What got you into Pens?

[jmiicustomz]

They will still be worth something in 20, 50, 100 years and will have great stories to tell. Yes quality is in most cases far better. I use all of mine on a regular basis, far more regular for my fountain pens than I had thought before I bought my first one about a year ago.

I always loved my uni ball vision elite micro with blueblack ink. Then one day I was with one of my customers who had a nice pen out and offered it to me before my hand hit my pocket to get mine. I wrote with it and it was so smooth. That got me looking. Then I figured that when I write an appraisal for a couple hundred thousand dollars on one unmentionable, it would be a nice touch to sign it with a fountain pen. That allowed me to justify the first one. Then I need ones to match different attire, I got a nice black ballpoint to match my black belt, watch strap and shoes but it just so happened to say Omega. Well we all know you can't wear a rolex or breitling and carry an omega pen so I had to buy a rolex one too. The story goes on but you get the drift. Also I love that my good pens will write on damn near any surface or paper type.

Buy one, use it, enjoy it, pass it down.

[Bisquitlips]

Find a spot out side of a Costco. They have unfinished rock walls which makes a perfect back scratchier!

[Lion]

Originally Posted by Bisquitlips

Find a spot out side of a Costco. They have unfinished rock walls which makes a perfect back scratchier!

Now that sounds like an excellent plan…you learn something new everyday of the week especially if you listen to others when they speak!!!

[MILGAUSS88]

I grew up next to "Pen City".
And if you do not know where that is your not a true aficionado, IMO.

You cannot google it either. Any guesses?

[pen10]

Originally Posted by iliketime

I've always liked my writing instruments and have been a member of The Fountain Pen Network since I was in high school. I collect fountain pens and ball point pens. In the hospital it is still good to have nice clicky pen. Starting around high school, I always had a parker jotter in stainless steel in my pocket and was quite content that it was nigh indestructible. However over the years, theyve been torture tested and ive gone through a few stainless steel jotters. Unfortunately I didnt have money for the brass threads versions back in college, but I do now. I have quite a small stock pile of various pens, and they serve in different functions, from sunday cross word just a 12k rolled gold century classic, to my work pen various jotters.

I have always used fountain pens.The sheer pleasure of writing is enhanced with a good pen.
Ball pen,,Gel Pen,Direct refill pen

[HL65]

Because I am from Pittsburgh and we love our Pens here. In fact I am headed to game 2 of the Stanley Cup to watch our Pens play...so Let's Go Pens!


Sorry couldn't help myself

[texex91]

Originally Posted by HL65

Because I am from Pittsburgh and we love our Pens here. In fact I am headed to game 2 of the Stanley Cup to watch our Pens play...so Let's Go Pens!


Sorry couldn't help myself

Never liked any sharks

[topgear]

When I was 13, my father introduced FP to me. He bought me a cheap FP. It was a brandless china made. The FP was crap but it was the concept that got me hooked.

Later on, when I started university, I bought myself a Lamy FP. I still have it and still use it. I got my first MB from my sister as a wedding gift. I foresee myself to be enjoying this hobby for many more years to come. I will also introduce FP to my son when he is older.

[yannis]

My parents when they bought me the first Parker Fountain Pen. Never been a big fan (as others in the forum) although i do have an MB some more from Cross, Parker etc.

[HL65]

Originally Posted by texex91

Never liked any sharks

[Formulansx]

For me it was a pastor at a funeral that pushed me over the edge. Now I'm not super religious. I get the point and abide by the rules but that's as far as it goes for me. This guy was in his 30's and he whips out a fountain pen to sign the guest book at the funeral I was attending. My first impression was "now here's a guy with serious class". He was a really nice guy and spent a lot of time with the family of the deceased. I had been kicking around the idea of getting a fountain pen for a long time but it was this pastor that pushed me over the edge. I pulled the trigger on my first fountain pen the next day. It was a carbon fiber/rose gold Monteverde Invincia deluxe with a 1.1mm stub nib and it's still one of my favorite pens. Inked up right now actually. That's what pushed me over the edge into this addictive fountain pen hobby.

[jmiicustomz]

Originally Posted by Formulansx

For me it was a pastor at a funeral that pushed me over the edge. Now I'm not super religious. I get the point and abide by the rules but that's as far as it goes for me. This guy was in his 30's and he whips out a fountain pen to sign the guest book at the funeral I was attending. My first impression was "now here's a guy with serious class". He was a really nice guy and spent a lot of time with the family of the deceased. I had been kicking around the idea of getting a fountain pen for a long time but it was this pastor that pushed me over the edge. I pulled the trigger on my first fountain pen the next day. It was a carbon fiber/rose gold Monteverde Invincia deluxe with a 1.1mm stub nib and it's still one of my favorite pens. Inked up right now actually. That's what pushed me over the edge into this addictive fountain pen hobby.

Beautiful pen and interesting story. I find the study of how different backgrounds/upbringing shape our view of the same events. You saw class when he used his FP, others may have thought it "showy", or thought that a pastor able to afford such things wasn't a godly man, or that he was old fashioned and prepared for a long and boring sermon, or that he must be a great preacher for someone to give him such a fine gift. It's interesting how we make quick judgment based on our current view.

