Has This Happened To You? Tale Of Pen Sadness.

May 11, 2017

Consider going back and checking with the store again. Someone may have found it, thought it was just an ordinary, inexpensive plastic ballpoint pen, and pocketed it. A day or two later, upon opening it and seeing it was a fountain pen with a 14k gold nib, realized it was a valuable object and returned it to the store. Some people are very honest and conscientious about things like that...

I've been back to the store four times now, but no joy thus far. I'm not giving up, but the replacement has shipped. The Custom 823 is too good a pen to live without. If the old one shows up, I'll have two of them (and in different colors - I ordered the Transparent Black body from Japan this time, instead of the Amber I had before), and that can't be a bad thing, right?

May 13, 2017

The tricky thing with valuable pens is that strong familiarity will lead to less observance. You're not keeping the thought forward in your mind that this pen is worth a lot more than other commonly available pens and may set it down without thinking much. And that's the thing... we all have the habit ingrained in us from using pens at home. You write with a pen for a while then set it down on the desk. Or maybe you're using it in another room and just casually set it down on a table, not really thinking about it. And that can end up happening when you're away from home.

I've misplaced some valuable pens out in public in the past, but then got lucky to recover them. And now, I always make a point of deliberately being aware of where my pen is. If it's valuable enough, it goes in a pen case, NOT my shirt pocket. The pen case adds a little extra "process" to using it. You finish writing? Put it back in the case, which you then tuck in the appropriate place on your body or bag. You can accomplish this with a nice pen sleeve too, which will have less bulk than a larger firm case.

May 13, 2017

Sad loss, I hope the new one is a better pen and you get more joy out of it.

May 14, 2017

Another check in with the store - still nothing found. I guess it is time to completely let it go and move on.

As a help, the new pen arrived today (EMS from Japan is insanely fast!). Writing with it just confirms my belief that the 823 (and the other Pilots with #15 nibs) is one of the greatest writing experiences out there.

May 14, 2017

The tricky thing with valuable pens is that strong familiarity will lead to less observance. You're not keeping the thought forward in your mind that this pen is worth a lot more than other commonly available pens and may set it down without thinking much. And that's the thing... we all have the habit ingrained in us from using pens at home. You write with a pen for a while then set it down on the desk. Or maybe you're using it in another room and just casually set it down on a table, not really thinking about it. And that can end up happening when you're away from home.

I've misplaced some valuable pens out in public in the past, but then got lucky to recover them. And now, I always make a point of deliberately being aware of where my pen is. If it's valuable enough, it goes in a pen case, NOT my shirt pocket. The pen case adds a little extra "process" to using it. You finish writing? Put it back in the case, which you then tuck in the appropriate place on your body or bag. You can accomplish this with a nice pen sleeve too, which will have less bulk than a larger firm case.

Yeah, this makes sense. When I went shopping today, I made the conscious decision to go out with a Platinum Plaisir instead of the more expensive (and harder to replace) pens I tend to carry. I did carry my Custom 743 with me, but I did not use it (I had it to show to the clerk at the store to give him an idea of what the pen I had lost looks like).

May 18, 2017

It's so sad to lose a beloved pen!

Yes, I lost a MB my best friend's parents had given me for my high school graduation. I was in a taxi and wrote out a note for a relative who was sharing the cab, and somehow the pen got left behind. It was a neat color (burgundy), wrote well, and had sentimental value as well. It wasn't super-expensive by fountain pen standards but was expensive by normal people standards. I was really upset and had no one to blame but myself, especially given I was at a point in my life (grad school) when I did not have many things other than books and clothing.

My only consolation is when I think that even sadder than a lost pen is a never-seen and never-used one.

May 19, 2017

It's so sad to lose a beloved pen!

Yes, I lost a MB my best friend's parents had given me for my high school graduation. I was in a taxi and wrote out a note for a relative who was sharing the cab, and somehow the pen got left behind. It was a neat color (burgundy), wrote well, and had sentimental value as well. It wasn't super-expensive by fountain pen standards but was expensive by normal people standards. I was really upset and had no one to blame but myself, especially given I was at a point in my life (grad school) when I did not have many things other than books and clothing.

My only consolation is when I think that even sadder than a lost pen is a never-seen and never-used one.

If it's the MB I'm thinking of, that was a very nice looking pen. The upside of this is the fact that, at this point in my life, I was able to afford to immediately order a replacement. That has not always been true.

In fact, my only other serious pen tragedy was with a Pelikan M200 that a friend gave me when he noticed that I was using a cheap fountain pen. That was a great pen (my first good one), right until the moment when it rolled off of my desk and landed nib-first on the floor of my office. At the time, I could not afford to replace the nib or get it repaired, so it sat unused for many years. Eventually, I was able to send it in for repairs and had Pelikan put a M400 nib on instead. I remember being very upset about the accident and embarrassed when I told my friend what had happened to his generous gift.

May 20, 2017

If it's the MB I'm thinking of, that was a very nice looking pen. The upside of this is the fact that, at this point in my life, I was able to afford to immediately order a replacement. That has not always been true.

In fact, my only other serious pen tragedy was with a Pelikan M200 that a friend gave me when he noticed that I was using a cheap fountain pen. That was a great pen (my first good one), right until the moment when it rolled off of my desk and landed nib-first on the floor of my office. At the time, I could not afford to replace the nib or get it repaired, so it sat unused for many years. Eventually, I was able to send it in for repairs and had Pelikan put a M400 nib on instead. I remember being very upset about the accident and embarrassed when I told my friend what had happened to his generous gift.

I wouldn't be too embarrassed... that it landed on the nib shows that you were actually using the pen!

I inherited a Parker Duofold button-fill that I don't trust anyone enough to fix (the nib seems messed up). Pretty pen. One of these years I'll find the right penmeister to fix it.

Does your friend know you fixed and still use the Pelikan?

May 22, 2017

You have my sympathies!

I lost a purple Lamy Safari and a Staedtler mechanical pencil when I moved from California to Singapore. So nothing too terrible yet. Fingers crossed for the future!

May 23, 2017

I wouldn't be too embarrassed... that it landed on the nib shows that you were actually using the pen!

I inherited a Parker Duofold button-fill that I don't trust anyone enough to fix (the nib seems messed up). Pretty pen. One of these years I'll find the right penmeister to fix it.

Does your friend know you fixed and still use the Pelikan?

Yeah, I guess that is looking at it on the plus end.

I've had good luck with my repairs, but I can certainly understand the reluctance to let a vintage pen be repaired by just anyone... something like your Duofold should be treated with kindness and great care. Since most of my pens are modern, I am a bit bolder in letting them get tuned and/or repaired.

Yes, my friend knows. He and I have been co-enablers for our pen collecting for a very long time.

May 23, 2017

You have my sympathies!

I lost a purple Lamy Safari and a Staedtler mechanical pencil when I moved from California to Singapore. So nothing too terrible yet. Fingers crossed for the future!

Any lost pen, no matter how expensive, leaves an void if it was truly loved. We have to decide whether replacing makes sense or not. If the pen is really loved and missed, replacing is the only option. Good luck with your pens in the future!