Reflections on Some Currently Inked Pens

(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!.)

Despite being in this rabbit hole for 6.5 years, I continue to learn not just about pens, inks and all that, but about my preferences and habits. There isn’t a right or wrong way to be in this hobby and what works for someone may or may not work for you. For some reason during the past few weeks, a few of my currently inked pens were good reminders of lessons I’ve learned along the way.

On the surface, there isn’t much that is similar among these pens, other than they all happen to be blue! (Bottom to top: Pelikan M215 Blue Stripe, TWSBI Classic Blue, Visconti Van Gogh, Platinum Curidas, Pilot Falcon/Elabo.)

Pelikan M215 Blue Stripe

Hard to tell from this picture but there are silver colored stripes on the barrel of this pen.

• Patience (and research), Grasshopper - I have wanted this pen for 3-4 years (maybe longer) and have seen it on eBay for very high/ambitious prices. And I am definitely not one for patience. But I also don’t want to overspend. Doing research ahead of time, including reaching out to folks who have better pulses on the Pelikan secondary market, made it easier for me to pounce on a listing that was finally in the right price range.

• Inks & pen combinations matter - As I mentioned in recent ink reviews, inks behave differently in different pens (and also on different papers too). This M215 is currently inked up with Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite, which is a lovely blue-black ink. Is it a shocker that this is a good matchup? No, not really, but I haven’t used this ink since I first tried it, gulp, way back in 2017, in a Lamy Safari. I absolutely hated the combination because it felt like writing with sand and I wondered if I should dump the ink out of the pen and get rid of the sample. What I didn’t know then, was that Lamy pens can be on the drier side and that Pelikan inks are also on the drier side (to compensate for their wetter nibs), so that combination was doomed from the start. What’s sad is that I was hesitant to try the ink again, even though I learned more about pens and inks since 2017. I’m glad I decided to try the ink in this pen, because it flows just perfectly from this pen, and it’s a great match colorwise, too. I’ve also since learned that it’s ok to empty out a pen if the ink just isn’t doing it for you. Life’s too short to write with a bad combination.

TWSBI Classic, Blue

• Oldie but goodie - One of my first TWSBIs is the Classic, in Turquoise. I love the non-demonstrator look but I don’t really think about them as much because I usually want a demonstrator when I want to ink up a TWSBI. I needed to ink up a blue pen so I decided on the blue Classic. It had a Fine nib and even though Mediums are my usual jam, I just shrugged and inked it up anyway. Then I wrote with it and was shocked at how much I liked the Classic AND the fine nib. It is so easy to ink up the latest acquisitions and forget about the older pens (and inks). I try to balance that urge by having a mix of old and new pens in the “to-be-inked-next” tray. I do this with inks too. It’s like discovering a lost treasure.

Visconti Van Gogh, Starry Night

• It’s ok if looks are important - As a Van Gogh fan, and more specifically of Starry Night, I love this pen. Not because it is an amazing writer (I mean, it writes fine) but because looking at it makes me happy. It makes me think about my favorite piece of art and that makes me happy. People place different levels of importance on the nib vs the appearance and that’s one of the many wonderful things about this rabbit hole. My personal pen preference emphasizes looks over writing (probably 65:35 as long as the nib doesn’t write poorly). In the end, as long as you’re happy, whether it’s with the looks, the nib (or both), it’s a win in my book.

• Oldie but goodie, this time with ink - I inked this up with an ink that I once loved but sorta put by the wayside (shame on me) - Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo. When everyone was raving about Shin-kai (cough cough, Bossman), I instead fell in love with Tsuki-yo. With all the deluge of inks that currently exist and continue to be released, it’s easy to get caught up in the latest “must-have ink”. I had forgotten how much I liked that ink and I’m glad I decided to use it again.

Platinum Curidas, Matte Blue

• It is not a popularity contest - Not gonna lie, the Platinum Curidas is probably one of the more polarizing pens when it comes to looks, nock length, design, etc. And yet, I still love it. I have the original demonstrator finishes but I love this Matte Blue with black trim. The Medium steel nib gives me the perfect line width. Do I love it more than the Vanishing Points or Decimos? Probably not, but I still love it, even if it’s not for everyone, and that’s what matters.

• Don’t judge an ink before using it - I bought a sample of Taccia Ukiyo-e Hiroshige-Ruri and after swatching it, I thought “yet another dark blue ink” and was glad that I hadn’t bought a bottle. After pairing it up with the Curidas though, I’m loving the richness of this blue ink, along with its subtle sheen that can even been seen on Rhodia, and am now adding it to my “bottles to buy” list. It’s another reminder that I shouldn’t judge an ink too quickly!

