Friday, October 28, 2022

November pen club meeting.... at the Vancouver Pen Shop!!

The good folks at the Vancouver Pen Shop generously extended their hospitality to our pen club and will be hosting our November meeting! 

Here's what you need to know about this special event:

What: Vancouver Pen Club November 2022 meeting

When: Thursday November 17, 2022 from 6:30pm to around 8:30pm or so

Where: The Vancouver Pen Shop, 512 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC.

Meeting themes: "Green Fountain Pens" (Modern & Vintage) and "Your Favourite Pen Purchased from the Vancouver Pen Shop"!

I asked Shannon (manager of the Vancouver Pen Shop) to choose the first theme, and she chose it because their store originally had a green colour scheme; longtime Vancouver Pen Club member/Vancouver Pen Shop patron Stuart suggested the second theme (thanks, Stuart :) 

SALE! The shop's annual sale (which turned into a moving sale) has been extended to November 18, 2022! This will be the last day the store is open at its old location -- see this post about their move to a new location in downtown Vancouver! 

                                      512 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, British Columbia

Thursday, October 27, 2022

October meeting photos!

Our October meeting was held on Thursday October 20th at the Kitsilano branch of the Vancouver Public Library. Fifteen enthusiastic VPC members were on hand for a fun evening of pen, ink and paper talk. Our theme was "Newest Acquisitions" and "Pen-related Stuff You Haven't Shown Us Before" and we saw a ton of amazing writing instruments. Happily, we had four brand-new members to share in the excitement --Amy, April, Hadi and Phil!

Without further ado, here are some of the things we saw that night!

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




Above: Hadi's Pilot 'Custom 823' fountain pen, a beautiful vacuum-filling fountain pen. Hadi loves this Pilot model so much that he has more than one in his collection (with different nibs, of course :)




That's my brand-new Caran d'Ache '849' Limited Edition "Color Treasure - Cold Rainbow" ballpoint (purchased from Nikaido) resting on an Endless 'Recorder' notebook.

The notebook was designed and made in India, and uses the wonderful (and fountain-pen friendly) Tomoe River paper. We saw lots of great stationery at the meeting, much of which was brought in by Yugo (who acquired most/all of it from Buchan's Stationery
in central Vancouver, I believe).

Interesting fact: the decision to make the Midori MD notebook cover-less was a conscious effort on the part of the manufacturer to show the quality of the paper as soon as it was picked up


My beautiful new blue-striped Pelikan 'M600' fountain pen atop Yugo's SIWA notebook cover. The cover is made of soft naoron, a paper-like material developed exclusively for SIWA by the Japanese company Onao (makers of Washi paper)

Above: a Hobonichi Techo Planner & Cover (day planner) that Yugo also brought to our meeting. Hobonichi Techo books also use Tomoe River paper, which has very little/no bleed-through or feathering. The paper is also very thin and because of its thinness, it keeps the overall weight of the notebook down (I read on JetPens.com that a 400+ page Hobonichi Techo notebook weighs only 7.3 ounces!)

 

Alejandra also brought in a Hobonichi planner, but hers is a 2023 Hobonichi Techo Weeks planner in the cute Bow & Tie: Bunnies design, shown above.

The planner is resting in her lovely Hobonichi Techo Weeks cover in Liberty Fabric's "Betsy (Neon Beige)" material (which I forgot to photograph separately, oops :( The exterior of the cover is made of cotton fabric from the British brand Liberty Art Fabrics, and the interior is made of natural leather and has a pen loop and several pockets.

Alejandra's Galen Leather Zippered Single Pen Case for Kaweco - Pocket Pen 



Alejandra also brought a handsome vintage Parker '21' desk set with a lovely marble base


Christopher showed us his beautiful vintage Waterman '552V' Smooth Gold Overlay (ca. 1919) fountain pen, as well as a very modern pen-- a Monteverde 'Tool' fountain pen! The pen doubles as a multi-function tool with a touch-screen
stylus, Phillips and flat head screwdrivers, a built-in level, a ruler and three different scale functions

Christopher's two Pelikans--a modern 'R200' rollerball (top pen) and a vintage fountain pen (a '140'?)--and a vintage blue Sheaffer fountain pen



Brand-new member Phil is also an admirer of vintage pens! That's his handsome vintage Parker '61' fountain pen in the photos above and below...




