What Fountain Pen Have You Lost?

[Fuzzy_Bear]

We dont lose things in my house.

 

We misplace.

ADHD. I have 3 sets of earphones. Only know where 1 pair is at any time!

[countrydirt]

Over the past 10 years I've lost a Safari, a Vista and a TWSBI 580. That's about all...

[ka7ple]

I lost a a Lamy 2000 on public transportation. It must have fallen out of my coat pocket. I was crushed. That was just this last May.

[sidthecat]

The Chimera: my hybrid of four pens climaxing in a Fairchild star nib. It may have fallen into the recycle basket.

 

No, it still hurts.

[farmkiti]

Sometime in 1999 or so, I first started a small collection of fountain pens. Had about half a dozen. A temporary "houseguest" (thief) stole them all out of my pen cup on her way out. Discovered it later. Luckily, she didn't get the one pen that meant anything to me, and means everything now: my first Pelikan, a green marble M200, which at the time had a perfect steel EF nib. I kept that one in my purse, which I trust with no one and keep safely put away. I quit collecting pens till 2015, but still used that Pelikan through the years. I still have it and it is my most cherished pen.

 

Later, I no longer cared for EF nibs, and wanted to upgrade that pen, so I added a 14K M400 B stub to that pen, ground by John Mottishaw. Now it is one seriously awesome writer.

[RUV]

Ive lost two neon yellow safaris and two silver blue al-stars. Huge pangs of regret.

 

Frankenpenned a silver blue al-star using a roller ball recently bc I missed that pen so much.

[DrDebG]

Well, I haven't lost any pens recently.

 

In fact, I have found quite a number of pens that I had thought I had lost, include two fountain pens - a Retro 51 Postage Stamp, and a gorgeous burlwood fountain pen that a friend made for me many years ago. The majority of the pens found are very nice rollerballs that I used for awhile. I am glad to have found them.

 

And I found buried treasure! I found some kind of gold fountain pen that was placed inside a plastic box inside a large box of office supplies from my husband's family. No idea what it is, but it is pretty.

[Rosendust]

While I have not lost any pens within the last year, I've lost a couple. The first was a Lamy Safari in Dark Lilac(Oh how I miss you)... and a pilot metro with a medium nib.

[eharriett]

Never lost a pen since I got into the hobby (thank god, the pens are a lot more expensive now than before the habit). I did however give a number of pens to repair to a guy in Arkansa/Mississippi named Jeff Powers who has disappeared and no one has heard from him since.

[Doug C]

I didn't lose it. My ex-wife threw away a Van Gogh (and a check book) while she was cleaning.

[farmkiti]

I didn't lose it. My ex-wife threw away a Van Gogh (and a check book) while she was cleaning.

 

That's why she's your ex, right?

[Doug C]

 

That's why she's your ex, right?

Naw…..that would be at the bottom of the list.

[essayfaire]

I thought we had already done this sad thread a while back. I remember bemoaning my lost MB slim burgundy Meisterstruck in a taxi years ago. Still miss that pen. I didn't have the funds to replace it at the time as I was a graduate student.

[dennis_f]

I lost a 149 in a cab about 4 months ago. Ironically, I was driving from an airport to a local Montblanc Boutique (not too far from the airport). I didn't realize I'd lost it until I got into the boutique.

 

Thankfully the next passenger found the pen sitting in the back seat, and on my way back to the airport my pen was back in its case. But man, that was a stressful hour or two.

D.

[essayfaire]

I lost a 149 in a cab about 4 months ago. Ironically, I was driving from an airport to a local Montblanc Boutique (not too far from the airport). I didn't realize I'd lost it until I got into the boutique.

 

Thankfully the next passenger found the pen sitting in the back seat, and on my way back to the airport my pen was back in its case. But man, that was a stressful hour or two.

D.

Glad your story has a happier ending than mine did.

[ethernautrix]

I've answered this multiple times, but here goes:

 

A couple of Pelikans clipped to my collar (cap unscrewed; buh-bye, barrel. Sigh.); took a long time to learn this lesson (not just the barrel unscrewing but the more common taking off my shirt first and the pen's flying across the room).

 

The pair of fairly-new Montblanc La Bohemes, fountain pen and ballpoint pen, in a fairly new leather case. A short walk from my apartment to the subway in New York. Fell from my front pocket. Retraced my steps while half-hopeful and half-resigned. Ended up walking back to the subway hoping that whoever found it needed a pick-me-up (but whatever; c'est la vie!).

