Looking back at old flames, with ever-widening eyes…

Someone approached me on Instagram today asking if I had a Conid for sale. I didn't, of course… but I have owned four of them. A special edition Minimalistica, a Regular and TWO Kingsize. I've seen a few comparisons this week between the new Scribo model and the Pelikan Ocean Swirl… well, I've owned that …

Pen shows are back, and better than ever

It's been a long time since my last London Pen Show, back in October 2019. So when I parked up at the venue yesterday, I was a little apprehensive. The world had changed, of course, but so have I — gone are my days of splashing cash on lots of pens. Would I still find …

Summer and I’m not dead yet

Here in the UK it's a heatwave and frankly I've spent less time thinking about pens than I normally would. My pen-buying has trickled to a halt (although these gorgeous designs are tempting me), my pen selling nearly so, and I'm satisfied with how my Toyooka tray is looking. I've been using and reinking my …

Updating my top three pens for 2021

It's been a while since I wrote this post about my top three pens, inspired by a long-running series of videos hosted by Joost from Appelboom. Rereading it, I stand by every word: my selections of the Namiki Urushi 20, Lamy 2000 Bauhaus Blue, and Visconti London Fog all seem fair, and they're all pens …