New Pen Day: Charleston from Jonathon Brooks of Carolina Pen Company

Because a thing is not worth doing if it’s not done to excess, I had no sooner plucked my urushi Charleston from Jonathon Brooks’s table at the Chicago Pen Show, than I found another.

This one is a Charleston in acrylic that Jonathon also made. It became my second purchase at the pen show, all in two minutes of shopping. That is because I am perfectly normal and sensible. Not because pens are shiny.

I could say I bought “only” two. Because I liked a lot of Jonathon’s pens. I was especially tempted by one in multi-colored acrylic. But even I couldn’t justify that. “Not three,” I said, virtuously.

But I kept a yearning eye on that one for the rest of the show. Until some wonderful person with very good taste bought it. Not all heroes wear capes. Thank you, friend.

This one is amazing. The material is black with sparkles, interspersed with a few clouds of dark blue. It’s very interstellar. Jonathon had a second that was similar, but with green, based on the Northern Lights. That one looked great, too. This one was my choice because blue is my favorite color.

This comes with a steel Jowo nib of your choice, and I picked the 1.1 mm stub.

That’s very nice to write with, like all Jowo 1.1 mm stubs.

It’s a cartridge/converter pen, and Jonathon once again inked this for me with the very attractive Robert Oster Soda Pop Blue. I’ve grown fond of the ink. Perhaps from now on I’ll only buy pens inked with Soda Pop Blue. Take that, boring brown American soda pop.

This pen cost $175. That’s expensive compared to my Safaris, but I think it’s a good deal. Aesthetically this pen is a little like my beautiful urushi and gold Charleston. It’s sparkly, it’s made of special material, and it’s subtle but with depths that repay close attention.

For specifics of the Charleston model, I refer you to the prior post. It’s a large pen, and lightweight, with a comfortable section. It posts securely, but I like it unposted.

Jonathon Brooks had a hand in all three pens I bought at the show this year, since he also makes the gorgeous resin that Kanilea conceived for the Hanauma Bay pen. I love the work Jonathon does, and the work Hugh and Karol and Matt at Kanilea do with him. And they are all great people, as my friend Jon has pointed out. Which is nice.

In the end, I’m chuffed. Three amazing pens. I’m very fortunate I could swing that. But I’m surprised that I wanted to. I have been selling off pens for a while, and I haven’t had much interest in buying. Until these happened.