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Thread: Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

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    Senior Member calamus's Avatar
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    Default Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

    I went to see a doctor recently, and as he took notes I noticed he was doing it with a very attractive fountain pen. I asked him what it was, and he replied, "Oh, it's a fountain pen." He enunciated "fountain pen" very carefully, in case I was unfamiliar with the term. So after I explained to him that I owned several fountain pens myself, but didn't recognize his, he replied that it was a Visconti. We had a jolly chat about pens and inks (he mixes his own from two different Diamine colors), and in the course of the conversation he mentioned that the Visconti was his "Holy Grail" of pens. That started me thinking about the whole concept of a Holy Grail of pens, and what that would mean to me. What was my Holy Grail of fountain pens? And specifically, what was I looking for in a pen that would make it the perfect pen for me? Not so much a matter of am I looking for a vintage Waterman wet noodle or a Meisterstuck 149 or a Sailor KOP or a 1909 S VDB with a fringe on top, but more what characteristics am I looking for? What is it that makes that Visconti or that Pelikan or that Parker or that Conway Stewart just what I've been looking for? And then I thought it would be interesting to hear other people's takes on the subject, and therefore this thread.
    Quid rides? Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur. — Horace
    (What are you laughing at? Just change the name and the joke’s on you.)

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    Senior Member jar's Avatar
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    Default Re: Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

    King Arthur: Hello! Hello!

    French: Hallo? Who is it?
    King Arthur: It is King Arthur, and these are his Knights of the Round Table. Whose castle is this?
    French: This is the castle of my master, Guy de Lombard.
    King Arthur: Go and tell your master that we have been charged by God with a sacred quest. If he can provide us food and shelter for the night he can join us on the quest for the Holy Grail.
    French: Well, I'll ask him, but I don't think he'd be very keen. He's already got one you see?
    King Arthur: What?

    Sir Galahad: They said they already got one.

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    Default Re: Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

    Holy Grail? Yes, I've already got one as well.

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    Default Re: Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

    The Grail Pen is the one you are currently lusting after and cannot live without. Or the one you can only envision owning someday.

    These things too shall pass.

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    Default Re: Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

    Desperately seeking Sailor Black Velvet.
    "Nolo esse salus sine vobis ...” —St. Augustine

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    Default Re: Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

    For me, a true grail pen would be the one pen that can do it all. Since no one pen can do it all, I no longer subscribe to the concept of a grail pen.

    I suppose if all of my writing were of a singe type then I could anoint a particular pen a grail and set my sights on obtaining it. But as it is, my requirements are so diverse that every pen I’ve purchased thinking “this is it, the ne plus ultra” has ended up being just one of many needed for the job.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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    Default Re: Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

    I've gotten a couple of pens which were grailish at the time, a Pilot MYU, for example. But after a while, the enthusiasm fades a bit, and they become just one more pen that you're glad you have.
    "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."
    G.K. Chesterton

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    Default Re: Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

    I don't have a Grail pen per se, but I do have some 'next pens' and a few 'eventually' pens in mind.

    Eventually maybe an Eversharp Skyline. I think I would like to pick up a next level Pilot like a Namiki Heritage 91 or a Falcon. I was pretty impressed trying a couple recently. I have a few low cost Chinese pens I want to try too.

    I should probably take a break from pen buying and spend more time using what i already have.

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    Default Re: Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

    Quote Originally Posted by VertOlive View Post
    Desperately seeking Sailor Black Velvet.
    Since you asked real nice:

    https://youtu.be/tT4d1LQy4es


    All the Best.

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    Default Re: Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

    I have mine. Now, I can go fishing.
    "Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little." -Epicurus-

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    Default Re: Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

    Be interesting to see in six months if that grail pen is still the one for your doctor.

    I tend to think of grail pens in two categories similar to what has been mentioned above.

    Grail in the informal sense of wanting to attain it, the next on the list, the current obsession. Not really out of reach but hard to get because I have to save up, or there are only a limited number, and so forth. Right now that is an Aurora 88 nebulosa or an Omas Ogiva Bloody Mary. This list doesn't empty but as Kaputnik says I am really glad I have them.

    Second, in the true sense of grail there is the more unobtainable, ultimate, elusive pen that I can own but will take a lot longer to achieve because they are much more expensive and beautiful and widely sought after. Half of Sarj Minas' collection fall into this category.

