SOTC 2023. Plus What Might the Future Bring?

[Baka1969]

I've been a collector of things for decades and decades. I've been collecting mechanical watches since the 1980's. Collected baseball cards during the 1970's, 80's and into the 1990's. I was an audiophile for many years. Including a sizable headphone setup collection. I had a garage full of motorcycles in the past. I even have a fondness for hand tools. Did I mention lighters? I might collect collecting things. 

 

Although collecting fountain pens is a relatively more recent addiction, I've been gathering nice pens off and on since I was a much younger lad. I started with fountain pens much like I did with headphones. Wanting a better writing experience. I was just dissatisfied with ball point and roller pens. After some snooping around and doing a bit of research I ended up with a Lamy Safari. Sort of the Grado SR-80 headphones of fountain pens. Punching well above its weight for the price. Since then I've become somewhat of a Lamy fan currently having 14 Lamy fountain pens. With room for one more. 

 

I currently have 59 pens. 58 of which are fountain pens. I have pens ranging from $4.00 to more than adding a couple of zeros to the end of that. I have steel, 14k and 18k gold nibs. I have them in many sizes and types. I have resin and sterling. I have pens from Germany, France, Japan, China, Taiwan, and USA. I have an alphabet soup of brands. I have pens from the 1960's thru current times. Don't forget colors galore. I think I have a fairly decent mix and variety of pens. 

 

Going forward I know of a few ideas of what I want. My Maison de Plume holds somewhere around 90 pens. That leaves about 30 spaces open. I know for sure I want one more Lamy that I have space for and the penthouse suite has room for one more Montblanc. I have my fill of pocket pens. Aside from that, I'm open to almost anything. 

 

So here is my current collection: 

 

[vertical] Montblanc 144, Montblanc 221, Montblanc 146, Montblanc 146, Montblanc 146, Montblanc 149

[horizontal] Sailor Pocket, Kaweco Collection, Kaweco Sport, Kaweco Brass, Pilot Elite, Pilot Elite, Pilot Elite (vintage), Sailor Pocket, Ensso Piuma

 

Lamy Safari, Lamy AL-Star, Lamy Safari, Lami Safari, Lamy AL-Star, Lamy Safari, Lamy Vista, Lamy Accent, Lamy 2000, Lamy 2000, Lamy Studio (14k), Lamy Studio (14k), Lamy Studio, Lamy Studio

 

Waterman Carene, Waterman Carene, Opus 88 Koloro, Diplomat Aero, Visconti Rembrandt, Faber Castell e-Motion, Faber Castell Hexo, Sheaffer Imperial, Sailor Leather, Parker 51, Pelikan M600

 

Pilot Metropolitan, Amazon Basic, Noodler's Ahab, Jinhao X450, Jinhao Porcelain, Asvine P20, Rotring Core, Duke Bamboo, MaJohn Vac, Hero 399, Waterman Hemisphere, Parker Lattitude, Parker Sonnet

 

Pilot Petit, Platinum Preppy, Platinum, Preppy, Platinum Preppy, Noodler's Flex, Paper Mate Pencil, Pelikan Twist

 

 

We'll see what 2024 has to bring. I hope you enjoy. Thank you for taking the time to read. 

 

Happy Holidays

 

[langere]

Great collection!  You should try some pens from India.  I've really liked the Magna Carta brand.

 

Erick

[langere]

And definitely a Santini Italia, if you like flexy European-styles nibs with high-quality bodies.

 

Erick

[Baka1969]

1 minute ago, langere said:

Great collection!  You should try some pens from India.  I've really liked the Magna Carta brand.

 

Erick

Thank you! That's certainly an option.

[MidSouthern-Dad]

You seem to lack Italians.  You have one Visconti.  You need a lava rock bodied Homo Sapiens.  Other good Italian brands include Montegrappa, Tibaldi, Nettuno, and of course the vintage Omas.

 

Since you have resin pens, why not explore other historical materials?  Beware, they tend to be expensive!

Celluloid, Maki-e, and ebonite.  The ebonite can be obtained hand turned from Indian makers such as Ranga and Ratnamson.  Fairly inexpensive for full handcrafted pens.

Many makers now offer Maki-e, but the first to offer them was Namiki, through a collaboration with Dunhill in the 1930s.

 

Then there are the all metal body pens, some with a lacquer coating.

Caran d’Ache from Switzerland, and ST Dupont from Paris, France come to mind.

 

Pen bodies made out of sterling silver come handmade from England by Yard-o-led.  Sterling silver bodies also by Otto Hutt (Design 007), and Waldmann.  Don’t forget my favorite:  Parker 75 cisele.

 

Finally, there are the exotic wooden bodies featured in the Graf von Faber Castell Classic line.

 

In case you’re wondering, I didn’t just recommend things off the top of my head.  This is a path that I followed in my own collection.

[Baka1969]

29 minutes ago, MidSouthern-Dad said:

You seem to lack Italians.  You have one Visconti.  You need a lava rock bodied Homo Sapiens.  Other good Italian brands include Montegrappa, Tibaldi, Nettuno, and of course the vintage Omas.

 

Since you have resin pens, why not explore other historical materials?  Beware, they tend to be expensive!

Celluloid, Maki-e, and ebonite.  The ebonite can be obtained hand turned from Indian makers such as Ranga and Ratnamson.  Fairly inexpensive for full handcrafted pens.

Many makers now offer Maki-e, but the first to offer them was Namiki, through a collaboration with Dunhill in the 1930s.

 

Then there are the all metal body pens, some with a lacquer coating.

Caran d’Ache from Switzerland, and ST Dupont from Paris, France come to mind.

 

Pen bodies made out of sterling silver come handmade from England by Yard-o-led.  Sterling silver bodies also by Otto Hutt (Design 007), and Waldmann.  Don’t forget my favorite:  Parker 75 cisele.

 

Finally, there are the exotic wooden bodies featured in the Graf von Faber Castell Classic line.

 

In case you’re wondering, I didn’t just recommend things off the top of my head.  This is a path that I followed in my own collection.

 

Thanks!

 

I do have plenty of metal (Lamy, Waterman, Faber-Castell, Parker, Pilot, Kaweco, Hero) and two sterling pens. I have two wooden and one leather.

 

I would like a Visconti Homo Sapiens. I would like to look into ebonite and at least one maki. 

 

 

[MidSouthern-Dad]

For Ranga, you can contact them directly on their website, or buy from Peyton Street Pens in San Francisco.