Who Gave/received Fountain Pens For Christmas?

[melissa59]

I gave my 18-year-old granddaughter a Lamy Safari and some sample vials of various inks, including Noodler's Blue Ghost. I also told her if she decides on a favorite color of ink I'll buy her a full bottle.

 

How about you? Did you give a fountain pen to someone? Was it their first fountain pen? Or did someone give you a fountain pen -- perhaps your first fountain pen?

[kestrel]

I received a vintage Conklin Crescent Model 50 from my wife. It needs work, of course, and finding a replacement locking collar will be a real problem but it's a Model 50. She found it in a beer mug in an antique store!

 

I gave my niece who is in love with all things pink an Esterbrook Purse Pen in something approximating pink. It is the third pen I have given her.

 

My wife received a Laban with a silver rose motif overlay.

 

Yes, I am an enabler.

[TSherbs]

nope and nope

[Addertooth]

Who are these pen givers you speak of, and how do I get on their mailing list?

[A Smug Dill]

How about you? Did you give a fountain pen to someone? Was it their first fountain pen? Or did someone give you a fountain pen -- perhaps your first fountain pen?

 

 

Not for Christmas, given that my wife and I recently gave away fountain pens (which came with converters, but we packaged them each with Diamine ink cartridges and a Rhodia notepad as well) to guests at our wedding as bomboniere just in November. While people thought that was cute and different, more fountain pens probably wouldn't have been appreciated by family and friends.

 

I did let my wife have the newly received Aurora Optima Oliva limited edition that I ordered from Nibsmith during the Black Friday sales. I like the colour and appearance of that pen, and have been trying to secure one (at an acceptable price) for a while, but she loves that colour. Not her first fountain pen, or even the first fountain pen I gave her, though.

 

As for receiving fountain pens myself as gifts from others... I don't think anyone who knows me would "dare" buy me a fountain pen on account of their not knowing what I already have, but also knowing that whatever I wanted I would probably have already bought for myself.

[WLSpec]

Yes, I got a few. I did not give any, I gave all other gifts. I am the only one with the pen interest in my family

[Tom Kellie]

~ The daughter of a frequent Fountain Pen Network poster surprised me!

[Runnin_Ute]

Yes. A Pelikan M200 Gold Marbled with a B nib. I pre ordered it from The Writing Desk and have been using it since it's arrival in mid November. But it was part of my Christmas.

 

No I didn't give pens or inks to anyone else.

[Grayspoole]

I decided to give a fountain pen to my lovely mother-in-law. She has beautiful handwriting and writes many letters and cards with inexpensive, scratchy, skippy ballpoint pens. I decided to go with an inexpensive Wing Sung 699 in black/smoke with a Fine nib since I wasn’t sure if she would like it. I also thought the vacuum fill would be easy to use. I included Waterman ink in Violet Tendresse and a box of assorted greeting cards.

 

The gift was a success. She said it was much, much more enjoyable to write with the fountain pen, and of course, since she is 93, she has written with fountain pens before!

[Noihvo]

[Misfit]

I received the Lamy Al-Star Bronze, and the 7-pen Pilot Varsity set.

 

I gave notebooks to my brother this year. I got 8 bottles of ink, most 30ml size, but two Visconti inks. A bottle of Diamine Wagner arrived too late to give to my brother for Christmas. He will get it later, because I ordered some notebooks from Jet Pens for both of us.

[Misfit]

 

~ The daughter of a frequent Fountain Pen Network poster surprised me!

I bought the Olive version from endless pens. That Imperial Blue caught my eye as a possibility.

[Arkanabar]

Yes. A Pelikan M200 Gold Marbled with a B nib. I pre ordered it from The Writing Desk and have been using it since it's arrival in mid November. But it was part of my Christmas.

 

No I didn't give pens or inks to anyone else.

 

That sounds really nice. I really like my M200 and M205.

 

I've received four from my beloved and lovely wife.

 

First is a Fountain Pen Revolution Himalaya v2, purchased in Indigo acrylic with an F nib. I swapped in a Nemosine 0.8mm stub that I've wanted to find a home for, and filled it with PMX, a collection of purple sample dregs and attempts to make some sort of usable purple out of Waterman Purple, "I Can't Belive It's Waterman Florida Blue!", some other red samples, and Noodler's Widow Maker. Flow is a bit inconsistent; about a line or two after starting to write, flow gets really excessive for a few lines, and then becomes a bit dry. I'm going to see what happens with a different ink. I like the form factor better than the original Himalaya with the #5.5 nibs, because the section doesn't get as narrow. I am very happy with this pen.

