When I found out that Dapprman had a Lamy Imporium, I practically jumped up and down with glee to try it. And then he let me borrow it! See, the pen community is a wonderful thing. The Imporium is Lamy's flagship, descended from the 1990s Persona. It's an uncommon pen. I am a huge fan … Continue reading I really wanted to like the Lamy Imporium
Montegrappa’s Extra ‘The Sea’ makes a big splash
Let's get the name out of the way first: the pen I'm reviewing here is the Montegrappa Extra 1930 Colori del Mare 'The Sea', a limited edition of 27 pens produced for Chatterley Luxuries (there are six other colours too, each in an edition of 15 pens). I'm going to call it the 'Extra' from … Continue reading Montegrappa’s Extra ‘The Sea’ makes a big splash
Doing the best we can with our brains
Positivity vs objectivityI recently watched one of SBRE Brown's videos, titled Justifying Expensive Pens in Reviews and Cognitive Dissonance Reduction, which is all about the knots you tie yourself in to manage psychological trauma when you've made large pen purchases, as well as whether it's possible to objectively review expensive pens you've bought, versus ones you've … Continue reading Doing the best we can with our brains
The magnificent seven: week two
Last week's seven turned out great. I used every pen heavily, with the exception of the Pelikan M400. At last I managed to gel with the Pilot 823, although it still doesn't feel 'right' to me every time I pick it up. The Montegrappa Extra and Montblanc 1912 proved deliciously smooth for evening journalling; the … Continue reading The magnificent seven: week two
Inside the maelstrom
Back in the early days of this blog I did a lot more 'editorial' style posts, about topics and themes rather than just reviews of products. So if you scan down this post and don't see any pictures, don't be alarmed: this is meant to be just words! The oxymoronic attainable grail pen? I read … Continue reading Inside the maelstrom
The magnificent seven: week one
Today I laid my collection out, all together. It didn't fit in my pen drawer. I had to leave three pens out of shot. Left to right: Montblanc 1912, Montblanc 149, Pelikan M805 Ocean Swirl, Pelikan M400 white tortoiseshell, Visconti Wall Street LE, Visconti Homo Sapiens London Fog, Visconti Homo Sapiens, Visconti Van Gogh Room … Continue reading The magnificent seven: week one
The Leonardo Momento Zero is simply fabulous
I've teased this in the last couple of posts, so I'll come right out and say it: the Leonardo Momento Zero has blown me away. In this review I'll explain why. First impressions? Beautiful pen. It's testament to Leonardo's designers that I agonised for a long time over which colour to pick: turquoise, dark red, … Continue reading The Leonardo Momento Zero is simply fabulous
Snippets: epic mail call and more travel
I haven't posted a blog since 22nd October, 17 days ago. It's been a busy couple of weeks. At the end of October I took a long weekend with the family down to Fowey Hall in Cornwall. It was a chance to get away and unwind from work. I took just four pens with me: … Continue reading Snippets: epic mail call and more travel
The original reborn: hands-on with the new Esterbrook Estie
Guess what showed up today? The new Esterbrook Estie. In case you're not up to speed: the revived Esterbrook brand was recently bought by Kenro, the US distributor of Montegrappa and Aurora. Kenro has created an all-new pen: it's resin, cartridge-converter, made in Taiwan, and featuring a steel Jowo nib plus silver- or gold-coloured trim. … Continue reading The original reborn: hands-on with the new Esterbrook Estie
The UKFP holiday gift guide 2018
What do you get for the fountain pen lover who has everything? It can be tricky. Your first thought might be... well, a pen. But if they're a hobbyist, they're probably past the 20-quid Parkers and Lamys from your local Rymans, Smiths or Paperchase. And you probably don't want to spend 500 quid buying them … Continue reading The UKFP holiday gift guide 2018
