Pen Photography to Pass The Time

I’ve really been lousy about updating this blog and giving anybody any reason to look at it.  So in an effort to try and do better, I thought I’d just post some pictures of my favorite pens just for the sake of ‘pen photography’. Please feel free to ask questions or leave comments.

Figure 1 Blue Water Phileas Nib in Fine Point

This is one of those pens I’d want to have with me if I could only pick a few to be stranded on a deserted island with.

Figure 2 A Gathering

This is a typical meeting of the local pen union’s 101 monthly meeting. This was just prior to a strike instigated by the Parkers whereby all of their bladders dried up and deteriorated away.

The Old Man of my collection.

Figure 3 The Asian contingency, a Hero 51 Clone

Don’t let anyone tell you different. These are NICE pens! Incredible value considering the $$! A Hero 616.

Levenger True Writer

Once again, it’s been a while since I did an update here. Hopefully I can get back in the habit and change that. One big reason for my lack of posts has been the economy. It blows, by the way, in case you might be wondering. Blows I said…

Back in February I was laid off from a position I had with a local developer as a project manager. Here’s how bad this economy blows. Last December, we won an RFP (Request for Proposal) to do a redevelopment project for the local university. This would have been a $200 to $225 MILLION dollar (…that was MILLION with an M) project. Good news right? Job security for the next 5 to 7 years, minimum. Oh, and a BIG raise to come (lots of pens to buy…). This was December of ‘08. By February 2009, you couldn’t find financing for a project like this anywhere. And so, the lay-offs began.

I relay this story not to solicit sympathy. No. Lots of folks have had it worse, and gone through much worse than me. I’m now entering into a new career (Insurance agent with Colonial Life) and finally feel like I can begin to allow at least a little time for some of my previous hobbies again.

Tonight I decided to break out an old favorite of mine, a cobalt blue, Levenger True Writer, circa about 1995.

I have two of these pens, this one, and a stunning (I think…) white pearl version, both with fine points. First, the physical description. This pen as mentioned is kind of a pearlized cobalt blue color with chrome hardware. By Levenger’s own account, these pens were modeled after one of my favorite pen lines, the wonderful Esterbrook J series pens. That heritage is easy to see. The cap is topped off with a simple black tassie mounted over a chromed clip. A chrome band sits just above the cap lip, and has the company name LEVENGER elegantly engraved on it. Like the Esterbrook, the Levenger sports a screw-in stainless nib. The nib is quite elegant, I think. It sports only a slit for the tines, no breather hole, like traditional nibs. Unlike the Esterbrook, this pen has a section that is the same material and color as the rest of the pen’s body. The Esterbrook sported a black section. The end of the pen features a chrome ring and another black tassie matching the one on the cap, simply smaller. Compared to the Esties, this is a substantially larger pen, measuring 5 3/8 inches long capped and 6 ½ inches long posted. From a strictly aesthetic point of view, I’ve always thought this was just a stunning pen.

Although I do love this pen, both it and its white sister-pen have had some quality problems. The chrome band on this one has come loose several times. I’ve repaired it with some crazy glue and for now, it seems to be holding; though it also sits a bit lower on the cap than it originally did. The white one I have had a problem with the section, where the nib screws in. It basically disintegrated around the nib. A call to Levenger got me a new nib and section for $25. (Does anyone still sell a reasonably priced pen with a lifetime warranty anymore?)

My True Writers are both outfitted with converter, but will also accept universal style cartridges. These pens are the definition of a “buttery smooth writer”. Like butta. Like butta, I tell you. Both of my pens are fine points, but definitely write closer to a medium point as compared to most of my other pens. I know that my pens are some of the early ones produced by Levenger, though I don’t know if they’d be considered 1^st generation or not. I mention this, primarily because I’ve read that many of the early pens suffered from quality problems such as those I mentioned earlier. It’s my understanding from several online sources (Fountain Pen Network among others) that the current line of True Writers from Levenger are largely problem free.

This is not a pen that you see a lot of information about. Anybody reading this that knows more about them (I certainly don’t claim to…) please add a post to tell us more about these great pens!

Waterman’s Phileas

It’s been too long since I’ve written anything here, so I need to get back in the game. I broke out another of my “starter” pens the other day, a Waterman Phileas in blue marble finish.

