Fountain Pens (and Rolex Watches)

[joe_papp]

I collect fountain pens and wris****ches, though I haven't made any acquisitions since last year due to my challenging circumstances.

My fountain pen collection is a utilitarian one, in that I don't buy pens just to leave them boxed-up and never inked. I write w/ every single one I own and had to start journaling just to have an excuse to write something daily.

I found a cool 5min video on youtube that must've been sponsored by Aurora (coincidentally, one of the three brands, along w/ Pelikan and Visconti, that I focused-on), which shows how fountain pens are made. Thought you might want to check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuSqIbxQTjI

If you watch the video and then look to the right-side menu bar there should also appear a link to a video, "Rolex Watch - How is it made" -- might be worth checking out, too.

 

[Fus087]

I like how the swear filter won't let you use the word for watches you put on your wrist.

 

[Fetisoff]

LOL, at first I thought Joe misspelled the ward "Wris****ch", took me a bit to realize that the forum is actually filtering the word "****"

 

[joe_papp]

LOL, at first I thought Joe misspelled the ward "Wris****ch", took me a bit to realize that the forum is actually filtering the word "****"

I like how the swear filter won't let you use the word for watches you put on your wrist.

That's really funny. I think I might start a wris****ch thread lol

 

[usedtobefast]

That's really funny. I think I might start a wris****ch thread lol

it can't get more lame. no wonder everyone is leaving.

 

[BroDeal]

it can't get more lame. no wonder everyone is leaving.

We have complained about the stupid filter a lot. The only thing we got back were responses that completely ignored the issue.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Choices are leave it the way it is, and allow people to work around it by using colored type or other tricks (wristwatches), or to remove it, and let people type words like **** to their heart's content. And we're not going there.

If there's another way, I don't know how to implement it. Nor do I think CN has the resources to do so.

 

[RedheadDane]

Here's a technical question:

Isn't watch the term for a time-teller you put on your wrist?






Like if you strapped your Bornholmer on your wrist it would be a watch...

 

[JayKosta]

The generic term 'watch' is used for timepieces that are carried by a person.
As opposed to a 'clock' which is usually kept in a single location.

In 'Amererican usage' there are several types of watches -
wrist
pocket
pendant
ring

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

 

[LugHugger]

The generic term 'watch' is used for timepieces that are carried by a person.
As opposed to a 'clock' which is usually kept in a single location.

In 'Amererican usage' there are several types of watches -
wrist
pocket
pendant
ring

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

But, Jay, this is the twenty first century not the nineteenth. A watch is a wrist watch to 99.99% of the population.

 

[palmerq]

Here's a technical question:

Isn't watch the term for a time-teller you put on your wrist?






Like if you strapped your Bornholmer on your wrist it would be a watch...

you will have to elaborate for gaijins like me, what is a bornholmer :S

 

[joe_papp]

But, Jay, this is the twenty first century not the nineteenth. A watch is a wrist watch to 99.99% of the population.

I guess I should've used the even more formal and obscure, "timepiece"!

 

[Fus087]

you will have to elaborate for gaijins like me, what is a bornholmer :S

These.
In Denmark, they're called "Bornholmerur" because they are traditionally manufactured on that island.
And there's interesting history behind it: In the 18th century (or so), a ship with a cargo of grandfather clocks was wrecked near Bornholm. The locals got the clocks out and basically reverse-engineered them.

 

[rickshaw]

Hey Joe...

... ever notice how easy it is for people to ignore fountain pens? Face to face their eyes just glaze over, on Inet forums I guess they start talking about human anatomy... anything but FP!

I have just begun to reconnect with my inner fountain pen-self after a brief 25 year break. I am staying mostly with inexpensive pens till I get my feet inked. I just got a "Hero 86" Chinese calligraphy. Its tip nib turns up, emulating a brush stroke. Gives interesting results when I write in Urdu or Hindi....