Pilot Falcon/Elabo, Metal Blue

• They can’t all be winners - The Pilot Falcon (or Elabo in other markets) is a pen that has a fun, bouncy nib that can give some line variation, which I generally love, but there’s something about this one that isn’t doing it for me. I really like the plastic version of this pen with a Soft Fine nib, but I don’t think it’s the minimally- added weight. The Akkerman Delfts Blauw ink is flowing just fine so it’s not that. Maybe it’s the Soft Medium nib which feels blobby and almost squeaky. I really want to love it, but I don’t, so I think it’s better to part ways, than to have it stay in the collection untouched and unloved.

• It’s hard saying goodbye - Despite everything I just wrote about the pen not being a good fit, it’s still really hard for me to decide to sell a pen. I just have to remember that someone else will enjoy it more than I do and that I can use the proceeds to get something else, like that bottle of Taccia Hiroshige-ruri :-)

None of these things are earth-shattering or new in any way, but I don’t usually have these revelations when I’m writing with my pens. So when they do pop up, it’s worth taking a moment to pay attention to what they’re trying to teach me.

Reflections from a Pelikan Hubmaster

Last Friday, I had the honor of being the Hubmaster (“HM”) for the Palo Alto Pelikan Hub for the second year in a row. I wanted to share some thoughts as a Hubmaster so folks get some insight into what that means, especially if you’re thinking of volunteering as HM next year.

If you haven’t heard about the Pelikan Hub before, here’s an article from last year that talks about it in more detail, but in short, it is a Pelikan-sponsored, volunteer-led pen meetup that happens on the same day at locations all around the world.

Pelikan requires individuals to register/sign up for a Pelikan Hub. New for this year was a two-step process (I don’t know why). The first step in late April/early May was filling out a Save the Date application to participate in the Pelikan Hub. A couple weeks later, you received an email inviting you to complete the registration process with a username and password, allowing you to change your selected hub city down the road (up to a certain date so they can ship the right number of gifts to the right locations).

I don’t think there was a location drop down menu, just a blank field for you to enter a city/region that you want to attend. Assuming at least 7 people signed up for that location and that one of them also checked the box to say “I volunteer to be a Hubmaster”, Pelikan approves that Hub location. This allows them to know who will organize the local Hub as well as where to ship the Pelikan goodies. If no one volunteers to be a Hubmaster, Pelikan will email folks that signed up for that location, informing them that there is no Hubmaster and if no one steps up, there will be no Hub there.

Once Pelikan sorts through all the registrations, they notify the volunteer that they are the Hubmaster for their location. If there are multiple volunteers who want to be Hubmaster, Pelikan decides who gets to be HM, but I presume that what you write in the registration comments is taken into account. I also think that experience as prior Hubmaster will likely give you an advantage, even if you were the HM in another city/state, but that’s just a guess. Pelikan sends the HM a list of the registered attendees along with their email addresses. At this point, it is up to the HM to get in touch with their attendees.

At the same time, Pelikan sends an email to the attendees, informing them of the Hub location. They don’t tell them who their HM is, and there is no further communication from Pelikan. I saw lots of posts on IG and FB from folks all over the world who were frustrated because they hadn’t heard a peep about their Hub, they didn’t know who their HM was, couldn’t reach out to find out if the Hub was still happening, where it was, etc. I understand that some HMs were trying to secure a location before sending out an email but this frustration and radio silence could have easily been avoided with a simple email, even if it’s just to say “Hi, I’m Kimberly and I’ll be the Hubmaster for Palo Alto. Stay tuned for more info!”

In July, Pelikan notifies the HM with a tracking number for the Hub gifts and other supplies. This year’s gifts included Pelikan-branded paper pad, a bottle of the Ink of the Year, and a postcard of the upcoming M600 Art Collection - Glaucoma Cambon, and the Hub supplies included a Pelikan Hub banner, Pelikan-branded name tag labels, permanent markers (for the banner), a sign-in sheet and a gift for the HM. Last year, since it was the first Hub since the pandemic, Pelikan did not include any ink. People were glad that Pelikan resumed giving inks as part of the Hub gifts. Note that people generally did NOT like seeing photos of the gifts because they felt like it should be a surprise, and that people should want to go to the Hub regardless of what the gifts are, etc.

The Pelikan Hub banner and gifts from Pelikan.

As HM, my biggest challenge was trying to find a place to host the event. Last year, we had 18 people attend the Hub, but this year, I had 31 people. I wasn’t sure that the same location would be able to fit that many people, so I spent a lot of time looking around. Finding a venue can be fairly easy if you have a 7-person Hub, but if you’re the HM for a big hub like Denver or Berlin or Quezon City (50+) or DC where there were 100+ attendees (!!!!), it can be an extra daunting task. The only places you’re not allowed to have a Pelikan Hub are those with a religious affiliation, aka no churches, mosques, temples, or related property.

