Waldmann Xetra Vienna - Waiting for the Birthday Pen

(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!.)

When this article comes out, it will be my birthday, yay! Another successful trip around the sun! And heading into the SF Pen Show, I knew exactly what birthday pen I was going to get. You see, when I found out that the President of Waldmann (Stefan Schnirch) would be coming to the SF Pen Show this year AND bringing their master engraver Stefanie Ottile, I knew that another Waldmann would be in my future. I also thought it would be a good idea to ink up one of my favorite Waldmanns to show Mr. Schnirch that I really do use their pens!

I inked up my Waldmann Xetra Vienna in White/Silver a bit before the SF Show and I am still loving it as much as I did when I got it in the summer of 2020 (ah, pandemic pen purchases, anyone else?). I won’t go into the specs of the Xetra Vienna since the Bossman did a great write up earlier this year. He reviewed the 18kt gold Fine nib, so I will talk a little about the Fine steel nib in mine. Waldmann’s nibs are made by Jowo but are custom-tuned to their specifications, so they don’t feel like a stock Jowo nib. It’s difficult to explain but it feels smoother and ever so slightly softer, though I wouldn’t call it remotely bouncy or flexy. The ink flow is consistent and the writing experience was solid. I’ve inked it up several times over the past few years and it never disappoints.

*Inked up with Kobe #80 Rokko Alpine Primrose, this Waldmann Xetra Vienna is always a delight to write with.*

*Just look at the detail on the engraving!*

I could have picked this pen in other color combinations, including Black and a White with Rose Gold trim (Blue, Pink and Green are now options too). Normally, I would be all over the rose gold but I picked this one because it reminded me of my wedding dress. Here are some gratuitous photos of my Xetra Vienna with pictures of my wedding dress, tiara and wedding cake.

Knowing that Waldmann’s master engraver would be working on Xetra Viennas, the hard part was picking the color. Blue would be the obvious answer since that’s one of my favorite colors but the pink was a really nice color too! And good timing with the Barbie movie! But since my birthday falls in September and the birthstone is sapphire (which is blue), I went for the blue.

I can’t begin to explain what all the pieces are or how they are used, but in short, there is a wooden clamp piece (a jig, I believe) which holds the piece/barrel to be engraved. That jig is then mounted onto a large engraving ball, which allows Stefanie to turn the piece as she does the engraving. The barrels are color-enameled over a metal tube, so she is removing the enamel as part of the engraving, revealing the metal beneath it.

*Stefanie is engraving a bridge onto the barrel. It was amazing to watch her control of the chisel and hammer.*

*This is the completed bridge before she works on the rest of the barrel.*

Aside from the engraving skill, Stefanie was also able to tune out all of the noise and distractions of a busy pen show, including people shoving cameras in her workspace (this is me taking a picture of Bryce from LBA taking a video.)

Stefanie usually engraves about 8-9 pens per day when she is working, but at the show, she cranked out a few more than that, all while making unique designs with the Vienna motif around them.

*Here’s another shot of Stefanie engraving the Vienna motif on a pink barrel.*

Since we don’t have video on the blog, here is a reel of Stefanie doing the engraving and this is actually my pen barrel!

As all of the pen barrels have traveled back to Germany to be lacquered, finished and assembled, I won’t have the pen in time for my birthday. But that’s just fine because this white Xetra Vienna is a great stand-in until that one arrives. Happy Birthday to me and to all the September babies out there! Best wishes to all to stay safe and stay inky!

Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on September 8, 2023 by Kimberly Lau and filed under Waldmann, Fountain Pens.

Stationery Outdoors

(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. And check out her latest book, Out of Water, now available where books are sold!)

I tend to overthink what stationery I bring when I travel, but it's something I enjoy thinking about. My final adventure of the summer took place this past weekend--my first camping trip! A friend and I went tent camping for three days on the shores of Lake Superior, hiking the lakeshore and north woods all day and cooking over a fire. It was amazing! But what stationery do you bring to the great outdoors?

My carry needed to be pretty minimal. There are already way too many things to pack for a camping trip, and priority space was given to gear that would prevent freezing or starving. It would also need to be stationery that could handle some potentially rough conditions.

Pens were the easiest to choose. My Spoke Roady, which goes with me everywhere, was a given as my practical pen. For a fountain pen, I chose the Gravitas Quark, which I'm currently test-driving for review. Both fit nicely in the wee Galen Leather zip case, which I'm also testing out. And, because I brought my Plotter Mini 5, the Kaweco Liliput that lives in the pen loop also came along. I had two spare small international ink cartridges in my toiletries bag, just in case of an inspiration emergency (both the ink that was already in the Kaweco, so no wilderness pen cleaning would be required).

