up for in quality. Waterman, in its early days, seemed to realize that the real strength of a pen was the nib. In fact, prior to if you were in need of a pen, you would visit your local jeweller, who would, on your request, show you a collection of Gold (in a lot of cases) nibs. Nibs at the time were considered pens. Then, on your selection, the jeweller would bring out a collection of nib holders (or tapers) to support the nib and to complete your pen. These holders would be finished by the jeweller in ivory, mother of pearl, or precious metal(s) and sometimes for the more well-heeled, decorated with jewels. The so-called pens completed in those days were also considered jewellery and, subsequently, a mark of distinction.

But back to the Waterman Plain Jane. These pens often had an engraved or chased finish on their vulcanized hard rubber make-up because plastic, as we know, was still a good number of years away. In fact, Waterman was --unlike its competitors-- slow to move on from hard rubber to embrace plastic, which became the norm moving forward in fountain pen finishes. Still, the black hard chased rubber of these Waterman pens had a certain smart elegance. In that very early period, Waterman had not added a lot of the features common to the pens that followed. For example, the clip was not added to the Waterman cap until 1905 and branded the ‘Waterman Ideal Cap Clip’, unmistakably set in place on Waterman caps with two distinctive nickel plated rivets. Also, the idea of a screw on pen cap was not thought of or patented until 1907 by the Waterman company. Plus, the idea of any type of filler other than an eyedropper was, in most cases, just wishful thinking. Of course, history in the pen industry had Waterman adding a lever filler to their pens, even though they had a bit of s struggle to get it approved, with Sheaffer having patented the first lever filler. Waterman further improved on this lever filler by boxing it on the surface of the barrels with matching metal. This made for a stronger and better- protected filling mechanism."

(photo courtesy of Christopher ~ please click on image to enlarge)

"Now, we get down to the Waterman fountain pen which I ran across and took home the other day. It is one of those early Black Hard Vulcanized rubber pens which I have just described. And add the overall embellishment on the cap and barrel with the attractive chasing which I also mentioned to round out its exterior appearance. The size is 6 ¾ inches posted to sit well balanced in the hand and 5 ¼ inches capped, which is not by any means too long to stow in a pocket or purse . There is not any evidence of a filler on the exterior of the barrel, so it is an early eyedropper and at the flat end of the barrel is imprinted the number 6. The cap is quite long, but void of any clip, and underneath it is a fine quality Waterman, solid 14K Gold Ideal number 2A nib, in a smooth jet black finished section. The 2A, just in case you are wondering, refers to an accountant’s nib, but this nib has enough flex in it to satisfy even the most creative writer.

Ok, I have given all the prerequisites of this Waterman pen, but what about dating it? Well, Waterman placed its Ideal ‘Globe’ logo branding on its writing instruments post-1903, but this pen does not have the Waterman Ideal cap clip, which was patented in 1905. So my educated guess, for what it is worth, in dating this pen would be 1903. I do have another Waterman Black Chased Hard Rubber fountain pen dated 1904, but it seems to have more detail even though it is much the same pen.

To sum up, I am just thrilled to have scored this nice trooper, and will be adding it to my collection and using it often."


Many thanks to Christopher for this informative review!

Monday, September 26, 2022

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 427

I didn't photograph this unusual vintage Sheaffer desk set base at our September pen club meeting because Stuart had already sent in this review (but asked me to hold off posting it until he showed it at our meeting). Without further ado, here's the desk base in question...

Stuart wrote: "I’m attaching some pics of the new arrival I told you about - it’s a Sheaffer pen stand sold by itself, without a pen."

(all photos courtesy of Stuart ~ please click on images to enlarge)


"It’s black plastic, with a metal base covered by black felt. It has subtle geometric detailing that give it an Art Deco air."



"Going by the Sheaffer’s logo on the label (photo below), I would put it as having been produced between 1927 and 1932, though it could be a little later than that."

 
"It incorporates a pen rest, as shown in my photos."

"I’ve not seen another one like it, so I assume they’re uncommon. It came from Brockville, Ontario, though it’s US Sheaffer production. One interesting note - you can see metal at the bottom of the pen socket, when you look down into it. Maybe that fitting helps hold the base in the plastic body of the set. It’s a simple but striking base, and I’m happy to have found it!"

A few weeks after he sent in the above review, I got this from Stuart:

Stuart:"Searching eBay for Sheaffer desk sets, look what I found!

"A 1933 ad for a set including the pyramid base I have, so I was in the ball-park with my guess of a date range of 1927-1935. And look what you could get with it!!! It doesn’t give a price for the entire ensemble, but I’d guess $12 to $18 if the pen and pencils were Lifetime models.

