Pens Arrived

My Aurora Fuoco Mini arrived today, and it's GORGEOUS! Here it is posing with some Mini siblings:
In addition, I have also received my Pelikan M400 Tortoise & Dark Brown, as well as my Pelikan M450 Tortoise & Vermeil!
And last but certainly not least, a beautiful 1976 Platinum pen made from solid Silver with Silver/Vermeil relief - the workmanship is beautiful, and this is quite a special pen.
I'm a lucky girl. :)

Aurora and Pelikans Incoming!

As is always the case, weeks pass with no sign of any interesting pens, and then suddenly all the pens I'd like to buy pop up at once! I really hate when that happens...

Anyway, the following pens will soon be arriving:

• Aurora Fuoco Aurea Minima LE
  
  This will arrive next week - maybe even by Tuesday! My preference is usually toward gold trim, but this particular intense red is perfectly offset by the white trim.
  
  Proposed Ink: Levenger Fireball.
  

  Pelikan Souverän M450 Tortoise-Vermeil
  

  I really love my modern M400 in Tortoise-White, so of course I have been eyeing off the M450 for some time. The M400 and M450 use different Tortoise celluloids, with the M450 celluloid being slightly greener.
  

  Proposed Ink: Stipula Verde Muschiato.
  

  Pelikan Souverän M400 Tortoise-Brown
  Another Pelikan! This pen completes my Souverän 400-series mini-collection of the modern Tortoise celluloids, as I have all three now!
  

  Proposed Ink: Pelikan Brilliant Brown.

Once again, I am building up a number of pens which will require nib modifications. I think the two Pelikans above bring the total to seven... :)

Incoming Pens!

It's been awhile since my last posting, so today's entry will be a large one - I have lots of nice pen news to share. :)

Last month I acquired some unusual Japanese pens, and while I promised some photos, I didn't get around to posting any. However, they are here now!

Platinum 'Zogan' (1970's)
Initially, I didn't know what to make of this pen, as it was much larger than I had anticipated it would be. I pondered it for a couple of hours, and debated whether it should remain in my collection or not. Eventually, I decided I did like the 'Zogan' and upon inking it with R&K Sepia, I found I liked it even more.

Pilot Etched Floral (1970's)
I saw a couple of these pens sell on eBay earlier this year, but they sold for more than I was prepared to pay (and more than they were worth). Stan had one for sale recently, and I managed to snag my first colour choice at a great price. This is a gorgeous pen, and the photo doesn't do it justice. The metallic enamel inside the deep etching changes under different lighting conditions - really pretty.

Pilot-Namiki Black Red Celluloid (1930's)
I was really pleased to acquire this pen as a NOS item with its box, papers, barrel label etc. It is in great condition, and the dark celluloid and black urushi jewels make a very nice contrast with the nickel trim.

Well Black Urushi Eyedropper (1930's)
Another nice one! The black urushi coating on this pen is perfect, and quite thick. The urushi-clad clip is most sexy, in my opinion. The nib is a nice one, with a cut-out on either side to increase flexibility. I have a Nakaya with an Elastic nib which features similar cut-outs. It's nice to have an early example of such a nib, as well as a modern one.

* * *

In other news, I have several exciting new pens winging their way to me as I type! July has been another good month for interesting pens. A brief summary:

• Platinum PKH-2500. I have one of these cute short-long pens already, as shown here. My current short has a Clover motif, the new short has a Maple Leaf motif.


• Platinum Ivory Celluloid. I’m looking forward to this one. A 1950's Platinum 10 Year model in a lever-fill configuration.


• Well Eyedropper. Yep, another Well... but not quite as old as the first one. This one has a very interesting nib also - instead of a traditional round or heart-shaped vent hole, this Well has the letter W instead. Nifty!


• Yotsubishi Eyedropper. My first Yotsubishi, and hopefully not my last. What makes this 1950's example nice is that it has been finished with a Red Urushi coating.

