A visit to Aesthetic Bay yielded a lot of ink, and goldfish. The Platinum Kanazawa-Haku line features five new designs, each one a classic Japanese theme from nature. Kanazawa-haku is a gold leaf technique, and here variations of it are applied on a slim Platinum body. A thin coat of clear lacquer protects the applied design. The goldfish are …
It’s been 3 years since my first Nakaya. What an adventure in beauty it has been! I have always admired artists who are able to direct the lightning of their ideas through their fingertips. Nakaya’s pens are truly ideas solidified into fountain pen form. They could just as well be watches, or cutlery, or trousers …
I heartily approve of gawking. It effectively combines greed and regret into a word that sounds like a goose’s last gasp. Aesthetic Bay has turned gawking at pens into a retail experience, and as usual, I saw more pens than I had a sensible budget for. The Nakaya display had standard Piccolos with the equilibrium …
If your fountain pen stops working, you: check if the converter has worked loose; calculate the viscosity of the ink; flush the nib and feed with a 1/10th solution of ammonia in tepid water; use a syringe to force water through the feed; inspect tine alignment; wiggle a sheet of paper in between the nib …
I received a note from Mr. Tan the other day about the Sailor Pen Clinic in Aesthetic Bay. So who’s going? 🙂 Customers are allowed to bring any quantities or brands for the nib master to adjust the nib. In the event if the schedule is tight, we will limit 2 pens per customer. The …
Mr. Yoshida sat behind a table of treasures: nib testers from super fine to music, trays filled with new wonders of chinkin and maki-e. He was gracious about my fangirlness. When I took three Nakayas out of my pen kimono, his eyes widened and he smiled. He asked me, through his interpreter (whom I later …
And I made it to the store opening! The new Aesthetic Bay shop is on the fourth floor of Ion, the newest, shiniest mall in the coruscating, shimmering paean to capitalism that is Orchard Road. Going up the escalator, I noticed red drapes still covering the shop signs. Aside from the expected flower arrangements speared …
I’m going to miss running to Funan Mall to visit Mr. Tan and the gang at Aesthetic Bay. The Ion is flashy and ritzy and, well, very sophisticated mall-y. But, I’m sure it will mean more foot traffic and a greater chance for the pens to be seen and appreciated by future pen addicts. What …
If a haiku were reincarnated as a pen, it would be the Nakaya Piccolo. The seminal Nakaya pen has to be the Piccolo in the kuro-tamenuri (blackish red) finish. It is a triumph of aesthetic restraint. It was the first Nakaya I liked, but the one I never bought, until last weekend. The shape, size …
There were three contenders for my affection in Aesthetic Bay last Sunday, all by Nakaya: a kuro-tamenuri Decapod, a cherry blossom Sumi, and a Piccolo with clip in arai-shu. The Piccolo won. It is the longer Piccolo, commissioned by Aesthetic Bay from Nakaya, because several of their customers liked how the Piccolo looked but were …