Of course one can have too many pens, and this year my buying slowed down. (Stop rolling your eyes. You know who you are.) The thrill of acquisition does fade, and in its place the joy of discovering newness in what one already owns glows more brightly. It doesn’t mean I didn’t get new pens …
I used to write a lot. Then I wrote on occasion. Then I wrote only when needed. The number of pens I have has nothing to do with the number of words I commit to paper. This doesn’t stop me, however, from accumulating more pens, for many reasons that have almost nothing to do with writing. …
Elastic nibs were around before Nakaya had them. Many steel dip pen nibs came with shoulder cutouts or slits. Esterbrook even had a double elastic (cutouts AND slits!) on offer. MacNiven and Cameron released their last Waverly pen in the 1950s, an eyedropper meant to remove the hassle of disintegrating rubber sacs in tropical countries. …
When the ballpoint took over, fountain pens graduated to the special shelf, where they hung out with the fancy china. From everyday tools, they became markers for significant occasions. Â Back then, people favored fine points, for compact writing on lightweight onionskin, perfect for letters in the mail. Then medium and broad nibs took over the …
There are pens you can’t say no to, even if 1) you’ve already sworn not to buy another pen that month, and 2) even if you already have it in another finish. The culprit, this time, is the Nakaya Dorsal Fin 2 in heki-tamenuri. Heki-tamenuri is brown over green urushi, and is one of the …
Nakaya will no longer have celluloid pens, leaving that material to its mother brand, Platinum. So it was an easy decision to procure one of their farewell releases. The tortoiseshell celluloid is a harmony of warm brown, ochre and yellow, making it a most appropriate host for the golden chinkin. The chinkin technique involves engraving …
Where you grip a pen matters. Under the cap, Nakaya pens are very different from one another. There are minute differences between Piccolos. The Neo Standard has a slimmer section with a more obvious taper, but capped, it looks similar to the Long Piccolo. The Long Piccolo dwarfs the Piccolo, yet their section lengths are …
Here at the Eating Your Words Institute, we specialize in the study of specimens which humans at first say they will not purchase, and then gleefully do after some time has passed, forgetting what they said in the first place. This Nakaya Portable Writer is a perfect example. It is a specimen of fountain pen …
It is a loud world. So we carry talismans of quiet with us. Tamenuri is pools of urushi. I find the Portable Writer in shiro tamenuri, above, relaxing to look at. Perhaps because it looks like a sunset melted all over it. Inhale, exhale. Be at peace.
They say a twist keeps things interesting. “They crash landed on…Earth.” “He was dead all along.” “The dolphins did it.” If it works for stories, it works for pens. Nakaya’s Decapod Twist displays the kind of craftsmanship that makes eyes widen in wonder. How did they do that? Does it hurt? Can you eat it? …