Looking over my pen tray I am often struck by how many pens I have sold, only to later repurchase. You might well say: if you liked it enough to rebuy it, why did you sell it in the first place?! It’s a fair question, but I have a few answers. Sometimes (as the song … Continue reading Eight second chances to get it right
experiences
Benu, cartridges, interviews, queues and more
A few days ago I started writing a September 'State of the Collection' post. But the scale of the task has overwhelmed me. With more than 20 posts since the August SotC, and at least as many pens in and out... well, I figured nobody would want to read a post that long. But I … Continue reading Benu, cartridges, interviews, queues and more
Pen packaging should be…?
I tend not to bother talking about pen boxes when I write a review, unless it’s exceptional in one way or another. After all, you’re interested in the pen, not the box it comes in. The box is just to get the pen safely to you, right? Not quite. When you buy a pen, its … Continue reading Pen packaging should be…?
Spoiled for choice
Pens from £70 to £2,500 or even £5,000. With steel nibs and gold. Made from aluminium, silver, brass and plastic. From truly oversized to handbag-petite. In all the colours of the rainbow — if the rainbow included black and silver. Hailing from Italy, Germany, France, England, Wales and Ireland. From one-man bands and century-old ateliers. … Continue reading Spoiled for choice
How to buy a fountain pen without screwing up
This is not a guide to choosing a fountain pen. There are plenty of those out there, several of them on this site. No: this is a guide to actually buying a fountain pen, from the moment you've decided on which pen you think you want, to the moment you happily lay it in your … Continue reading How to buy a fountain pen without screwing up
Failure is the best test
There's an old truism in business that you only really earn your customers' loyalty when things go wrong. Customers (generally) accept that mistakes happen; if you step up and solve the problem, they can actually be happier with their overall experience than if no problem had happened in the first place. This week I really … Continue reading Failure is the best test
My Top 3 pens
It's been going on a while, but Joost from Appelboom's 'top 3 fountain pen' video series has just landed on my radar. The premise is simple: ask pen-celebrities like Figboot, Azizah, SBRE Brown, Scrively and Brad Dowdy to record videos talking for about 15 minutes about their top three pens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HphQ-Tqi508 I wasn't invited to … Continue reading My Top 3 pens
Finding joy in black ink
Since I found myself getting into fountain pens, I've never really used black inks. Grey inks, sure: a good grey can be as expressive as any other colour, ranging from a clean crisp silver to the colour of 2B pencil, and with an infinity of tints, from almost lavender purple, to murky fog-brown. But the … Continue reading Finding joy in black ink
So mechanical keyboards is now an acceptable crossover for a pen blog, eh?
I've mentioned a couple of times in previous posts that, as well as loving pens, I've been variously smitten with typewriters and, more practically, mechanical keyboards. And now Jeff posts at the Pen Addict about his journey into keebs, which I'm taking as permission to tell you all about my dalliance with the digital side … Continue reading So mechanical keyboards is now an acceptable crossover for a pen blog, eh?
It’s not you, it’s me
Update: I've added to my for sale page as I start to wind down. Time for contemplationI'm just coming up to the third full year writing UK Fountain Pens. I started the blog because I had things I wanted to say about stationery and my journey through it, and all the things I was learning. … Continue reading It’s not you, it’s me
