Wonderful Fountain Pens in Boston

Today I stopped into Bromfield Pen Shop, a store in downtown Boston that sells fountain pens, fountain pen ink, and an assortment of watches and knives. In other words, it's one of my favorite places in the Northeast! The front counter had a large assortment of Viscontis, Pilots, Faber-Castells, Watermans, Pelikans and more. A shelf towards the back of the shop was stocked with a wide variety of Noodler's ink -- I resisted buying the ever-cool Antietam Red, for now -- as well as standards like Waterman, Lamy, and Private Reserve. To top it all off, Bromfield sells Mondaine watches and Victorinox pocket knives. I didn't get to spend a lot of time in this wonderland, but the next time I am near Boston Common, I will be sure to stop in again and perhaps leave with a new bottle of something.

I took the following photos with my cell phone. They aren't great, but they'll have to do for now.

Waterman Fountain Pen and Amazing Handwriting

The blogger Leigh Reyes recently featured an older Waterman fountain pen equipped with a music nib. Seeing beautiful calligraphy like this makes me want to learn more how to get more out of my fountain pens. I might have to invest in a pen with a more flexible nib, though. Namiki Falcon, anyone?

Flax Pen to Paper

Last week, I visited Flax Pen to Paper, a Flax outpost near UCLA. I was impressed: the store carries a sterling silver Namiki fountain pen, as well as several kinds of Sailor pens. The Sailors are out of my price range -- the one that fits my hand costs around $300.00 -- but I am happy to know that they are available in Los Angeles.


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Amazing Calligraphy

The person featured in this video is Leigh Reyes, who, in my opinion, is an extremely skilled calligrapher. I wouldn't mind learning calligraphy at some point in my life. Wow.

Good Paper for Fountain Pens?

Now that I have begun my small collection of fountain pens, I would like to find some good paper for them. I usually like to use Crane stationery, but I have found that the weave is too coarse for fountain pen nibs: the nibs get caught. I have heard that people like to use use their fountain pens with Rhodia pads, but I haven't tried them yet. (And, I don't especially like to write on graph paper.) So, if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

Thanks.

Favorite Pens

So, I recently started using my Waterman Phileas fountain pen again, and I am hooked. It writes beautifully. I also bought a vintage 1930's dip pen from a local variety store, as well as some cool ink from Dick Blick, and I love that one, too. I think I have discovered a new passion.

Here are some other pens that like:

1) Pilot Fineliners
http://www.artstuff.net/pilot_fineliner_markers.htm

2) Flair Felt Tips
http://www.amazon.com/Paper-Mate-74423-Marker-Assorted/dp/B000J09CO6