Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 21 to 40 of 46

Thread: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

  1. #21
    Senior Member penwash's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Dallas, as in the 80's TV Series
    Posts
    3,662
    Thanks
    3,364
    Thanked 6,703 Times in 1,972 Posts
    Rep Power
    14

    Default Re: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

    Quote Originally Posted by TFarnon View Post
    My theme is: "Oooh! I like that one, and that one, and that one...." I considered trying to narrow my focus but gave that up after some thought.
    I'm the same way (you basically said what I said before in this thread, but in one sentence ).

    For me it's not that I gave up on having a focus, but I realize that if I were to have one, it would have to be a subset of my whole collection.

    Which is why the idea of mini-collection (as Fred mentioned above) appeals to me.
    - Will
    Unique and restored vintage pens: Redeem Pens

  2. #22
    Senior Member Chip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2021
    Location
    Wyoming
    Posts
    2,132
    Thanks
    98
    Thanked 1,079 Times in 632 Posts
    Rep Power
    6

    Default Re: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

    I enjoy looking at my collection through various filters. If I use a brand filter, there's Sheaffer, Parker, Wahl/Eversharp, Pelikan, Conklin, Moore, and others. Or I can sort by decade: pre-1920, 1920s, 1930s, and so on. Or by the filling system. Or by the type and width of the nib. Or by color.

    Blue:







    Green:



    Orange or Red:







    Also the ubiquitous blacks and browns, and multicolored, and ever on.

  3. #23
    Senior Member penwash's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Dallas, as in the 80's TV Series
    Posts
    3,662
    Thanks
    3,364
    Thanked 6,703 Times in 1,972 Posts
    Rep Power
    14

    Default Re: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

    ^ Nice mini collections!

    Here are two sets of similar style...

    - Will
    Unique and restored vintage pens: Redeem Pens

  4. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to penwash For This Useful Post:

    christof (October 27th, 2021), fountainpenkid (October 20th, 2021)

  5. #24
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2021
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    189
    Thanks
    9
    Thanked 102 Times in 58 Posts
    Rep Power
    3

    Default Re: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

    Some real extra nice pens.
    I'd not known MB or Soennecken came in Fred's Chevron patterns.

    I have a couple late Boehler pens...@'38. The Boehler split the Osmia firm then.

    I can't say I collected BCHR pens but I have 3-4 in great shape and 3 in poorer shape including a couple Waterman 52's.
    This one was my first and still most defined BCHR pen. I'd jumped from Oh, my e30 to a whole E-70...while still thinking E-50 was a lot of money.




    I lucked out with Boehlers (one from @ '70's) but only have 4,Plus the two above.

    One a full tortoise from '38 in the Osmia 54 model size. I have two light tortoise 400&500 and a darker '90's 400 in tortoise.


    This is an Osmia-Faber-Castel 540, that started my addiction.
    It had been in my wife's aunt's drawer for 15 or so years since the death of her husband, and 15 in ours.
    We were going off to sell at our first flea market. My wife asked what those obsolete fountain pens in the back of the drawer were worth. I'd heard of the Esterbrook but was prettier than the metal capped one's I'd owned. The other Osmia was unknown.
    I sai 1 euro for the normal looking ones,and E-5 for this pretty one.

    She shook the German finger at me,and tasked me with finding out. 20:00 I started looking, at 02:00 I had a collection. This was before the last depression.
    My $22 silver backed dollar P-75 $225. That Osmia mdl 540... $250!!!!
    Someone would have smiled immensely probably Thomas/Kaweco when he bought that pen for E-5.00. (I run into him at local flea markets; and I listen to a scholar.)

    I chase the nib.
    If one alternates stub and CI, there is @ 45 different widths and flexes in nibs. (not counting Weak Kneed Wet Noodles) I think I have some @ 35....a guesstimate, in I've never really counted.

    I have 35 semi-flex nibbed pens, and 15 maxi-semi-flex nibbed pens.

    The great oblique era'50-70 that and earlier are the Only Ones Worth Buying. There were the normal 15 degree grinds, and I discovered there were rarer 30 degree grinds.

    I have a 30 degree maxi-semi-flex OBBB 500. I have no other BBB or OBBB nibs. I did luck out in OBB, OB, OM and OF I have in both 15 degree and 30 degree grinds. That is a 'normal' mix of semi&maxi.