The base is heavy plastic with a felt-covered metal base, so weightier than it looks - it’s very stable. The base on its own was $1.50, without a pen, so it would have been an economy-level base."

Our thanks to Stuart for sharing all of his great vintage and modern finds with us on our pen club's website :) We'll be featuring a very old (a true antique, actually) fountain pen belonging to Christopher here on Wednesday, so stay tuned!

Saturday, September 24, 2022

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 426

Today's blog post features another vintage fountain pen that Christopher brought to our September in-person meeting. He was good enough to send in a review of it, so without further ado, here it is!

Christopher: "It amazes me that after the stock market crash of September 1929 just how many pen companies in North America managed to maintain high product quality standards, considering the fact that the Great Depression lasted all of ten long years. Granted, some did not survive, but the L.E. Waterman Company not only survived but, during this down time, managed to produce some outstanding writing instruments. Case in point, the Waterman No.32, whose number reflected its year of inception."

(photo courtesy of Christopher ~ please click on image to enlarge)

"For me, and more currently, it is an all jet beauty of standard size and exceptional balance in the hand. Equipped with an outstanding 14K sold gold number 2 Waterman nib which, in turn, is mounted in a bit longer grip section. The barrel comes complete with a Waterman boxed lever filler and on the flat end of this barrel is inscribed the model number 32. Covering the nib/feed and grip section is quite a smartly appointed cap, sporting both a 14K Gold Filled Waterman double riveted, ball ended clip and a thin cap ring. I should mention that the top of this cap is singularly stepped in design, adding rather an attractive overall final touch to the appearance. This pen in turn posts at all of 6 ¼ inches but caps back to a more than pocketable 5 inches.

For me, acquiring this Waterman 32 bridges a gap in my collection between the earlier black hard chased rubber models and the high grade plastic Waterman pens of the early 1930s. Definitely a winner in my opinion, and more than suitable to be added to my collection."

Our thanks to Christopher for sharing another one of his newest vintage finds with us!

Friday, September 23, 2022

The Vancouver Pen Shop is moving! (**Sale extended to November 18, 2022 ***)

The Vancouver Pen Shop is moving!! (and they're having a sale!)
                                     (photo source)

They just broke the news via Instagram that due to renovations at their building, they're moving to a permanent new location! In late November *, they'll be moving to their new location at 555 Howe Street (between Dunsmuir and Pender) in downtown Vancouver, a few blocks west of their current location. The new location is just two blocks from the Burrard Skytrain station and half a block from the Dunsmuir Street entrance to Pacific Centre Mall. *Update: Stuart visited the store since this blog post went up, and he was told that the last day at the old location is Friday November 18, and that the store would open at the new location on November 23 or 24 (please note: those dates may change due to unforeseen circumstances)

In order to reduce their store stock before the move, they've already started their annual anniversary sale *so if you want some great deals on writing instruments, inks, stationery & accessories, check out their store at its current location at 512 West Hastings Street in downtown Vancouver! They're open six days a week (Monday to Saturday) for your shopping convenience.
For contact info, check their Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/vanpenshop/

*Another update: their sale is extended to Friday November 18, 2022 (which is the last day the store will be open at the old location)!

Thursday, September 22, 2022

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 425

As promised, here's that review of the rarer vintage Parker 'Vacumatic' fountain pen Christopher brought to our in-person meeting last week! Many thanks to Christopher for sending in this informative review and the accompanying photos.

Christopher: "Collecting vintage Parker Vacumatic fountain pens seems to be an endless trek of discovery. Just when you think you have seen it all, something new appears out of the woodwork. For me, several weeks ago it was the last in the line of the long-lived Parker Vacumatic Standard model, a model which was subsequently replaced, due to very strong sales, by the Vacumatic Major. And with this last model of the standard, you really can see the transition."

 (all photos courtesy of Christopher ~ please click on images to enlarge)


"Originally, the Parker Vacumatic Standard was introduced as part of the 1932 Vacuum filler Laminated Pearl line. In essence, it was the largest Vacuum filler model and referred to as the Senior Vacuum Filler. Although the filling mechanism was the Vacumatic type, these early Vacumatic models differed from what was to follow, in that their barrels and grip sections were one piece. Plus the Vacuum fillers were not transparent, but opaque.

When the metamorphosis took place, and the Vacuum filler became the Vacumatic, the Standard model evolved in 1934 as the second in size to the Oversized Vacumatic. As much as their sizes differed greatly, the Standard kept the same tubular design and mirrored the Oversized, but just as a smaller model. Further evolution as the Vacumatic Parker line of pens became prime, the Standard model became to be known, as far as identity was concerned, as the Vacumatic with the three distinctive cap rings.

