I just received my first order yesterday from P.W. Akkerman in The Hague, Netherlands. This will not be news to many of you, but as this was my first experience with them I thought it worth a few words describing my first experience and new earned esteem.
The order took about 18 days total, placing the order on the 12th of December and receiving it on the 30th. Giving that the Christmas holidays were observed in this time window and the fact that it came from the Netherlands to Missouri with customs in the middle somewhere, I didn't thing this was to long a time to wait.
The packaging was superb! It reminded me the packaging that tailors used decades ago to wrap custom sewn shirts in order to protect them from any spills that may happen on the packaging prior to getting it home. The inks came wrapped in tailor's paper. The durable, non-porous brown paper with the beige pin stripping. I was taken aback by just the quality of the wrapping and the time invested in this process.
The best thing about Akkerman's of course is their unique ink bottles and I was very pleased to receive 4 of these inks in good order. With the Dollar strong against the Euro their prices are now very attractive also. I purchased a couple of pens also. A Kaweco Sport artist's pencil and a Kaweco Sport fountain pen. They also carried a line of German pens named Lindauer. They have Bock nibs and looked really nice! As they were a piston filler with an ink window I decided to pick one up and give it a try. I will say it is well worth the 27 Euros. All of the pens were gift wrapped (not requested) in pretty Akkerman's paper. A lovely touch that speaks to their quality!
Anyway, I thought I would take some time to share my new experience with this quality pen merchant! These days it is a great thing to be pleasantly surprised by old time customer service!
Lindauer FP:
Akkerman Ink Bottles:
Akkerman's superb packaging!
PW. Akkermans:
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