Rest In Peace Jim Rouse

Masters at work: Mike Masuyama (L) and Jim Rouse

At any pen show, the busiest man on the floor was Jim Rouse. If you stopped by the Franklin-Christoph booth, you were often greeted by the crown of his bald head, or 10x-sized eyeballs peering at you through his jeweler’s glasses. As busy as he was, he had time for everybody. That’s what made Jim so special.

There wasn’t a show where Jim didn’t stop to tell me a new story or joke. There wasn’t a show when where Jim didn’t stop to tell me the same joke or story for the tenth time. And I loved every one of them.

Jim was good at his job. No, he was great. His nib grinds and ongoing support are one of the main reasons Franklin-Christoph has become so successful in my mind. I don’t think Scott Franklin would disagree with that. The service Jim and team provided was unparalleled. So was the quality.

One thing you may not know about Jim is how much he loved kids. Whenever he wasn’t talking pens, he was talking about his family. Hanging out with Mr. Jim was a highlight for my kids at the Raleigh pen show. He made them laugh and smile and was happy to teach them things too. It’s ok that most of those things were shenanigans. That’s what made him great.

Yesterday was tough, and I miss him already. My condolences to his family, both at home and in the community. He will be missed.

Caran d’Ache 849 Nespresso Ballpoint Pen in Dharkan: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

I rarely use ballpoint pens anymore, but I wanted one for my purse. I don’t carry fountain pens in it due to their potential to leak. Plus, my various pen cases don’t fit in my purse. So, I decided I needed a nice ballpoint that would be my “purse pen” for those rare times I need to write a check or when I need to jot down a quick note.

I ran across the Caran d’Ache 849 Nespresso pen on Instagram. I loved the color (it matches my purse pretty closely), and I liked that the pen was made from recycled Nespresso pods. I think those things are so wasteful, but Caran d’Ache came up with a way to make them into a lovely click pen.

The pen is packaged, appropriately, in recycled cardboard, and the presentation is sophisticated yet simple.

The pen comes with one Goliath medium black cartridge, but I ordered a fine blue because I don’t like medium points. Installing the new cartridge was simple: you just unscrew the click mechanism, remove the old cartridge and put the new one in, and press on the click mechanism while turning.

As I stated above, the pen is made from used Nespresso aluminum pods using a special alloy. The surface has some texture which is created with microbeading and electrostatic treatment. Caran d’Ache and Nespresso have collaborated to create a different color Nespresso pen each year. This year’s color is Dharkan which is a lovely grayish blue.

The body of the pen is hexagonal. One side is engraved with the words “Made with Recycled Nespresso Capsules.”

Under the modern-looking stainless steel clip “849 Caran d’Ache” is engraved, and “Swiss Made” appears just below the click mechanism.

The click mechanism is also engraved with “Caran d’Ache.” It is a very quiet mechanism, so if you like to irritate co-workers in meetings by clicking your pens, this is definitely not the pen for you. Or, maybe it is! You can click away without irritating others and, who knows, you might get a promotion!

The ballpoint writes smoothly, and the ink glides onto the paper. I did not encounter any problems while writing, such as ink blobs or skipping.

Unfortunately, this pen is way too skinny for my hand, though the hexagonal shape helps with gripping. Writing three pages with it was agony, and I was glad to put the pen down after finishing my handwritten review. This is obviously not the pen’s fault. I just prefer larger diameter pens. Folks who love skinny pens will find the Caran d’Ache Nespresso to be very comfortable. That said, a purse pen isn’t meant for writing novellas. I just want a light and leak-free writing instrument for times when I don’t have access to a fountain pen. For this the pen will work well.

Still, this is a rather expensive purse pen. I purchased my Caran d’Ache Nespresso from Goldspot Pens on sale for $45.90. Although the pen is well made and classy looking, I’m not convinced it’s worth almost $50. The refills are also a bit expensive at $9.50 a piece.

I will probably return this pen, depending on whether or not I have to pay Goldspot’s 15% restocking fee. If I have to pay that on top of shipping it back, I may just keep it or give it to someone as a gift.

Pros

• The Caran d’Ache 849 Nespresso pen is a very nice looking ballpoint pen. I love that it is made from recycled Nespresso pods, which are otherwise quite wasteful.
• The pen has a textured surface and a hexagonal shape, both of which make it possible to maintain a good grip on the pen.
• The pen writes smoothly, and the Goliath cartridges are easy to replace.
• I really like the Dharkan color.

Cons

• At almost $50 this is an expensive ballpoint pen.
• I have small hands and found the pen to be too skinny for long writing sessions.

(This pen was purchased at full price with my own funds.)

Tactile Turn Mover Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)

I missed out on the first generation of the Tactile Turn Mover--it was FoMo come to life. The pen world was all abuzz and I wasn't in on the action. Well, I've caught up. And now I see just how much I was missing out on. This is a cool pen!

Since I missed the first version, I can't speak much to how this one has improved on the earlier design, but I can definitely tell that this is a well-thought-out pen.

It takes the G2 refill and any other refill that can be adjusted to fit those specs. I love the G2, so I'm very happy with that, but I'm tempted, now, to pick up the smaller Shaker pen that takes Parker style refills. And considering how many pretty colors there are available, it's totally reasonable to pick up multiples. Totally. And the price is fair at $69 for an aluminum Mover or Shaker.

The pen I have is anodized aluminum in a bright purple color. It's a warm magenta purple, not a cool blue one. It almost seems like it's glowing. The body is covered in a fine ridged texture. It's not rough to the touch, but it does have grit to it. It provides excellent grip, but be careful when placing it next to other objects and NEVER put it next to a fancy-finished pen like maki-e or urushi. It's like coarse-grit sandpaper against other pens. You can actually file your nails with it. On the plus side, it's tough and doesn't show wear itself. It's a great edc pen and can clearly take a beating. I dropped it right on its nose the other day and was afraid it would be bent--nope. Not even a scratch.

Despite being metal, it doesn't feel heavy. It's well balanced with thicker walls toward the front of the pen, so it supports itself as you write.

The clip is stainless steel and very sturdy. It flexes enough to clip onto things, and then it stays put. The clip also has a hidden, subtle branding on the underside, which was fun to discover. I love the clever minimalism of that. The click mechanism--if you can even call it that, since it is totally silent and doesn't click--is made of titanium. It depresses smoothly and quietly, and the titanium is sure to give it a longer lifetime than other machined clicks that wear out far too quickly. It also has a long stroke length, which recesses the tip further in the barrel so there's less chance of leaking or staining. The click isn't quite flawless. Mine does occasionally misalign somehow and get stuck or meet an odd resistance. Sometimes the pen gets stuck overextended and I have to click a few times to get it lined up correctly. It's possible this could be caused by purse debris getting into the parts. I have not gone easy on this pen and it has followed me around work for a few weeks.

Overall, the pen has insanely good precision. It was a while before I could even find the spot to unscrew the nose cone to access the refill--the seam blended in so well it was practically invisible. And everything fits together with perfect alignment and no rattling or awkwardness. It feels like it was built by NASA, not in a one-man shop in Texas. But Will Hodges is clearly good at what he does. This will definitely not be my last Tactile Turn pen. Just opening the web page to get the pen specs was an exercise of willpower. If you're in the market for a retractable metal pen, this one easily tops the list.

(Tactile Turn provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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