Our June meeting topic? Italian Pens!!

Date: Thursday June 19, 2014

Place: the usual place (Perks pen store, 5844 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC)

Time: the usual time (6:30pm-8:30pm, but "early birds" welcome at 6:00pm, to chat before the meeting)

Theme: Italian Pens ~ a short talk by Glenn Marcus

Longtime VPC member & pen collector Glenn Marcus of GlennsPens.com has kindly agreed to do a short talk on modern Italian fountain pens and his personal experiences with the companies that produce them. Over the last several years Glenn has had the privilege of visiting several factories in Europe that produce modern writing instruments and we are honoured that he has agreed to do an overview of Italian pens for our June meeting. Please bring your very favourite Italian fountain pen (yes, just one pen!) with you to this meeting.

As a side note, our 2014 summer dinner will be held on Thursday August 21 at the White Spot restaurant inside Oakridge Mall, right across the street from the Perks pen store where we usually meet. This is a members-only, RSVP-required dinner, so I will send out invitations to VPC members in mid-July. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Upcoming out-of-town events in which VPC members may be interested:

Seattle Pen Club meeting will be held in Bellingham, WA this Saturday May 31 at the Bellingham Public Market (1530 Cornwall Ave, in Bellingham, WA) from 10:00am to 1:00pm, and VPC members are invited to attend.

The 2nd Annual Northwest Pen Round-Up! will be held on Saturday July 12th, 2014, at the Lucky Labrador brew pub/restaurant (1945 N.W. Quimby Street) in Portland, Oregon, from 11:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Admission is free and they only charge a nominal fee for vendors who want to set up. If you would like table space, please contact Stuart Hawkinson (s.hawkinson@comcast.net) or Michael McNeil (michael@northwestpenworks.com) directly.

Group photos from May 2014 meeting

Clockwise from lower left: Dexter (wearing glasses), Maja, James (partly hidden), Bill K, Tony, May, Stephanie, Kiyoshi, Marey, Bruce, Sienca, Ken, Beverley, Adrian, Mark, Stuart, Mido and Peter. Missing from photo: Graham, Charles, Dave M and Richard (actually, you can see Dave and Charles--wearing glasses---in the lower right of photo #4 below) (Click on photos to enlarge)

Many thanks to Richard for taking the photos!

Laban 'Mento'

My Laban Mento fountain pen in the "Pumpkinseed" pattern, one of the everyday carry pens I brought to our May meeting:

The Mento is a lovely oversized fountain pen (apparently, it's larger than a Montblanc 149) that is light in the hand and very comfortable to hold. Many thanks to Bob in our pen club for selling this pen to me a while back! Cheers ~Maja

Everyday Carry (EDC) writing instruments

From our May meeting (click on photos to enlarge):

Charles' nice leather Libelle pen wrap and his everyday carry (EDC) pens---a blue-striped Pelikan M800, a Montblanc 149 highlighter, a Diplomat Excellence in the Guilloch Rhombus pattern and a Bexley Poseidon in Tortoise. I believe the red/maroon pen on the far left is a British Parker Duofold. All great choices for daily carry pens!

Who says a (very) limited edition pen can't be an ED carry? This is Bruce's impressive CONID Bulk-filler, limited to 60 pieces worldwide. Bruce says he loves using his TWSBI Vac 700 when he needs a "casual" pen, and his OMAS Dama on more "dressy" occasions.

I forgot to photograph my own EDC, but I took a quick shot at home after the meeting. From L to R: Pentel retractable eraser, Paper Mate Precision pencil, Romet Americana ballpoint, Cross Bailey ballpoint, Online Academy fountain pen and Laban Mento fountain pen (I carry these in a leather Signum multi-pen pouch).

All in all, the topic of EDC writing instruments was well-represented at our May meeting. In addition to fountain pens, other types of writing instruments were brought in---mechanical pencils (e.g. Dave's Parker '51' and Dexter's Staedtler 925 25 2mm pencil), ballpoints (Bill K's Parker Jotter, Dexter's Rotring, and others), multi-pens (Bill's Cross Tech3) and even some brush pens & other art pens used for sketching (brought in by Adrian).

Fountain pens, however, were (by far) the most popular EDC writing instrument (seeing as how we're primarily a fountain pen club, that should come as no surprise!) with examples by Lamy (Bill's Nexx & Safari), Parker (Mark & Dave's '51's and Graham's '21'), Sailor (Peter's '1911'), Pilot (Sienca's Petit collection, James' Prera and Peter's Vanishing Point), Platinum (a '3776' belonging to Peter), Pelikan (Stuart's M200, among others), Noodler's (a 'Nib Creaper' model owned by Stephanie), Montblanc (Graham's '14') and Sheaffer (Stuart's Sagaris). VPC member Tony brought in his everyday pen---a nice-looking black no-name fountain pen with his name engraved. Newer member Kiyoshi brought in a couple of nice Chinese-made fountain pens and Mido brought in an assortment of wonderful vintage fountain pens from the "Big Four"----Waterman, Wahl-Eversharp, Parker & Sheaffer.

