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... :)

Pilot Goodies

Today I finally ordered a few Pilot pens I have been meaning to buy for some time. I'm always apprehensive of buying pens with Fine nibs instead of Extra Fine nibs, but the general consensus is that these Pilot F nibs write like an EF nib does.

If that's the case, great! If not... well, they'll end up on eBay at some point.

1. Pilot Prera - Lime Green, F nib.
The Prera has been recommended to me by more than a few people, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I had a tough time deciding between the Ivory and the Lime Green, but in the end my love of the colour green won out over good taste. ;)
Pilot Legno 89s - Deep Red Cherry Wood, 14K F nib.
This pens looks soooo cute! Like the Prera, it's a very small pen with the flat-top styling that I love.
Pilot Desk Pen - Red, EF nib.
I have a couple of these pens already, but the EF nibs are just so amazing that I had to have another - the line these pens lay down rivals that of my 0.2mm/XXXF Needlepoints.

Now, what colour ink do you fill a Lime Green pen with...?

The Waiting Game

I think the waiting does it. I mean, I don't mind the waiting for my FPs to arrive in AU - the postal system always take ages, but this is more about waiting for ordered pens, or to be able to order certain pens. Too much waiting makes my interest fade...

• Example 1: The Aurora Fuoco Mini. I ordered one over eight weeks ago, but now my order is not able to be confirmed and I don't know why – it’s probably because there are no EF nibs available... Sigh.
• Example 2: My second Nakaya Piccolo. The wait for this has been considerable.
• Example 3: I have a few inexpensive Pilot pens on my wish list that I haven't bought because I only want to order from one place - I don't like having to use three separate vendors to acquire four simple pens.

In the midst of all this waiting, I did try to amuse myself by buying another Omas Princess in Senape (Saffron) Blue, but of course I forgot that the pen will be unusable until it goes to a nibmeister. So, I *was* enthused about this pen, but now it has arrived, I have admired it and soon I'll put it away unused... what a shame.

The one bright spot of interest is two Platinum pens from the 70s which are on their way to me - these I am looking forward to, as I will be able to use each one immediately.

A very big thank you goes to Nikolaos for helping me acquire these excellent Japanese pens. :)

New Astura, New Sailor

Two nice pens arrived in the mail this week!

The first was a NOS 1970's Sailor with a neat chequered motif around the cap. This is a stainless steel short-long pen with a very smooth 14K F nib.


Next is a little Italian button-filler made by Astura. This is such a gorgeous little pen - M300 size, and with the original Astura 14K XF nib! This pen was also NOS, and remarkably, the sac was still good!


The photo above doesn't do justice to the celluloid, which is a marbled blue-green with a beautiful metallic shimmer. I've inked this pen with Diamine Umber - a near-perfect match for the celluloid.

Delicious. :)

OMAS Disappointment

I heard back from The Pen Shoppe today, as my Omas Dama has returned from Italy. No paperwork was included by Omas, but it seems that they have replaced the clip.

Unfortunately, they have also sent a bill for US$75. The Pen Shoppe seems to think I'll be paying that bill - but since the pen is still under warranty, I'll disagree.

I'm really quite unimpressed with Omas and this whole fiasco. The clip developed hairline cracks in the gold plating after the pen was *casually* used over a six month period. The clip plating was inferior, and the problem isn't a new one, so I can't believe they actually charge people for the clip replacement! :(

Urushi Eyedropper

Some photos of my lovely 1950's Eyedropper:



This pen is big and beautiful! The coppery-red colour is especially nice.

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!

Ink Capacity

On Friday I had a startling experience - a co-worker approached me, and wanted to know if I could recommend a quality fountain pen with two specific requirements: that it is heavy, and short. I couldn't actually think of any pens to suggest to him (I think I was still in shock from actually discussing fountain pens in my daily life instead of FPN), but I promised I would gather bring some catalogues and recommendations to him on Monday. He also mentioned that price was no object. This makes me wonder if he has any idea of what one could spend on a fountain pen if money were no object...

But I digress...onto the subject of this post - ink capacity!

Ink capacity concerns many people; however, I am not one of them. I actually prefer to use cartridge/converter pens, because with piston-fillers you are stuck with one ink colour for awhile, which is boring. :) Anyway, I decided to find out how much a few of my most commonly used pens differ in regard to ink their capacity:

Brand / Model	Type	Capacity
Parker	Cartridge	~1.3ml
Pelikan M2xx & M4xx	Piston-Filler	~1.5ml
Pilot	Cartridge	~1.1ml
Pilot	Converter (CON20)	~0.8ml
Platinum	Cartridge	~1.1ml
Platinum	Converter	~0.6ml
Sailor	Cartridge	~1.1ml
Sailor	Converter	~0.6ml
Sheaffer	Cartridge	~1.3ml
Other	'Short' Cartridge	~0.8ml

(The above volumes are approximate.)

Looks like I'm on the right track in just refilling my cartridges with a syringe.

More Japanese Pens + Fascinating Facts!

This week, I was very pleased to add a few more nifty Japanese pens to my collection. Here's a summary - I will add some nicer photos when they arrive:

• Platinum 'Zogan'. This is a 1970's Platinum with interesting Lamy 2000-esque styling. The cap band has a floral motif in the decorative zogan technique, which is the inlaying of gold into a surface. Platinum revisited the 'Zogan' in the 1990's, this time styling the pen on their classic #3776 model.
  I dislike using other peoples images, but for now here is the 'Zogan':
  The top image is from Stan Klemanowicz, and shows the 1970's model. The bottom image is from the Internet, and shows the 1990's model.


• Pilot Etched Floral. This is a 1970's stainless steel Pilot with gold trim and deep floral sprigs etched into the body. The etchings are filled with a green-gold reflective lacquer. Pretty!


• Pilot 'L'. Someone on eBay advertises these under the name of "Lex" or the more ridiculous "Mysterious Reflections". The other name for this model is simply the "Lady" - however, while browsing Yahoo! Japan one day, I found one of these pens marked "Laureat":
  My "L" fountain pen is on the left, the Yahoo "L" ballpoint pen is on the right. I wonder what Waterman thought of Pilot using the name Laureat?! Ah, the oddities of the pen world...


• Pilot-Namiki Celluloid. This is a nice, red-black mottled celluloid lever filler which is stickered, and has the original box and instructions. I was especially pleased to find this pen, as it is a prewar model bearing a "N" (Namiki) logo on the barrel. In 1938 the logo letter changed from "N" to "P" for Pilot, so I would put my pen as being from 1936/1937. The pen has a steel 'Shiro' nib.
  Pilot fountain pens from the 1930's to 1960's had a couple of different barrel stamps, as shown below:
  The first two lines of text are the standard imprint - sometimes model names or patent info is present, but that's the basic text. The central round 'lifebuoy' is depicted as one of the above three logos, of which the dates concerning the later two are approximate.


• Well Eyedropper. The Well Fountain Pen Company was founded in the 1920's and was a popular prewar manufacturer. However, after the war, the company had a short lifespan and eventually closed in the 1950's. The pen I bought is an Ebonite (hard rubber) eyedropper, coated with black Urushi lacquer - even the clip is lacquered black! This pen also has a steel 'Shiro' nib.

I'll have these pens in a week or two, so look out for some photos then - this is an interesting group! :)