Phil also brought his Italian' made Pineider 'Avatar UR' in Neptune Blue:



Brand new member Amy brought a multitude of nice fountain pens: 

Above: Pilot Kakuno (top pen), then L-R: Sheaffer '300', Moonman 'A1', Platinum 'Preppy', Nahvalur 'Original Plus' in "Melacara Purple", and a Esterbrook 'JR Pocket Pen' in "Purple Passion"



 

April (another brand-new member of our club) brought along a variety of fountain pens, including some whose nibs she swapped out -- the two Jinhao '100' fountain pens and a Moonman 'T1' in the photo above. April fitted a FPR (Fountain Pen Revolution) nib into the top pen, and JoWo nibs into the bottom two pens




This is a stunning cigar-shaped urushi pen in Aka Tamenuri finish owned by April. It was made by a talented Chinese urushi artist called 
夫子喝了一壶酒



April swapped a Pilot 743 FA nib with an ebonite feed from Flexible Nib Factory into the pen



         

Above: An untipped 'Flex' fountain pen, from a Singaporean brand called BlueDew, also belonging to April. Its nib is similar to a dipped nib, except it doesn't corrode because it's made of stainless steel (chocolate truffle in photo courtesy of Buchan's ;)



Kelley's Jinhao 'X750' in Shimmering Sands material and her Jinhao 'Nature Rose Wood'

Kelley swapped a Zebra nib into the top Jinhao. I learned something new at the meeting from Kelley -- nib swapping with Jinhao fountain pens is referred to as "Jinhacking" (lol)


Above: A close-up of the Zebra nib Kelley installed on the top pen; the Jinhao on the bottom has its original bent (Fude) stainless steel nib on it



Alvin's very cool assortment of modern pens...and all with JoWo nibs!

From top to bottom: Gravitas 'Pocket Pen' in raw copper,  Retro 51 'Hot Coffee' fountain pen (a Goldspot Pens exclusive),
a Leonardo 'Momento Zero Pura' with iridescent trim and nib, an Opus 88 Stilo & Stile Special Edition 'Demonstrator', and a Leonardo 'Momento Zero' Blue Hawaii

Alvin also brought his
Leonardo 'Momento Zero Grande Pura' in Anthracite Gray (top pen in the photo above)

Jerred showed us several beauties made in Italy that we hadn't seen at an in-person meeting before - (top to bottom):
Invicta 'Murano' (basically, a rebranded Signum 'Murano'), two modern Conklin 'Nozac' fountain pens in "Toledo Red" and "Ohio Blue", and an Invicta 'Bolt' fountain pen that Jerred believes was made by Montegrappa (based on its very close resemblance to a Montegrappa 'Fortuna').


Above: Stuart's lovely Caran d'Ache gold 'Ecridor' with chevron pattern that he bought at the Vancouver Pen Shop
and reviewed on Sunday on this blog. Stuart also showed us his vintage Parker '51' desk set in lucite at the meeting; he also reviewed it on our site on Sunday.

 I was so busy chatting with VPCer Vladan about his recent trip to Europe and the fountain pens he bought there that I forgot to photograph them! Vladan was kind enough to snap some photos of them at home and send them in, after I emailed him:


This green fountain pen is his brand-new Pelikan 'Pura' in Forest Green with medium nib...

The 'Pura' is an aluminum fountain pen that feels really good in the hand and (to me) is very well-balanced when posted. In fact, I liked it so much that I ordered one for myself after the meeting :)


The 'Pura' model initially came out in 2006 in two colours--Silver and Blue-Silver. The Black-Silver version was added in 2011, and the Forest Green, Bordeaux, Petrol, Mocha and Anthracite colours were added to the 'Pura' lineup in 2020





The Pura's nib resembles a Pelikan Pelikano/Twist/Future nib, but it's actually a slightly different shape




This is the other pen Vladan purchased on his European trip--a Leonardo 'Momento Zero'
in the gorgeous "Prugna" resin

 

Vladan's fountain
pen came with a Leonardo Pens "Elastic Fine" nib (shown above).