This really is a fantastic pen! It’s also (I think) very under-rated. You just don’t see a lot written about it, though what you do find, is generally very positive. I got this pen about 12 years ago, and it’s seen a lot of use in my rotations.

Figure 1- It sticks out in the crowd

My first impression of this pen is that it’s strikingly handsome……Until you look closely. Not that it’s ugly at all (I just said it was handsome), but there are some things about it that make it look a bit cheap in my opinion. First, the pen sports a gold ‘cigar band’ close to the posting end of the pen, that’s been crimped on. It’s not a solid band, if it were, it would make a lot of difference in it’s looks. Second the blue marbling effect looks better from a distance than up close. To me, it’s just a bit cheesey looking. But make no mistake, this is NOT a cheap pen. The quality is extremely good.

Figure 2 – Phileas Nib

The nib is a beautiful two-tone stainless number, mine, in a fine point. And it really is a fine point. A lot of modern pens with a nib labeled ‘fine’ tend to be more towards the medium end of the spectrum. I’ve run all kinds of inks through this pen, and no matter how long it’s been sitting capped, it always starts an immediate fine, wet line. Again, my experience has been that many fine-pointed nibs will tend to have some slight problems getting started after long periods of not being used.

When I acquired my pen years ago, I think I paid about $45; Fountain Pen Hospital has them for $55. A great deal for a pen of this caliber.

Figure 4 – Cigar Band, Looks good from the front

J Herbin Bleu Pervenche

WooHoo!

Another cool goodie in the mail today. Got some really cool stuff from the folks at Exaclair, Rhodia and Clairefontaine notebooks and a couple of bottles of J Herbrin ink in blue and black. The subject of this first review will be the blue ink.

Let me first set this up. My favorite blue of all time is the old fashioned Sheaffer traditional blue (they also make a turquoise and a blue-black, both of which I also have). I know, boring to most. It’s not as bright or vibrant as a lot of other blues, and it has a tendency to shadow as I right. But that’s exactly why I like it. I like the fact that when it goes on the paper, it looks old. I also like that on pretty much all of the papers I commonly use, it doesn’t bleed or feather. I mean not at all. Counting the internet, it’s easy to find and cheap to buy. My problem is that I can no longer find it anywhere locally. We have a really nice shop here in Lexington that specializes in leather goods (attaches, briefcases, pad covers, etc) pens and inks. They have a great assortment of Omas, Private Reserve, Lamy and a few others, but no Sheaffer. Even the local office supply store (a local mom ‘n pop) I used to get it from, no longer carries it in house. So I’ve been on a quest to find the closest blue I can find to the Sheaffers, with the same sort of characteristics, and if at all possible, one that might be “bullet proof” like some in the Noodlers line up – that I can buy locally. That last item would just be a nice bonus. Lamy’s blue is really good; it’s in the same shade range, but it’s definitely brighter. I really like the fact that like the Sheaffer, it doesn’t bleed at all. Noodler’s Luxury Blue is a great color (I like it at least as well as the Sheafers), but bleeds horribly. So both locally, and via the net, I continue my quest.

That leads me to J Herbin. I’ve seen a lot about this ink online for some time now, all of it good. The blue I received is their “Bleu Pervenche”. Not sure how that translates into English from French, but my guess is turquoise. Not Sheaffer Blue. That’s definitely not what it translates into. But…..I like it. I like it quite a bit, especially when I immediately resolve not to compare it with the Sheaffers. It’s just a different kind of blue. And a nice one at that.

It’s definitely Turquoise – at least what I classify as turquoise – and when paired with my trusty old Skyliner with a fine point, lays down a nice wet line. I cheated a bit for this initial inking and used the Rhodia pad that came with it. Man, the paper is sweet! A review of that pad later, but for now, let me just say that the paper quality in this pad is much better than any of my normal (I use C.R. Gibson Markings journals, a Moleskin knockoff, for daily use) daily writer journals. That being said, with the Rhodia, there was no bleeding or feathering at all. When I tried it in my daily journal…there was. Nothing horrible, typical of most of the inks I use (outside of the Sheaffers or Lamy stuff). Not nearly as bad as the Noodlers Luxury Blue.

In the end, this is definitely an ink I like. I have shades of Turquoise from Noodler’s, Private Reserve and Sheaffers. For a Turquoise, I think I like this one the best. Now to keep looking for my “perfect” blue….