J. Herbin Glass Pen

[Doc Dan]

I saw a Jacques Herbin glass dip pen, yesterday. I was intrigued and it was beautiful. Has anyone got experience with these? Where are they made?

[DrPlush]

I don’t know where they’re made but I bought one and it chipped within a couple of weeks, despite only ever being kept in a padded tray and never dropped. I was able to sand down the chip so it wrote smoothly, but it was a lot broader. I was going to replace it but when I mentioned it to a group of fellow stationery fiends, two others had had similar experiences with this particular brand’s glass pen. So I decided to go with a non-glass option for the replacement.

[SLinkster]

I have a dozen cheap glass dip pens, several of which have broken - and thus modified - tips. I think it's an inherent hazard of the material. 

[Doc Dan]

They sure are pretty, but it would be a shame to buy one and it break for no apparent reason. I wonder what other brands there are?

[InesF]

Hi @Doc Dan.

All glass pens are ... made from glass. And all of them are very sensitive to physical forces. I own four of those, one from a German manufacturer, one from Herbin and two Chinese. One of those was ruined (chipped tip) after I put it into a glass of water a bit too fast. One of the Chinese and the Herbin are my favourites, both write smoothly and comparably fine lines. I cover their tips with small silicone tubes of fitting diameter. That's how I store and transport them and never damaged a glass pen again.

Recently I bought a Kakimori steel dip pen. This has way less character! However, it is unbreakable - if that's your main concern.

[Doc Dan]

2 minutes ago, InesF said:

Hi @Doc Dan.

All glass pens are ... made from glass. And all of them are very sensitive to physical forces. I own four of those, one from a German manufacturer, one from Herbin and two Chinese. One of those was ruined (chipped tip) after I put it into a glass of water a bit too fast. One of the Chinese and the Herbin are my favourites, both write smoothly and comparably fine lines. I cover their tips with small silicone tubes of fitting diameter. That's how I store and transport them and never damaged a glass pen again.

Recently I bought a Kakimori steel dip pen. This has way less character! However, it is unbreakable - if that's your main concern.

Thanks. A good idea about protecting the tips. 

 

I saw in my local B&M several brands of dip pens, such as Kakimori and Manuscript. However, these are not enticing, like they have no soul, or something. Admittedly, I haven't actually looked at them. I am not an artist, normally. I write books of various kinds, such as novels and literary interpretation, among others, and poetry. The poetry is the reason I was interested. A dip pen can easily change inks and I thought it actually went along with the task pretty well...at least in my head, if not reality. 

[SLinkster]

JetPens offers an inexpensive glass nib-on-a-pen-body that includes a cap. This could be a valid but cheap method of having a glass nib handy in a pen cup without worry of accidental breakage. 

 

I meant to include one in my last order but forgot. Guess that means I'll have to find a few things to qualify for free shipping. What hardship. 

[Sailor Kenshin]

I have more glass nibs than I care to mention (use them for ink comparisons, etc.).  It's a dice roll as far as brand/quality correlation. You might as well pick up a few cheapies on Amazon.

[Penguincollector]

I’ve had the same inexpensive blue one from Amazon for a long time. I use it while swatching inks or if I need an ink color but don’t want to use a lot of it for art. It stays it the padded box it arrived in when not in use. I think if you’re careful with your other pens you should be fine. This is one of those items that I don’t think it’s worth spending more than the minimum on, as the generic ones are great and the expensive ones break just as easily.

[Doc Dan]

Thanks. That's good advice. I found a glass pen that looks like the Herbin for $1 USD so I ordered it. 

[Penguincollector]

I hope you like it and that you get years of use out of it.

[knarflj]

There is a glass dip pen with lifetime warranty against breakage: https://www.glasspens.com/pens.html

Much more expensive than the others, but they're hand made, and some of them are really lovely.  I don't own one myself.  Someday, maybe...

[Doc Dan]

Those are beautiful, but $60 to over $200!!  I don't think I need one that expensive, but they would probably be good for a professional. 

 

[inkstainedruth]

I have one of the Herbin glass pens.  I was at a party at a friend's house a number of years ago, and another friend brought it and was trying to find a home for it, so I said I'd take it.  It came with 2 small bottles of ink in the box but I don't know if they're the "regular" Herbin inks or the dip-pens only stuff.  

I couldn't get the pen to write at all, though.  A guy I used to know used to collect glass pens, but I don't know how to get hold of him, to ask him what I was doing wrong.

A few years ago I saw a glass-nibbed fountain pen in an antiques mall a couple of hours or so northeast of me, but I was afraid to buy it because I hadn't been able to get the dip pen to work....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Doc Dan]

@inkstainedruth  I'll let you know how this works when I get it. I think it will be simple.

 

I was told that these pens will not write if held too much straight up and down and that there is often one side that writes better than the other on the nib. 

[txomsy]

On 10/18/2023 at 10:03 PM, knarflj said:

There is a glass dip pen with lifetime warranty against breakage: https://www.glasspens.com/pens.html

Much more expensive than the others, but they're hand made, and some of them are really lovely.  I don't own one myself.  Someday, maybe...

Those pens look very cool! What a temptation!

[Sailor Kenshin]

11 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

I have one of the Herbin glass pens.  I was at a party at a friend's house a number of years ago, and another friend brought it and was trying to find a home for it, so I said I'd take it.  It came with 2 small bottles of ink in the box but I don't know if they're the "regular" Herbin inks or the dip-pens only stuff.  

I couldn't get the pen to write at all, though.  A guy I used to know used to collect glass pens, but I don't know how to get hold of him, to ask him what I was doing wrong.

A few years ago I saw a glass-nibbed fountain pen in an antiques mall a couple of hours or so northeast of me, but I was afraid to buy it because I hadn't been able to get the dip pen to work....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Ever look at it through a loupe, or clean it with alcohol?

[inkstainedruth]

No, can't say that I have.

It was mostly a "Oh you're giving it away?  Sure, I'll take it...." spur of the moment thing.  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

[amberleadavis]

On 10/18/2023 at 1:03 PM, knarflj said:

There is a glass dip pen with lifetime warranty against breakage: https://www.glasspens.com/pens.html

Much more expensive than the others, but they're hand made, and some of them are really lovely.  I don't own one myself.  Someday, maybe...

 

Oh wow. I love them. These pens look like the first glass pen I purchased which would write for a full page on a single dip. I loved it.

[Doc Dan]

Mine has been shipped and is on the way. I guess I need a new bottle of ink to try...just because. 😀