I didn't photograph all the great ink samples that Julienne gave out for free, but I left with some very nice inks by Diamine, Levenger, Noodler's and a brand I hadn't heard about before--Egoistar. (thanks for the ink, Julienne :)

Many thanks to everyone who showed up for our meeting last week. Our next in-person pen club meeting will be held on Thursday November 17 at a different location, so make sure you check back here for more details!

(~ Blog post by Maja ~)

Sunday, October 23, 2022

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 433

I took a bunch of photos during our in-person meeting (held last Thursday) and I'll post them here this week. In the meantime, here are a couple of Stuart's newest acquisitions that he showed at the meeting!

Stuart writes: "Here are shots of my new babies. The first is my Van Pen sale pen for this year - the Caran d’Ache Ecridor in the chevron pattern, in gold!

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

He continues: "I decided that if I’m going to get a modern gold pen, this is the one and now’s the time.  It’s a stunning pen, impeccably made, and a lovely smooth writer.  The nib is gold-plated steel, which I suspect is due to the price-point the Ecridor range is in - a gold nib would have pushed the one model up into the territory of the Varius.  It was a tough decision between this, and the palladium Ecridor Milanese Mesh, which is also stunning.  It is cheaper, but I decided to “go for the gold”, ha ha!"




"The desk set is a Parker, I think dating from the 60’s, going by the concentric-circle logo attached to the socket (see photo below) - I think Parker used that in the 60’s and 70’s, though I’m not sure of the exact date.  The base is solid clear lucite.  The pen’s a 51, Aerometric filler with a Fine point.  I love the cool, Mid-20th. Century look of the set, and it goes great with my other modernistic Parker sets."


Stuart, thank you for sharing these two wonderful purchases with us! Oh, and if anyone recognizes the logo on the desk set's socket (in the photo directly above), please send us a quick email at vancouverpenclub@gmail.com Thanks in advance!

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

Reminder -- Pen club meeting tomorrow (October 20) !

Don't forget our in-person meeting tomorrow - Thursday October 20th - at the Kitsilano branch of the Vancouver Public Library from 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM! (click here for more info)

Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 432

Ok, we're back to vintage pens today with a lovely set recently acquired by VPCer Christopher!

Christopher writes: "When it comes to British vintage pens, those made by the Mabie Todd Company out of London were exceptional. Exceptional in just so many ways. For me, personally, the fountain pens produced in the mid 1920s (before Mabie Todd moved to plastic in 1929) over the hard vulcanized rubber just seem to tick off all of the boxes. To start with, I do not think that very many of the pen manufactures of the day could match Mabie Todd’s deep rosewood finish, married with brilliant 14K Gold filled fittings and a big, impressive flexy number 6 nib, just has to add up to an outstanding writing instrument. Add to this the fact that even the grip is in the same matching rosewood finish and I think there is a ton of outstanding ‘Wow’ factor available. But most would have to agree that it was the styling and designs of these pens and pencils that just takes your breath away."

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


He continues: "Mabie Todd went one step further, using the branding ‘Eternal’ to indicate a life time warranty and like Waterman with their pen numbering, the Mabie Todd nib size was used for part of the numbering of the pen. So number 6 nib, branded the pen a number 46. As for size, the pen in my Mabie Todd No.46 set, posted at all of 8 ½ inches but caps back to an even 5 inches for the pocket. 

The mechanical self propelled pencil in this Mabie Todd set is beautifully designed with a twist top knob mechanism to both extend and retract the leads. Over and above the matching rosewood finish, there are two 14K Gold Filled bands -one located below the knob mechanism, and the other at the mid point of the pencil. The fittings are all 14K Gold Filled and the ball ended humpback clip has the words ‘Fyne Poynt’ engraved at the top. Otherwise, other than the fact that it matches the fountain pen, there is no other identification on this pencil.

