Will It Write?

Posted on June 30, 2015 by Christine (Pentulant)

As I mentioned yesterday, it’s been a busy season. Between work, travel, birthday celebrations, more travel, and general busy-ness, I’ve not had much time to tend to my fountain pens.

In fact, everything you see above has sat unused for at least two weeks. I thought it would be a great time conduct a small experiment: Will it Write?

Here’s where things ended up . . .

J Herbin Rollerball – after a slow start, it started writing wonderfully

Jinhao Dragon Eyes (I have no idea what the real name of this pen is) – started right up! Want to get one of these for yourself? Amazon has them for under $15 right now.

Nakaya – this was my birthday pen from Mr. Pentulant this year. It’s gorgeous, but I’m having trouble with the flow and it’s going to have to go back. Ugg. More on this another day, but for today – it didn’t write – not even a little. Disappointing, but I’m sure it will get fixed up and be perfect.

Parker Duofold Demi – started right up!

Montblanc Solitaire – perfect!

Franklin-Christoph Model 20 – I really thought this big wide music nib would have dried out over the two weeks that I didn’t use it, but – no! It wrote like a champ! So happy about this.

Pilot Elite – Gah, I love this pen. I’ll review it soon. Until then, go buy one for yourself. This one started right up, too.

Montblanc Boheme Large Edition – I received this pen as a gift from Mr. Pentulant last Christmas. It didn’t write at all after having sat for two weeks. I’m not surprised, there is clearly an issue with nib – and perhaps with the twisty mechanism. I’m going to need to find someone to have a look at it. Ug.

Lamy Safari – no surprise, it started writing the instant it was touched to the paper.

TWSBI Mini (Rose Gold) – I was having trouble with this pen before it sat. It’s no surprise that those issues didn’t fix themselves while sitting in the pen tray. I think the issue is baby’s bottom and I have an urge to try to fix it myself. Will you posted on how that turns out!

Jinhao 159 – review coming soon – it started right up! A happy surprise. (I got this one from Goulet Pens.) It comes in black, orange, and yellow. The yellow is on sale as of this writing.

Monteverde Artista – one of two pens that kinda sorta wrote after having sat for the two weeks. I kept feeling like it would start writing well “any second now,” but that just didn’t happen.

Montblanc Solitaire Geometric – Another pen I’d been having a little trouble with before my break. It started right up, but the hard starts on some letters remains an issue. I’m going to need to take this one back to the MB Boutique for a look.

Finally, the TWSBI twins – red and green – they wrote wonderfully!

Overall, I’m pretty happy with how this went. The Nakaya is definitely the biggest disappointment – unfortunately, though, I wasn’t terribly surprised as I’d been having trouble with it.

Those Jinhao pens (the dragon and yellow) surprised me in the best way by starting right up.

I’m sure it’s not lost on anyone that some of the cheapest pens started up right away and some of the most expensive pens are an issue. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions from that.

I’m hoping life is at pleasant lull and I can get back to enjoying my pens. How is your summer so far? Busy, busy like mine? Relaxing and calm?

THIS OR THAT: Rollerball Edition

Posted on May 28, 2015 by Christine (Pentulant)

This or That – Rollerball Edition!

Lamy Safari or Pilot Metropolitan

I was surprised when I learned that Goulet Pens would be carrying the Lamy Safari Rollerballs. Surprised and intrigued. Then! I saw that Jet Pens started carrying the Pilot Metropolitan in a Rollerball, too. (Sometime in the last couple of days, Goulet Pens also began carrying the Pilot Metropolitan Rollerball.)

In the way-back past, I was not a fan of rollerballs. More often than not, they just didn’t write well for me. I’ve since learned there can be a couple of reasons for this: 1) rollerball inks have traditionally been liquid and these can dry out quickly, and 2) depending on the user’s grip, the angle of the pen may put the ball in such a position that it doesn’t roll smoothly across the paper.

I was definitely feeling guarded when I ordered, but let’s dive in and see how things worked out.

Both pens are attractive and look very much like their fountain pen cousins. Brian Goulet has a terrific video about the Safari Rollerball where he talks about all of the differences between it and the fountain pen. You can see that video right here.

Even the grips of each pen look familiar.

However . . . Those of you who have the Lamy Safari fountain pen(s) know that they have a unique grip section. The Lamy Rollerball has a similar (but different) grip that I am not finding 100% comfortable.

But how do they write?

Actually . . . quite well! The Metropolitan came equipped with a black refill. Pilot G-2 gel refills are available in a variety of sizes and colors.

The white Safari comes with a blue refill – all of the Lamy rollerballs come with a black refill (I don’t know why). Refills are available in standard colors – black, blue, red, and green. I checked in with Goulet Pens – these refills are also gel.

And here’s a side-by-side comparison for you . . .

So which one? This or that?

Appearance: Tie!

Writing Experience: Metropolitan.

While each writes wonderfully, the Lamy rollerball grip isn’t going to be comfortable for everyone.