Paper was trickier. I had a bit of paper in my Plotter, yes, but I don't find that size good for creative writing, just for jotting notes. It was possible that I'd have quite a bit of down time, so I wanted to be prepared to work on one of my writing projects. I have three short stories, two novellas, and one novel in progress. And I'll admit, my notebook situation is a bit out of control at the moment. Normally I have one notebook that all my short fiction goes into, but juggling multiple deadlines, plus the fact that my main short story notebook only has a few pages left (so I had to start a new one for a new story), means that I actually have four story notebooks in progress, plus two for the novel. I figured I'd work on a short story this trip, but the one that's due the soonest is in progress in a very fancy/fussy notebook with Cosmo Air Light paper. CAL paper doesn't like it if you breathe on it wrong. I love it, but I wouldn't consider it outdoorsy. But I remembered I had a small Paperblanks notebook that I'd taken on a previous trip. I'd started a novella in that notebook that I've since set aside. I decided that it was small enough, but substantial enough, and also durable enough, to be my trip notebook for the woods.

So how did my choices fare on their camping trip? Well. Let's just say I don't think I ever even unzipped that pocket of my backpack. That's right. I didn't touch a single piece of stationery for the entire trip. I didn't write a word. I didn't even so much as sign a receipt. No regrets! I was too busy frolicking.

What I did do: spent a collective 17 hours on three different beaches; hiked several trails; cooked 7 meals over campfires that I started myself; ate lots of s'mores, saw the northern lights (!), and collected a handful of beautiful Lake Superior agates. I'm bruised, sunburned, mosquito-bitten, exhausted, and totally happy. And behind on my writing. Worth it. You've gotta live to have something to write about.

(Note: Some photos are courtesy of my camping buddy, Kat Rohrmeier.)

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on September 7, 2023 by Sarah Read and filed under Travel.

Platinum Prefounte Fountain Pen Review

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

One of the easiest pens to recommend to people new to fountain pens is the Platinum Preppy. It's just a few bucks, it performs well, and it's even refillable. While it's great for an entry point or for testing nibs, it does look like a cheap, disposable pen (even though it's refillable). There are plenty of other Platinum fountain pens (and, of course, many other brands) that provide a little more style and durability, but they come at a higher price. The Platinum Plaisir is just over $20 and comes with a metal body, but I just don't like the design. The shiny band on the cap feels too out of place for my taste. Fortunately, there's another option that is closer to the Preppy in price, but with a cleaner and more durable design.

The Platinum Prefounte is a entry-level fountain pen that packs the same great nib and feed system found in the Preppy and Plaisir, but with a trimmed profile and more durable materials. I'm a sucker for anything that uses semi-transparent colored plastics — especially blues, greens, and purples, and this dark emerald variant of the Prefounte is lovely. The color and opaqueness of the material is uniform, but it looks like it shades due to the varying thickness of the material in different areas of the pen. I love looking at this pen while it's on my desk, and I'm still shocked that it costs only $11.

If you've ever used a Preppy or Plaisir, the Prefounte will feel very similar to both of these. The grips are the same, and it's only the balance of the pens that differ due to slightly different weights. The transparent grip provides a great view to the gray feed, and it also has a good feel when writing. The plastic material isn't slippery, and it remains comfortable to use even after a few minutes. It's a straight profile, but I find that there's plenty of tactile grip without a tapered shape or textured surface. The pen is so light that you don't need contouring or texture to provide extra grip control.

The nib is also the same nib that you'll find on any sub-$100 Platinum, which means it will perform well out of the box and provide a smooth writing experience. The Prefounte comes with either a fine (03) or medium (05) nib. The section unscrews from the body so that you can pop in a Platinum cartridge or converter. There's a single black cartridge included with the pen, but I opted for a blue-black cartridge that I already had on hand. You could add a converter to this pen, but at $11, I'm not sure I'd by one specifically for this pen. I'd certainly use a converter if I already had one that wasn't being used in another Platinum pen, so it's nice to have that option.

The cap uses a snap fit for securing it to the pen. Uncapping and capping the pen both have a satisfying feel, and I have no concerns that the cap will come off when in a bag or pocket. There's also a nice click sound and feel when capping the pen so you know for sure that it's secure.

The only branding on the pen is on the base of the cap. There's a small "Prefounte" logo directly under the clip, and a "Platinum" logo on the opposite side. Speaking of the clip, it's really strong. It's metal, so it also makes the pen look slightly more professional. It has no trouble securing the pen to anything it can fit under the clip.

With the Prefounte, this has become my standard recommendation for someone that is interested in getting into fountain pens. It's such a great nib/grip platform, and the nicer build and materials make it easier for people that want something that looks nicer than a Preppy. At $11, it's a fantastic value, but still a low enough price for folks that aren't sure if they'll like fountain pens. This makes a great entry-level "try it out" pen, but also a great low cost gift for that fountain-pen-curious friend, or even a great beater pen to carry yourself. The Prefounte only adds value to the Preppy platform, and I'm so glad it exists.

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

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!