    I never allocated my money enough to have a specialty area of collection; out side of Vintage semi-flex '50-70 and classic shaped regular flex '70-'97 era German pens. I wasn't doing a specialty...it was affordable nib, brand I knew and or a pretty pen.
    Some stripped ones, my prettiest 'stripped' one is off being re-corked, but here are three nice pretty ones.




    I've not counted how many regular flex pens I have.at least 20...could easily be 25.
    I do have some 90 pens. So that leaves two semi-nails (P-75 & Pelikan 605) and 10 or more nails. Give or take.
    Last edited by BoBo Olson; October 20th, 2021 at 11:56 AM.

  6. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to BoBo Olson For This Useful Post:

    carlos.q (October 21st, 2021), Chip (October 20th, 2021), fountainpenkid (October 20th, 2021)

  7. #25
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Posts
    256
    Thanks
    51
    Thanked 244 Times in 116 Posts
    Rep Power
    6

    Default Re: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

    I wanted a nice pen from every country that makes them.

    So, I have a Nakaya (Japan), a Visconti Open (Italy), MontBlanc WE Shakespeare (Germany), Caran D'Ache (Switzerland), Cross(USA) Peerless , Parker 51s (both UK & USA).

    I have a few more, but setting this goal has helped keep the collection a bit more proportionate.

  8. The Following User Says Thank You to Sandy For This Useful Post:

    dneal (October 29th, 2021)

  9. #26
    Senior Member fountainpenkid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Nouvelle Angleterre
    Posts
    3,675
    Thanks
    3,483
    Thanked 1,222 Times in 598 Posts
    Rep Power
    18

    Default Re: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

    BoBo, is that (amazing) hammered clip something particular Osmia model? Or was it a special order at the time?
    Will
    If my p.m box is full, feel free to email me at dabantur@gmail.com.

  10. #27
    Senior Member Chip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2021
    Location
    Wyoming
    Posts
    2,132
    Thanks
    98
    Thanked 1,079 Times in 632 Posts
    Rep Power
    6

    Default Re: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

    So many beautiful pens that were unknown to me, 'til now.

    Thanks for posting.

  11. #28
    Senior Member christof's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Confoederatio Helvetica
    Posts
    1,875
    Thanks
    1,893
    Thanked 7,814 Times in 1,426 Posts
    Rep Power
    17

    Default Re: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

    Someone said tortoise?

    This pattern is definitely a topic in my collection:



    On the right side, a Pelikan 400 and 400NN in real "light tortoise"
    Last edited by christof; October 27th, 2021 at 12:44 AM.

  12. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to christof For This Useful Post:

    carlos.q (October 21st, 2021), fountainpenkid (October 21st, 2021)

  13. #29
    Senior Member christof's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Confoederatio Helvetica
    Posts
    1,875
    Thanks
    1,893
    Thanked 7,814 Times in 1,426 Posts
    Rep Power
    17

    Default Re: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

    Quote Originally Posted by fountainpenkid View Post
    ...is that (amazing) hammered clip something particular Osmia model?
    These clips can be specially found on Böhler pens (Hermann Böhler)


  14. The Following User Says Thank You to christof For This Useful Post:

    fountainpenkid (October 21st, 2021)

  15. #30
    Senior Member fountainpenkid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Nouvelle Angleterre
    Posts
    3,675
    Thanks
    3,483
    Thanked 1,222 Times in 598 Posts
    Rep Power
    18

    Default Re: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

    Quote Originally Posted by christof View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by fountainpenkid View Post
    ...is that (amazing) hammered clip something particular Osmia model?
    These clips can be specially found on Böhler pens (Hermann Böhler)

    And a matching cap band to boot?! That is lovely!
    Will
    If my p.m box is full, feel free to email me at dabantur@gmail.com.

  16. The Following User Says Thank You to fountainpenkid For This Useful Post:

    christof (October 21st, 2021)

  17. #31
    Senior Member FredRydr's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Carlisle, Pennsylvania USA
    Posts
    4,909
    Thanks
    1,396
    Thanked 6,390 Times in 2,505 Posts
    Rep Power
    18

    Default Re: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

    Quote Originally Posted by christof View Post
    These clips can be specially found on Böhler pens (Hermann Böhler)

    Uh oh....