Still in 1937, when pen styling was changing, Parker followed suit with streamlining all of their Vacumatic models including the Standard. It was also the introduction of Parker’s new Speedline Vacumatic Filler. This filler differed from the prior lockdown Vacumatic filler by being fully extended when not in use. Of course, this well-suited the streamlining design because it called for a longer blind cap, bringing the Standard’s overall length to all of 130mm. Also in that year, Parker introduced what was to become the most popular Vacumatic model, ‘The Major”. By 1939 the Standard and Major were competing for market share , but the overall size of both pens in the Streamline design was quite similar. Still, even with the passing of George Parker’s son, Kenneth (who had brought the Vacumatic to the forefront), the Major was out-selling the Standard by far. In 1942 with the war measures act, the idea of continuing with a filler for the Vacumatic which involved aluminum was just out of the question, so a plastic plunger Vacumatic filler was introduced and the blind cap dropped its metal tassie and end jewel. Now the Major and the newly designed Standard were more or less identical save their cap bands."


"While the Major lived on to the end of the Vacumatic run in the US in 1948 and in Canada to 1953, the Standard only survived as long as the stock was available. This makes my 1944 Streamline Vacumatic Standard quite a rare and desirable item. It is also a fountain pen I am enjoying using currently, before being added to my collection."


 

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 424

As promised in the previous blog post, here are a few more photos of Stuart's vintage Sheaffer desk set (taken at his home, not at the pen club meeting), along with his thoughts on this great find!

 (all photos courtesy of Stuart ~ please click on images to enlarge)

Stuart: "Here’s some pics of a lovely set that arrived last Tuesday from Las Vegas."


"It’s a Sheaffer, from 1936-37, in canary yellow glass with a mirrored inner bottom. It’s a smaller sibling to the larger one I acquired in 2019. There’s a chip on the bottom right side, more visible when looking down on the base from above, as visible in a couple of the shots. Otherwise, it’s in fine shape, and like the big one, just glows with reflected light!"


"The pen I’m using comes from another set, as the TD (Touchdown) pen that came with the base isn’t functional. These don’t turn up often on eBay, so I feel very lucky to have snagged two canary glass sets."


(The base really does glow, as we saw at our September in-person meeting!) Our thanks to Stuart for sharing it with us :)

Sunday, September 18, 2022

Photos from our September meeting!

Many thanks to everyone who came out to the Kitsilano branch of the Vancouver Public Library on Thursday (September 15th) for our September meeting. We had 10 members in attendance, including a couple of members who attended their first in-person VPC meeting! I snapped some photos during the meeting and Christopher added a couple, so without further ado, here they are...

 (all photos by Maja, except where noted ~ please click on images to enlarge)


Our happy group! (left to right): Alvin, Yen, Mindy, Jaime, Alejandra, Christopher, Rene, Jerred, me (Maja), and Stuart.

Stuart celebrated his 9th anniversary as a member of our pen club this month--congrats, Stuart!-- and brought some really nice recent acquisitions (the theme of our September meeting) to show us.

The ones
in the removable part of his new Galen Leather 'Slip & Zip" pen case (which he reviewed here) above are (top to bottom): a Montblanc 'StarWalker Blue Planet' Metal Doué fountain pen, a Kaweco 'AL Sport' fountain pen in the "Iguana" colour, a Pentel 'Graphgear' mechanical pencil and a Lamy 'Logo M+' ballpoint in the "Lagoon" colour. Above the Montblanc is a Senator 'Windsor' piston-filling fountain pen.

Here's a closer look at Stuart's new Kaweco 'AL Sport' in that stunning "Iguana" colour. The 'AL Sport' is the aluminum version of the ever-popular Kaweco 'Sport' (which is made of plastic). The 'AL Sport' fountain pens have some (unexpected, to me) heft to them and feel good in the hand...and that "Iguana" colour. Wow!

If you've you've been following our virtual "show & tell" closely on this blog, you might have noticed that Stuart is a big admirer of vintage desk sets. This lovely yellow glass desk base was made by Sheaffer (ca. 1936-1937) and we'll be featuring it in a separate blog post on Tuesday.

Stuart also brought another vintage Sheaffer desk set (an Art Deco-ish set in black plastic) to the meeting; I didn't photograph it as Stuart sent in a review of it that we'll post later this week on our blog.