There was some drama around some hubs that charged a fee to attend. Pelikan Hubs are supposed to be free events, so this caused quite a stir. I think that it’s important to realize that free event spaces aren’t always easy to find, especially if you have a large group and that HMs aren’t given any stipend or allowance to pay for a venue (and I don’t think it’s Pelikan’s job to do so either.) Asking their attendees up front for input on costs (of venue and/or food) would go a long way in avoiding any ill-will or drama.

Here are some ideas for venues: Restaurants - some places will allow private parties without a fee if you spend a certain amount. Community centers Libraries Outdoor parks/picnic areas Food courts at shopping malls Company conference rooms (depending on the company’s policies, of course)

After I was notified that I was the HM for Palo Alto, I sent an email to everyone on my list (I BCC’d because not everyone wanted their emails shared) introducing myself and letting them know that I was looking for a larger space because we were looking at a 30+ person Hub this year. I also asked folks to confirm their attendance and if they were interested in me buying pizzas for dinner. I also told them that I would not be shipping or delivering Pelikan gifts if they could not attend the hub (more on this later). I sent another email once I confirmed the location and a couple more times before the actual hub. I included parking information, the agenda (hint: there was none) and other important information like you don’t need to have any Pelikans, bring anything you want to destash, giveaway or sell, bring your favorite notebook, etc.

Every HM runs their Hubs differently - some choose to make gift bags with gifts in addition to the Pelikan ones, some have ink testing stations, or sample stations, or door prizes, or slideshow on Pelikan history, etc. Some HMs ask vendors to provide goods for raffles or giveaways. There is no right or wrong way to run a Hub - as I said earlier, it’s about getting people together to celebrate pens, and a great way for Pelikan to get some publicity and good will out to the pen community. If you’re looking for ideas for next year, both the Pelikan Hubs Facebook group as well as the Pelikan_Passion IG (Hubs 2023 stories) are filled with pictures and posts from Hubs around the world if you want to see how the different groups varied in size, location, activities, etc.

Since I was coming off the heels of a travel-filled August and SF Pen Show, I wanted to keep the PA Hub low key. I already had Hub goodies and other things I wanted to raffle and give away. Someone had brought a sample set of all of the Iroshizuku inks to give away, so I snagged those for a raffle prize too. I came up with some Pelikan questions - some about the Hub, some about Pelikan models and even some about me (Which was my first Pelikan? (Pelikan M200 Smoky Quartz) Most recent Pelikan purchase? Pelikan M215 Blue Stripe), and every correct answer gave them a raffle ticket. After we had pizza and held the raffle, we took a group photo, people roamed around the room, showing off their pens and trying other people’s pens, looking at people’s sell binders, picking up freebies that people put in the destash pile. It was a fun time, so much so, that as usual, I forgot to take photos during the Hub. Oops. :-D

Got the banner hung up!

I did manage to get everyone in the photo!

The flock that I brought to the Hub, including the Pink M600 which was inked up with the Pelikan Ink of the Year, Rose Quartz.

All in all, based on feedback from the attendees, people had a good time and enjoyed meeting new people and playing with each other’s pens. So I count that a success!

A few things I wanted to call out:

People didn’t know about Pelikan Hub - You can’t sign up for something you don’t know about, right? If you’re in the group of folks who didn’t know about the Hub until it was too late, there are a couple options to get more information for future Hubs. (1) Follow Pelikan_Passion on Instagram or (2) Pelikan Hubs on Facebook. You should start seeing information about the Hub around the May timeframe. If you’re in-the-know about Hubs, share it with your pen friends/followers/subscribers/pen group members/Slack/Discord/IG, etc.

Hub locations are unknown during registration - When you are signing up for Hub, Pelikan doesn’t have a listing of cities until a couple weeks AFTER registration is complete. So, if you lived in the Bay Area, for example, you might not know that there were Hubs for San Francisco, Palo Alto, San Jose, Oakland or East Bay. So how would you know what to enter if you didn’t have a list? A lot of people didn’t know that’s how this worked - all they knew was that last year’s Hub was 2 hours away, so they didn’t even bother registering!

Pelikan, if you’re reading this, figure out how to implement this better in the registration process.

If you know 7 or more folks who want a Hub in another city, make sure you all enter the same thing when registering for a Hub, like “San Rafael, CA”. Date/time not very convenient - Friday night at 6:30PM isn’t the best time for a lot of people to meet. They have jobs and families that they may need to take care of before going to Hub. And that doesn’t even include rush hour traffic. After this year’s Hub, I asked my attendees if they had a preference for Friday or Saturday and if the latter, whether they’d prefer a day or evening location. Most of them said they would much rather meet on Saturday. I also intend to provide this feedback to Pelikan so that maybe we can have a Hub weekend instead of it being Friday night at 6:30pm. I know of at least one Hub that asked to hold theirs on Saturday instead because it was easier to find a venue for their large Hub.