This brings me to a very interesting observation, in that the barrel of the fountain pen is imprinted ‘Swan, Mabie Todd Co. Ltd. Made in England’, but the number 6 nib is engraved, Mabie Todd & Co. New York. Actually, the Mabie Todd company was active in the pen business in both countries. Evidently, the New York operation did make both pens and nibs which were, in turn, shipped to the London Mabie Todd location for selling. But what is just very unusual is the clip on the fountain and the reality that unlike other Mabie Todd Eternal 46 pens, this pen has no evidence of ever having a cap band. In fact, the placement of the clip just does not allow enough room for the wide cap band usually found on Mabie Todd 46 Eternal fountain pens. Plus, the clip has no Mabie Todd or Swan branding on it whatsoever. And it is fastened without rivets, like the other Mabie Todd 46 Eternals I have viewed. The Clip is 100% Mabie Todd and original, matching the pencil clip save its larger size, perfectly. The only identification on the fountain pen cap is the Swan logo on the flat top of this covering. As for overall condition of the set, it is just brilliant and looks to have been hardly used. I am just thrilled to add this fine vintage UK set to my collection and can’t wait to use it." 

Christopher, many thanks for sharing this wonderful vintage set with us! Congratulations on another great find :) 

Sunday, October 16, 2022

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 431

From vintage, we go to modern with Sherman's story of how he completed a very special collection!

(~all text & photos by Sherman, except where noted ~ click on images to enlarge)

Mission Accomplished. May I present you this completed collection of Parker Duofold Marbled Maroon series!


"The story began when my beloved wife gifted me the Parker Duofold Marbled Maroon Propelling Ballpoint on my first birthday with her. I treasured it too much and, therefore, kept it in the box, not daring to carry it. Also, I was actually not that keen on Parker, as I only knew Montblanc and Pelikan were more prominent when I was in Hong Kong - a bit materialistic, wohahaha... "

 
"Now, after keeping it nearly untouched for over 25 years, I set a goal to get the complete series of Marbled Maroon in early 2020 in order to glorify the love to her, wohahaha.... (perfect excuse, of course, no other better one, wohahaha.....
🤣🤣🤣)"


"When I bought the last Centennial (Short Clip) fountain & rollerball pen set, I thought that the mission was completed. Only when I reviewed the photo from Parkerpens.net (and only until that time) I then realized there existed the long & short clip models..... Kind of frustrated by my own ignorance as I sold the previous long clip one to a buddy (thought it was an excess).... Well, c'est la vie, so let's continue my Search of Excellency, wohahaha.... If you are looking for the Duofold Marbled series, I bet they all have the Centennial models with Long & Short Clip versions. I don’t know if either one has better value. When I hold them, there are really much the same to me."

"Praise the Lord that after just a few months, I eventually acquired another one (Centennial model) with Long Clip which arrived yesterday! As usual, I gave it a good bath. Polished the nib with Q-Tip, and flossed the tines with a brass sheet, etc. It’s a pre-loved piece, and came without a box or converter!"

"After the clean-up, I took family photos with it... "
"As you may also see, one of the Rollerballs has no refill in. Yes, it’s a NOS together with the Short Clip Centennial. No intention to use it yet."
"Anyway, thanks for reading my personal and yet humble story😍😍😍 Love you all, and I love my wife and family. Cheers!!!" 🥰🤪🤣

Sherman--congratulations on completing your lovely collection, and thank you so much for sharing it with us! :)

Thursday, October 13, 2022

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 430

Here's another vintage find from "The Big Four" vintage pen companies (Parker, Wahl-Eversharp, Sheaffer and Waterman) recently acquired by Christopher!

(all photos courtesy of Christopher, except where noted ~ please click on images to enlarge)

Christopher writes: "Admittedly, I have been after something along the lines of a vest pocket pen for quite some time. So it was just brilliant when I stumbled on what turned out to be a Parker Jade Duofold 1932 Vest Pocket pen and pencil set in beautiful and restorable condition. Actually, I spotted the mechanical pencil first, but not being that familiar with the pencils in the Parker Vest Pocket Duofold line, passed on it. Deeper into the cache of vintage writing instruments, there was the most lovely little jade vest pocket Duofold fountain pen. Quite honestly, I could not get the payment out of my wallet fast enough and had a smile on  my face, until the thought occurred to me close to half way home, that possibly that little mechanical pencil I had been looking at, was actually the mate for the pen I had just bought. So back I went and, sure enough, when I married the pen and pencil once again, it equaled a fine Parker Duofold vest pocket set. But from here on, in things regarding this set just got better and better!"

