My Recife Crystal Blue Eyedrop

[torstar]

So I dug it out after a few years of neglect.

 

When I clean out a pen I leave the nib and feed in a cup of water and come back in 15 to see if any ink has been removed.

 

For this pen I have done it at least a dozen times with the water completely opaque in PR American Blue, starting to clear up a bit after the 15th cleansing.

 

So.... does an eyedrop hold that much ink in the feed or is this just my pen?

 

Has taken very well to Aurora Black, happy to be resurrected.

Edited May 8, 2012 by torstar

[linearM]

Using an ear syringe and water might help you flush out the section and nib. I think it would speed things up quite considerably for you.

[rwilsonedn]

I think the Recife has a particularly large capacity in the feed. That is good news if you don't want the pen burping ink onto your paper, which the Recife seems not to do. But it does mean it takes a fair while to flush it.

ron

[torstar]

Thank you to both replies.

 

That's a heck of a feed capacity. I eventually just filled it with Aurora Black and its is as good as I remember it.

 

Not much mention of this brand on the board.

 

I eyedropped a few Ahabs, correctly and working great, and then recalled somewhere I had a pen that was intended to do this.

[Uncle Red]

They don't have a US distributor.

[torstar]

They don't have a US distributor.

 

 

I bought mine in the gift shop of the Albright Knox Art Museum in Buffalo around 2004.

 

That wouldn't be a big distributor.

[rwilsonedn]

You are right that they are hard to find in the US. Add that they are expensive compared to Indian eyedropper pens. But the example I have is well made, a wonderful writer, and without any of the vices that some ED pens have.

ron

[amberleadavis]

Now that you have had it out again in use, are you still happy with it?

[Sailor Kenshin]

I have one! In red!

 

Do any other Recife owners feel COMPELLED to match ink and pen color?

[olivier78860]

I recently cleaned an old pen. The ink had completely dried up in the feed. After a dozen complete fillings with water, seeing the situation wasn't improving, I removed the feed and the nib, took an old toothbrush, and cleaned the feed with it. There were dried ink samples everywhere on the conduit, so it would have taken ages to remove it without disassembling.

[rockydoggy]

I bought one of these in either maroon or purple back in the 1970s (it's not at hand right now). It struck me at the time as a pretty expensive pen for an impoverished grad student, but I couldn't pass it up--I'd never seen an eyedropper fp before. I've been tempted to match ink but I've been wary of staining the inside of the transparent body (this happened with a Wality eyedropper a while back), so I've stuck with (safer?) low-saturated blacks and blues.

 

My second Recife Crystal is a weird one I scored cheap off ebay a couple of years ago. The cap is black and the clear body is etched with a bunch of textured spheres. The clip says "Disney" in small, discreet print, so those spheres apparently represent silhouettes of Mickey Mouse's head. Very cool, even if you don't catch the cartoon tie-in.

[dst207]

I have often wondered about Recife. How do the steel nib pens write?

[torstar]

Now that you have had it out again in use, are you still happy with it?

 

 

 

Yes, it gets regular use at home. The length of the unposted pen is perfect for me.

 

Might be just me, but I'm finding better results these days with less saturated inks in my eyedroppers.

 

Less chance of leaking and a different type of colour coming forth, which I guess is expected from less saturated inks.

 

(Yes, a big mighty DUHHHH can be sent my way by those who prefer that end of the ink spectrum...)

[Sailor Kenshin]

Not being much of a red pen person, I just took a quick online look. Some people are asking upward of a hunnert bucks for this pen. I know I didn't pay that much.

[mrcharlie]

I am happy to see this item! I paid $67 for mine, "Gold" color, F nib, in Jan 2005 from Swisher Pens [r.i.p.] via their website. It is my favorite pen (and I have way too many pens). It didn't work well out of the box; after the flow was adjusted it is great.

 

I kind of wish I kept the glass vial/cartridge it came with instead of using the ink and tossing it.

 

They may not have a US distributor, but the Recife website does list a few dozen US dealers. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them only carry the leather goods and not the writing instruments, but some are clearly stationery type stores.

 

FWIW, they still make a pen almost exactly like the Crystal. Hopefully this link to the Amber Collection, Reservoir Set works. FWIW, 85 euro is 106 USD in today's exchange rate; I don't know what their shipping price to the US is.

Edited August 30, 2012 by mrcharlie

[Sailor Kenshin]

That is a gorgeous color!

[rwilsonedn]

I have often wondered about Recife. How do the steel nib pens write?

My one example writes wonderfully. Very smooth, very even flow. No line variation that I've noticed, so I wouldn't put it in the semi-flex category, but just an all-around pleasant pen to use. In many ways it is similar to the best of the (far less expensive) Airmail/Wality and other Indian pens with acrylic barrels. But unlike those pens, the Recife appears to have a very aggressive ink collector (see earlier in this thread) that completely eliminates ink-burping due to air pressure changes or warming from your hand. At $100 or so the Crystal may look out of line with the Indian eyedropper pens. But if you aren't interested in adapting to the quirks of traditional eyedroppers (adapting by doing easy things like not letting the pen get below half full, or warming it in your hand nib-up before you start writing) then the very well-finished and well-designed Recife is probably worth every penny. It's certainly a great writing experience.

ron

[dst207]

I have often wondered about Recife. How do the steel nib pens write?

My one example writes wonderfully. Very smooth, very even flow. No line variation that I've noticed, so I wouldn't put it in the semi-flex category, but just an all-around pleasant pen to use. In many ways it is similar to the best of the (far less expensive) Airmail/Wality and other Indian pens with acrylic barrels. But unlike those pens, the Recife appears to have a very aggressive ink collector (see earlier in this thread) that completely eliminates ink-burping due to air pressure changes or warming from your hand. At $100 or so the Crystal may look out of line with the Indian eyedropper pens. But if you aren't interested in adapting to the quirks of traditional eyedroppers (adapting by doing easy things like not letting the pen get below half full, or warming it in your hand nib-up before you start writing) then the very well-finished and well-designed Recife is probably worth every penny. It's certainly a great writing experience.

ron

 

 

Thanks Ron!

[rockydoggy]

I agree completely with Ron. Every time I pick up one of my Recifes, I'm struck by how well it writes and I tell myself I need to use it more often. Another nice characteristic of the pen: I can let it sit unused for weeks and it'll start without hesitation.

 

I have often wondered about Recife. How do the steel nib pens write?

My one example writes wonderfully. Very smooth, very even flow. No line variation that I've noticed, so I wouldn't put it in the semi-flex category, but just an all-around pleasant pen to use. In many ways it is similar to the best of the (far less expensive) Airmail/Wality and other Indian pens with acrylic barrels. But unlike those pens, the Recife appears to have a very aggressive ink collector (see earlier in this thread) that completely eliminates ink-burping due to air pressure changes or warming from your hand. At $100 or so the Crystal may look out of line with the Indian eyedropper pens. But if you aren't interested in adapting to the quirks of traditional eyedroppers (adapting by doing easy things like not letting the pen get below half full, or warming it in your hand nib-up before you start writing) then the very well-finished and well-designed Recife is probably worth every penny. It's certainly a great writing experience.

ron

[mrcharlie]

Please take a look at the Airmail 69T on the Fountain Pen Revolution website.

 

Does it not look almost exactly like a Récife Crystal? I don't suppose someone reading this has both?