Hubmasters aren’t unknown until they reach out - I think that Pelikan should let the attendees know who the HM is for their Hub. They don’t have to give out their email but they should at least know their name. I saw so many posts asking “Do you know who the HM of XYZ City is?” Of course, the onus is still on the HM to reach out (and to do so early and more than once), but knowing who their HM is upfront can avoid a lot of confusion. What about people who didn’t register but want to attend? - This is entirely at the discretion of the HM. Several people were unable to attend so I knew that I would have room for extra folks, so I let them know they could attend but I might not have gifts for them since Pelikan doesn’t send extras. But…

Extra Pelikan gifts - Since some folks couldn't make it, I decided to give unregistered attendees the gifts. What if you still have extras? This is my opinion only, but I feel that, as HM, you’ve already volunteered your time and effort to put on the Hub, so you don’t have to expend more energy to deliver or ship the gifts, unless you want to. I repeatedly told my attendees that I would not be delivering or shipping anything but that I would bring them to our weekly posse meetups for the next several weeks for them (or a friend) to pick up. You can also donate them to a destash table, save them as gifts for next year - whatever you want.

Ask for help/volunteers - Just because you’re the HM doesn’t mean you have to do everything. My introductory email asked for volunteers for setup and cleanup as well as options for venues. Ask for volunteers to figure out food (finding a restaurant or picking up pizza), donating stuff for a raffle, etc. It was great to have a person check people in and give them their gifts, so I could focus on finishing setup, etc. Obviously, the bigger the Hub, the more you’ll need volunteers but even if you have a small Hub, ask the group for things they want to destash or to come up with Pelikan trivia, etc.

HAVE FUN - Remember, if you’re the HM, have fun! You don’t have to make it a big event with lots of activities, unless you want to! You just have to get people together, pass out goodies and enjoy each other’s company! And if you’re not the HM, have fun! This is a great opportunity to meet other pen enthusiasts and see/try pens you might not get to see otherwise (especially if there aren’t any pen shows in your area).

As I said before, it was an honor to have been a Hubmaster again this year and have already begun brainstorming ideas for next year’s Hub! Until next Hub, stay safe and stay inky!

Pelikan Jazz Velvet Ballpoint Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

You ever pick up a pen that you think is new to you, only to discover you've used it in the past? That's me when I recently picked up a Pelikan Jazz Velvet ballpoint pen to try out. Turns out, I had picked up a Pelikan Giant 337 to try out back in 2020 and really had no memory of it at all. Even better, Brad reviewed this exact pen back in 2021, only in a different body color. Time goes by so quickly, and it's easy to miss or forget things! But I'm really glad the Pelikan Jazz Velvet and its Giant refill made it back into my life.

The Jazz Velvet is a ballpoint pen that uses the ubiquitous Parker-style refill shape. The refill doesn't use a hybrid ink formula, either. Just a huge amount of traditional blue ballpoint ink.

Given the price (around $14), I really wasn't expecting much from this pen. I assumed it would provide a mediocre writing experience and come with an ink that isn't bold or saturated. Nothing to write home about, but nothing to complain about either for the price. My assumptions were dead wrong.

This pen doesn't look like an expensive pen on the outside, and I wouldn't expect it to given the price. But what I didn't expect at all was that it feels so great in the hand. The balance is perfect thanks to the heavy top end and tapered body. For my writing grip, it's perfect and feels fantastic. The matte blue coating over the barrel has just enough texture and oil-resistance to provide superb grip. Every time I pick this pen up and start writing, I'm surprised by how much I like it.

This pen uses a twist mechanism to extend and retract the writing tip. This motion was really stiff and imprecise when I first got the pen, but after a couple dozen cycles with regular use, it feels a lot smoother and predictable. It's easy enough to operate with one hand, but I normally use two hands because that's a little quicker.

The all metal top portion of the pen also holds the signature Pelikan clip, which does its job beautifully. It keeps the pen attached to stuff and also prevents it from rolling away.

Writing with the Giant refill in this pen is another factor that makes the pen so surprisingly good to use. It's a really smooth refill that has bold, crisp ink. It starts easily, doesn't skip, and produces clean lines when writing. I love it, and I'm starting to prefer it over my trusty Schmidt EasyFlow 9000 refills for this refill shape.

At $14, I think the Pelikan Jazz Velvet is a sleeper and a fantastic deal. Since the refill costs almost $12, it's even more shocking that the pen feels so great in the hand. Seriously, just add one to your next order and have some fun using it and comparing it to your other favorite Parker-style refills.

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

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