"For openers, the fountain pen in this fine set sported three 14K gold filled cap rings with the middle one being a tad wider then the ones on either side. This designation meant that the pen and pencil were from the 1932 ‘Special’ Duofold series. Adding to that was the fact that although the nib on the pen was small, it did offer a good bit of flex. As for condition, other than a wee bit of discolouration on the fountain pen’s barrel, the overall view was near mint. This was a short ribbon ring top set, but I read that sometimes these writing instruments came with both the ring top and a cap clip (note: see photo directly below). Although and evidently, one of the concerns regarding the vest pocket fountain pens is the tiny pressure bar. Due to its small size, if there is any rust sometimes the corrosion renders the bar damaged and thus unusable. Plus, replacements can be a challenge to acquire. As a Duofold, the filling system is the button type but I was fortunate in that other than a wee bit of surface oxidation, which was easily removed, the pressure bar in this case was not in bad shape."

(Above: a collection of 1930's Duofold Vest Pockets ~ photo courtesy of Parkerpens.net)

"Once both pen and pencil had been restored and serviced, I decided that the set needed an appropriate case. Now I have found if you are at a loss for a vintage manufacturer’s pen case, often a period jeweler’s case will do nicely. Jewelers back in the day often used their own branded store pen cases as a finishing touch to sell writing instruments. Again, I was lucky because Chris my wife had just the jeweler’s case to complement my vest pocket set. Still, I did not want to include the set paperwork that I had in the wings, to sit on top of the pen and pencil in the case. So while installing the tie down cording in the box insert, it was elementary to just add a pull out cloth tab and stick this paperwork under the insert. Fortunately, the beautiful deep purple satin lined case, complete with the jeweler’s branding was also dated in the early 1930s."

"And as small as the vest pocket pen is, it posts at 4 ½ inches to sit comfortably in hand but caps back to place in a suitable breast pocket or the likes of at 3 ½ inches. It should be noted that the shorter ring tops pens were often bought by men for either the vest pocket or to attach to a pocket watch chain.

Although I do not have a pocket watch chain currently, I do have a number of suitable breast pockets which definitely can accommodate these fine items."

As always, our thanks to Christopher for his photos and reviews of wonderful vintage finds like these!

Sunday, October 9, 2022

Newest Acquisitions (Virtual "Show & Tell") ~ part 429

Hope you're having a nice Thanksgiving long weekend and enjoying this sunny Fall weather!
Now, without further ado, here's one of Christopher's newest vintage finds....

Christopher: "When it comes to vintage Wahl Eversharp and the early 1930s, most pen collectors favour the Doric. Then again, at least some of them are unaware of the Doric’s roots. Like Parker with their Vacumatic, Eversharp chose to streamline their tubular flat top line of pens at the end of the 1920s, the result of which was the Wahl Eversharp Doric. The 14K Gold Filled Gold Seal medallion that had been sported as a warranty on the caps of the top-quality Wahl Eversharp pens during the 1920 was carried right through on to the top-end Doric models. But as much as so many favour the Doric, personally, like with the old tubular pre-streamlined Parker Vacumatics, I find a lot to like about the pre-Doric Gold Seal Personal Point fountain pens. They have a very solid attractive appearance and definitely sit well in hand.

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

Over the years, I have had a small number of these pens but, for the most part, in the smaller ladies size. So the other day, when I ran across a Standard size with a bit more clout to it, I was really impressed. Add to this an exquisite jet and pearl cream finish with lot of attractive 14K Gold filled banding on the cap and barrel and you have the general makeup of an outstanding vintage pen.


To add to this is a feature which sets this line of pens apart. The Wahl Eversharp Personal Point was an option which allowed the user the luxury of interchangeable nibs. And to this end, Wahl Eversharp had a wide range of 14 different ones. The nibs, of course, were all 14K Gold, very well made and finely ground. The Personal Point interchangeable nib was in turn mounted with its feed into a thin tube (with a threaded end) which, in turn, could be easily screwed into the grip section. Better still was the fact that the grip section insert to fit into the barrel was covered with thin metal, allowing the entire grip section complete with the Personal Point, feed etc. to be easily removed from the barrel for servicing or resacking.


I think most would agree that the Wahl Eversharp company was full of innovative ideas and definitely creative designs. In conclusion, I am very excited about applying this fine pen to paper and in turn adding it to my collection."

What a marvelous find! Christopher---thank you for the informative write-up and for sharing your newest acquisition with us!