 

The Nakaya Piccolo Cigar kuro tamenuri (which I named Kurouac, cos it fell ON THE ROAD a couple of times (and, robust pen, suffered the minorest ding)) fell away from me as I rode my bicycle on multi errands that day in January. Re-tracing and re-tracing the route (with many stops) brought no joy, but I tried. And let it go.

 

I'm sure there've been others (the barrel of a Parker 75 somewhere in Pennsylvania, but I've still got the nib, grip section, and cap, so all's I need is the barrel, and I've got a fabulous pen again). But yeah.

 

It happens, even to those of us who understand ourselves as _careful_. I've walked away from my pen case in cafes and restaurants, in a coupla countries, and went back and found them; near losses. Maybe I'm not as careful as I seem to believe I am.

[dennis_f]

Glad your story has a happier ending than mine did.

 

 

I was lucky that time, but I felt nauseous during the entire interval. Which is to say: I empathize with how you must have felt. It is the most sickening feeling. And had to be even more so as a grad student when funds are seriously limited.

 

Not all of my pen stories have ended like that. I've had friends bend nibs a few times, and a few years ago a friend gifted me a vintage parker... and as she was handing it to me -- cap off -- she dropped it on the floor. The nib was a write-off. I felt so bad for her that I had to lie and tell her it was just fine and that vintage pens were pretty robust, and a bent nib was not serious at all. Thankfully I had no ink handy to produce a writing sample.

[dennis_f]

I've answered this multiple times, but here goes:

 

A couple of Pelikans clipped to my collar (cap unscrewed; buh-bye, barrel. Sigh.); took a long time to learn this lesson (not just the barrel unscrewing but the more common taking off my shirt first and the pen's flying across the room).

 

The pair of fairly-new Montblanc La Bohemes, fountain pen and ballpoint pen, in a fairly new leather case. A short walk from my apartment to the subway in New York. Fell from my front pocket. Retraced my steps while half-hopeful and half-resigned. Ended up walking back to the subway hoping that whoever found it needed a pick-me-up (but whatever; c'est la vie!).

 

The Nakaya Piccolo Cigar kuro tamenuri (which I named Kurouac, cos it fell ON THE ROAD a couple of times (and, robust pen, suffered the minorest ding)) fell away from me as I rode my bicycle on multi errands that day in January. Re-tracing and re-tracing the route (with many stops) brought no joy, but I tried. And let it go.

 

I'm sure there've been others (the barrel of a Parker 75 somewhere in Pennsylvania, but I've still got the nib, grip section, and cap, so all's I need is the barrel, and I've got a fabulous pen again). But yeah.

 

It happens, even to those of us who understand ourselves as _careful_. I've walked away from my pen case in cafes and restaurants, in a coupla countries, and went back and found them; near losses. Maybe I'm not as careful as I seem to believe I am.

 

 

I felt terrible just reading this. Wow.

 

It's a shame the vintage parker I just mentioned wasn't a 75, or I'd send you the barrel. It's still sitting here unused to this day.

[Mulrich]

I left a pen case with three pens including a Dupont Vertigo and a Pilot VP Guilloche on an airplane to London. I didn't notice until getting to the hotel a couple hours later. I immediately filed a claim with the airline and airport but knew my odds were low. Six days later when I went to the airport for my return flight I asked the gate agent if they had a lost and found, not expecting anything. Ten minutes later the agent showed up with the pen case with pens still included and I was shocked. I now always keep a business card in my pen cases and am obsessive about checking for them while traveling (and I avoid bringing LE pens).

[dennis_f]

I now always keep a business card in my pen cases and am obsessive about checking for them while traveling (and I avoid bringing LE pens).

 

 

That business card idea is a good one. I'm going to borrow that.

 

I'm the same way when I travel. I'll put two or three pens in an inner, zipped pocket inside the main (zipped) pocket of my briefcase, and even though everything is zipped up, every hour or so I'll have to go through all the pockets and make sure the pens are still there. Same thing when I'm carrying a pen in the inner pocket of a blazer. Like the pens might somehow just bounce out of the pocket, or Houdini their way out of my briefcase. And I'm only like this about my pens. And only when travelling.