Imagine spotting a rare vintage pen in a flea market. Your breath catches. Your heartbeat accelerates. You pick it up and gently, gently, twist open the cap. Wait… there’s no nib. Could it be a safety pen? In that case, it might be even more valuable! You peer inside the section in anticipation. And then… …
UPDATE: A5 Journal Guides are available at Common Room (for Manila-based peeps) and now online at Vanness! You get a suggestions sheet, and four guides printed on thick, high-quality, laminated cardstock. (I can try other materials in the future, but this feels better under a thin sheet, for some reason.) And now on to the …
I sold handmade jewelry on eBay in 2002. EMS from here to Europe and the US cost a minimum of USD 10 in a marketplace where shipping was free or under a dollar, so I tended to discount my labor costs to stay within a reasonable price range. PayPal had yet to make it to …
My videos tend to highlight a particular obsession of mine at the time they’re made. This one is all about the shimmer. Tyrekickers is a dreamy song, and it makes me think of afternoon sun slanting into abandoned cars and bouncing off mirrors. When I make these videos, I steady elbow and forearm against the table. …
The only good Waterman is a vintage Waterman, unless it’s a Carene with a factory stub, or a Serenité with a cursive italic by Mike Masuyama. The Serenité is an anomaly in the modern Waterman portfolio. Discontinued but still available in a few shops or from online and show vendors, it was the first pen …
Ever since there were fountain pens, there were ebonite fountain pens. Ebonite or vulcanite or hard rubber remains a nostalgic, classic material, evoking pens as they were first made in the late 1800s. Below, from top to bottom: a giant Ranga (modern), John Holland hatchet filler (vintage), Waterman 55 (vintage), Danitrio raw ebonite (modern). Many …
They remind us of our mortality and look good on t-shirts. We all have one but we’d much rather not get to see it while we’re alive. I’ve had a thing for skulls since I was younger. (They were probably hot pink skulls too, because it was the 80s.) Different cultures have made fetishes of …
Do note: This hack will work for almost any fountain pen with an ebonite feed, friction-fit into the section. (Like the Noodler’s Ahab or Konrad, for example.) If we’re talking experience from innocent bystander to supreme boss ninja, this hack is serious apprentice level. Enthusiastic beginner? Please have a spare pen. Why do this hack …
I miss a year or two, but it never fails to surprise me that there are more than enough new pens in a year for me to be able to pick ten. My shock, your gain. 😉 Presented, not in any strict order: (Fine, there’s probably some kind of subconscious preference revealing itself…) 10. …
When a market is diversifying, it’s thriving. On that basis, 2015 was a healthy year for pen addicts everywhere – an especially happy observation to make in the fountain pen segment, which is almost two centuries old. The Year of Personalization Bespoke bodies and custom nibs have been around a while, but personalization was truly the …