Your impartial and comprehensive review site for writing instruments

State of the collection: August 2019

OK folks, that time of the month again (well, near enough). Let’s see what’s in my tray for August.

DSCF6685

Left to right: Montegrappa Extra, Visconti London Fog, Visconti Medici, Aurora 88 Nettuno, Aurora Duo-Cart, Montblanc Agatha Christie, Montblanc Geometry Solitaire, Montblanc 1912, Lamy 2000, Kaweco Art Sport Alabaster, Pelikan M805 Ocean Swirl, Geha 760, Graf von Faber-Castell Classic Pernambucco, Conid Kingsize, Onoto Magna Classic, Oldwin Classic, Franklin-Christoph Model 02 Smoke & Ice, Tactile Turn Gist v1 brass, Nakaya Decapod Heki-Tamenuri, Nakaya Long Cigar Kuro-Tamenuri, Namiki Yukari Royale Urushi 20 Vermillion, Pilot Murex, Opus 88 Demonstrator.

What’s in

A few stupendous new arrivals in the past month.

The Aurora Duo-Cart you know about from my review yesterday. It’s a fab little pen. See what I mean about it being compact? It’s noticeably smaller than the 88 it sits next to, and that in turn is dwarfed by the Visconti Homo Sapiens.

DSCF6686

What’s not compact? The Oldwin Classic. I’m working on my thoughts and review of this already, but already I’m glad I gave Oldwin another shot. The Burlwood material is really pretty, and I think I like the bullet-ended Classic shape even more than the flat-top Art Deco I owned previously.

DSCF6697

Perhaps the biggest arrival of all is the Montblanc Agatha Christie, which I mentioned in my earlier post. I’ll be honest, this hasn’t been writing quite the way I like it. It’s not rough or dry, but the flow hasn’t been enough when I’m writing overhand lefty. I’m in talks with both John Sorowka and the Montblanc boutique about the best way to tune it, because with a pen and nib this precious, I don’t want to screw it up myself… Although with a held breath and delicate use of a thin brass shim and nail buffer, I’ve got it where I’m 95% happy.

DSCF6715

Also here, although not shown above because it’s in my “fun budget pen pile”, is the TWSBI Eco in transparent orange. I actually bought this specifically to try out the Pelikan Duo Highlighter ink, but instead I put Sailor Irori in it and it’s bloody amazing. The Eco is a stunning bargain. I’m working on a completely redone buyer’s guide, and the Eco will remain my under £50 pick.

DSCF6693

What’s out

The Visconti Opera Master River Thames at Midday is living a new life somewhere else, meaning I’m down to just two Viscontis (not counting my retired Van Gogh Room In Arles or my daughter’s Wheatfields). I would happily have another Homo Sapiens — a Bronze Swirl, maybe — but is it me or have the prices crept up?

My Sheaffer Legacy Heritage is still for sale, but I’ve been spending an alarming amount of time trying to hunt one down in silver. Oops.

I’ve retired my Cocobolo Soubriquet for the moment. I think the heat and humidity were affecting it and making the section swell up, so I was finding it difficult to cap and uncap. All dried and tucked away now until the winter. Speaking of retired pens, do you guys do that, or is it just me? I have a little stash of pens that I don’t use but don’t sell either…

And a surprising goodbye to the Conid Regular Bulkfiller. I miss it a little already, especially since I have a couple of specially ground Bock nibs incoming that would have fitted it… I don’t think I have any spare Bock-fitting pens right now!

What’s still incoming

You guessed it, more pens.

The Pilot Custom Urushi at last dispatched from PenSachi, now with an FM nib (M is on indefinite backorder). I’m practically hyperventilating I’m so excited to get this. I’ve heard amazing things about the nib.

A Montegrappa Nero Uno Duetto is sat in the US waiting for me. I’ve been wanting to try another Montegrappa but few caught my eye until this one.

I commissioned a 1920 model pen from Clavijo, which you may remember from my article about small European pen makers. I got it in black Ebonite with a sterling silver rollstop and rhodium italic nib, and I could not be more stoked to receive it. In September, unfortunately.

My impulse purchase of the Petrol Kaweco Al Sport is still on preorder. Being honest, I don’t need or want another Sport in my pen tray. I’m an idiot. Curious about the colour though.

Lamy Bauhaus… Oh yes. Forgot about that. Well, I couldn’t really say no to a 2000 in my favourite colour, could I?

In for review soon

I’m looking out for a few review samples landing on my doormat, including a Karas Vertex, a Blueberry Esterbrook Estie, and a custom pen from Leonard Slattery, a wizard with wood.

5 Comments

  1. Effandpee

    When did you go vintage and get a Geha?

    • Anthony

      A friend sent one to me to try, a month or so ago. Despite it being tiny, it has the most GLORIOUS flexible EF nib and I simply had to have it. So I bought it from him. I’m teetering on the rim of a very deep rabbithole…

      • Effandpee

        Careful – I might give you a push…

  2. Debi Humphrey

    I also ordered a Petrol AL Sport. Can’t wait till they come out in October. I have lots of AL Sports; I love minis, and they’re classics. What’s not to like? Till recently, though, there was one thing I didn’t like much about anything Kaweco. Their nibs suffered from what seemed like a lack of quality control and were also usually very dry. Back story: I love stubs. I had stub nibs on lots of mine, but many were dry and needed tuning. However, recently something has changed with Kaweco. They now offer their stub nibs in the screw-in housing, like all their other nibs. On top of that, I’ve bought four of those stub nibs over the past couple of months, and they wrote like champs, right out of the box. No tuning needed (and I’m pretty picky) and they were plenty wet, or at least, not dry. So I have a nice new screw-in stub waiting for my Petrol. I HAD to have the Petrol; it’s one of my favorite colors, plus they’re not sold in the U.S., and I like having pens that not everybody else has. I’m just glad it was an affordable splurge.

    • Anthony

      Hey Debi, you’re quite right that the Sport is a classic — I just don’t need more than one in my collection, I think! :). I too noticed that the nibs changed recently (around the time of my last Sport and Art Sport purchase). Out of interest, how wide are the factory stubs?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

© 2024 UK FOUNTAIN PENS

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