Would you treasure your fountain pen more if you only had 1-2 pens that you've used a lot and written with a lot over the years?

When you start accumulating, you don't treasure that favorite pen anymore. I read on a chinese board that some people had a cheapie Hero 329 all throughout their school careers and they were really attached to it & it had a lot of meaning.

That would be so cool. Something doesn't have to be expensive to be treasured at all...now if only I was that easily satisfied....

cost is one thing but worth is entirely different.

some of my most valued posessions i would have a hard time giving away but they are priceless to me.

i understand what you are saying about loesing interest in a particular pen when you aquire more but if a pen or other posession is valued for a reason i don't see how the significance is affected by other items.

pens will come and go and they should be enjoyed but if one is or becomes special don't let it go you will always regret it if you do.

all the best ,
Jason

...well I have more than a couple of pens, and there's usually some little story that goes with each one that brings meaning to it and makes me sentimental. Even if I don't rotate through all the pens regularly, I'd have a very hard time parting with them. Each pen is special in its won way.

Like the little MB meisterstuck that I got when I was out of work. I compiled a computer mail list for an art store that was going out of business in trade for this pen -- it felt like winning the lottery back then! Never mind that I was an unemployed starving artist! /:)

Or my first Pelikan 200 that was given to me by a very dear friend who is no longer alive.

Or my Platinum Koi which was my first case of bonafide pen lust, once I was gainfully employed again ...

Or my one and only vintage pen which I found at a gas station "junk drawer sale" in the middle of nowhere during a road trip out west -- a combination mechanical pencil & FP with a sac. And it even still works.

Most of my pens have stories. Do yours? I'd love to hear them

Petra

Look at this thread:
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...99&hl=nostalgic
J

Non sequitur. Ever since I bought my Blue Cedar "51", it has been my favorite pen. I made that purchase about 150 pens ago, and since then I've even sought out a jeweled blind cap to turn the pen into a (to me) more attractive Double Jewel model. Matter o' fact, I started loving that pen even more when I discovered that its clip was made before World War II. It's a Split Arrow clip, but it has no Blue Diamond. I've discussed it with David Shepherd, and we are agreed that this clip was intended to be used on a test-market pen to be sold in Brazil. It wasn't -- overstock, probably -- and it eventually showed up on my '46 pen.

This is the pen I'm never without -- it has a permanent lease on the right-hand slot in my Piquadro, and it never leaves the rotation.

I'd say it is pretty rare that I am attached to ANY pen unless they are dream writers that bond well with my finicky hands.

But I do have 5 right now they are all acquired with a very good price :

1 & 2. MB146 with Nagahara-tuned MED nib and MB 146 with Mottishaw-tuned MED nib

3. MB 142vintage with semi-flex FINE nib

4. Boheme (smooth MED nib for a significant b-day even though from hind sight I paid too much but it never fails me)

5. Finally one that I am fairly attached to, newest champion of all rotations so far ...
my dear Visconti Crystal (it's that good)

I most prized FP is the ordinary cheap Skyline that I inherited from my Grandfather.
It will be the LAST one I give up, unless it goes to my son or daughter.

I think when a pen has a lot of inportant personal history attached to it, you do treasure it, but you may not use it as often anymore. After all, chances are you bought new pens for some novelty. That was the case with my parker 75. I used it exclusively for about 10 years, from grad school on to the workplace, but I eventually wanted some change, discovered the pen craze on the internet, and then I started buying some pens. Sure, I am not using that 75 much now, but I cherish it very much.

While I've accumulated a lot of nice pens in the two years since I've been collecting seriously, there's still a few pens I'd hang on to...

The old Sheaffer School Pen I nicked from a girlfriend in the early 1980s.

The Sheaffer NN BP pens I used when I was a reporter in the 1980s and 90s.

The first Parker 45 set I owned, my first good FPs, when I started out as a copy editor.

The Parker Big Red BP, a pen I wanted when I was a kid, but only found two years ago when I did a web search -- which led me on the road to pen obsession.

Then there are the pens that come with stories. I recently was given a Sheaffer Triumph fountain pen, circa early-1940s, that was owned by a now-deceased Vermont doctor (Richard Binder's working on it now). It was the first vintage pen I've had where I know who the previous owner was and what he did.

How many of you out there know the previous owners of your vintage pens (not counting the ones you've inherited from family members)? Now there would be some good pen stories.

When I had just one, I hardly used a FP at all. Then, I added a few more and used FPs just a little. Finally, I added another twenty plus (and counting) and now use FPs daily. I never did have 'just one' that I used all of the time. Now, I am going for exposure to FPs. I want to try all kinds of different things and see what I like for size, weight, balance, nib, etc. I guess that I will eventually narrow down some preferences. For example, I have already developed a preference for fine nibs and stub nibs. I am still experimenting with size, weight, and balance.

I know you folks will "GASP" when I say this...but I truly can't see myself purchasing another pen. Yes, I've reached (my personal) saturation point. I have these wonderful writers and each demands my attention every so often. In fact, in the next few weeks, I have one (early C. Stewart) I'll likely let go because it needs a good home (doesn't really fit my writing style).

I will say that I enjoy looking at the wonderful reviews and pictures. I admire the wonderful descriptions and the varieties (colors, materials, craftmanship, etc.)...but I don't "want." (Hey, I'm one of those folks that can look admiringly at the neat stuff in store windows and feel perfectly content walking away).

OK...as for the "collection" let's see: Schaeffer Vacumatic (wonderful writer...perfect nib!), Pelikan 250 tortoise, Pelikan 250 (goldish-colored) demonstrator, Pelikan 400 (blue-striped), Shaeffer Aspen (ala Levenger), MB 146 (gift from wife), CS Dinkie (new model), Parker Sonnet (bit of a stiff writer...but great for the office docs.), and a Dani Densho raw ebonite (arrived middle of last week....reviews are "spot-on"!).

I also collect other "things" but again am very satisfied with where I'm at. Each receives periodic use.

My best to all,

Paul

Paul,
I'm where you are.
I've recently retired some former favorites, which means I have passed my saturation point.
And my last pen will satisfy me for a long time.
J

My Rotring Core... but I couldn't use just one pen! What about all the ink colors? I treasure every one of my pens.