    So it's really more short and long term wishes. I think grail can have the meaning of insatiability, always striving, wanting, then getting and wanting anew. Contentment is a wonderful thing because there is no perfect pen, no finished collection and it is wonderful to write and enjoy and savour what I have. I buy and sell sometimes but am not on a quest.

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    Default Re: Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

    Long time lurker... occasional poster here. I had to unsubscribe from the grail pen idea because, to me what is a grail pen? That magical thing that makes my collection complete and fits my description of the perfect pen that would satisfy me and again, complete my collection.

    Then the self doubt overwhelms me. What if I already own it? What if in my search for the meaning of pen collecting, it was right there in my hands all along and I missed it because I was too busy chasing something else.

    Please note that I'm at work right now writing with a Gama Popular ebonite pen with a custom ground architect's nib from China, and I gotta say, I love this thing.

    Today's a good day, so smile dammit.

    dan

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    Default Re: Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

    I thought about this.

    And I can't come up with one. I've bought a few pens that people in pendom have raved about and I thought were fine, but not for me. At one time I wanted Every Sailor Ever Made, In Every Nib, but I have all I need. That goes for Lamy, Waterman, Pelikan, and vintage, too.

    Would I like a MB 149 (y'know, flagship iconic etc) if it jumped into my pocket? Maybe, but I don't care for piston fillers, and it's probably too big for my hand.

    You would probably be appalled at the number of pens I've sold or donated, and I am still looking for pens to sell and give away. The fire to acquire seems to have left me.
    My other pen is a Montblanc.

    And my other blog is a tumblr!


    And my latest ebook, for spooky wintery reading:

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CM2NGSSD

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    Default Re: Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

    I don't have one "Grail Pen", but I have many "Dream Pens".

    Having said that, if anyone here has a sword clip (just the clip, I already got the pen) from a Parker Royal Challenger, I'd offer to buy it to complete my "grail pen"
    - Will
    Unique and restored vintage pens: Redeem Pens

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    Default Re: Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

    I don't have a grail anymore because whims are fickle things. Many people like what they can't have or haven't got, so it's never surprising how one feels about their grail pen after several months of use.

    Would it still be a grail pen? Most likely not because whims are fickle.

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    Default Re: Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

    To me, it's the difficulty of achieving the Grail, and the Grail Quest, that is the point of a Grail Pen.

    It's not just a pen you really want, that you can order from Goulet, or go and buy at a pen show. It's a pen that's difficult to track down, *and* that you really, really want.

    So in Pelikans, the latest m800 couldn't be a Grail Pen because beautiful and want-worthy as it is, all I'd have to do is plonk my money down with one retailer or another. But perhaps the m600 white tortoise, because you hardly ever see it, or the Citroenpers m200 - those might qualify.

    I don't think I actually have a Grail Pen now... but like Penwash I have lots of dreams :-)

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    Default Re: Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

    The entire allegory of the Grail is about those seeking who fail to find due, mostly, to their human nature. Gallahad was the most pure and good, beyond the capacity of normal people, and therefore was able to find the Grail.

    Therefore, the notion of a Grail should represent, if it can represent anything at all, a pen that likely can not and will not ever by found or attained.

    Perhaps a "White Whale" is a more apt description as that seems more in line with the obsessive searching (and periodic availability) of most "Grails" out there.

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    Default Re: Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

    There are many apparent Holy Grails, but only one true one...

    Quid rides? Mutato nomine de te fabula narratur. — Horace
    (What are you laughing at? Just change the name and the joke’s on you.)

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    Default Re: Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

    Quote Originally Posted by junglejim View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by VertOlive View Post
    Desperately seeking Sailor Black Velvet.
    Since you asked real nice:

    https://youtu.be/tT4d1LQy4es


    All the Best.
    Oh! Yep. That's me, Texas Cowgirl Funeral Director!
    "Nolo esse salus sine vobis ...” —St. Augustine

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    Default Re: Holy Grail of Fountain Pens

    Quote Originally Posted by AzJon View Post
    Perhaps a "White Whale" is a more apt description as that seems more in line with the obsessive searching (and periodic availability) of most "Grails" out there.
    Mine:

    - Will
    Unique and restored vintage pens: Redeem Pens

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