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The 2005 LA pen show proved to be no less than expected. That's come to be the norm for this show, through seventeen years of history, the LA show always seems to be even better than you thought it would when you arrived! A great part of this success is due to the hard work of Boris Rice, who puts his all into making the show run smoothly. It's easy to forget about the show organizer, especially when you find yourself surrounded by exciting pens if you're a buyer, or by excited customers if you're a dealer. But it takes days of effort to make a show a reality at all, much less a real success. The next time you're at a show, take a moment to say "thank you" to the organizer. They deserve it! One more note before we begin.... It seems I managed to destroy about half the images I shot of the show itself. The rest range form "poor" to "downright bad", so I apologize for the somewhat gloomy images in this report. Time to buy a new flash, I guess!
Now, to turn to this year's LA show. LA has always been one of my favorite shows. I love the show, the hotel, and the weather. This year, it was a case of "two out of three ain't bad...." There was rain most of the four days I was there. On the other hand, I was busy inside at the show all four days, so... Really didn't matter unless I was walking to a restaurant for dinner. Which happens. A lot, at least at the LA show! One of the reasons that this show is at the top of my list is the fact that there is excellent dining available within walking distance. (It's really just a joke about So Cal residents being unable to walk distances of more than fifty feet) You have a choice between Italian, steak, seafood, burgers, sushi... The list goes on. Two of three nights we ate at Lidos, just across the parking lot, an excellent Italian restaurant that also serves a range of dishes to match most any taste.
Of course, those of you who are arriving later in the weekend need not despair, I know of at least a couple of extremely good deals in rare vintage pens that only showed up on Sunday. So it pays to keep your hopes up, and your eyes open! One of the best things about the show is seeing familiar faces, and this year's LA show started off right in that regard, as one of the first people to catch my eye was the famous "doc I.", David Issacson. When he's not busy scarfing up every near mint Vacumatic, he's set up to photograph pens, with this show bringing a record 755 pens under his lens. It's no wonder he was looking a bit tired by Sunday night! Some of the pens he was able to shoot at this year's LA show were truly "one of a kind", or at least so near to it as makes no difference. If you're a reader of the Zoss list or Pentrace message board, you're no doubt familiar with the wonderful images that David shares with pen collectors. It seems that almost any pen coming up for discussion can be illustrated with one of the good doctor's images!
Another familiar face I hadn't seen in a couple of years, Paul Rossi, was present. It's always interesting to talk with Paul, getting the artist's viewpoint on pen design is always a good use of time. Especially of interest this year was a design that Paul created for Bill Weakley, with a Russian Theme. This pen goes beyond amazing in detail. The stained glass windows are depicted by inlaid pieces of bright marble acrylic. Stars are set into the cap and barrel's midnight blue acrylic. Not just "set into", Paul actually looked up a star map, and positioned the inlaid stars as they would be seen in the night sky above Moscow on Christmas eve! This sort of attention to fine detail is what sets Paul apart as an artist. An evening's discussion with him ranged from his work schedule through the use of silver vs. gold on overlays, and even to the subject of chronograph watches, a topic on which he is very enthusiastic. Almost as enthusiastic as he is about his pen designs!
Another pen in sterling silver was the new Onoto, reviewed elsewhere in this issue. Jim and Jane Marshall were present from England, and brought a couple of samples to show off. This looks like it should prove to be an interesting new line of pens from a respected name in British pen making. This first example is definitely enough to cause a stir of interest!
Dick Egolf, Mary Burke (who works part time as my wife), and Michael Masuyama were displaying all the new line of Conway Stewart colors, which range from classic conservative marbled acrylic to some vivid new "whirl" patterns. These new color Conway Stewarts have been quite popular, despite not being to everyone's "taste"... I can say that personally, they have really grown on me! In addition to Conway Stewart, Luxury Brands also represent Ferrari de Varase, Sailor, Bexley, and Noodler's Ink. Needless to say, they had a full table, and managed to keep quite busy throughout the show!
It's a pen that sits equally with For those who bought something nice in a vintage pen,
and just couldn't wait for repair or restoration, Roger Cromwell Penopoly also sells pens, both vintage and used modern, and there were more than a few great deals to be found among their cases.
The Platinum design is "ancient coins", a design that has been used in several versions on Platinum pens of the 1930s. This particular example is interesting on several levels, being not only visually interesting, but having a great feel, thanks to the rough texture of the cap and barrel. The other design features tropical fish and seeweed. It's a very subdued design, with no bright colors or gold leaf, but retains a simple elegance that set it apart from a lot of modern maki-e work. I was afraid to ask Roger what these beauties were selling at, but whatever it was must have been "just right" as I noticed that one was sold by the end of the show!