Refills: Metropolitan.

Not only are the refills available in a variety of sizes (.38, .5, .7) and colors (blue, black, purple, teal, turquoise, burgundy, pink, hunter green, red, caramel, navy, orange, periwinkle, green, lime), they are available all over the place. (Though ironically, I don’t see any on the Goulet website.)

Price: Metropolitan.

The Pilot Metropolitan seems to be around $8-10 less than the Safari Rollerballs – even more if you’re digging the Al-Star Rollerballs.

Bottom Line: Easy decision for me – Pilot Metropolitan Rollerballs, for the win!

Have you tried either of these? What do you think of rollerballs in general? I’m a bit of a convert after experiencing these!

INK SWAB: 77/365 – Lamy Red

Posted on March 18, 2015 by Christine (Pentulant)

I’ve not tried Lamy Red, but it’s so bright cheerful that I might have to very soon!

INK SWAB: 44/365 – Lamy Green

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Christine (Pentulant)

Lamy Green is.

🙂

This is a long and interesting article. It’s not only about Justine Sacco and how one stupid tweet changed her life, it’s also about how easy it is to “pile on.” The person who started this piling on later apologized to Justine when he experienced much the same thing. Lesson: words are powerful.

INK SWAB: 36/365 – Lamy Turquoise

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Christine (Pentulant)

Lamy Turquoise

I’ll say this about Lamy: they sure get the names of their inks right.

I don’t know if I’ve ever written with Lamy inks – I don’t think so. Those cartridges that come with the pens – I send those off to a friend. The inks are well-regarded – I just have no experience with them.

What about you?

INK SWAB: 12/365 – Lamy Black & Contest Winner!

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Christine (Pentulant)

Lamy Black.

It’s black.

Winner Announcement!

Manda Overturf has won the Stateside Notebook giveaway!

I’ve already contact Manda and am ready to get the Notebook out to her.

WINNER WINNER: Lamy Safari Neon Coral

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Christine (Pentulant)

Wooo! So happy to announce the winner of the Lamy Safari in Neon Coral!

Congratulations @squishymochii – I’ll send you a message and get the pen right out to you!

GIVEAWAY: Last Chance to Enter

Posted on May 11, 2014 by Christine (Pentulant)

Just a really quick reminder that your last chance to enter to win a Lamy Safari in the bold new Neon Coral color (pictured above) is coming right up.

Read all about it and join the fun right here.

GIVEAWAY: Lamy Safari Neon Coral Fountain Pen

Posted on May 4, 2014 by Christine (Pentulant)

Woooooooo! My Lamy Safari Fountain Pen in the new (SCREAMING) Neon Coral color arrived Saturday.

Lamy Safari fountain pens are wonderful for a whole lot of reasons and this is a GREAT color. I’m totally excited about inking it up and taking it for a spin.

Before I do that, I wanted to let you know that I ordered TWO of these pens. One for me to keep and love forever and one to give away!

One winner will be chosen at random from all of the entries. US only (so sorry, international friends).

Leave a comment here before next Monday – May 12, to be entered to win. (One entry per person, ok?)

And…seriously seriously, tell me how to get in touch with you. I’ll try like crazy, but if I can’t find you with you within three days of the drawing, someone else will get the pen.

(In case you’re wondering…this isn’t a sponsored post. I bought the pen with my own saved up pennies.)

xoxo

LA PEN SHOW 2014 – MY SHOPPING SPREE

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Christine (Pentulant)

LA Pen Show 2014 – My Shopping Spree

There they are.

Click any picture in this post to see the full-size version. These are all iPhone photos – decent quality, but not perfect.

Going to try to let the photos do the talking here and come back another time with detailed images. You all must be tired of reading my posts about the LA Pen Show, but, dude, it was massive.

And we’re off . . .

Vintage Parker Jotter in Cab Yellow

Lamy Safari Flame Orange

Following is the pen that Susan Wirth recommended for Mr. Pentulant. I love this pen. I’m going to have to find a way to convince Mr. Pentulant to transfer ownership to me. 😉

Vintage Esterbrook with Needlepoint Nib

A peek at the marking on the pen above . . .

Vintage Esterbrook with AAA Logo

Susan Wirth proclaimed, “You are an italics waiting to happen, Number Five!” As I mentioned yesterday, I tried a bunch of pens with italics ends and ended up falling in (almost) love with fantastic pen, but the price was more than I wanted to spend. Blech.

No worries, I didn’t walk away empty-handed. Check it out . . .

Vintage Parker 51 Aerometric

The next item is from Franklin-Christoph. If you’ve never shopped there, you should. I love their high quality and impressive customer service. I have had nothing but good experiences with them and their items are very thoughtfully designed.

Franklin-Christoph A5 Medium Command Center

Annnnd this pen is also from Franklin-Christoph. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that I have the little sister of this pen and love it. This one is equally cool. (This is the clipless version.)