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By Dyas A. Lawson Many pen collectors bemoan the pathetic ink supply in modern pens. Most, especially pens that use converters, hold very little ink. In the case of the latter, less than little might be more accurate. If you're among this "gimme more ink" crowd, you might want to consider the H-B Collection pens -- this one fills by eyedropper and, if filled to the brim, holds a whopping 5 ml of ink. If you don't think that sounds like much, compare it to the maybe half-milliliter of ink you'll get in a converter -- if you're lucky! The first in a series of three, this hand-made limited-edition pen has many other points to recommend it. Styled with vintage sensibilities but a thoroughly modern presentation, it's a handsome entry into the ranks and its quiet, understated elegance will shout louder than the flashier trappings of many showier pens. As do many collaborations, this one started as a fairly simple brainchild and grew. Brother-and-sister pen duo Joel Hamilton and Sherrell Tyree of Inkpen (East, for which Tyree deals with Sheaffer pens, and West, with Hamilton working on Parkers and other brands) polled pen users to learn what they thought the "perfect" pen would be like. The only common thread was "large."
They had a manufacturer fabricate a few prototypes and showed the pens around at pen shows--the pen world's equivalent of the Bonneville Salt Flats. They arranged with custom-pen artisan David Broadwell to offer his 14K nib/feed units as an upgrade option for the pen, which they originally envisioned as having a steel nib. Broadwell saw the prototypes at the LA pen show and said, "I can do this better." "Show us," Hamilton and Tyree replied. Broadwell did.
Broadwell says of Becker, "He can make something simple and elegant like the (boxes) for the H-B pens, or complex carved art boxes. We feel that the boxes are an integral part of the pen series." Two other pens will complete the series. Each, Broadwell says, will contain design elements from a different era as well as a different filling system. What those might be -- lever, vacumatic, piston or something else -- has yet to be decided, though if the design obstacles can be overcome Hamilton says they'd like to include a lever filler. The vacumatic or piston style presents some problems, but both are so central to pendom that the partners would like to find some way to use one of them for the final pen in the series. Think of it as keeping the mystery alive! "While the intent is to make only three different filler types, we may want to make another series in the future to add things like the coin filler, middle-joint filler, or something else," says Hamilton. Turned of red-and-black woodgrain hard rubber (nowadays called ebonite), the prototype we tested features a flat-topped silhouette with a gentle curve to the barrel and a straight-sided cap with a tall, slightly tapered cap top that holds the clip in place. Its only adornments are made of a 14K gold alloy that's tougher than the usual jewelry-grade 14K, Broadwell says, so the gold parts should stand up better to wear. And solid gold means no brassing, ever.
They are simple: a cast 14K gold barrel tassie containing
the H-B logo (designed by Broadwell and his wife Sue, a graphic artist),
and the clip. Arching assertively from the cap, the solid 14K clip descends
into a flattened oval end featuring engraved radiating lines for texture.
To me, it resembles a lily pad, but Broadwell calls it a shovel-like
shape. Attaching the clip to the cap is a textured ring that offers
a nice contrast with the sleek polished lines of the cap, and the fact
that Broadwell has added a satiny texture to the clip allows it to complement
rather than compete with the soft gloss of the pen itself.
Since it's made of hard rubber, you know a few things about this pen already: Although it's quite large, it's light in weight and has a warm feel. Unlike old hard rubber, it doesn't have that hard-rubber smell (a plus for those of us who sneeze at that so-called aroma!). Its design is well balanced and the addition of ink gives it a slight forward weighting that actually makes it easier to write with -- it almost pulls itself across the paper. Though large for my medium-sized hands, I didn't find the pen at all uncomfortable to write with over longer periods. There's a reason Broadwell uses Bock nibs. They're good. Invariably smooth, clean and well constructed, they're sturdy, trustworthy products of consistent German manufacture. This one was no exception; it wrote flawlessly from the beginning. No initial skipping, no skipping on the initial or downstrokes, no balkiness after being capped and left to sit for a week or two. Ink flow was smooth, wet, and consistent, enabling the pen to fly comfortably and satisfyingly across the page (faster than our sprained wrist could keep up with during week two, actually!). Those things tell us that not only is the nib/feed system designed and executed well, but the nib/feed alignment is perfect -- a detail we'd expect from both Broadwell and the Inkpen duo. It falls into the rigid category of nibs, but does have a bit of suppleness so that you don't feel you're writing with a nail. I have a modern Recife eyedropper filler that uses an O-ring as a gasket to ensure that the ink doesn't leak out through the section threads onto your fingers. While this H-B pen doesn't have an O-ring, neither did it leak at any point during the couple of weeks I had it inked and on the desk. When I took it apart to clean it out and measure ink capacity, I touched fingertip to section threads. A little ink transferred, but very little. Broadwell has made this pen to his usual close tolerances and has, as usual, done a superb job.
One of the lovely things about hard rubber is its feel. The sleek, gentle curve on this pen's barrel just feels wonderful sliding through the fingers. If you're prone to thinking while you write or fidgeting with pens in meetings, this pen will keep you occupied and soothe your fingertips into the bargain. If all goes well and no problems with materials arise, Broadwell says he can make about five pens in a week (remember, they're handmade from start to finish -- even the barrel tassie is turned by hand on Broadwell's lathe). Twenty-five of each of the three pens, plus the prototype, will be made, so this is really a limited edition. Each will be numbered, and those who purchase this pen will have the number of that pen reserved for the rest of the series. The team intends to sell all or nearly all the pens of one filler variety before moving on to the next. To date, that's happening quickly. Almost half the
pieces in the 25-pen edition, going for $750 (as will the other two),
have been reserved. Those interested should order through Hamilton. This series of pens promises to be unusual in the pen
world -- well thought-out and designed, wonderfully crafted, a delight
to look at, and of a quality to be passed on for generations to come.
It may be something you don't want to miss!
copyright 2005 Dyas A. Lawson Images copyright 2005 William Riepl |
Basing
his design on the general principles common to pens of the early 20th
century, Broadwell presented a pen that Hamilton and Tyree really liked.
They refined the design, threw in various ideas and mixes, and came
out with a pen they all feel is quite distinctive. The three decided
on what Hamilton calls "a filler series" to commemorate the
early and most definitive filling systems used in fountain-pen manufacture.
Giving Wally Becker free reign to create a customized case for the three-pen
series, with a focus on simplicity, resulted in a clean, elegant case
with room on its lid for a pen-display area.
The
only other gold on this pen is its nib, which is a two-tone 14K Bock
product with the H-B logo engraved on it by Ray Cover, who does detailed
engraving on some of Broadwell's pen and knife creations. With a self-section
that continues the materials and lines unbroken from one end to the
other, this is an extremely fine-looking pen.
Because
I don't write with caps posted ordinarily, I passed this pen to a colleague
who does (and who uses vintage pens exclusively, and mostly those with
flex nibs). He thought the pen felt a bit top-heavy when the cap was
posted and commented on the nib's lack of responsiveness. Personally,
I wouldn't want to cover up that pleasing barrel curve by posting, but
it's a consideration if you do post.