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The UKFP 2017 awards

The end of a year is a great time to reflect. I thought it would be fun to give some playful awards based on my experiences of a LOT of money spent in 2017.

The Inky Fingers award for best ink brand goes to… Birmingham

I have 10 bottles of Birmingham inks and I turn to them time and again. Great, interesting colours, flawless performance, a wonderful lubricated feel, and best of all they’re from a small company with outstanding service.

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Every one of these inks is brilliant.

The Lived-Up-to-the-Hype award goes to… Visconti Homo Sapiens

It’s the default “grail pen”, so expectations for me were sky high. But I was still blown away by the Homo Sapiens and its wonderful Palladium Dreamtouch nib. And the honeymoon period hasn’t yet worn off.

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I can’t get enough of this nib.

The Community award goes to… Diamine Earl Grey

This ink could just as easily have won the hype award, after the huge Reddit thread and all the excitement over its creation. Amazingly, it’s turned out to be a brilliant grey ink that I’ve had inked since its release. I loved the crowdsourcing of the colour and naming and it’s fitting that the end result is so good.

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My name is Earl

Best Supporting Workhorse goes to… Lamy 2000

I was going to give this to the Pelikan M805, but my Lamy 2000 comes in at half the price and sits there like a spaceship in my pen case, writing beautifully whenever I need it. Despite needing a new cap earlier in the year it’s still a pen I trust completely.

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Thanks, old friend.

The Biggest Disappointment award goes to… Organics Studio inks

I was really excited to get my bottles of Walden, Emerson and Arsenic Grey from Organics Studio, in all respects: the branding, the promise of the sheen, all of it. Unfortunately the sheen is overwhelming and actively distracts me from my writing, they smudge like hell and they hard start, too. They’re great for Instagram, but I doubt I’ll use them again.

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Terrible photo, sorry.

The Small Biz Celebration award goes to… lots of companies!

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Makers like Mike Dudek have taken a simple idea and executed it beautifully.

Nock continued to expand, with Unicorn barf colours and the Lanier. I invested in my first Dudek pen block, which hasn’t left my desk since. It was marvellous to see Penwell launch, with a genuinely new idea and a humble approach to business. I invested in a Col-o-Ring book at last, and cursed myself for waiting so long. I ordered more nibs from the geniuses at FPnibs. Franklin-Christoph has whipped up frenzy with more limited editions, plus innovative new carry options… and even though I sold my Pocket 66, I’m now a deliriously happy owner of a Model 02 and a Penvelope 6.

And that’s without getting to the UK, where folks like Jake Lazzari, Say Nice Things, Personalised Stationery and lots of other small companies are out there doing a fantastic job.

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It’s great to have more carry options out there (especially non-leather ones) like this Franklin-Christoph penvelope.

And retailers, too. I continue to subscribe to Spotlight Stationery. Stu and co at Pocket Notebooks are basically my paper drug dealer. And I actively look forward to newsletters from Ink Journal, Bureau Direct, Write Here, and others. They make this a community!

The It’s-Not-You-It’s-Me award goes to… Pilot

With my 823 up for sale, I find myself with no Pilot pens in rotation for the first time since I got into this hobby. What gives?! I’ve decided I can’t do flex (goodbye FA nibs), the smaller pens are uncomfortable for me (goodbye 91, 92 and Myu), and I am completely over cleaning out CON-70 and CON-40 converters. Pilot: I love you, but this was not meant to be.

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I love you but I like big Germans.

The Stop-Tempting-Me award goes to… awww, who am I kidding?

I’m still lusting after the Krusac Legend, several Kanileas, Edisons, Nakayas… this is an amazing time to be into stationery. There are pen makers all over the world turning out wonderful custom and production models that are calling to my wallet.

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Oh, stop it. (Photo from Ryan Krusac)

It’s been a great year and I feel blessed to have had the chance to play with so much fun stationery. What’s been your greatest discovery this year?

4 Comments

  1. slightlyunnerved

    Great post. Totally agree with the frustration over Pilot converters. For a company that makes such great pens, it’s a shock to discover how poor their converters are.

    • Anthony

      It makes me feel better that I’m not alone!

  2. Maureen

    I am so with you on the Organics inks…I had a terrible time with Walden and everyone else treated me like I was crazy.

    • Anthony

      I’m glad I’m not alone! Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement…

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