Speaking of Sheaffer, here is a group shot of Stuart's ever-growing Lady Sheaffer Skripsert collection. My poor photo doesn't do the lovely patterns justice, but they are gorgeous vintage pens:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks to all 22 VPC members who came to the May meeting, including our two newest members---Marey and Peter! Next VPC meeting will be held on Thursday June 19 at the usual meeting place (Perks pen store on Cambie Street in Vancouver). Meeting time: 6:30pm to 8:30pm (approx.) Theme: to be announced!

May meeting info

Date: Thursday May 15, 2014

Place: Perks pen store, 5844 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC

Time: 6:30pm-8:30pm ("early birds" welcome at 6:00pm, to chat before the meeting)

Theme: "Everyday Carry Pens" (EDC Pens) & Ink Swap!

EDC pens are the writing instruments that you carry with you on an everyday basis (thus the name ;) and can include a mixture of fountain pens, ballpoints and rollerballs (or pencils). Please bring the pen case(s) you use with these writing instruments, as well. We will also be having our twice annual Ink Swap at the May meeting, so if you have any unwanted inks (or ink samples) to trade with other VPC members, please bring them with you. Trading can be done before the meeting starts or at the end of the meeting---it's up to you. Inks can be in full or partially-full bottles, ink cartridges or small plastic sample vials. Our Ink Swap is 100% voluntary, so don't feel obligated to bring any ink(s) if you like the all the ones you own!

No RSVPs required for any meetings held at Perks. Questions? Please contact us at vancouverpenclub@gmail.com

Postcard from Paris

One of our longtime VPC members (and ink connoisseur), Glenn Marcus, emailed me this photo of an ink he just purchased in Paris while on vacation---the new Caran d'Ache Chromatics INKredible Colours ink in Magnetic Blue.

(click on photo to enlarge)

Glenn was impressed with the colours of these inks, saying they were "intense colours in an interesting bottle". He paid €31 for one bottle, making it one of (if not *the*) most expensive fountain pen inks around, but I know Glenn is very particular about ink, so if he likes it, it must be good :)

According to their website, the Caran d'Ache Chromatics line is "a new collection of ink bottles with 12 colours inspired by the prism. The new Caran d’Ache ink bottles synthesize a unique expertise: the science of colours. Named Chromatics INKredible Colours, the collection uses Caran d’Ache’s colour experience to master the most intense pigments across a spectrum of 12 vibrant, deep shades. From ultramarine blue to luxuriant green, from shimmering orange to passionate red, they give the words a soul and the text a uniquely vibrant style."

April Showers Redux (with photos this time!)

Many thanks to all 18 VPC members (including newcomers Stephanie, Aaron, Adrian, Mavis & Steve) who braved the rain (and traffic tie-ups) to attend last night's meeting. Our theme for April was 'Constant Comment'- Pens that evoke interest/comments whenever you pull them out (which, Bruce explained, was inspired by this tea) .
Bruce started the informal show & tell by showing us his Waterman Charleston, Retro 51 'Double Eight' green marbled special edition and Pelikan M800 fountain pens, which have elicited comments from both pen people & non-pen people alike (bonus points to Bruce for the latter!). Sienca brought a perennial favourite - the fabulous Parker '51', Bob brought a lovely urushi lacquered Dani Trio fountain pen, Anne brought her Cross 'Matrix'- a cool old-style stylus & fountain pen combo, Julienne brought her Platinum President, a very large pen with an incongruously-fine (but very smooth-writing) needlepoint nib, and Joie brought her adorable Sailor Sapporo "Hello Kitty" fountain pen, as well a Waterman Exception Slim in the gorgeous Raspberry colour.
For new acquisitions, Mark brought a stunning vintage OMAS desk set he recently picked up, James showed us his new "sumgai" find---a Montblanc StarWalker pen he found in a pawn shop overseas, and Stuart displayed the newest additions to his budding collection of Lady Sheaffers, as well as a Kaweco "Student" fountain pen. In addition to his oft-commented-on Lamy '2000', Greg brought along some brand-new nylon pen cases by NOCK he recently acquired, including this zippered roll case which had everyone oohing & aahing (because it's such an awesome idea):

NOCK started a Kickstarter campaign and have produced several styles of pen cases. For more info, take a peek at this page.