 

Second is an FPR Darjeeling in orange with black tips, originally provided with an M nib. I put in the F from the Himalaya and filled it with my bête noire of inks, Noodler's Bad Black Moccasin. I'm willing to put it in the Darjeeling because I can tear it down and scrub the feed with a toothbrush at need. I'd originally tried to put the Nemosine 0.8mm stub in this pen, but it wouldn't seat securely. It's gotten ink-starved once so far, so I may have to try some of those "quick make wetter" tricks. And I think the section girth is just about ideal. I am really happy with this one too, even if it does have some of the vegetal resin smell associated with FPR's pens.

 

Third is the FPR Muft that came with the other two. This is the third Muft I've encountered, and they all have gapped nib tines. Perhaps heat-setting the feed with some downward curve will help.

 

Finally .... she got me a Montblanc Meisterstück Solitaire Tribute to the Mont Blanc White Mozart with rose gold trim & (M) nib. It's still in the original box with papers. I am a little bit in awe of this pen. It is a disontinued LE, and occasionally auctions off for absurd amounts of money. (She bragged about sniping it.) Like my beloved wife, it is small, beautiful, fair, and precious.

 

Unlike my wife, it isn't really something I want to keep. I do my best to love people and use things, rather than the other way around. So my approach to things is largely utilitarian. I don't like to have stuff laying around for which I have no use. And because it is small, and kind of heavy, and slim, and the finish is apparently rather delicate, it isn't really useful to me. I like pens that are lightweight, moderately girthy (9.3-11mm at the section), long enough to reach the web of my thumb when writing, and robust enough to take the battering that comes with my chosen avocation of nursing. This pen fails on every count.

 

Fortunately, my wife already knows that I am super particular about my pens, and her goal with this one was to have me in awe of her deovtion and the purchase, rather than to purchase a beloved jewel for writing that I would cherish forever.

 

My stepson gave me Montblanc Mystery Black in the 50ml shoe bottle. This is pretty cool, and it saves me from having to buy a conventional black, something that was on my horizon. It's not Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black, but it ought to work just fine. The only problem is that my current Waypoint on the Inky Journey is "I'mma use this ink (Bad Black Moccasin) if it kills me!"

 

I didn't give pens or inks to anyone else either. When my wife sees a pen she wants, she gets it. Nobody else I exchange gifts with is interested in fountain pens.

Edited December 27, 2019 by Arkanabar

[WLSpec]

I received the Lamy Al-Star Bronze, and the 7-pen Pilot Varsity set.

Hey, I got the AL-Star bronze too! How are you liking it so far? I have a F nib on it and it is quite nice.

[melissa59]

 

Not for Christmas, given that my wife and I recently gave away fountain pens (which came with converters, but we packaged them each with Diamine ink cartridges and a Rhodia notepad as well) to guests at our wedding as bomboniere just in November.

Well congrats on your marriage Mr. Newlywed! And how fitting to give fountain pens since you and your bride are both fountain pen enthusiasts.

 

 

I've received four from my beloved and lovely wife.

Like my beloved wife, it is small, beautiful, fair, and precious.

I love how you speak about your wife. I wish more men thought their wives so special -- and vice versa.

 

My dad sometimes talks like this about my mom. Other days, he jokingly refers to her as his "old bag" before giving her an affectionate pat on her rear.

They'll be married 62 years come Valentines Day, so I suppose they're doing something right.

[OmegaMountain]

Received - Aurora Black Mamba from my mother & M200 Marbled Brown with an upgrade to an F two-tone gold nib from my partner.

Edited December 28, 2019 by OmegaMountain

[SaintPat]

I gave Lamy Safari's to both my wife and college-aged daughter (green and yellow, respectively). They were both in dire need of a real pen. In return, they spoiled me with a Lamy 2000 and a Girologio 24 pen case in Oxblood.

[sail1942]

I discovered that a friend of mine in Canada has been writing with a Rotring Art pen. I sent him a Lamy Safari, a Wing Sung 3008, and a German calligraphy set, and a bottle of Noodlers Heart of Darkness. He's thrilled and I so was I.

[DrDebG]

No and No.

 

This Christmas we chose not to give gifts to each other.

 

My husband collects "old money" - very hold U.S. currency, especially gold certificates. I know next to nothing about it, so I just let him buy what he wants.

 

He also uses fountain pens, but his taste and mine are definitely different. And for him, a couple of fountain pens is fine. And he uses my inks.

 

He did buy me a fountain pen for my birthday - a lovely Waterman Carene with a fine nib.

 

But as he told before Christmas, he would prefer that I purchase the fountain pen that I want. He knows that I have been trying to condense my collection to just the pens that I really want to keep. But he also knows that I have had my eye on another Montblanc.

[Tom Kellie]

I bought the Olive version from endless pens. That Imperial Blue caught my eye as a possibility.

 

~ Misfit:

 

The Imperial Blue Lamy Studio is easy on the eyes.

It was such a welcome gift.

Tom K.