  18. The Following User Says Thank You to FredRydr For This Useful Post:

    christof (October 21st, 2021)

  19. #32
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2019
    Location
    Pacific Northwest
    Posts
    4
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts
    Rep Power
    0

    Default Re: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

    There are some gorgeous pens pictured in this thread! My small collection has pens and pencils made of unconventional or heavy-ish materials. Here are some examples:

    - Two mechanical pencils and a ball point that were machined in solid tungsten. They're quite heavy - which I like. Weights are 139 grams for the pen, 192 grams for the larger pencil.

    - An oversize Muki fountain pen that has a white fired ceramic finish. The ceramic coating is very hard and has a high gloss.

    - An oversize Garcia-Deschacht .925 silver fountain pen. All of the components - with the exception of the nib and convertor - were hand made by Andy Deschacht in Belgium.

    - An olive wood Graf von Faber Castell "Elemento" rollerball pen

    - A 5.5mm lead sketch pencil with a body made of cast cement. Surprisingly, it's not that heavy!

    - A "Coco" rollerball pen that was turned in aluminum and which has coconut wood trim

  20. The Following User Says Thank You to gordonf For This Useful Post:

    Lloyd (October 25th, 2021)

  21. #33
    Senior Member ethernautrix's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Land of Po
    Posts
    1,064
    Thanks
    1,661
    Thanked 1,282 Times in 556 Posts
    Rep Power
    13

    Default Re: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

    The overarching theme of my pen col--accumulation is failure.

    My goal from the very beginning was to own and use one fine (as in fancy or exquisite) fountain pen. Over the decades, I've owned (and traded/gave away/sold) hundreds of fine pens (low hundreds), the gamut of vintage to modern and a variety of filling mechanisms, and all these failures helped me to hone my preferences.

    I found my favorite brand and model, Nakaya Piccolo Cigar, and favorite nib brand, Pilot. I was able to combine them into my "grail" pen (grail, as in the search is over), and so maybe the theme isn't failure so much as persistence.

    Also, the the-one-pen goal? Unrealistic. Hahaha. Maybe not hundreds, you know, I don't want too many pens. I don't know the magic number, but it isn't one.
    _____________
    To Miasto

  22. The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to ethernautrix For This Useful Post:

    fountainpenkid (October 26th, 2021), junglejim (October 26th, 2021)

  23. #34
    Senior Member Chip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2021
    Location
    Wyoming
    Posts
    2,132
    Thanks
    98
    Thanked 1,079 Times in 632 Posts
    Rep Power
    6

    Default Re: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

    Nakaya Piccolo Cigar Kuro-tame? Another pen that's new to me. Looks like a high-quality instrument and I love the package.


    It's been ages since I slipped a pen into my shirt pocket, using the clip. But I like a clip as a design element.
    Last edited by Chip; October 26th, 2021 at 10:52 PM.

  24. #35
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Posts
    401
    Thanks
    134
    Thanked 216 Times in 132 Posts
    Rep Power
    11

    Default Re: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

    My Pile-o-pens has a few themes, though I would not necessarily elevate these elements to that term, were it not in the op of this thread...

    The first thread is "available." There are pens I have specifically because, you know, I wanted a pen and it was there. Starting with my first Sheaffer school pen.

    Another themes is "My mother's grandma could have had this." which covers a lot of nice pens around the turn of the 20th century - nothing terribly expensive, but of all the pens I have, I paid the most for one of these.

    Another is "Oh, poor ting!" I have an absurd number of Wearevers, Scriptos, no-name brands, etc - and not just pretty Wearevers, but the single color (not generally very pretty colors, either) with the metal caps, celluloid pens with missing bits all over them. I have been known to use a small shanked button to replace the bits at the ends of these pens that have been lost to time. I certainly don't demand they have clips. Or nibs. Or sections. Or J-bars. Or Sacs- of course sacs fail in all pens anyway if you have them long enough (well, provided the pen takes a sac. Sacs rarely fail, I would presume, in cartridge/converter/etc pens). I try - at least theoretically, to mend the wings on these little broken birds, and sometimes I even succeed - but I have a lot of bits and pieces, too... I am sort of the guardian of the Island of Misfit pens, or one of them, at least (Island - got way more than one Misfit pen...)