I brought a few pens (my tiny Sailor Chalana, a Pilot M90 & Pilot Vanishing Point, a Sheaffer Snorkel), including this love-it-or-hate-it Rotring "Core" fountain pen, which is actually a nice writer...it just looks weird :

Our May meeting will be held on Thursday May 15 at our usual venue (Perks pen store at 5844 Cambie Street in Vancouver, BC) from 6:30pm-8:30pm. Theme: To Be Announced. We will be having our twice-annual Ink Swap (bottled ink , ink cartridges and ink samples, too) during our May meeting, so please bring any ink(s) you'd like to trade.

Favourites!

Twenty-one VPC members (including three newcomers---Sherry, Mido & Kiyoshi) attended our March meeting, whose theme was our favourite pens, inks, paper, and pen + ink combos.

Pen favourites included: Lamys (Bill Kempton's 'Studio' & Greg's '2000' models), Pelikans (several different Souverän models brought in by Bruce, Greg, Maja, Sienca and Stuart), Sheaffers (Anne's 'TRZ' and Maja's 'Legacy'), assorted modern Italian brands (Bruce's OMAS Paragon, Glenn's OMAS Extra Lucens 2013 LE shown here, Maja's beloved Stipula Duetto & Signum Orione pens, Glenn's Montegrappa "Extra 1930", and Bruce's Visconti Australis), as well as the ubiquitous Parker '51' (a favourite pen of Derek and Greg). Tony brought his trusty TWSBI 'Mini' and Mark showed us his Wahl-Eversharp 'Doric' desk set, a stunning vintage piece.

A fun time was had by all, as you can see by the photos taken by Derek below. Many thanks to all who attended, and especially to Richard Clarke of Perks for hosting our meeting at his wonderful pen store!

(click on photos to enlarge)

Maja (far left) listens with rapt attention as Greg (who chose this month's theme) talks about his favourite pens & inks, while Julienne watches intently and Tony snaps a photo with his own camera.

Sienca gave a nice talk on her favourite pens (Pelikans) and paper (Banditapple). Clockwise from lower left: Sherry, Julienne, Glenn M, Tony, Kiyoshi, James, Ken, Sienca, Bruce, Maja, Brian and Greg.

In the foreground, you can see Greg's favourite fountain pens--a couple of Lamy 2000s, two Pilot Vanishing Point pens, a Pelikan M805, a Parker '51---and inks ( Pilot "Iroshizuku" and Rohrer & Klingner "Alt-Goldgrun"). Also visible are Stuart's favourite inks (Diamine's Mediterranean Blue & Conway Stewart's Tamar), and a small bottle of Sanford's 'Penit'- a vintage fountain pen ink brought in by Derek.

Our next meeting will be held on Thursday April 17 at 6:30pm at Perks pen store, 5844 Cambie Street in Vancouver (i.e. the usual time & place) and our topic (chosen by Bruce) will be 'Constant Comment' - Pens that evoke interest/comments whenever you pull them out. Bonus points for pens which attract attention from non-aficionados. Hope you can make it! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at vancouverpenclub@ gmail.com

Cheers ~Maja

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The pen in the photo above is a green Parker UK Duofold, a somewhat lesser-known (and underrated) vintage Parker fountain pen. For more information on this fountain pen model, check out this page on Tony Fischier's awesome Parker pens reference site.

And, just a quick reminder that our next meeting is this Thursday March 20 at 6:30pm at Perks pen store (5844 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC). The meeting theme is "Our Favourite Pen, Ink, Ink+Pen Combo and Favourite Paper", so I hope you can make it. No need to RSVP---just drop by and see what our club is all about. New members are always welcome!

March meeting details!

Date: Thursday March 20, 2014

Place: Perks pen store, 5844 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC

Time: 6:30pm-8:30pm ("early birds" welcome at 6:00pm, to chat before the meeting).

Theme: Our Favourite Pen, Ink and Ink+Pen Combo. Oh and paper! (~theme chosen by Greg~). In Greg's words: That's right folks, it's pen, ink and paper time! I would really like you to bring along your favourite pen, favourite ink and your favourite pen & ink combo. Note that the pen + ink combo doesn't have to be your favourite ink in your favourite pen, it could well be a particular combo that just works brilliantly together that you love. Of course if you're split and can't decide between a few favourites bring a few!. As a side note if you do have a specific paper that you find amazing bring a sample along for us to see and hear about.

As usual, "Newest Acquisitions" is our secondary topic so please bring any pens/inks/paper or pen-related accessories you've acquired recently. If you don't have any stuff to bring for either topic, don't worry---just come and see what other members have brought! No RSVPs required for any meetings held at Perks. Hope to see you there!