Lastly, I have my eye on a couple of brand new modern pens. The first is a delicious new Aurora, the Fuoco Minima. I think this Aurora series is based on natural elements, as the Fuoco features a flame motif, just as the Sole Aurea Minima features a sun motif. The colour is beautiful!

The other modern pen I am considering is a Danitrio maki-e pen. I've not yet decided exactly what to purchase though... decisions, decisions!

Pen Ramblings

More of an update today... no new news to share. :)

Firstly, my Nakaya Piccolo. It is incredibly perfect - I love this pen so, so much.

Next, my Aurora Mini Optima. Not long after I bought it, I felt the ink flow was a little too much. The wonderful Pamela B sorted it all out, and in a roundabout way also gave me the opportunity to have an Extra Fine stub nib ground for the pen. I’m really looking forward to getting it. :)

Two cute Pilot 78G's arrived from HisNibs today - a Teal and a Cinnabar with Fine nibs. Being Japanese this means they are more like extra-fine nibs, and so far the dip-test has indicated these pens are winners! Lovely service from Norman, as usual. :)

Perhaps it's just the combination of the EF nibs and dry-writing pens that I use, but my FPN Special-Edition ink isn't really so brown at all. In fact, it's a middle-of-the-road dirty red-orange. I can see with a wet writer that the colour would deepen, but really, there's a heck of a lot of red in there.

Mini Optima!

It arrived yesterday and I love it! The colour is just gorgeous!

Happy, happy, happy!

See my FPN Review for more information.

Finally - Aurora Optima Mini

Yesterday I purchased the very pretty Bordeaux Auroloide Optima Mini fountain pen with EF nib! The price had been the lowest I had seen for some time, and I decided to put my Nakaya off until next year. (The fact that the Aurora was half the price of the Nakaya was important too. :)

Just before I began writing this post, I was checking out the WorldLux site when I noticed they had an Aurora Clearance Sale. My heart began to thump very slowly. As I clicked the link, I thought maybe I should just close the browser window as I would be better off not knowing how much cheaper the pen was compared to what I had just paid. When I saw the price, my relief was audible - it was $5 more than what I had paid.


When I see the pen - and I may see it by Friday - I will have to decide what ink to use for the first filling. The current contenders are Parker Penman Ruby or Private Reserve Burgundy Mist; however, I am concerned about the Optima’s ink-view window. I don't want one of these heavily-saturated red dye inks to stain the clear resin, although the chance of this actually happening is pretty slim.

Aurora Optima Mini's

While I have wanted an Aurora Burgundy Optima Mini for some time, I ended up buying the Sole Mini LE instead. I still want the Burgundy Mini, but I have also been thinking about adding the lesser-known Black Optima Mini to my collection.


The pens are identically sized, but the chrome-trim Mini's have 14K nibs, whereas the Sole Mini has an 18K nib.

While obtaining the Burgundy model is no problem, the Black model is not distributed in the US. It appears to be widely available in Japan and parts of Europe, but the exchange rate in these countries is quite bad for the Australian Dollar.

Also, getting one with an EF nib is no easy task. Such a shame...

Aurora Arrived!

This week has been an extremely good week, pen-wise. I went to the Post Office yesterday morning, and got a very pleasant surprise when I discovered that my Aurora Sole Minima from Oscar Braun had arrived - two days before it was expected!

After I opened the package, I set up a camera, took some photos and wrote a fairly comprehensive Review, which I have posted at the Fountain Pen Network. Lots of nice photos are included.

I'm very impressed with the Sole Mini, and very, very pleased that I bought it!


Some Small Pens: Orange Marble Montegrappa Micra, Green/Black Pelikan M300, Aurora Sole Minima LE.

Aurora Sole Mini LE Ordered

Last week I ordered an Aurora Sole Minima Limited Edition fountain pen from Oscar Braun. It will be here in a couple of weeks!

Today I phoned a local pen store, and was told the Sole Mini wouldn't be in Australia until September. Also, they will be charging an incredible $900AU for it. *Jaw-drops* - I'll pay less than half of that amount by buying online.