Happy Birthday to Me!

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

Another trip around the sun for me (my birthday was yesterday) and while I don’t have a birthday pen picked out (yet), I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on past birthday pens.

2017 - This was the first birthday I had after discovering fountain pens just a few months prior. I wanted to celebrate with something special but I didn’t know what. I had seen some pens by Mike Allen of Woodshed Pen Company I and messaged him to see if he could make something with blue and purple, my two favorite colors. He recently announced that he is no longer making fountain pens, which bums me out, but it also makes me extra thankful for the ones I own, including this one.

First birthday pen in Purplue Borealis by Woodshed Pen Company.

2018 - In the spring of 2018, I had put myself on the waiting list at Tokyo Pen Shop Quill for a Pilot Custom 823 in Clear with the FA nib. (Sadly they aren’t allowed to sell that outside of Japan anymore). It ended up being available right before my birthday, so this became my birthday pen. I really enjoyed working on my penmanship with that semiflex pen while watching the ink slosh around.

I love looking at the ink in my Pilot Custom 823, Clear!

Look how awesome Colorverse Chesapeake Bay looks from a flex nib!

2019 - By this point, I was a pretty big Pilot Vanishing Point fan. And when the Tropical Turquoise was launched in September that year, it was a no-brainer. Birthday pen! I still wish Pilot would make more of these cool colors/patterns and not so many black VPs, but that’s another story. I just used this one recently and yup, it still gives me all the feels.

Pilot, pretty please make more pretties like this, Pilot Tropic Turquoise Vanishing Point!

2020 - What can I say about 2020 that hasn’t already been said? For many, it was a crappy year, filled with fear, anxiety, sickness, death, lockdowns, masks, isolation, Zoom meetings/classes, etc. For me and my family, we had an additional upheaval due to a planned home renovation, which resulted in us moving to a small apartment (packing/moving sucks) and when birthday time came around, I needed something to lift my spirits. I ended up splurging on a pen that I had been in love with from the first moment I saw it at Pen Posse several years prior - the Platinum 3776 Chinkin Karakusa Blue. It wasn’t a “big birthday” or anything that “deserved” a significant purchase like this, but 2020 was a big kick in the rear reminder that life is short and not to wait for “some day” because who knows if or when that day will come.

The Platinum 3776 Chinkin Karakusa Blue is a stunning pen that I absolutely love looking at and writing with.

The detailed scrollwork is just amazing!

2021 - What roller coaster year! Things got better, got worse, then vaccines (yay!) and pen shows were back! I was so relieved (and also a bit nervous) to be able to go to the DC pen show and then a few weeks later to the SF show which is always a couple weeks before my birthday. I definitely bought #allthethings because I was so happy to see vendor friends again and wanted to support them. I didn’t know what I was going to get but I knew I was going to get something as a birthday pen. I didn’t really know about the Waldmann Grandeur, but when I saw it in person at the show, the decision was made for me. And because it’s always birthday season for me at the SF Pen Show, I upgraded to the gold nib. No regrets!

I love the classic styling and beautiful guilloche of the Waldmann Grandeur, even if it is red ;-)

2022 - This has been a crazy year for me, but in a good way! Lots of pen shows, traveling, seeing family and friends again, kid’s team won their Little League division, so many good things! Heading into the SF show, I was on the lookout for something special (Pen? Pen box? Musubi notebook?) but nothing screamed “birthday present”. If you saw my SF Pen Show haul, that didn’t stop me from buying #allthethings, but I knew that I’d eventually find something. As of this writing, I haven’t found it yet, but I trust that the universe will help me find the right present. Until then, I’ll be sitting over here eating some cake, playing with my birthday pens and refreshing my emails hoping for good pen news (if you know, you know, wink).

What will the birthday pen be this year?

The best part of birthday pens isn’t just the pens, but being able to share them with you! So thank you for indulging me in a little trip down the birthday memory lane! Happy Birthday to me and to all the other September babies out there!

Behold, Something New! The Harmonic Nib, from Opus Cineris

The Harmonic Nib. Image via Opus Cineris.

(This is a guest post by Andrew Coon. You can find more of Andrew’s fountain pen favorites on Instagram.)

Whenever a pen of note arrives, something interesting, I hand it to my wife. I play with pens, she knits. I appreciate the yarn she finds, and she appreciates the pens that show up. Over the years, many such pens have arrived and we have found a pattern.

She takes the pen, and writes the following:

A Harmonic BB nib, with Diamine Aurora Borealis on a Nock a5 Cahier.

And then she asks what makes it special. I have handed her a Pilot Emperor, a Pilot Custom Urushi, Jowo 6's, Bock 8's, King of Pens, stacked nibs of all different types, and many more.

This time, she said "this could be my favorite."

My wife has good taste.

What she wrote with is already one of my favorites - both for who made it as well as for what it is.

