Venvstas hits 2.0 with the carbon fiber Magna piston

I can't fault Venvstas's persistence. After I heavily criticised the first Magna piston, this fiery Italian brand took my comments on the chin and came back stronger with the Magna CC, which I really liked: it had much better fit and finish, and the use of the converter both improved serviceability and filling, and fixed …

Aurora’s Matera and Deserto are gorgeous and (nearly) flawless

Ticking all the boxes I’ll say this right off the bat: I’ve discovered that I’ve become pretty fond of Aurora. In my time I’ve owned a grey flex Optima, a Duocart, a Talentum Black Ops, an 88 Black Mamba, a Pacifico, an 88 Minerali Amethyst, and my favourite of all, an 88 Nettuno. My experiences …

A new jouney began with UKfountainpens.com

by Feng @Onoto First, I wish Anthony all the best for his new job and enjoy his family life. I would also like to thank him for all his contributions over the last five years. We just can't deny how much we have gaind from his reviews! I am sure he might want to come …

An exciting new start for ukfountainpens.com

After my last post, I received dozens of messages asking me to keep ukfountainpens.com live as a resource for the community. For a variety of reasons, I couldn’t commit to doing that. But I’m excited to announce something even better. Feng Li of Onoto will be taking the reins of UKFP. I’ve known Feng for …

Goodbye: for real this time

Today is as good a day as any to wind up ukfountainpens.com. Unlike my previous end-of-year writeups and other similar posts, I'm not going to indulge myself in a lengthy review of what I've achieved or learned over the past five years. Don’t worry: I have a wonderful tray of pens, I enjoy writing with …

Icon, maker or lux?

Regular readers will know that I spend a lot of my collecting energy trying to spot patterns in my own behaviour, interrogating why I buy, keep and sell the pens I do. It's resulted in scoring methodologies and taxonomies aplenty. I have a new one for you today, one that has been nagging at me …

The Onoto Scholar was worth the wait

UPDATE: The Scholar is live on the Onoto website to order. I've been singing the praises of the Onoto Magna for at least three or four years now (Flanders, Shakespeare, Sequoyah, Mammoth...), and still I find that people don't see the value proposition until they've held one. A plastic converter filler with steel nib for …

Orange Leatherworks: flawless craft for a premium price

The first thing I should tell you about this three-pen fountain pen case from Orange Leatherworks is that it costs 649 CAD, or about £390. That's before shipping and import duties. This is unashamedly a luxury item, but a luxury item by the purest and least vulgar definition: an item that's made with no expense …

State of the collection: March 2022

Culling the grails My last state of the collection post was in December, and this is what my main tray looked like then. https://ukfountainpens.files.wordpress.com/2021/12/img_1705.jpg?w=2048 From that tray I've sold the Nakaya 17mm, Namiki Urushi 20, Radius, ASC arco, Graf Classic and Aurora 88. Six of 18. Some really really good pens there! Honestly I probably …

Silverburl hybrid pens: creative, but with quirks

I dunno about you, but my Facebook feed is absolutely swamped with people pouring epoxy resin on to pieces of wood. Often it's a coffee table. But you can also get phone cases and myrid other objects, large and small, made using this technique. While this 'hybrid' effect is on the verge of being overdone, …