It’s always exciting to try a new pen, and doubly so to try an entirely new brand for the first time. So when Hahnemühle reached out to me to review its new FineNotes range, how could I refuse?
Essential background: who on earth are Hahnemühle, and why are they suddenly making pens?
Hahnemühle might not… Continue reading
Tag: review (Page 3 of 22)
The Euphoria Dream is a new venture for Benu: a special store exclusive for its own brand site, priced at $280, featuring a multi-layered handpainted decorative finish that takes five days to complete before being finished with a polished lacquer layer.
And it’s this labour-intensive decorative process that’s really under review here. In all other… Continue reading
Pocket pens are a sneaky little side hobby for me. I enjoy the creativity of the designs and how they overcome the constraints of the pocket pen brief. It’s remarkable how many different solutions there are to the same problems. And as a result I’ve ended up with quite a few over the years, several… Continue reading
I talked a bit about this pen on Instagram and in some previous posts, so it won’t surprise you folks that the Santini Italia Giant has got me all excited the past few months.
As you’ll gather from the video, this is a very special pen. If you’re in a box-ticking mood, try this: handmade,… Continue reading
As I mentioned in my Black Friday post, I took a chance on a Radius pen from Appelboom during the sale. It arrived today, and I took a few minutes to record a video with some of my early thoughts.
I also shared a few photos on Instagram:
View this post on Instagram A post… Continue reading
I recorded a quick video review of this pen a couple of days ago and made a blooper in it. I misremembered the RRP as being $150-160, (when in fact it’s $139), and in my head I expected it to be showing up at £120-130 in UK stores after our usual punishing conversion rate. In… Continue reading
TL;DR: check out the video review
The full story
This is an unusual, even special, pen. It features a skeletonised sterling silver overlay on both cap and barrel, created by the late Henry Simpole.
Overlay pens are not common nowadays, and to me they are strongly associated with vintage pens: you find overlay pens on… Continue reading
This review has been a long time coming.
I first reached out to Dominant Industry on Instagram in August 2020, and — once we broke the language barrier — it was clear they weren’t ready for a review until they got their international expansion underway. But I didn’t forget, and this September I followed up.… Continue reading
I don’t know about you, but I have a strong mental block against spending £500 on a pocket pen.
The first reason is practical: there’s a disconnect between a pen that is meant to get bashed around in your pocket with your keys, and one that delivers a “luxury” experience.
The second is perhaps more… Continue reading
TL;DR: watch the video review (but scroll to the end anyway, trust me!)
The full story
I have a soft spot for the modern incarnation of Tibaldi. As the “affordable” arm of Montegrappa’s parent company, it’s up against stiff competition (think Leonardo, Maiora, Venvstas, Visconti, Gioia…), and is putting up a plucky fight.
Behind the… Continue reading