The Quest For My Final Fountain Pen Half 1: The All-Over-The-Place Interval – Reprise

My private quest for the last word fountain pen started unexpectedly.

I used to be taught to put in writing with a fountain pen in elementary college, which is sort of regular in Europe. However I switched this out for a ballpoint pen afterward because the velocity of my lessons’ lectures elevated.

Blessed with horrid handwriting, I by no means thought myself worthy of a pleasant fountain pen. Low cost ballpoints just about dominated my adolescent years and I used to be wonderful with them.

However then my grandparents moved right into a nursing dwelling. This was a tragic event, and it additionally meant that their home needed to be dismantled since not all the pieces may transfer with them. And that is how I ended up with the black-barreled fountain pen with silver cap from my grandfather.

Inside Martin Inexperienced’s Parker 21

The arrow-shaped clip clearly indicated it was a Parker, however I had no additional details about it bar that. I crammed it simply from an ink pot by urgent a little bit plastic bladder 5 instances, and off I used to be on the trail to a journey I had by no means anticipated myself to take.

The broad, flat stub nib of Martin Inexperienced’s Parker 21 fountain pen

The metal nib of the Parker turned out to be a {smooth} author. It was truly a stub nib, which means a broad, flat one with rounded corners, which made my messy handwriting look extra acceptable. However much more than that, I loved the expertise: filling the pen with ink, the graceful writing, the sensation of satisfaction that the sort of writing gave me.

It was there after which that I made a decision that I might need a horrible-looking handwriting, however that I may definitely compensate that with a pen that regarded wonderful – and felt wonderful as I wrote with it.

My excellent pen – yours is likely to be completely different

My quest for the proper fountain pen ended up taking nearly twenty years.

Throughout that point I wandered aimlessly by means of the world of fountain pens as a result of I allowed myself to surprise. This was the technique I had labored out to search out what I used to be on the lookout for; in a way I used to be following my yellow brick highway to the wizard of Oz.

I think about all of the pens I got here throughout on my journey formidable writing devices, but ultimately there was just one that turned my final pen, the one above all others. But when it wasn’t for all these different pens, I might have by no means discovered it.

On one other word – and I used to be very lucky to be taught this very, very early in my journey of discovery – I additionally discovered that the “excellent” fountain pen is completely different for everyone. It has lots to do with the dimensions of your hand, the best way you maintain a fountain pen, the strain you placed on the nib whereas writing, the best way you progress your hand, and the velocity with which you write.

So one individual’s grail pen could be someone else’s writing nightmare. What I’d criticize on a pen could be taken as a advice by someone else.

After I ventured off on the earth of fountain pens I discovered that the pen I received from my grandfather was actually a Parker 21, the inexpensive sibling of the famed Parker 51 launched in 1941.

The creator’s Parker 21

With the readability of hindsight, I now ask myself why I truly started wanting additional in any respect as a result of I nonetheless think about it a formidable writing instrument.

However the reply is twofold: initially, it seems that I like dramatic-looking pens. And by dramatic, I imply nearly excessive. For me a pen must be eye-catching, and with its black physique and silver cap, the Parker 21 couldn’t be extra understated.

Secondly, I discovered that nothing compares to writing with a gold nib.

Gold nibs

I needed to attempt a gold nib, so I received myself a Pelikan M250, a 14-karat-gold-nibbed demonstrator. A demonstrator is a writing instrument whose barrel is partially or utterly clear in order that the filling mechanisms could be seen as they work.

The creator’s Pelikan M250 demonstrator with clear barrel

I received it in a brownish-yellow shade that I dubbed Havana. It was a terrific author, particularly for the cash, however as cool as a demonstrator sounds in principle, I discovered that it’s not like a skeletonized wristwatch.

Sure, you possibly can clearly see how the pen’s giant piston sucks within the ink, however since it’s full of liquid, you can even see condensation and ink residue. That is completely regular, however pens with coloured barrels don’t can help you see that. I discovered that as a substitute of including to the expertise, it took away among the magic. And it was time to maneuver on.

The 14-karat gold nib of the creator’s Pelikan M250

The Pelikan did have a smooth-writing 14-karat gold nib, however I used to be questioning if 18-karat gold would supply a fair smoother writing expertise.

I’ve discovered over time that this doesn’t essentially must be the case, and one in all my academics was the Conway Stewart Amethyst fountain pen.

About the identical measurement because the Pelikan M250, the Conway Stewart Amethyst was primarily based on the model’s “58” mannequin. Being considerably of an anglophile by way of clothes and vehicles, I used to be taken by the truth that Conway Stewart was an icon of the British fountain pen business and at all times had an attention-grabbing strategy.

Conway Stewart Amethyst fountain pen

The Amethyst was most definitely attention-grabbing with a stunning-looking physique and cap displaying nearly each hue of purple that exists.

At the moment I used to be truly satisfied that thinner pens would show to be extra snug for me to put in writing with. I couldn’t have been extra flawed.

Nevertheless, I don’t remorse this facet step as a result of it led me to a really slender magnificence with the very unsexy identify of Élysée Version No. 1.

Fairly not like the photographs a reputation like Élysée may conjure in a single’s head, this was truly a German model that made very high-quality pens. Nevertheless, by the point I turned conscious of the model within the early 2000s, it was already out of enterprise.

Élysée Version No. 1 fountain pen

In 1993 Élysée had the concept to pay tribute to the artwork of Chinese language cloisonné with a collection of restricted version pens primarily based on the Parthenon, the model’s flagship mannequin. The primary version of this collection was created by German artist Karl Diesner, who would later additionally design a second one. In line with him, his function was to “activate our imaginative and prescient.” And he was not kidding!

Virtually each geometric form recognized to man decorates the barrel and the cap of this pen. Outlined in yellow-gold-plated wire, the shapes are crammed in with pink, purple, black, and gray enamel in cloisonné model. That is for certain a pen that tantalizes the attention.

Gold nib of the Élysée Version No. 1

The extent of workmanship is extraordinarily excessive; I’ve heard that Élysée truly went out of enterprise as a result of the agency produced a lot too excessive of a high quality in relation to its costs, limiting revenue margins. Judging by this fountain pen that might very effectively be the case.

Sadly, I additionally found right now that skinny pens don’t actually agree with my writing model.

Time to tuck my Élysée pen into the pocket of my white blazer, which I put on with matching white pants, a pastel t-shirt, and Gucci slip-ons, and take the white Testarossa for a spin on the best way to half 2 of this trilogy, which can concentrate on my Italian interval.

A part of the creator’s colourful fountain pen assortment

See half two in The Quest For My Final Fountain Pen Half 2: The Italian Interval.

* This text was first printed on July 27, 2016 at The Quest For My Final Fountain Pen Half 1: The All-Over-The-Place Interval.

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