    If it comes down to Sheaffer vs. Parker I am more of a Sheaffer person - not to say that I don't have a few Parkers, I do, but given a choice I'd probably pick a Sheaffer first. I have a bunch of these in various shades of decrepitude, as well as a few that work, and the school pens, which tend to work unless you put something like shellac in there instead of ink, or else step on the plastic part and crack it.

    I like little pens, so I have a bunch of those.

    My strangest theme is possibly the combos. I have lots of combos, and if I see one, I always consider buying it, even if only for a few minutes. Why? Who knows? I rarely use pencils at all, , but something about having one right there in case I want to appeals to me. Or maybe it is the plebeian usefulness for those who do use pencils as well as pens - they don't seem to have been a "Fancy" item - a separate mechanical pencil, yes, can be fancy, but the combos all seem very down to Earth. I have one that was some sort of commemorative for a club or lodge of some kind taking a day trip in London in 1940 or 41, and the whole idea of a bunch of men getting on a bus or what have you to have a day out, with fountain pens, during the war, just captures me.

    My most normal theme is probably Eversharps. I have different kinds. I have a bunch of Skylines. The first pen I ever found in an antique store is one of them. I have no idea why, but I adore them. I also have some of the smaller ones, ladies pens, I suppose, which goes back to my whole "Small pen" thing.

    And lastly, and this really encompasses the whole collection as even my "expensive" pens are not the expensive, minty, highly sought after versions, is "Cheap." I might even say 'Cheapest." I am absurdly happy if I happen to find, say, a dozen modern Jinhaos for under 20 dollars, or five Wing Sungs for 11 - If I want one of something, and it has postage involved, and I can get a whole bunch for maybe twice that price, why not? I adore lots that other people have undervalued (It has to be a pretty low total for me to bid on it) which is where a lot of the not-so-pretty pens come from, and also the ones that, if they were cars, would be totaled by the insurance company and immediately crushed by the junk yard as being completely not worth fixing.

    Oh, and I like colors. So that's where the celluloid and, more recently, the acrylic pens can be classified. The Colors...

    It is not an investment collection I have, and I have not needed to put a rider on the home insurance, but I am having fun...
    Last edited by scrivelry; October 27th, 2021 at 12:36 AM.

  25. The Following User Says Thank You to scrivelry For This Useful Post:

    penwash (October 28th, 2021)

  26. #36
    Senior Member christof's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Confoederatio Helvetica
    Posts
    1,875
    Thanks
    1,893
    Thanked 7,814 Times in 1,426 Posts
    Rep Power
    17

    Default Re: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

    There is another subtopic in my collection. Few pens but space capturing...



    So this part of the collection must grow very slowly...

  27. #37
    Senior Member FredRydr's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    Carlisle, Pennsylvania USA
    Posts
    4,909
    Thanks
    1,396
    Thanked 6,390 Times in 2,505 Posts
    Rep Power
    18

    Default Re: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

    Quote Originally Posted by christof View Post
    There is another subtopic in my collection. Few pens but space capturing...So this part of the collection must grow very slowly...
    No Wahl?

  28. #38
    Senior Member christof's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Confoederatio Helvetica
    Posts
    1,875
    Thanks
    1,893
    Thanked 7,814 Times in 1,426 Posts
    Rep Power
    17

    Default Re: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

    Quote Originally Posted by FredRydr View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by christof View Post
    There is another subtopic in my collection. Few pens but space capturing...So this part of the collection must grow very slowly...
    No Wahl?
    I'm sorry Fred, forgot this one:


  29. #39
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2021
    Posts
    10
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    Rep Power
    0

    Default Re: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

    My first fountain pen was a gift (that I asked for), but other than that, there's no story to my pens. There is definitely a theme -- TWSBIs with broad nibs. I plan to expand on that soon, but I'll mostly stick with reliable writers with large ink capacities, and preferably durable ones. I do try to be intentional in my pen purchases, so that every pen has a purpose -- for instance being inked with a specific color or being used for quick notes while out.

  30. #40
    Senior Member Chip's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2021
    Location
    Wyoming
    Posts
    2,132
    Thanks
    98
    Thanked 1,079 Times in 632 Posts
    Rep Power
    6

    Default Re: Does your pen collection have any supporting themes or stories?

    Quote Originally Posted by christof View Post
    What a beautiful pen!

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •