Faceted VP - gone.

Probably fell out of my slip case on the bus.

I would think it was great if a fountain pen person finds it, but that is SO unlikely. Chances are, it will be found by someone who has no idea what they are holding. It will end up in the trash, or in a drawer. If the person is resourceful enough, maybe they will come around here asking about it.

I am sorry to hear about your loss. I have a faceted VP which is one of my favorite pens.

purpledog

Ohhh, I'm sorry to hear that. Could you try ask the "Lost & Found" service of the bus company? There still are honest fellows around, you know... believe it or not, I would have return it...with a note asking to be the inheritor if nobody claimed!. Sorry about your loss.

Sorry about your loss. I once lost a Pelikan800 and a Waterman on the plane. Nobody handed it in and I started the search for replacement that led to this forum... I was quite inconsolable for a while as both pens had been with me for a long time.

Your chances are not good but give the "Loss and Found" a shot. It may just be your day. Good luck!

I am sorry to hear about your loss!

Lost my Pelikan M250 many years ago when I was a student. Fell out of my bag when I was cycling home. I was inconsolable because I could not afford to replace it. Finally I replaced it with a M200 that I always disliked simply because it was not my M250 and had this cheap gold plated nib instead of the gold nib I had loved to write with ....

Recentlly a vintage 400 got missing. Some days later it turned up in my car. Slipped out of the bag and was hiding for some days.

Hope you will get your pen back!

Depends where you are, of course. I once dropped a cell phone on a bus, and was able to retrieve it from the driver the next morning

If the pen is indeed dropped on the bus, there might be a chance it could come back to you. I have picked up phones on my college shuttle on two occasions and passed them to the bus driver. If you are lucky, someone might just pass the pen to the driver.

purpledog

I remember how I mourned when I lost my first red Phileas--at that time I thought of it as an expensive pen, and felt too guilty to replace it until my career counselor advised doing so; "for closure," she said.

I was an hour early to the train station, took out a manuscript to edit with the Phileas, and apparently failed to put the pen back in my briefcase at the All Aboard. The station janitor that afternoon said she hadn't seen it.

The replacement was an NOS, whereas the lost pen had been 2004-current. I have the NOS on my desk to this day, and it writes as well as the other, but the red swirly design is different. Sigh! A lesson in impermanence.

Ugh, that is so disappointing when it happens. I haven't lost an FP yet, but I have lost other sentimental pens. I know it will just be a matter of time till I lose one of my FPs.

May the replacement soon become as fast a friend.

Hi James,

Sorry to hear about your VP. I lost a blue carbonesque once, but it showed up a few weeks later near the sound system at church (where I had obviously dropped it or forgotten it). I hope it turns up.

Take care,
Michael


PS To console yourself, go out a get a new pen!

Ah James (sad face).

I've lost a few very fine pens and favorite writers, and I've thought, How could I lose THAT one?

I'm more careful, and I've been lucky.

Once, in Aberdeen, Scotland, I left two pairs of Parker Duofolds (FP & BP sets) in a four-slot pen case in a restaurant. Walked about a mile down the road when I realized... there was a disturbance in the force. I checked my backpack, checked my pockets, checked everywhere. I was standing outside a phonebox... so I called Information and didn't have a pen to write down the number with! But short-term memory kicked in... called the restaurant... they found the pen case.

And I've repeated that scenario with other pens since.

And the other scenario, too, where I don't find them. (Sad face.)

I feel your pain, James.

I lost an Esterbrook coming home on the train one day. I had paid $12 for that pen, so it wasn't the end of the world, but it was my first vintage pen, so it was special to me.

Maybe your pen will turn someone into a fountain pen lover.

Oh no!!! What a sad day!

Sorry to hear that. While this kind of thing does happen its still a loss. Perhaps the best thing is to retrace what happened, make a note to correct it (e.g., get a pen case, carry in only in a closed bag where things can't fall out, etc.), and get an even better replacement. Best wishes to you on the road to pen wisdom.

Weird. I just lost my translucent blue Pelikan M200 - my first non-Lamy FP.

So I feel your pain. What a bummer...maybe we should form a posse and comb the Twin Cities for our pens?

Really really sorry to hear about that.Losing a FP for a pen fan is very hard.
This is the exact reason why I rarely will use a pen I truly cherish.

Get another one and hope the pen fell to the right hands.

I lost a Sheaffer, engraved 'KJKT' on the cap band, when I was an undergraduate. Have never got over it.

Ooooh dear...Losing pens is always hard. In my time I've lost at least half a dozen. I know, I know, it's tragic...

You have my condolences.

I've got a couple of missing pens at the moment, but I sincerely hope they're not lost pens.

Lost pens are a great tragedy, and even though we usually have Other Pens, they suddenly become a pen that's not The Missing Pen and can't measure up in the face of tragedy

My MIA:
Omas 360 Mezzo in Violet
Namiki Vanishing Point in Blue Carbonesque
Lady Sheaffer in Periwinkle

Fortunately, I have the exact pen as a spare (thanks gregamckinney) so I will not have withdrawal.

It's a bummer though.


Regarding the bus - I will call the lost and found, so we will see!

I lost an OMAS Bologna once.

Had to buy an exact replacement to put that loss finally to rest.

You could stick up missing pen signs on the bus if they let you post things on board, they do on the university buses at my school. You could also put them up at bus stops. But then people might think you were crazy.

The first person (or perhaps peer) I ever knew who used a "real" fountain pen--a Mont Blanc, when all I ever had was a school pen--was this woman in college. I asked her, "Aren't you afraid that you'll lose it?" She replied, "With a pen like this, you find that you always know where it is."

That always struck me as simultaneously pompous and accurate. I guess it depends what one means by "a pen like this."

Of course, I have lost at least one pen: a gift emblazoned with the alma mater's name. No Mont Blanc, but a sentimental favorite, so I sympathize with your loss. But ol' whats-her-name was right: I also know where my pen is most of the time, at least the one in the current rotation (usually an Esterbrook).

I lost a whole pen carrier while running around New York City in 1999. There were maybe 6 pens in it: Parker Sonnet, Pelikan, Dupont, and a MB149. The lost 149 haunted me...many times in the intervening years I have been known to tear through all the book bags/messenger bags in my possession, convinced that I will find THIS time.

That phantom pain was finally put to rest earlier this year when I bought another 149 as a replacement.

Sorry to hear of your loss, James. Chances are, if an average person found it on the bus, they wouldn't know what to make of it--the VP is a rather unusual pen. Most people who aren't familiar with a fountain pen will be confused about using it. HOPEFULLY, the person who finds it won't think that it is worth enough to try selling and may just turn it in. It could even be the cleaning crew.

The faceted VP is a little deceptive in appearance, as one could think it's "just a pen", nothing of significant value except for the curiously sleek looking aluminum top trim. Activating the tip is straight forward, but the point is also obviously not a ballpoint. That may cue the person finding it to realize that this is an odd pen. For many, if they don't understand it, they don't want to be bothered. Hopefully it will get turned in.

But if not... thankfully you have a replacement in hand. And you can find these faceted VP's in the market from time to time, so if you want to get another an opportunity is sure to come.

I had a nasty scare the other day. My MYU 500BS was GONE. I couldn't find it anywhere. I was surely going to . I've always been a bit skeptical about getting used to carrying around expensive pens, because what if you lose one? OUCH. But thankfully, I found it (I'd left it clipped to the pocket of a shirt I had tossed in the hamper, and had mistakenly thought I had worn a similar shirt). That relief was so great, I put the pen away and didn't use it for a few days. In that case it was a pen that is very difficult to replace. Lately they've been coming on the market, but going for rather high prices. So, I'm glad that in your case the pen is much more replaceable. But fingers are crossed that it will find its way back to you.

I don't know... I tend to think pompous and a little naive, actually. Why? Because when you carry around something for a long while, you get used to it. Even if it is expensive, that feeling of "precious induced fear" fades (at least I've found this to be true for myself). At first you find that you don't always rest the pen on that velvet mat you leave on your desk ( no, I don't have one), to guard against surface micro scratches. Then, instead of tucking the pen back into a pen case right after closing the cap, you find that you just clip it to your shirt pocket. Later, you might even leave it unattended on your desk at work as you head off to a meeting or bathroom break. I've had to "reframe" my mind after almost losing my MYU 500-BS, forcing myself to remember that replacement is big $$$!

Downer Man. I lost my first pen a couple months ago. It was a Hero 330 so it wasn't the end of the world. I agree: call the lost and found, but if it doesn't show up believe that a pen-person adopted it as a stray and gave it a good home.