I’ve dragged my feet about writing this review for a couple of reasons. First, I’ve published quite a few Onoto reviews this year: the Pinstripes, British Museum, Sequoyah, Spitfire… with this, I’ll have covered Onoto more than any other brand. Second, this Blue Stripe Magna #8 is not a standard production pen. I bought it … Continue reading Onoto’s Mammoth Magna #8: masterpiece or mistake?
A ‘tribute’ pen is a dangerous thing. Look at something like Montegrappa’s Apollo 11 moon landing pens: I confess that I quite want one, but nevertheless they come across like cheap toys, even when the top-tier edition costs an eye-watering £6,000. It’s not just Montegrappa’s usual over-the-top style, either. Platinum and Cross have both done … Continue reading Flying high with the Onoto Spitfire
This pen grabbed me from the first photo I saw of it, and I’m happy to say it’s even better in person. After a series of Scottish-themed releases, and after many releases celebrating British luminaries like Nightingale and Churchill, Shakespeare and Dickens, Onoto’s release of the American-themed Sequoyah came as a bit of a surprise … Continue reading The mighty Sequoyah from Onoto
A reader recently told me by email that, of all their pens, the Onoto Magna would be the one to accompany them to the proverbial desert island. I cannot possibly disagree with their choice. If you were to be stuck with just one pen to write page after page, day after day, year after year, … Continue reading Another look at the Onoto Magna: Victory and Shakespeare pinstripes
Rather than words comes the thought of high windows: The sun-comprehending glass,And beyond it, the deep blue air, that showsNothing, and is nowhere, and is endless. Philip Larkin, High Windows Few pens make me want to quote poetry (especially by my favourite poet). The Onoto Great Court Vitreous Enamel Sterling Silver is one. But let’s get … Continue reading Art and alchemy: The Onoto Great Court Vitreous Enamel
I’ll start with my conclusion: the new Onoto plunger filler is not the best or most practical Onoto for most people. But if you love the brand and its history, that may not matter to you at all. Bear with me for a history lesson I’ve never really done history lessons on this blog — … Continue reading Onoto’s new plunger filler is a blast from the past — for a price
First impressions count Onoto sure know how to create a sense of occasion. I purchased this Onoto Magna Classic prototype from the London Pen Show, but I wanted it with a gold nib and the optional brass weight added to the barrel — so it went away to the workshop instead of home with me. … Continue reading An undeniable classic: the Onoto Magna
Gosh, it was May when I last did a SotC post, and here we are nearly hitting November. Naturally, there’s been a fair bit of change. Two long-standing, much-loved pens from my main tray back in May have gone: London Fog and Sequoyah. I still feel very positively about these pens, but I wasn’t using … Continue reading State of the collection: October 2021
It barely seems two minutes since the last London Pen Show in July, and here we are just days away from another one. Yes, it’s the autumn London Pen Show this Sunday, and I’ll be there. I hope you will be too. When I first bought my ticket a few weeks ago, I was feeling … Continue reading Another pen show? Yes, another pen show.
There’s a series of posts on the watch blog Worn & Wound called the three watch collection for $5,000. Here’s one recent example. The premise is simple but I find it fascinating. Give writers and readers a fixed budget and ask them to build a capsule collection of watches. Do they eat up the budget … Continue reading The three-pen collection for £1,000
