Hand Over That Pen

Pam:  Have you ever bought a pen because you were so blinded by it’s beauty? Well, the Pelikan White Tortoise (with EF nib) was that pen for me.  When I indulged in my “pen binge of 2016” (Thanks Franz!) I had bought the pen at a great deal but was very lost on it’s place in my collection when I received it.  (I didn’t expect to get more than one grail pen within a year, I thought I had more time to consider these things!!)  Most unfortunate was that despite the beauty of the pen, I couldn’t find a pen that compelled me to want to write with it.

I found Rohrer Klingner Alt-Goldrun to be underwhelming in the EF nib despite it matching to the beautiful Pelikan binde.   I didn’t find a brown ink that I liked enough to keep using in this pen.  I didn’t think a blue ink would “compliment” the White Tortie very well.  After almost year of testing pen and ink combinations and long hiatuses of not using the pen, I considered “shelving” the Tortie.  (Couldn’t bring myself to sell the pen either. It’s pen purgatory!)

Instagram and fellow pen lovers to the rescue!!! It was Heidi from Four Fifty Two (I think) who inked up Yama-budo in her White Tortie.  I finally took the plunge and copied the genius combination!  What a pairing!

I find the wetter EF nib to be great with Yama-budo since it provides more ink to the page and thus a more saturated color. (My first foray with this color was in a super DRY nib that led me to believe that this ink was more pink than crimson.) The color itself is beautiful and most importantly, readable.  The color is dark enough for great readability, but is not your usual blue or black, or even purple.  The color is so unique and the gold sheen really clinched this ink for me.

Katherine: My pairing for Feb has been my Sailor Sapporo Bung Box Silent Night & KWZ Twilight. Limited editions galore. My Silent Night has a wonderful wet Zoom nib in it — perfect for showing off the varied shades of KWZ Twilight. Additionally, the pen and ink pair thematically to me — the bright to dark teals of KWZ Twilight fade into the dark blue, almost black of the Silent Night. If only KWZ Twilight glittered in its darkest spots. Actually, if I had one wish for this ink, it would be that I had more than a sample. Hence, only the pen is pictured above.

Franz: My pen and ink pairing for the month of February are both new to me within the month. It is the Retro 51 Marlin EXT fountain pen, and the Monteverde Capri Blue ink. I have wanted the Marlin pen since last year and when I heard it was being discontinued, I “had” to have it. On the Vanness Pens site (www.vanness1938.com), I found their last one so I purchased it right away as my “birthday” pen. Once I got it, I immediately inked it up with the Monteverde Capri Blue. This was the first pen I’ve inked with the Capri Blue and I’m very happy how it matches the swirls in the barrel of the Marlin. The ink’s color is also usable for my workplace so it’s a pairing I can use both for the home and office.

Now to top this pairing off, I had Mr. Mike Masuyama (www.mikeitwork.com) transform the medium nib into his cursive italic grind at the recently held LA Pen Show. Writing sample in the photo below. So the Marlin has become one of my top favorite pens. The Marlin will be a mainstay in my lineup for the 6 Pen Challenge that I will be participating in the whole month of March.

What are your recent pen and ink pairings?

This is a new series of posts for us. Each month we’ll pick a pen an ink pairing and share why we love it. What are your favorite pairings? And please give us feedback — we love comments!

Pam:  I tend to make pen and ink “one true pairings,” as in, once a pen and ink are well paired, they are almost permanently paired for me.  My first OTP was the Lamy 2000, EF nib with Sailor Yama-dori.  The Lamy 2000 didn’t sing, and arguably, a disappointment due to my original ink choice.  I thought the nib was too wide, too wet, and created a “weird” line.  However, once I put in Sailor Yama-dori, thie “too wet” was just right to show off the beautiful red sheen on the perfectly teal ink.  The “too wide” and “weird line” became a semi-architect  because I could actually see the difference between my vertical and horizontal strokes.  I haven’t inked up the Lamy 2000 with any other ink since its second inking.

Katherine: If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll know that I got my first Nakaya (unboxing video here). Nibs.com had ONE ao-tamenuri (blue-green) Piccolo left, and I couldn’t resist. When the pen arrived I waffled over what ink to ink it with — something I knew I loved, or a totally new ink? I went with Akkerman #24 Zuiderpark Blauw-Groen, which I suspected would match the blue-green accents on the pen — and I was right! The ink flows well, but is on the dry side and matches the pen perfectly. After reveling in my perfect match, I found out that Franz (who I got my sample of Akkerman #24 from) bought the ink to match his Ao-Tamenuri pen… great minds think alike!

Franz: I’m excited about this post because I know that most pen folk are particular about the inks they use on their pens. I mean, that’s one of the biggest appeal of using fountain pens. It’s the ability of being able to choose your preferred ink, your own nib size/grind, and the perfect size of the pen for your hand. We’re not even tackling paper choices yet. That may be for another kind of blog post. Haha!

So for this month of January, I’d like to feature my pairing of my custom Edison Huron in Flecked Tortoise and the Pelikan 4001 Turquoise. The Pelikan Turquoise has become one of my top 5 favorite inks for the past years and I’ve become accustomed to its properties. The color of this ink is a nice complement to the rich brown tortoiseshell acrylic. The Huron sports a broad cursive italic customized by Mr. Brian Gray and the width of the line shows off the ink’s color and sometimes its sheen. Following Pam’s strategy, this may be my O.T.P. for this pen.

Here’s a writing sample.

Don’t forget to let us know what your favorite pairings are! Thank you!