Through several of my friends and classmates from Viable Paradise 17, I’ve gotten back into fountain pens recently. And I keep asking myself why I ever left them.
I’ve always loved fountain pens, since I was 15 and I took a summer school course in Calligraphy (what can I say; I lived in Napa and it was the 80s–we had classes like that). But while I’ve always kept my calligraphy pens, and used them from time to time, I drifted away from using fountain pens–they tended to leak, and there would inevitably be a day when something would get ruined.
Well, it took years for me to realize that that happened because I was buying cheap pieces of crap. I don’t blame myself; I was poorer then and got what I could afford. But now that I’m a working professional, I thought it was time to try some new pens. I got turned on to The Goulet Pen Company, who sell pens from 1.50 to many thousands of dollars.
I started out with a relatively cheap pen, the Monteverde Monza. It was a decent pen, enough to get me interested again. And then I saw it.
In Lightsaber collecting, a Unicorn Saber is the lightsaber that you simply must have, the perfect saber that will complete your collection. Well, on the Goulet site, I found the Unicorn Pen. It was far more than I could justify spending, but I told myself I would get it someday.
And then I sold my novel. As my wife and I had agreed, my first advance was mine to spend however I wished. For the family, I bought a PS4 so we could play some games that aren’t on Xbox. But then I got my pen: the Platinum 3776 Century Chartres Blue & Rhodium.
If ever a pen was designed for me, it’s this one. Cobalt/Chartres blue is my favorite color. I prefer silver to gold. It’s translucent, which I love. And when writing, it feels like heaven.
I currently keep the pen filled with Platinum’s Blue Pigmented Ink. It’s wonderful.
At school, I use another pen for correcting papers starting today: The TWSBI Eco demonstrator, currently filled with Noodler’s British Empire Red ink.
I have a few other pens, all very cheap, which I’ve all but stopped using. The Platinum and the TWSBI are my go-to pens for now, with the Monza as backup at work.
But I doubt they’re the last pens I buy.