The
month of May has turned out to be even more exciting than we had thought!
Of course, any month with the Chicago Pen Show in it is bound to be pretty
good, but this month brought some other exciting news along with it.
The long awaited (OK, long awaited by us sterling pen nuts) CP7 prototypes were on display at the show, and instead of the two or three versions we had expected, there were no less than nine different patterns. How they plan to choose between these designs is a mystery, they're all nine of them as beautiful as any pen I've seen. Even if you're not into sterling silver pens they're breathtaking examples of the engraver's art. And, since they are being based on Sailors, the good news doesn't stop with the looks. Sailor pens are developing quite a reputation for being among the best performing of modern pens, "out of the box". It doesn't hurt that they are also offering some of the most unique nibs to come along in a while, cross cut nibs, overfeeds, and tips ground to offer multiple line width depending upon angle.
The Sailor table at Chicago was always busy, and for good reason. This company has been offering great pens for years in Japan, but with their introduction to the US market, a subtle change seems to be occurring. Most of this can be attributed to Dick Egoff, the man behind Sailor USA. He has also picked up the US distributorship of Conway Stewart. With both companies, he has taken an active role in developing pens, both new designs and new materials, the results are nothing short of amazing. We can look for some exciting things to come in the near future from both Sailor and Conway Stewart.
From
the last "big show", Los Angeles in February, we have a great
piece on the pens of André Mora. The Oldwin pens are modern interpretations
of a classic pen, and also the resurrection of a family brand. Anna Lawson
had the chance to interview André in LA and the result is in this
month's issue.
We managed to get our hands on some exciting new Maki-e pens, Namiki's latest offerings to the penloving public. These pens are, as always with high end maki-e, not inexpensive, but well worth the price tag, if for no other reason than the sheer, knock you off your feet beauty of the artwork. The designs range from animals, birds, rabbits and insects, to natural scenes. The designs are rendered in both traditional burnished maki-e and with pearl inlays, on two different sizes of Namiki pens. Please be patient with the load speed for the slideshow!
Other
exciting news? Well, it looks as though Montblanc has finally listened
to us and produced a large sized Boheme! I suppose it will turn out that
it was a high priced consulting firm they were actually listening to,
and not our ramblings, but the important part is that the new Boheme is
here, and it's definitely large!
This should make a great addition to the model line up, and for Montblanc in general. It's a great pen, if you can handle the cartridge only aspect of it. Think of it as the trade off for the "neat-o" aspect of the retracting nib.
Speaking of retracting nibs, Rob Astyk is back in business, with part three of the Waterman Numbers Game, this time delving into the realm of the safety pen and it's early development. As well as some corrections and addendums from the earlier pieces in this saga.
The 2002 CD has finally made it! We've made some changes from last year, trying to keep costs reasonable, but the CD itself is the same great compilation of all of 2002's articles, features, and pictures, all available on a fast loading CD. Look for more information on the order page here.