Tag: Pelikan

Flurry of Fountain Pens: Pen Group Meetup

Laura7 Comments

fountain pens in case

We had a wonderful group meetup yesterday in advance of the Chicago Pen Show, which is coming up in just a few weeks. We all brought some pens. This kind of meetup is great fun, because it’s not only a nice chance to spend time with nice people, but also a great way to see and try pens you’ve only heard about. Particularly if one of the attendees has a collection to die for, like my friend Dan. That magnificent thing above is his smallest pen case.

So that case holds a bunch of Pelikans, including I think six M800s and three M1000s, plus an 85th Anniversary Aurora and two Nakayas.  But that’s just one of his pen cases. Were there four or five cases? I lost count. Because, dazzled. His collection is like the best pen store ever, except nothing is for sale and everything is inked.

I tried one of his M1000s.  Now, the M800 is too heavy for me, so the M1000 should be a non-starter, being even larger. But I thought the nib on the M1000 was heavenly.  I tried a triple broad.  Which turned out to be not much broader than my Pelikan M605’s extra-fine nib.  (Joking, not joking. Owners of modern Pelikans will understand.)

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Fountain Pen Favorites for March 2016

Laura1 Comment

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Okay, we’re already into April, but just because March is in the rear view mirror, metaphorically, doesn’t mean we can’t pump the brakes and look back for a few seconds. Here were my fountain pen favorites for March.

1. KWZ Red #1. This is going to be a favorite for a long time.

2. Spring inks. The weather is warmer, and I’ve brought out the lighter, brighter inks once more.  I love them. Especially Caran d’Ache Delicate Green. Also fun: Pink Week.

3. Pelikan M205 Transparent Blue. Faithful readers know how strong my resolve is and how firmly I resist temptation. So there’s absolutely no reason ever to think that I’d order this pen.  But, hey, is that a cute kitten over there?  We should all look at that cute kitten.

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Photo by Dafne Cholet, Flickr, used under Creative Commons license.

Things I Don’t Want to Do

Laura1 Comment

Pelikan M600 Ruby Red and Pelikan M400 White Tortoise fountain pens

The pen cup runneth over.  I have way too many pens inked.

The truth is, I’ve finished my review of KWZ Red #1 ink, which is in the Pelikan M600 Ruby Red.  And I’ve finished deciding whether I should buy a full bottle of the Pelikan Edelstein Amber in the M400 White Tortoise.  (Yes.)

So I pulled these two from the overstuffed pen cup Monday, to make room. But they’ve been sitting there ever since.

You know you like a pen and ink when you can’t make yourself empty them.

Pen of the Day: Pelikan M600 Pink

Laura4 Comments

Pelikan M600 Pink fountain pen

Pelikan M600 Pink with fine nib. What could be more springy than the Pink Pelikan?  Probably only filling the Pink Pelikan with pink ink. Now that’s turning spring up to 11.

Pelikan M600 Pink fountain pen and Diamine Carnation ink

I think Diamine Carnation is a perfect spring pink.

Pelikan M600 Pink fountain pen

The pen is really a raspberry sort of pink. But not an actual raspberry:  it’s like a raspberry pink dye. Raspberry-colored shiny plastic product. Raspberry-flavored hard candy.

And let’s not forget the Pink Pelikan comes in the Box of Bad Taste.

So I think the Pink Pelikan goes to 11 all by itself, really.

Outstanding.

Pen of the Day: Pelikan M600 Ruby Red

Laura4 Comments

Pelikan M600 Ruby Red fountain pen with KWZ Red #1 ink

Pelikan M600 Ruby Red with fine nib.  This is a gorgeous pen that I really enjoy and love using. But I have to admit that today I’m talking about it mostly because of the ink.

Pelikan M600 Ruby Red fountain pen and KWZ Red #1 ink

KWZ Red #1 is the ink.  And it’s another home run for me, just like KWZ Maroon and Maroon #2.

Red #1 is another deep and rich red — so deep and rich that it almost evokes garnet or ruby. But it’s red more than maroon, cranberry more than wine. I’m really enjoying using it, and I’m looking forward to reviewing it.

KWZ Red #1 ink

Pen of the Day: Pelikan M600 Green o’ Green with KWZ Iron Gall Green Gold

Laura3 Comments

Pelikan M600 Green o' Green fountain pen

Pelikan M600 Green o’ Green with broad nib. Well, it’s the Ides of March, of course, but in addition it’s almost St. Patrick’s Day, so I’m going with the latter theme.  St. Patrick’s Day is more fun.  It’s the unofficial Chicago holiday, with our Chicago River dyed green, and our “everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day” spirit.  The latter is a nice way of saying that everyone drinks a lot on St. Patrick’s Day. It’s like the law of the city.

And here is the pen cap, the most St. Patrick’s Day part of the Pelikan Green o’ Green.

Pelikan M600 Green o' Green fountain pen cap

And here is the ink, which is from a sample sent by a friend: KWZ Iron Gall Green Gold.  This is another really nice-looking ink from KWZ.

