Next year's diary by BomoArt

It's time to make the first appointments for the new year and so I made sure to order a nice daily diary a few weeks ago which now arrived - along with two other goodies from Budapest as well as orders for two members of the German pen forum Penexchange.

I apologize for the pictures which are just quick shots but I'm so happy about these books I'd just like to share them!

An address book (with gilded edges) and daily diary with red leather spines on top of an A4 notebook which belongs to someone from the board. The A4 journal looks very impressive, it reminds me of a book with fairy tales I used to have. I think it might intimidate me as you come to expect great things and beautiful magical worlds on its inside - but maybe it would also inspire the writer? I don't know.

The address book's letter tags are made of genuine leather with gold print! I wasn't sure about the gilded edges but then I thought, what the hell. It's such an unusual thing to have an address book these days, I might as well go for the gilded edges as well! It's beautiful.

And the diary...! I have to say I might be easily impressed with diaries. I've only started using a paper diary a few years ago for work, before that it's only just been my phone or scraps of paper. My work diaries were leatherette bound ones supplied by my employer so maybe my expectations have been low. Anyway the diary definitely lives up to the standard I've come to expect from BomoArt!

Each day has its own page of ivory colored, thin and smooth paper, printed in red and black, thus perfectly matching the ribbon bookmark, spine and end papers. It's in all kinds of languages but I've noticed a certain emphasis on Italian so maybe that's where the calendar book block was printed.

Despite being so thin, the paper seems to take fountain pen ink very well. So far I've tried it with a B italic nib using Rohrer & Klingner Verdigris which produced neither bleeding nor feathering. I'm definitely impressed, the diary I've been using performed much worse on much thicker paper.

Some show through but no bleeding at all.

There also is a weekly diary with all sorts of international holidays in it and a register section. What I love most though is this:

There is a map - or to be accurate, to of them - just next to the back cover! Now I feel like I could go exploring with it. It goes nicely with the overall vintage vibe of their products. As usual it all feels very sturdy and well made with thick cardboard covers. The leather has a smooth yet open surface which allows for natural scars and blemishes to remain visible, making it unique.

And it has balloons on the cover! Just like this one below, but with red spine.

Boyfriend says they're kitschy, but really, how could you not like those? <3

Collectibles or: Why I love Dorian Gray

I don't recall when I read "The Picture of Dorian Gray" for the first time, but one of the things that impressed me most - besides the main story line, of course - was how Dorian used to collect beautiful and precious objects and how the narrator revels in the richness and beauty of these objects. I could especially relate to his fondness of gemstones and minerals as I used to collect minerals myself until I was about 18.

Here's a quote:

On one occasion he took up the study of jewels, and appeared at a costume ball as Anne de Joyeuse, Admiral of France, in a dress covered with five hundred and sixty pearls. This taste enthralled him for years, and, indeed, may be said never to have left him. He would often spend a whole day settling and resettling in their cases the various stones that he had collected, such as the olive-green chrysoberyl that turns red by lamplight, the cymophane with its wirelike line of silver, the pistachio-coloured peridot, rose-pink and wine-yellow topazes, carbuncles of fiery scarlet with tremulous, four-rayed stars, flame-red cinnamon-stones, orange and violet spinels, and amethysts with their alternate layers of ruby and sapphire. He loved the red gold of the sunstone, and the moonstone's pearly whiteness, and the broken rainbow of the milky opal. He procured from Amsterdam three emeralds of extraordinary size and richness of colour, and had a turquoise de la vieille roche that was the envy of all the connoisseurs.

I still have most of my collection from back then and though I haven't really paid any attention to the subject for years there's still quite a bit of knowledge left. However, I feel this is circumstantial.

I can also relate to the parts where Dorian accumulates precious cloths and tapestries. It's not the objects themselves but the collector's passion Dorian and I - and, so I believe, Oscar Wilde himself as well - share and which he wrote about in a way that makes you feel his enthusiasm und invites you to become part of it.

If I were feeling very ambitious I'd say this is what I'd like my blog to be!

Red Pens! Conway Stewart Churchill in Cherry Red

Conway Stewart Churchill: Cherry Red

I've rambled about how much I love red pens when writing about the Montegrappa Alfa Romeo. This is another one of these beauties, a Conway Stewart Churchill in Cherry Red.

The Churchill is, I believe, Conway Stewart's flagship model and is a large yet rather lightweight pen with nice girth. I like especially the long section so there's no need to grip on the threads. They come as cartridge/converter fillers and lever fillers. I chose the lever filler on both pens as somehow it's a nice hint at the vintage Conway Stewarts.