Sounds you have some nice ones. My plan is to get a high level Pelikan when the time is right, then....monogamy is not an option.

I have found the Fountain Pen Network and its forum really useful and interesting, like cycling news except everyone says please and thank you... oh and there are no naked lady threads.

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/

PENS not PEDS
yah hey

 

[RedheadDane]

I guess I should've used the even more formal and obscure, "timepiece"!

We got it easier here! We actually have one very simple word for a generic time-teller.
Ur.

 

[joe_papp]

We got it easier here! We actually have one very simple word for a generic time-teller.
Ur.

LOL - aka "one who tells time!"

... ever notice how easy it is for people to ignore fountain pens? Face to face their eyes just glaze over, on Inet forums I guess they start talking about human anatomy... anything but FP!

I have just begun to reconnect with my inner fountain pen-self after a brief 25 year break. I am staying mostly with inexpensive pens till I get my feet inked. I just got a "Hero 86" Chinese calligraphy. Its tip nib turns up, emulating a brush stroke. Gives interesting results when I write in Urdu or Hindi....

Sounds you have some nice ones. My plan is to get a high level Pelikan when the time is right, then....monogamy is not an option.

I have found the Fountain Pen Network and its forum really useful and interesting, like cycling news except everyone says please and thank you... oh and there are no naked lady threads.

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/

PENS not PEDS
yah hey

Congrats on starting to get back into pens! I was trying to think of why/how it was that I cam to be interested in them, and I remembered that my grandmother bought me a calligraphy set when I was just a little kid, then the second really serious girlfriend I had bought me a Waterman fountain pen! (coincidentally, my first serious girlfriend bought me a Tag Heuer wris****ch as a graduation from high school gift!)

Fountain Pen Network is great! You can find me there: http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/user/25988-joep01/ I've bought several used pens from other FPN members, which I sourced through their classifieds. Very reputable and safe.

Pelikan...probably my favorite brand. Prior to being sentenced, when I thought prison might be a likely outcome, I became reckless w/ my spending and added several of Pelikan's Originals of Their Time limited edition pens. Of the five, this article is on one of the two I don't yet have:

http://www.pentrace.net/penbase/Data_Returns/full_article.asp?id=386

Here's another cool article on that Toledo:

http://www.stylophilesonline.com/archive/jan03/04tol.htm

Here are a couple I have enjoyed:

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/f...kan-originals-of-their-time-limited-editions/

Many of you know that I'm fairly prolific as a writer and had one of the most widely-read rider diaries on cyclingnews.com back in the day (along w/ John Lieswyn). Well, since I couldn't submit my entries in ink on paper, I had to start journaling and sending cards and letters to friends in order to be able to actually use my pen collection. The aesthetic pleasure of writing w/ a fountain pen may be an odd thing to celebrate, but what can I say - I love it.

If you ever have any pen questions or want advice feel free to PM me.

 

[joe_papp]

Fountain Pens Picture

Here are a few of my pens...

(old pic)

UPDATE: I updated the link in hopes of getting the pic to display. If it doesn't, you can just click through to twitpic to see it, along w/ other pieces of eye candy:

http://twitpic.com/8s3t03

 

[RedheadDane]

LOL - aka "one who tells time!"

Yeah. Our word is still easier!

Here are a few of my pens...

(old pic)

Dude! Pic not working!

 

[rickshaw]

Nothing strange at all...

LOL - aka "one who tells time!"



Pelikan...probably my favorite brand. Prior to being sentenced, when I thought prison might be a likely outcome, I became reckless w/ my spending and added several of Pelikan's Originals of Their Time limited edition pens. Of the five, this article is on one of the two I don't yet have:

The aesthetic pleasure of writing w/ a fountain pen may be an odd thing to celebrate, but what can I say - I love it.

[.. like making bread with your own hands,] to become the instrument of communication, physically involved and the pen as an extension of your self, the pen a beautiful object. And when the writing itself has beauty.... you got yerself a ho-listic experience.