In addition to selling you a fine piece of maki-e, David is always ready to educate you about this art form. His feeling is that if you learn about the work that goes into these pens, you will be more likely to appreciate the pens as artwork, and not just investments. Although he feels pretty strongly about maki-e pens as investments, pointing out that many of the early Namiki series have sold out and increased in resale value considerably. Whether you aim for artistic appreciation, or investment opportunity,a visit to David's table is well worth your time!
Danitrio has been producing some great new designs in terms of their pens, with several shapes from which to choose, in models both with and without pocket clips.
In addition to the new flagship model, Danitrio has designed a new flexible nib that they are offering on many of their pens. This is a true "flex" nib, not just a soft nib. You can achieve real line shading with it. It's not as flexible as some vintage flex nibs, but it's enough to set it well apart form modern pen nibs, and should prove very popular among "nib nuts".
Classic Pens was premiering several maki-e designs at their table, and even hosted a maki-e theme evening event on Saturday night, complete with a kimono clad associate.
If your tastes ran to the more prosaic, there were
plenty of Jimmy Dolive and Mort Epstein form Total Office Products
were on hand as always, offering great deals on just about anything,
from the tough to get limited editions, like the Montblanc Hemmingway
to the latest new pens, like the Taccia Mother of pearl. Saving money was not difficult at this show!
In terms of vintage pens, the offerings were even more varied. From one table to the next, it was impossible to say what you might see next. I saw tables literally covered with early Waterman and Parker overlays, right next to tables offering a wide range of Esterbrooks. The European brands were well represented by several dealers from overseas.
When originally offered,
Sam Fiorella of Pendemonium, the distributor of the book was selling them at a rapid rate. This book truly covers the 51, from earliest development through to the last versions. It's also very well illustrated, and nicely laid out. If you've interest in the Parker 51, or just in Parkers in general, this is a "must have".
copyright 2005 William Riepl
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The
show itself kicks off on Thursday, although many folks, especially international
travelers, were showing up even earlier. By the time I arrived on Friday,
events were in full swing. Many of the best trades can occur early on,
Thursday or Friday morning, as the new arrivals unload their "goodies"
for public perusal.
Speaking
of British pen-makers, Conway Stewart was represented at the LA show
by Luxury Brands. 
The
newest pen from Bexley, the Prometheus is a stunning design. Going a
step beyond 
In
addition to the "everyday" pens, both modern and vintage,
Roger had on hand a few special vintage pens, including a Waterman's
418 sterling overlay on red hard rubber, a couple of fabulous overlay
Waterman's safety pens, and best of all, a couple of fabulous 1930s
Maki-e pens. One marked as a Platinum, the other which he has been told
looks like a Pilot design.
If
maki-e was your goal, this show was well represented. David Ushkow was
on hand with a table full of great maki-e pens, everything from sailor
and platinum to some of the rarest Namiki pieces.
Perhaps
the biggest splash in terms of maki-e at the LA show was caused by a
large case of Danitrio maki-e. While the US distributor of Danitrio
pens could not make it to the show, one of his largest dealers, Internet
Pens was on hand, and took over the task of displaying everything from
simple Urushi lacquer pens to their new oversize flagship model, Mikado.
The
maki-e work on these pens is of a very high quality, and it should prove
to be very exciting to see what they come up with through 2005! The
Mikado shown above, part of the Tokkaido Road series is downright amazing!
Danitrio has selected a new oversize nib for these pens, one that is
in keeping with the massive size of the pen itself.
If
you were seeking an example of maki-e you didn't have far to look at
this show!
Bertram's
Inkwell was represented by Ken Jones and Jim Rouse, Detlef Bittner was
on hand, Steve and Maryann of Penstop, John Mottishaw, and others all
had modern pens of all kinds for sale. Pretty
much anything your heart desired could be found, form the ultra-expensive
to the "very affordable".
Steve
and Maryann Zucker were displaying a couple of new pens from the Signum
line, the Nova featuring a new, larger nib was a big hit. It's a large,
very streamlined pen available in several bright marbled acrylic colors.
If
you preferred the idea of reading about pens instead of buying them,
your needs were covered at this year's LA show... David Shepherd was
on hand, signing copies of the new Parker 51 book, and this book needs
to be seen to be believed! 