(Stuart says that this particular vintage Sheaffer desk pen model didn't originally come with the desk base, but I think it's a perfect visual match!)


We saw a lot of different Kaweco pens at our meeting, including this beautiful Kaweco 'Special Red' (part of Kaweco's 'Collection' line) fountain pen belonging to Rene.

It's an octagonal fountain pen made of aluminum and brass, and it comes in a golden nostalgic tin box with the matching leather pen sleeve shown above. Kaweco 'Collection' items are available in the Kaweco range for one year only.

Rene also brought in a Waterman Taperite 'Crusader' triple set--fountain pen, mechanical pencil and ballpoint--for us to see, as well as many of the pens he acquired during the pandemic. They were a feast for the eyes!

In addition to some new pens, Jaime brought along some of her ink sample cards to show us (so many beautiful colours!)

This lovely fountain pen was made by the Mythic Pen Company, a smaller pen maker based in the southern United States. It's the 'Aeschylus' model and Jaime is its proud owner

Above: An eye-catching fountain pen (also belonging to Jaime) made by Ian Schon of Schon DSGN, a small pen company located in Pennsylvania. Ian wears many hats -- he's an engineer and watchmaker in addition to being a pen maker! The pen in the photo is the diminuitive 'Pocket 6' model (so named because of its full-sized #6 nib) in the "Unicorn" colour.


Though they're primarily known for their inks, Ferris Wheel Press of Markham, Ontario also have a small line of writing instruments. This is Jaime's Ferris Wheel Press 'Brush' fountain pen.

Like its namesake, the 'Brush' fountain pen has a long, tapered body. It is handmade of copper, brass and stainless steel materials and has a wonderful engraving on its section that adds to the overall aesthetic of the pen and enhances the user's grip, as well.


Above: Another Ferris Wheel Press writing instrument that Jaime brought to the meeting--her 'Roundabout' rollerball. It uses fountain pen ink, and is filled via the supplied ink converter.


(the two photos below are courtesy of Christopher)

Someone once asked me what we actually do at our pen club meetings and I explained that the bulk of any given meeting is the "show & tell" portion, which revolves around a monthly theme** (September's meeting theme was "Newest Acquisitions", but we might change it up next month); before and after the "show & tell", we chat amongst ourselves.We're a very casual bunch, so if you're interested in joining our club, please feel free to drop in on one of our meetings! 🙂

**If you don't have anything to show that relates to our monthly theme, please don't worry--just come and have fun learning and talking about pens (and inks and paper), and seeing some great pens & pen-related stuff!


Alvin and Yen (in the lower right of the photo above) attended their very first in-person VPC meeting and brought lots of great writing instruments for us to see...

That's Yen's zippered pen case above, filled with some very cool pens and her wonderful sketchbook...

...and here's Yen's lovely collection of Kaweco 'Sport' fountain pens!

As mentioned earlier, Kaweco's 'Sport' line includes writing instruments made of plastic and aluminum, but it also includes brass versions (there's one directly above) and ones made of stainless steel as well as carbon fiber (Jaime brought her new red carbon fiber version--a Kaweco 'AC Sport'-- to the meeting). The 'Sport' writing instruments have different model names, depending on their materials, and it can get a bit confusing trying to remember all of them; fortunately, there's an excellent overview of all of the various 'Sport' models on JetPens.com (link).

Alvin brought some really nice vintage pens belonging to his father, including classics like the Parker "Vacumatic', Parker '61' and Parker '45' (all in the smaller pen case above) ...


...and some of his own beauties by Narwhal (Nahvalur) and Leonardo, among others (photo above). And yes, that's a Retro 51 "Hot Coffee" Special Edition rollerball made for Goldspot Pens on the far left-- love it!

Here's one of Alvin's father's fountain pens--a glossy black Lipic Commemorative piston-filling fountain pen. This handsome pen was actually made by Senator (a German pen company) for Lipic, which was an American writing instrument manufacturer founded in 1863.


This Lamy 'Vista' belonging to Yen has a 1.9 mm stainless steel nib--the widest nib that Lamy makes-- and is really fun to write with


Alejandra brought more great vintage pens that she recently acquired, including a pretty vintage Parker 'Challenger', a gorgeous vintage Wahl-Eversharp 'Doric', and this handsome Wahl-Eversharp 'Skyline' fountain pen shown above

I didn't photograph all of my recent acquisitions (I bought several of them--including the Cavallini & Co. "Mineralogie" pen case from Buchan's above---on the day of our meeting, heh) but here are some of them in my Sonnenleder "Nietzsche" leather pen case...


