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 …
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 …
For those wondering if Platinum’s soft fine nib has a few tricks up its feed, why yes it does. Platinum Soft Fine from Leigh Reyes on Vimeo.
Never say never. Especially with pens. I didn’t like the Izumo when I first held it. Whine, whine. The thread placement is awkward! Whine, whine. Ooooh pretty sparkly clouds! Mine! (This paragraph pretty much sums up my entire pen purchase philosophy.) Hello, elegant torpedo. I think the philosophy behind Izumo is impressive. It is both origin and …
The third pen in the Izumo line, with maki-e work meant to depict heavenly clouds. via Flickr http://flic.kr/p/eUj8zt
Ah, music nibs. They transform lists to lyrics, to-dos to haikus. Or so I would like to believe, even if music nibs on paper are indistinguishable from stubs and cursive italics. In form, they are quite distinct from other nibs, as they have two slits, resulting in three tines rather than the usual two. They …
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 …
Black clothes roost in my closet, in their solidarity of darkness. This penchant for black has somehow stretched into other cabinets, that hold ink bottles. Why do I have so many different kinds of black ink? Why do I have 10 pairs of black pants? Why is the sky black? Noodler’s Dark Matter has a …
I found this in Kinokuniya, beside calligraphy brushes, brush pens and student sumi ink. The Platinum Soft Pen is a felt-tip, demonstrator-style pen. It comes with a cartridge of red ink, “Marking Red,” and a spare felt tip. I decided to pop in a Nakaya goldfish converter, thinking it would look good showing through the …
I keep hearing “don’t mess with the zogan” in my brain. I hope it goes away soon. The standard Platinum 3776 body is executed in ABS resin, with a brushed matte surface reminiscent of the Nakaya hairline finish. Higo-zogan, gold inlay on steel, is applied to the cap band. I chose the ginkgo pattern over …