Pelikan M600 Green o' Green fountain pen and KWZ Iron Gall Green Gold ink

A Peek at the Pen Cups

Laura5 Comments

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My pen cup runneth over.  Both of them. And they show what’s going on here for the next week or two.

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I’ve got four Kaweco Sports inked right now.  Three of them contain inks I’m going to be reviewing, or might be reviewing or really thought I’d already have finished reviewing.  Those pens are blue, clear and purple, respectively.

The other is my new AL-Sport.  Which is new.  I am not sure I expressed that clearly enough.  I meant, new!  Well, actually, newest.  Newest!

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Does that photo up above look sufficiently dark and mysterious?  Good.  There are two pens there that I think are going to be pens of the week this very week, so I don’t want to give away too much now.  I hope it’s just like Pretty Little Liars here, in terms of suspense.  So you can tune in tomorrow, when I reveal “A.”

Pen of the Day: Pelikan M400 White Tortoise

Laura1 Comment

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Pelikan M400 White Tortoise with medium nib. I feel like this is the Kevin Bacon or Kevin Hart of writing instruments for me. I seem to make it Pen of the Day a lot.  And for good reason. For a pen I long hesitated to buy, I like it very much.

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This time, though, I was mostly focused on the ink.  My friend was talking about Pelikan Edelstein Amber, so I wanted to dip into my sample.  You’d think this would be a perfect ink for one my five yellow Safaris, wouldn’t you?  Yes, that would be sensible.  But moving along ….

Pelikan Edelstein Amber is a nice ink.  I find it similar to J. Herbin Ambre de Birmanie, which I also really like.  Edelstein Amber is a touch darker and drier; and for me it does not shade quite as much.  Amber is also a past ink of the year, so harder to find.  But lovely.

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A New Pen is Announced: My Six Stages of Perfectly Normal Behavior Indicating Excellent Mental Health

Laura9 Comments

classic-m-205-demonstrator-transparent-blue-normal

Pelikan has announced it’s bringing back the Classic M205 Demonstrator in Transparent Blue as a special edition starting in April.  Pelikan is a weakness of mine.  As are demonstrators.  Also, blue.

I can admit that I don’t happen to love the modern M200. It’s an excellent pen, but it’s a little lightweight for me, and it has the steel nib and I just have never bonded with it. Still, of course all I needed to do was to see the photo, above, to start salivating. It never fails.  Aurora, Pelikan and certain Montblancs affect me like a butcher’s bone does a dog.

Here are my stages, which are essentially invariable.

1. Infatuation. Oooh, shiny.

2. Reasoning It Out. Boy that looks so nice.  And I don’t have the exact same pen already. I mean not exactly the same.  Or, if exactly, I only have one (maybe two, tops) of the exact same pen already.  What if one breaks? And I could always use a different nib size in this pen.  Or a different color.  Or heck the box is probably different if everything else is the same.

And it says “special edition.”  That means: not around forever. Remember that I never got that yellow special edition that, okay I’d never use, but the point is that now I have no yellow pen.  Okay, no yellow pen other than my three yellow Safaris. No, okay, four yellow Safaris. Five? But let’s not confuse the issue.  This isn’t yellow anyway.  It’s so much more useful than yellow.

And for heaven’s sake, I haven’t bought anything pen-related for a week.  Yeah, okay, maybe it’s just four days, really, now that I think of it.  Then there were those cute pants, too.  But sometimes four days can feel like a week — or even a month.  You know that’s true.  And let’s be honest: these last four days have felt like a month.  A pen every month or so is really frugal.

3. Annoyance. What? It’s not out for six whole weeks?  We’re supposed to wait that long? That’s almost cruel.

4. Uh oh. (The price.) Wait, how much is it? Is that dollars or euros? Without shipping? Oh boy, yeah, well that is sort of … yeah.  That’s slightly more than a Safari to be sure.  But it’s not like I waste money on Starbucks lattés every day or anything.  So think of all the money I save there. This is the equivalent of….  Oh.  It’s the equivalent of [33/81/175] Starbucks lattés.  That is a lot of lattés, isn’t it?   Yikes.

And, okay, strictly speaking I already have [four/eight/nineteen/I can’t count that high] other pens of the same brand.  Some of which I bought last year with what I honestly considered “this year’s money.”

And, okay, the stock market laughs cruelly at me, as our “retirement accounts” shrink to the level where they wouldn’t fund a weekend at a Holiday Express.  The credit card bill is on the counter.  My children, annoyingly, “like to eat.”

5.  Acceptance. Sigh. A person is rich in proportion to the number of things which he or she can afford to let alone. Life is not a having and a getting, but a being and a becoming.  Something something makes us stronger.

6. A Few Weeks Later.  Oooh, I just read online that there’s someone offering it on Amazon dot Freedonia at 10 percent off.  Let me just crunch those numbers again.

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The image of the forthcoming Pelikan Classic M205 Demonstrator in Transparent Blue can be found here, along with more information about the pen.  Drool with me.