Above: (left to right) Sheaffer 'Icon' rollerball, Hongdian '920' Rosegold White fountain pen, General Supply fountain pen (bought at a local Staples store), and a Lamy 'Econ' ballpoint pen.

In all the excitement, I forgot to photograph Mindy's lovely Kaweco 'Sport' "Iridescent Pearl" fountain pen (Kawecos are very popular with our members!) and two vintage Watermans (a model '32' and a model '6' in black hard rubber that's more than 100 years old) that Christopher recently scored. Happily, Christopher just sent in a review of the Waterman '32', so we'll post it here on our blog next week. Christopher also brought a rarer vintage Parker 'Vacumatic' to the meeting, and we'll be featuring it on Thursday. Jerred brought four cool Delta fountain pens ---a "Galleria", a "Nuova Galleria", and two 'Anni Settanta" models-- that I didn't photograph because they were already reviewed by Jerred here, here and here on our website (and Jerred's photos of them are much better than mine could ever be :)

Many thanks again to everyone who braved the traffic snarls in Vancouver to come to our September meeting! I'm hoping that we can use the same venue for our October meeting, but please check our website in early(ish) October ---the October meeting info will be in big red letters at the top of each webpage---as this meeting room may not be available for our use that month.

Friday, September 16, 2022

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 423

He couldn't make it our in-person meeting last night, but Lawrence was kind enough to submit this review of his new fountain pen for our website. Meet his handsome Visconti 'Homo Sapiens' Bronze age fountain pen!

(all photos courtesy of Lawrence ~ please click on images to enlarge)


Lawrence: "I had mentioned before that most of my pens are "ungendered". There are a few exceptions to this, of course - my Waterman Elegance is one example. While the Elegance has a decidedly "feminine" feel to it, the Homo Sapiens is on the other end of the spectrum -- butch pen. Of course, a pen can never, ever be completely butch because once uncapped, every pen needs to have a nib (nibs are very streamlined and anything but butch). Anyway...the Homo Sapiens did not attract me that much when I first saw it online. I thought it was a bit too "sporty-looking" at that time. But when I saw it in person (at Charals), the real pen looked pretty refined. Interestingly enough, most of the higher-end pens that I own did not initially attract me until I saw them in person.

The pen clip is the "standard" spring-loaded style of the Visconti pens: "


"There is the pen's name engraved, as well, on the section: "


"Speaking of the section, this pen has an interesting twist cap mechanism that prevents accidental uncapping: "
"So to twist it off and on, we need to press the cap down. Basically, looking at the grooves on the section, this extra step make sense.


It has the Visconti logo on the cap, and it's one of the "My Pen System" marketing bruhaha...that I don't care much about. I think the cap looks fine as is, and I don't see how replacing it with some gem stone or whatever will add anything."

"I got a 1.3 nib. It's 23K palladium:"
"I guess they call it the Dreamtouch nib. To be honest, it was anything but "dreamy" when I first got it. Well, "in my dreams" is more like it....because the pen had this skipping / baby bottom thing happening. However, like my stub nib pens, certain kinds of inks work well with them. The Pilot inks work with it very well. So now it writes like a different pen.

It has this vacuum filling mechanism that I'm ambivalent about. It takes a lot longer to fill up this pen, but the real drag is when I have to clean the pen out. This pump vacuum thing is very, very tedious. Also, I have to wonder how durable this is in the long run...

The material is a mix of resin and volcanic rock (Mt. Etna??). I do like the material. It is very light. Lighter than what I would have expected when looking at the pen. It is supposedly hygroscopic...but I'm not sure if this will make it stain easier when I'm filling it up. I know it is black, but stains will still show up as shiny film. I make sure to wipe it clean religiously every time I fill up.

It writes nicely (with the Pilot ink lines) and it has a nice balanced weight. I think it is a very nice pen to write with. However, because it is a stub nib, this is not a regular pen that I write with, but it's reliable when in use (again, after the ink change). And, of course, because it is a "black" pen...then it will be put into my "reddish" ink pen group." (Ed. Note: What Lawrence is referring to is his self-proclaimed "OCD thing with black/red combos -- black pen / red ink" :)

Many thanks to Lawrence for submitting yet another great review of a recent acquisition! :)

(I'll be posting photos from yesterday's in-person meeting this weekend, so watch this space!)

Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Reminder -- in-person pen club meeting tomorrow!


Just a little reminder that we're having an in-person meeting on Thursday (September 15) at the Kitsilano branch of the Vancouver Public Library from 6:00-8:30pm!

All details here: https://www.vancouverpenclub.com/2022/09/in-person-meeting-thursday-september-15.html