TFarnon
August 3rd, 2020, 06:42 AM
I'm about 6 months new to collecting fountain pens, although I've been using fountain pens off and on since the late 1960s, when they were required in German schools, at least the ones I attended (4th-6th grades). I hadn't used a fountain pen in at least 20 or 30 years, though, when I bought a pack of Zebra disposables on a whim. I liked them, and went digging around in one of my drawers. I found two fountain pens lurking: a Sheaffer (unknown model) and a Waterman Phileas. Both were a little scratched up on the outside, but I bought some sort of fountain pen polish/grit to remedy that when I want to find the time, and they both responded splendidly to a good water soak and rinse on the inside. That got me curious, though, and I went roaming the internet for more information. That was the end of my casual interest.
I've been on a collecting tear ever since. At first, I just randomly bought whatever appealed to me, and I'm still doing that to a large degree. A few directions are starting to take shape, though. I really like Conklin pens (antique and new), Sailor Pens (more new than anything else) and antique pens (over 80 years old). I also like "pretty" pens, which are pink, purple, gold, silver, sparkly, very shiny, glittery, rainbow, iridescent, pearl or pearly. Generally speaking, I prefer longer, slimmer pens. But I don't let that stop me from appreciating other pens, even pens I would never even think of buying myself. Oh. I also like nerdy, techy things like the Monteverde Tool, slide rule pens and things that look or are very mechanical. Obviously I haven't found my ultimate collecting groove yet.
Outside of pens, my interests include my garden, cats (mine and visiting), and science. I work in science, currently in transfusion services. Before I worked in medical laboratory science, I worked in ion channel research doing molecular biology. And before that, I was a Russian translator (my second language) in the Army. There's a pattern here: yes, I'm all over the place.
I've been on a collecting tear ever since. At first, I just randomly bought whatever appealed to me, and I'm still doing that to a large degree. A few directions are starting to take shape, though. I really like Conklin pens (antique and new), Sailor Pens (more new than anything else) and antique pens (over 80 years old). I also like "pretty" pens, which are pink, purple, gold, silver, sparkly, very shiny, glittery, rainbow, iridescent, pearl or pearly. Generally speaking, I prefer longer, slimmer pens. But I don't let that stop me from appreciating other pens, even pens I would never even think of buying myself. Oh. I also like nerdy, techy things like the Monteverde Tool, slide rule pens and things that look or are very mechanical. Obviously I haven't found my ultimate collecting groove yet.
Outside of pens, my interests include my garden, cats (mine and visiting), and science. I work in science, currently in transfusion services. Before I worked in medical laboratory science, I worked in ion channel research doing molecular biology. And before that, I was a Russian translator (my second language) in the Army. There's a pattern here: yes, I'm all over the place.