Anabelle Hiller, first being trained as a musician, then made the jump to metal working. A trained jeweler, she has focused on a particular piece of metal that anyone reading this holds dear - the nib of a fountain pen. After creating her own nib for her masterpiece she experimented with a batch of silver nibs. After a few truly lucky people tested them out at length, she moved on to make a batch of ten nibs in 14k gold.

I was lucky enough to obtain one of these, and I would like to tell you about it because there will be more of her creations. They will be worth finding and cherishing.

The Harmonic Nib, in Silver. Image via Opus Cineris.

What is immediately striking about this nib is the double layer of metal that frames the entire nib. I don't know how this is done - but I can see what it makes possible. On these, this edge has a hammered finish that is very striking. On Anabelle's second set of nibs, a set of 8 made in silver, this edge was engraved in a leaf border, complementing the scrolls down the center of the nib.

Matched with an ebonite feed from FPnibs.com, these nibs can be customized with any grind. What I have is a round BB, tuned for showing off the sheening and shading properties of any ink. And, it is perfect. Responsive and well behaved, I can only wish that all my nibs wrote like this one. I have used multiple brands of ink with it, multiple types of paper, and the performance has been consistent and superb.

The Harmonic Nib, with Giants' Pens ebonite barrel. Image via Opus Cineris.

The pen this nib came in was made by Teun and Joep of Giants' Pens, and is elegant and clean. The material is a black and grey ebonite, that is almost impossible to photograph. The tolerances are tight - and the quickest way to tell is with the threading. This threading is smooth and exact. Matched with the immaculate polish, the pen is a stunner. Its shape is that of a Nakaya Naka-ai, and that is what it reminded me of. Light, nimble, a pen that I reach for multiple times a day.

It is not often that something truly new comes along in the pen community. This is one of those moments.

Anabelle makes nibs sing upon request, for any pens purchased from Appelboom. In addition to employing her, Appelboom also allowed Anabelle to use their website for the sale. This is very cool - It is always good to see those who are well established in the field support those who are starting.

I look forward to following along with what happens next. Engraving, gem setting, overlays? I don't know. But it will be great.

I invite you to join me in following Anabelle at Opus Cineris and on Instagram @opuscineris

(This nib was purchased by Andrew Coon at the 2022 Washington DC Pen Show, directly from Anabelle Hiller. Opus Cineris images provided for this post with permission.)

Laban Solar Fountain Pen Review

It's been quite a while since I've reviewed a Laban fountain pen, but that doesn't mean I'm not interested in what they're doing. Laban is a luxury brand, but the quality and prices that they set for their products provide a great value. On top of that, they've been fun to use in my experience.

The Laban Solar fountain pen is one that I just can't keep my hands off. The orange anodized aluminum is perfect, and the nib is smooth and responsive out of the box. It wasn't love at first sight, though.

The matte orange finish on the body and cap are stellar, but I still can't help but cringe a little when I uncap the pen and unveil the super reflective grip section. If the grip section and clip were a matte silver finish, I'd be completely in love with this pen. In the current iteration, though, the shiny chrome-like finish creates an unsavory contrast with the matte exterior.

Despite the reflective quality of the section finish, it feels great once it's in your hands. There's a unique knurling pattern that looks rough to the naked eye, but it's actually fairly smooth and tactile against your fingertips. Holding this pen and writing is a very comfortable experience. I'm guessing that this feels smooth because of how small the knurling pattern is. My finger tips don't have the microscopic resolution to detect a harsh edge anywhere on the grip. I thought for sure that it would feel like the rigid side of a hook-and-loop panel, but it just so happens that I really enjoy writing with it.

The pen caps with a smooth twist mechanism. It takes approximately 2 complete turns to uncap or cap the pen, so you can be sure that it won't open accidentally while in your bag or pockets. You can post the cap on the back of the pen, but I find that it's a little too long and awkward in this setup. I prefer to hold the cap or set it to the side when writing. The unposted length and balance of the pen is perfect for my writing grip.

The nib on this pen is a Laban steel EF with a reflective finish that's similar to the grip section. Aside from the Laban branding, there's an "IRIDIUM" etched onto the nib as well. Unfortunately, the nib size isn't etched onto the nib, so don't forget what it is after it's been stored a while!

The etching on the nib isn't the only place you'll find Laban branding. The Laban name is also printed in very small lettering right under the end of the clip at the bottom of the cap. It's a very tasteful placement and size for the logo that allows the real star of the show to take center stage — that color and finish.

At under $65, this pen is a steal for what you get. The quality of materials and fit/finish alone are worth this price. Along with the pen, you receive a standard cartridge-converter so you can fill the pen with whatever ink you like. Major hat tip to Laban for including this with the pen. You can pick from EF, F, M, and B nibs as well as lots of different colors for the pen exterior, but I think orange is the correct choice in this case.

The Laban Solar makes a fantastic gift for someone else, or a fantastic treat for yourself. If the aesthetic speaks to you, the pen will certainly deliver on the writing front if you choose to pick one up.

(Goldspot provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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