Journey across the sea of ink with a paper boat and fountain pen paddles
Who and why uses pens and papers in the 21st century? And what drives one to this archaic, outdated activity when there are countless opportunities offered by big tech companies?
The COVID effect
In the first shock of the COVID pandemic that broke out in 2020, being confined at home had a strange effect on us: the days blurred together, we walked meters between the bed and our workplace, no lasting memories were created, we just existed day after day... During this period, I felt a tension that something new, an experience was needed, otherwise, I would be swallowed up by the infinitely repeating gray weekdays.
Why pens and papers?
I have been collecting good quality notebooks, diaries, etc. for a long time. I bought them in every city if I saw a good piece, and at home, I Bomo Art as an enthusiastic buyer gathered a significant amount. I eagerly started to write something in them, but for some reason, the catharsis always eluded me...
While in the USA, I encountered the Retro 51 brand and their so-called “legal pad” (a must-have element in every lawyer-related movie). The/yellow notebook size 4 – which after a while I could not buy in Hungary, as simply no one sells anything similar. The “legal pad” was created by Thomas Holley in 1888 and has been used with its distinctive color ever since.
To break the monotony of the work process and staring at the monitor, I started searching for papers, notebooks (since all stores were closed, obviously online), where as a result of surfing, I ended up on an English site. It was relatively easy to order from an EU country back then, so soon a few notebooks and a fountain pen arrived.
And why a fountain pen?
Why not? All I knew about fountain pens was that they were a sophisticated mechanism that I never understood (or didn't take the effort to understand), but I had time like the sea, now was the time, now or never.
Due to the initial enthusiasm, I started to look into the brands available. After reviewing thematic blogs and „What should a beginner fountain pen user buy” videos, my choice fell on the following writing instruments:
- Sailor PG Slim Midnight Sky (The Pillow Book) SE – Select nib size: medium
- TWSBI 580 Smoke Rose Gold II fountain pen – Select nib size: fine
And the most important thing that brought the commitment: a perfect ink, the Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo (moonlight).
However, you need to write on something, and A4 printer paper is suitable for many things, but not for demanding work, which is why proper paper is also needed. The Japanese try to create perfection in almost everything, which is why Midori paper also ended up in the cart.
From this point on, there was no stopping.
Passion caught me, the journey began.
80 pens around the Earth…
Papers
A Midori it didn't really work for me – the paper is too thick. However, while searching further, my eye caught one of the most famous papers, justly favored by fountain pen users – Tomoe River 52g/m2 “thin” papers, which are simply fantastic. Iconic annual A/size 6 Hobonichi Techo (in English) – which is the absolute peak of annual planners. Unfortunately, the 100-year-old Tomoe River paper mill has closed, the rights were purchased by the Sanzen factory, but the paper is no longer the same… I managed to stock up on it in larger quantities, so the last few notepads will also represent sentimental value…
You also need to store the pens in something – this is how I came across the Turkish Galen Leather named company. A very interesting and at the same time heartbreaking story of the young founder who passed away…
They manufacture great things, everything you might need for a desk is available from them.
Fountain pen inks
I think the love for fountain pens makes sense when we also talk about inks. If we only had one blue color, then the pens wouldn't be so popular, there wouldn't be such a variety. The aforementioned Iroshizuku 1. I liked Tsuki-yo ink so much that I gradually bought almost all Iroshizuku inks. Since the 2. Sailor 3. makes great pens, I also started buying Sailor inks, the Manyo and Shikiori inks are excellent.
4. Among European inks, the 5. Jacques Herbin 6. Vert Atlantide is the absolute top – and here we come to the historical journey as well. As I started to read about how the factory has existed for 350 years, I realized how few things in our lives connect today's people with their ancestors – apart from our churches and these few remaining paper and pen factories, not much has survived alongside technological advancement...
7. The Italian Pineider 8. has existed since 1774 and great figures like Napoleon, Lord Byron, or Queen Victoria have used their papers – not to mention that the papal state also orders its stationery from them.
