Some time ago I posted a Page of Shame of 30+ inked fountain pens. I know…. That was becoming a bit too much for daily use, even for my doing. So I did the inevitable and had my pens undergo a “fountain pen triage”. I divided them in pens to keep in my EDC (or at least at hand), pens to clean and store and pens to consider for sale. Now deciding which pen to store was hard enough, but deciding which to sell… That is still really hard. There is one pen I have decided to put up for sale some time ago, because I just do not use it enough. I’ll mention that pen later on.

Most of the pens I cleaned and stored are vintage pens, TWSBI’s and a couple of my numerous Jinhaos. I love them all, but wanted to store the vintage just to be a little more careful with them, the TWSBI’s because I already have a lot of stubs and demonstrators in action and the Jinhaos because they take up a lot of room in my EDC. For cleaning I first flush the pens under a running tap and drain the pen by flushing it with water a couple of times from a cup or glass, then a spin in the sonic cleaner (a jeweler’s cleaner, available at jewelers and drug stores) and then a final flush with clean water and putting them out on a towel to dry.

Let’s rather go over the pens I kept inked or re-inked and why.

Clockwise from the left:

• Aurora Optima Burgundy; this pen has been inked up since I received it last Winter.  Sometimes with burgundy inks, but I usually keep it inked with Aurora Black because I love how this combination behaves. I use it for doodling, faux calligraphy and bullet journaling.
• Bexley Jim Gaston Holiday 2002; my first Pen Show acquisition from the dangerous tables of Sarj Minhas. This stub is so juicy and generous, it makes your writing look amazingly effortless. I love using it for addressing envelopes and packages.
• ASA Pens Galactic; a recent acquisition so I need to get a few more writing miles under my belt to tell you how this is working for me. First writing impressions are very favorable.
• Pelikan Twist Bronze; I first bought the Jungle you will see later on online from Germany and liked it so much I ordered this Bronze within 24 hours… It has a really lovely medium nib, not too wet, certainly not too dry. I just love these “adult”  Pelikan Twist versions. Good pens to just chuck in your bag.
• Mabie Todd Swan 3250; one of the first vintage pens I bought just from looking at the nib and the writing sample the seller provided. This is a great writer. It is not much of a looker, but every time I put nib to paper, I don’t care about that. Usually inked with a deep burgundy or brown ink.
• Sheaffer 330 “Quasi” Imperial; one of two Sheaffers bought in one lot. The other one is an oblique and I cleaned and stored that one. This is a beautiful crisp stub and I love having shading red inks in this pen.
• Delike New Moon Pink; if you want to know more about this pen, please click here for a full “first impressions” review.
• Pilot Prera Vivid Pink; bought after falling in love with fine Pilot nibs I tried at a pen meet. If you are a broad nib lover, Pilot fines are good fines to try. The Kanuno, Metropolitan or MR also come in fine.
• Franklin-Christoph M65 Antique Glass; I really loved getting a FC pen in this material so when I was in time for a sign-up waiting list, I was over the moon. More on this and other FC’s in this link.
• Franklin-Christoph M45 Cherry Ice; a lovely little pen and one of the Stub.Italic.Gradient FC nibs. Also more on this pen under the link in the previous bullet.
• Kaweco Skyline Sport Pink; I love Kaweco Sports for nib grinding. This has the final drops of a Noodler’s sample. I’ll be sorry when that is gone.
• Online Germany; also a victim of my nib grinding exercises. A colorful pen. I used to get an Online fountain pen fix every now and then wen my boys where babes and the money mostly went to diapers.
• Franklin-Christoph M45 Italian Ice; one of my favorite color-model combinations from the Franklin-Christoph range. Also more on this pen here.
• Pelikan Twist Jungle; a stealthy pen that suits every situation. It will even stand up for itself in the boardroom.
• Montegrappa Fortuna Mosaico Marrakech; no picture does the depth in this material justice. When the pen arrived, the nib wrote on the dry side, but I tuned it up and it’s a great writer. I am always on the hunt for the perfect blue to match up with the material.
• Montblanc 254 oblique medium; this nib is something else, in shape as well as in performance. Read all about it here.
• Franklin-Christoph M66 Stabilis Solid Ice; the first FC I ordered and a beautiful expressive nib.
• Sailor 1911 Standard Zoom Architect; always in my EDC. A nib that offers stunning line variation. Read more about this pen here.
• Delike New Moon Sky Blue; a great first extra fine nib.
• Inoxcrom Agatha Ruiz de la Prada; just a fun pen. I was mostly lured to it because of the polka dots but the nib isn’t half bad.
• Kaweco Skyline Sport Mint; these fifties colors are so cheerful and suit this pen shape very well. Another double broad ground into an architect.
• Lamy 2000; what can I say. A pen that many of us female pongees thought just a bit “meh” at first. But then I really fell for that torpedo shape and when I had the opportunity to try one, I was smitten and hunted one down at an online auction. I believe it is a medium but I gave it a crisp stub. It is surprisingly springy for a hooded nib.

Now I have one more pen on its way, to be completely honest. If I write one of the above dry in the mean time, that one will be switched out for the new pen. To see which pen is currently in transit… keep an eye out on my Instagram feed.

Unfortunately I do not have one pen case to carry all 22 and still fit in my work bag, so here’s a bird’s eye view of the current pen cases. Usually I choose which to bring to work the night before.

The pen I will be putting up for sale is a Montblanc Chopin (145) from the year 2000 with an oblique double broad nib. It is a beautiful pen but I just do not use it enough to justify keeping it. If you are interested, please contact me for pictures and price.

If I will be able to continue whittling down my EDC… I will keep you posted.

Thank you as ever for reading!