Monday, December 26, 2022

Photos from our December meeting!

Our December meeting was surprisingly well-attended, given the horrible weather conditions. Eleven of us showed up at the Vancouver Public Library's Kitsilano branch on December 22nd for a fun evening of pen, paper and ink talk!
Here are some photos I snapped that evening...


(~please click on images to enlarge~)
We made it to the meeting! (L-R) John, Peter, Jason, Hadi, Jerred, Vladan, Alvin, Yen, Amy and me - Maja (Rene was also at the meeting, but he arrived very late, so he's not in the photo)

Brand-new member John brought along one of his first fountain pens, a lovely green-striped Pelikan M800 which he got back in 1987

(Above) Hadi showed us two handsome Parker 75' fountain pens with a great deal of sentimental value--the top pen (the gold-filled 'Insignia' pattern) belonged to his father, while the solid sterling silver pen in the 'Ciselé' pattern was Hadi's first fountain pen, given to him by his parents when he was a young man.

Hadi's son Jason (who lives out of town) came to our meeting with his daily user--a classy-looking vintage Parker '51' fountain pen (with matching mechanical pencil)


Vladan showed us some of his newest pen-related acquisitions, including this very nice Graf von Faber-Castell 'Classic Pernambuco' fountain pen, purchased at the Vancouver Pen Shop during their moving/anniversary sale. The fluted barrel is made of pernambuco, a very hard (and highly sought-after) exotic wood

Vladan's Pilot 'Explorer' in "Lime" metallic resin. The 'Explorer' has the same nib as the Pilot 'Metropolitan', but its section lacks metal threads (which the 'Metropolitan' has), making it more comfortable to grip

Above: Jerred's gorgeous red marbled Delta 'Europa' fountain pen...

...and his Delta 'Graffiti' which was --Jerred explained-- considered more of an entry-level fountain pen

One of several lovely Japanese-made 'kimono journals' that Peter brought to show us. The journals are made by master book-binder Tsutomu Matsuda, who hand-assembles the papers in his studio in Kyoto, Japan. The journals' covers are made from vintage kimonos, so no two journals look exactly alike. Peter imports them directly from Japan and sells them via Ibis Trading, located in Vancouver

Amy's Pilot' Kakuno' fountain pens (and no, they're not special editions or limited editions--Amy decorated them herself). The nibs on 'Kakuno' pens also fit the Pilot 'Metropolitan', 'Explorer' and 'Plumix' models & others, but only the Kakuno's nibs have smiley faces engraved on them



Yen's very cool Mahjohn (formerly Moonman) T1 in 'Vintage Brass' (love the look of that material!), a clipless piston-filling fountain pen with a brass cap & turning knob, and a clear acrylic barrel (note: those are my messy scribblings on the paper above, not Yen's :). Regarding the design of the pen, one online reviewer wrote: "If you have ever wondered what would happen if you leave your Kaweco AL Sport and TWSBI Diamond in a drawer together for the night, well I have an answer for you, you’d get a T1." 😂

Alvin's modern Conklin 'Crescent-Filler' "Superblack" fountain pen and his Kaweco 'Original" black anodized aluminum fountain pen. 

Re: the "Superblack" Crescent-Fillers, retailer Pen Chalet states: "...(the) pens are made of solid brass with the surface undergoing a new technique to create the "superblack" coating and achieve an almost 100% matte black appearance. The unique and stunning superblack finish absorbs over 99% of visible light at normal incidence which is what makes it darker than any other known substance." 😮 Wow.

I knew I'd forget to photograph them at the meeting, so I took a very quick photo of my pens (which I purchased over *several* months lol) at home--apologies for the picture quality---(L-R) Caran d'Ache '849' fountain pen (FP) in 'Fluo Green', Caran d'Ache '849' Limited Edition 'Colour Treasure" ballpoint in "Warm Rainbow", a blue Monteverde 'Ritma', black Delike (?) metal pocket FP, Ecobra Cityline 'Ancona' FP in anthracite black metal, Jinhao X159 FP in burgundy acrylic, Sailor 'Lecoule' FP in Rose Quartz, THINK 'Hampton' FP, Taccia 'Callisto Brown' ballpoint, Woodshed Pen Company FP pen in "Hallowe'en Nights' acrylic, Karas Kustoms' 'Vertex' model in Conway Stewart's (modern) "Cherry Red" resin, Franklin-Christoph '45' Special Edition "Blackberry" fountain pen (the resin was made exclusively for F-C by Diamondcast, to their design specification) and an Ensso 'Piuma Minimalist' black ebonite FP (part of a 2022 Kickstarter campaign).

Well, that's it for the December's meeting report. Many thanks to everyone who attended the meeting! Our January 2023 meeting date & place: To be announced.
* Meeting info will be posted at the top of each webpage in big red letters *
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(~text & photos by Maja~)

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