[vman]

Both of my parents have remarkable penmanship and this is something I grew up with. I realized that I could not get to the line variation and shading early on, so I have been using ink pens for quite some time :-) I think my first attempt to use an ink pen was when I was about 7 or so. In general, any document that is worth signing and annotating demands a high attention to detail. OCD much? Yep!

[Formulansx]

Originally Posted by jmiicustomz

Beautiful pen and interesting story. I find the study of how different backgrounds/upbringing shape our view of the same events. You saw class when he used his FP, others may have thought it "showy", or thought that a pastor able to afford such things wasn't a godly man, or that he was old fashioned and prepared for a long and boring sermon, or that he must be a great preacher for someone to give him such a fine gift. It's interesting how we make quick judgment based on our current view.

In this case the pen was not flashy. I couldn't identify the brand but it was black/dark gray with a silver colored nib. Could have been $40 or $10000 I have no idea but he was a really nice guy. I like to see nice guys do well. I've seen plenty of A-holes do well and honestly that pisses me off but if my impression is the guy is alright, this pastor could have rolled up in a Ferrari and I would have been happy about it. Probably would have even made a donation to the "buy him a new clutch at 30k miles" fund even Also the circumstances surrounding the deceased was massively F-ed up and this guy handled it VERY well so he got big points for that.

[Bisquitlips]

Lovey pens guys!!!

Thanks for sharing!

[elkos]

The passion for writing and fascination for beautiful crafted pens .

[safe]

Smooth flow of ink , non-cloggy tips and sheer pleasure of writing got me into expensive pens

[elkos]

You want to know that swiss pen is nice outlooking but small ballpen is most userfriendy and comfort for writing than swiss pen .

[davecheng]

I love the manual process of occasionally fill my pen's piston converter!

[subtona]

This is close to the 20 year anniversary, I Had a bad business partner who gave me a montblanc as a gift, shortly after that I discovered he was stealing.

After all was sorted over some years later, the pen survived and serves as a reminder of lessons learned.

It has been sitting on my desk at my right hand ever since.

[Bisquitlips]

Originally Posted by subtona

This is close to the 20 year anniversary, I Had a bad business partner who gave me a montblanc as a gift, shortly after that I discovered he was stealing.

After all was sorted over some years later, the pen survived and serves as a reminder of lessons learned.

It has been sitting on my desk at my right hand ever since.

I hate to about anyone experiencing what you have, but I admire anyone that will learn from a bad experience and make that experience an ally.

Some things you cannot learn any other way.

[Juantxo]

When I was in school, I used to go with my mom to buy my school utensils at the start of the year. We always went to the same ancient book store where part of the purchase was an Esterbrook pen. My mom, on the other hand, for many years owned a beautiful Parker 61. To this day I own one of each.

[Bisquitlips]

Originally Posted by Juantxo

When I was in school, I used to go with my mom to buy my school utensils at the start of the year. We always went to the same ancient book store where part of the purchase was an Esterbrook pen. My mom, on the other hand, for many years owned a beautiful Parker 61. To this day I own one of each.

Absolutely a perfect account!

[Juantxo]

Originally Posted by Bisquitlips

Absolutely a perfect account!

Thank you. I can say the same about your experience with inks.

[jar]

I came to fountain pens late in life. As a child starting school we had to bring our own stones to scratch lines into the cave wall. For art we had to chew charcoal and ocher to spit over our hands leaving shadow paintings. Later we learned to sharpen sticks and make better drawings of the bison that almost killed us yesterday and the mastodon that used to chase us on our way to school.

Later we learned to search for the GREAT Fire bird and steal feathers. We went down to the stream and found rocks that we could split giving us sharp edges that could be used to shape the end of the feather into a nib. We would chew up the charcoal or ocher and mix it with water and fat to get lovely inks, red and black, purple and brown. But we had no paper and so tried to write on the hide of the antelope. Unfortunately they refused to stand still so writing became a challenge and often left us gasping for breath.

[Juantxo]

Perfect. How about chamois hide to polish the barrel of a Pelikan 800 and a few drops from my pricked finger to get just the right shade of Skrip red...?

Naw, I hate pricking my finger...!!

[bmpregler]

Richard (Bisquitlips) got me addicted by suggesting the Lamy. I love it, even bought my two young girls FPs for their Christmas stockings. Also, every time I travel through the Chicago airport I have to stop in the Mont Blanc store. Maybe my wife is taking the hint and I will find a new FP under the tree.

[Juantxo]

Originally Posted by scarhead

I have sort of an ironic story. In school, we were not allowed to use a pen until we demonstrated nearly perfect penmanship to the teacher. Ms. Constance, my teacher at the time, absolutely refused to grant me permission to use a pen because she thought my handwriting was "deplorable." I actually remember her saying that at parent/teacher conference.

Eventually, I got into the "Pen Club" as it was called. Ever since then I have been into pens and handwriting. I get compliments all of the time and I have a colleague who says my handwriting should be a font

Throughout high school and the university I favored fountain pens. I used a Parker FP (the actual model I don't think they make anymore) and then found a MB 149 in need of some repair. That, by the way, was one of my best purchases ever.

Soon, I'll snap a photo of my handwriting to see what fellow enthusiasts think. I'll also include a photo of that Parker FP to see if anyone can ID it.

Anyway, that's what got me into pens.

I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop...!!! Where are the pictures of your handwriting...???

[elkos]

Thanking you for purchasing Rolex pen which have smooth nib and you must comfortable for writing to use this pen.