Joe, I don't think you were completely accurate when you described those pens as "utilitarian"!

 

[Wallace]

[.. like making bread with your own hands,] to become the instrument of communication, physically involved and the pen as an extension of your self, the pen a beautiful object. And when the writing itself has beauty.... you got yerself a ho-listic experience.

Joe, I don't think you were completely accurate when you described those pens as "utilitarian"!

Pelikan pens are utilitarian because they're meant for everyday use, as opposed to Mont Blanc (worst expensive fountain pen I ever owned) or other top end pens that are "signature" pens--meant for rich men to take out of the breast pocket of their expensive suit to ostentatiously sign a document or really big check. The Pelikan is a writing instrument. I have a Pelikan 600 (the larger pens feel to me to be too clunky for long-term daily use). I've written two books of poems with it (one published by HarperCollins, the other by the University of Chicago). You touch the nib to the paper, and the ink just slides along like on smooth ice.

Once--a truly horrible moment--I dropped the pen and the barrel broke. I contacted Pelikan USA, and they told me where to send it. A couple weeks, and a new pen arrived--and this is a pen I've had for years, lost the receipt a long time ago, etc. The point being that when you have a Pelikan, you've got it for life. If my house was on fire, after I was sure that everything living was out of the house (wife, son, cats, hawk), the Pelikan would be the material object I'd rescue. The computer could melt.

 

[joe_papp]

my thoughts in response, and another pic

Yeah. Our word is still easier!
Dude! Pic not working!

I tried another link for the pic but if it still doesn't work just go here: http://twitpic.com/8s3t03 I have some other pen pics I'll try to upload if I can find them.

UPDATE: here's another pic:

(original image here, if the above isn't displaying: http://twitpic.com/8si5nw)

[.. like making bread with your own hands,] to become the instrument of communication, physically involved and the pen as an extension of your self, the pen a beautiful object. And when the writing itself has beauty.... you got yerself a ho-listic experience.

Joe, I don't think you were completely accurate when you described those pens as "utilitarian"!

Well said re. the experience.

Thanks for the compliment. As discussed below I meant utilitarian in the sense that they are beautiful yes but will stand-up to daily use w/o a hiccup. Kinda like German sports sedans (and the Audi R8, I imagine...).

Pelikan pens are utilitarian because they're meant for everyday use, as opposed to Mont Blanc...You touch the nib to the paper, and the ink just slides along like on smooth ice.

Once--a truly horrible moment--I dropped the pen and the barrel broke...If my house was on fire, after I was sure that everything living was out of the house (wife, son, cats, hawk), the Pelikan would be the material object I'd rescue. The computer could melt.

Well said. I don't go for designer pens like the ones you describe that aren't meant to be written w/ daily. Congrats on the publishing success, BTW.

Good to know that Pelikan delivers such excellent support. I had a similar positive experience w/ Aurora, when the gold plating on a cap began to corrode, and with Delta, when a pen barrel broke off from the nib section after [cause of damaged edited out to protect the innocent]. In both cases the companies replaced the damaged/failed units with brand new pens, though they re-used the same nibs per my request. It took longer than in your case because the pens were sent first to the US distributors who then fwd'ed them to Italy for service/replacement, but I couldn't complain.

Were there to be a fire, after ensuring that the cats were saved and that my goofy old mother escaped, I would risk burns to save my journals and cycling memorabilia (all stored in totes easily hauled out of a burning garage), my fountain pens (housed in cigar boxes converted to pen cases as shown in the pic), and the removable hard drive that has 10+ years of digital photos on it. I'd try to save the Pinarello and my custom orthotics and Sidi Ergo2's as well. Oh, and my watches. And my...and my ... and my ... LOL

 

[joe_papp]

More Pics

Trying to share some additional pics:

http://twitpic.com/8sib6d

http://twitpic.com/8sicjg

http://twitpic.com/8sicy6