9. The 10. Organics Studio 11. inks are also worth checking out, they also start a hunt...
12. Experiences
13. During the travels, I encountered both pleasant and unpleasant experiences equally.
14. The first: perhaps except for Platinum and TWSBI, I did not come across any brand that can consistently produce pens of the same quality.
15. My unpleasant experiences:
- 16. The exalted 17. Montegrappa Mule, 18. , which I bought in Rome, is indeed beautiful – but the steel nib was unsuitable for one thing: writing. It had to be ground down so it wouldn't tear the paper. Yet they are supposed to know how to make pens..., 19. Montegrappa Mule fountain pen
- Conklin Nozac: there was one good thing about it: the magnetic cap. It was so poor, unreliable, and useless as a pen that it eventually ended up in the trash…
While around 1900 many types of special and flexible nibs could be produced, this knowledge has largely faded away today: except for the Japanese, many brands are experimenting, and therefore there are plenty of disappointments…
- A Pelikan Tortoise fountain pen with an EF nib was like a highlighter…
- 9. The Edison Pen Co. made a brilliant stub nib, I ordered two more, which had to be serviced for months just to be able to write with them…
Travels and fountain pens
It has become my habit that whenever I visit a city, I check if they have any fountain pen store. Because after all, it's just better to buy in person, and this is almost impossible in Hungary: Parker, Waterman, Montblanc, Kaweco, and LAMY are roughly the offerings, we are not at the top in paper either (the Budapest Drawer – fiok.net – sells more special items). About the Hungarian conditions: We went to Béla Mudrák's store because we had read a lot of good things about it: in the little store behind God's back, we were greeted with the advice not to expect to see fountain pens, they don't have any, and if they do, we should find it in the webshop and then arrange an appointment… all this in a store. No comment.
In Cologne I managed to buy a Pelikan M805, it was a really great purchase.
In Glasgow I didn't come across a good deal, just like in Dublin.
In Spain there are a couple of good places (which I haven't managed to visit yet), however, Paris showed what a great, high-quality store looks like: the Feather Point at Rue Quentin-Bauchart.
We talked for another half hour after the purchase, and with sparkling eyes, the owner showed me the special Sailors... Well, this is what makes it worth searching.
One “GRAIL” is already in hand
This was the store where there are pens that can only be ordered elsewhere, and being good traders, they let me try the nibs before buying. The choice fell on a red Pilot Custom Urushi pen (it was on my bucket list) with a B nib. I love it when the pen paints the ink onto the paper in liters, let me see the color properly.
For those who haven't tried it: imagine a Cuban cigar – this size. Proportional, but with a huge nib (#30 according to Pilot's sizing, approx. it could correspond to the 149 Montblanc), the 18K gold nib glides very smoothly on the paper, delivering a sufficient amount of ink, but still not “juicy.” The quality of the nib cannot be emphasized enough... From the above, it may have become clear that I have many pens, I have tried many things, but this nib experience is in a completely different category. Taken out of the box, it immediately delivers perfection, no need to think about it – it's like sitting in a Ferrari in the salon (since we're on the topic of colors...) and with a flick, the perfect engine sound comes – it's the same feeling. This pen will write the same way at first glance and 50 years later. I don't know what the nib master did there in the factory, but there is quality control, that's for sure.
I think no one will write novels with it, because in Shaquille O’Neill's hand, the pen doesn't seem large, but I believe an Urushi pen is not meant for that. This torpedo requires confidence, significant moments in life when you need to remember that moment, or just a calm five minutes when you can focus on yourself and the pen is your companion in putting your thoughts on paper...
I keep the pen in a case made of Taccia silk kimono fabric – the material deserves the pampering, the Urushi lacquer is simply in another dimension when held. No image will capture the color and touch of the pen: the color of the urushi lacquer is as if the pen “hangs over” into another dimension, no image can convey this on earth–excess...
And what else is left?
There is still much on the bucket list, this journey will last for a while... I need to try the special nibs from Sailor (Naginata Togi), the music and architect nibs as well, I would like to sit next to a nib maker master to see the process in Japan, or how they develop the inks. And after all this, to make my own as well, because why not?
