Well, we're nearly three weeks into Spring, so I thought this would be a good time to post my review of a lovely Spring-like pen I acquired a few weeks ago---my handmade Tangent Pens fountain pen in "Papillon" resin!
I'd never heard of Tangent Pens before, so I hope you don't mind some background first....
I stumbled across their Etsy storefront (Tangent Pens is an off-shot of PeripheryWood) while searching for handmade kitless fountain pens --a recent-ish collecting focus of mine-- and this particular pen caught my eye instantly ("papillon" is French for "butterfly", and the resin looked like a butterfly's wings!) It was so beautiful that I couldn't believe it was still available for purchase, but it was... and it was made by a small pen maker from Canada! (Kanata, Ontario, to be exact) I'd bought handmade kitless fountain pens on Etsy from a couple of other Canadian pen makers --Hogtown Pens and Butterknife Creations -- and was highly impressed with their work. They'd been around for a while (some of my fellow VPC members own their pens), but Tangent Pens was the brand-new kid on the block ... and I wanted to be one of their first pen buyers :)I checked their "sold" listings and saw that they'd only sold one other handmade kitless fountain pen on Etsy before. I hadn't seen any online reviews of their pens, and I hadn't heard anyone in our pen club talking about them. The only feedback I found was from the other Etsy pen buyer, whose two-line review succinctly stated "Beautifully made and very high quality. Thank you!". There were no specs listed for my pen (aside from the 13mm triple start to its threads) in the description. The Etsy photos showed a lot of the resin's details, but I still wasn't sure of the size of the pen. I should have asked the seller, but I was really worried that someone else would buy the pen first, so I trusted my instincts and bought it.
Enough of my rambling.....Here it is!
(all photos by Maja,except where noted ~ please click on images to enlarge)
I paid $195 CAD (with free shipping) for the pen in four equal, interest-free
installments
via Klarna, a well-known Swedish
global payments service. Since Etsy started accepting
Klarna payments, I've used it several times --each time with zero
problems-- and I was never charged a penny more than I would
have, had I paid for my purchases all at once using a credit card/PayPal. I don't have any
affiliation with Klarna, but I find it a very useful way to pay for
items over a period of 6 weeks, and it's interest-free if you pay on time.
Anyway, back to this lovely pen...
The pen was packed in a simple tan carboard gift box and came with a bonus---a handsome brown leather single-pen sleeve made by Route 105 Leather (another Canadian company) -- as well as a nice note from Jay Moffatt, the talented pen maker behind Tangent Pens.
I really appreciate it when pen makers include info about the resins they use in their sales listings (as Jay did, but believe it or not, some don’t do this!) and/or include it in a note accompanying the pen. There are so many resins and resin-makers (including some pen makers who make their own resins) out there --- a dizzying array of options for pen makers and those interested in having bespoke pens made for them.
Pen maker Jay described my "Papillon" resin pen this way: "This pen features beautiful coloration that is true to its name. Beautiful iridescence like those of butterfly wings!"
And Jay is right--- the "Papillon" resin does have beautiful coloration and a beautiful iridescence to it (and my photos don't do it justice).
This wonderful custom resin was made by the Turnt Pen Company of Hornell, NY, who also make their own pens. There are so many different colours in the resin — purples, blues, a bit of green, black, white, and that wonderful metallic copper colour—but they go together perfectly, as they do on a butterfly's wings.
(It's hard to believe their lifespan is only 2 weeks, on average 😢) As for dimensions, (according to my measurements) it's about 14.5 cm capped, and 13.2 cm uncapped (nib tip to barrel end). The pen doesn't post. Aside from having a longer cap, the capped and uncapped lengths are almost exactly the same as my Analog Notes 'Faraday' fountain pen.
The midpoint of the grip section is 11 mm in diameter, and the total weight of the pen (including its converter) is 22.6 grams ---a nice girth and weight. The pen feels very well-balanced, as well.
Little details are important ... like how the cap lip is very smooth, and the drop-off from cap lip to barrel is barely perceptible.
The section matches the rest of the pen (this is very common with handmade kitless pens), giving the pen a continuous, unbroken appearance...
The pen came with a steel Bock #6 Fine nib, along with a standard international ink cartridge and ink converter. Interestingly, there are no markings on the nib at all, but I'm assuming it's a Bock, as per the sales description. The nib lays down a smooth fine line and there is no hard-starting or skipping.
In fact, the pen has no ornamention or marks identifying its maker, not uncommon with handmade pens.
I'm extremely pleased with my purchase from Tangent Pens -- both with the pen itself, and because I'm supporting a talented small pen maker from Canada.
Many thanks to Jay of the Tangent Pens / PeripheryWood for making this gorgeous, very well-made fountain pen, as well as his attentive customer service.
(~Blog post by Maja~)
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