I don't own a lot of acrylic pens, maybe because I'm a bit of a snob and prejudiced towards plastic but maybe also because most of the colors I saw didn't appeal to me. This has changed after I've discovered Conway Stewart. Both the Amber and the Cherry Red are awesome colors and patterns with just the right amount of translucency. The material is transparent enough to make its colors pop but opaque enough so you can't see the nib through the cap - something I despise if the pen's not a demonstrator. Cherry Red is naturally the more striking color of the two. 

As you can see, every pen has an imprint with a serial number and color code. 

Conway Stewart Churchill: Cherry Red

Oh, and the nibs don't have a breather hole! I don't have any other nibs built like this. At first I merely thought "okay, this nib is different" but couldn't tell what it was.

As Conway Stewart is one of the few pen makers offering factory italic nibs I had to go for these. I got an IB for the Amber and an IM for this one. The nib units screw out and can be easily interchanged. Sadly both nibs needed a bit of tweaking before they wrote really well - I think out of all the factory stubs and italics I bought so far there were three perfectly functional ones (makes me wonder why I still buy them, honestly). Two of those three were steel nibs by the way.

Anyway here's how it writes - which incidentally is very smooth and wet with nice line variation - with Diamine Sapphire Blue:

I got my Churchills from Pen Paradise here in Germany which is run by a true fountain pen enthusiast and a great source for all sorts of pens, paper and pen trays/boxes. The owner, Volker, has also been extremely helpful and quick with enquiries and has tweaked my italics for my when they were acting up.

A glimpse of a Sailor kaga maki-e onagadori

Literally "long tailed birds" - maybe more accurate: birds of paradise!

Abalone shell and Urushi lacquer on ebony wood. Will post more pictures and info about the pen later this month.

Pelikan M1005 or: Time for Orange - yet again!

On most days I'm not perfectly sure what my favorite color is. On other days I just know it's orange.

It's also the perfect color for autumn to lighten up those gray and stormy days - so after I've shown you Iroshizuku yu yake and and Montblanc "Ink of Joy" last year here's yet another orange ink, the (sadly discontinued) Caran d'Ache Saffron.

Pelikan M1005 Demonstrator with Caran d'Ache Saffron

 I've had that M1005 Demonstrator for a while but haven't used it too much, mainly because it comes with a rather limited range (F, M, B) of full rhodium plated nibs. I ordered it with an F but then it seems I'm not really an F nib kind of girl.

So I decided to "frankenpen" it with one of my regular M1000 nibs so I could get to use my gorgeous reground and crisped up BB, 3B or O3B. This is the awesome 3B: great line variation, wet, responsive and "soft" as is common for the M1000 size nibs. Nib work has been done by John Sorowka.

It's hard for me to overlook such mismatches usually but it's not so bad this time. There's a lot of rhodium plating on that nib anyway and it matches alright with the orange ink adding warm color to the insides of barrel and section.

I  have two demonstrator pens, this one and a TWSBI (not counting the semi transparent and somehow quite demonstrator-like Omas Extra Lucens), but somehow I've never gotten around to putting orange ink into any of them until now. Most orange inks truly are amazing for transparent pens. Saffron almost looks blood red. I haven't heard of it staining anything either.

Pelikan M1005 Demonstrator with Caran d'Ache Saffron

Quote by Frank Herbert from the "Dune" series.

I haven't tried an orange ink which I didn't like - except maybe for Stipula Zafferano which also looks very nice but is just too light to be easily readable.

Caran d'Ache Saffron is great in every respect: easily readable, offers great shading and flow properties. The color is a bright orange lacking the "burnt" aspect of yu yake or Noodler's Apache Sunset but is not as highlighter-ish as Montblanc's "Ink of Joy". If you love orange and have the chance to snatch up a bottle: do it before they're gone for good!

Do you like to use orange ink? What's your favorite?

Paper & Journals I wrote about: The Paper Index

There are some posts in this blog purely about papers or notebooks but also times I've written about paper at the sidelines of something else (usually a pen). I'm listing those posts anyway but marking them as not being fully fledged paper reviews.

Trying to keep this one updated as well, in alphabetical order:

• Amalfi Amatruda paper

 

•  Bindewerk journal
• Bindewerk & Le Typographe (shortform)
• Blank book blocks for refills & bookbinding
• Bomo Art journals and stationery
• Bomo Art daily diary & address book
• Bookbinding: Coptic & regular, marbled paper
• Bookbinding: A rose is a rose leather journal 

 

• Carta Pura notebooks

 

• Design.Y leather journal A5 (shortform)
• DFW Algae Paper (shortform)
• DFW Echt Buetten (shortform)
• DIY: Simple handmade notebook
• DIY: Amalfi paper greeting card with watercolor & india ink
• DIY: Doodling & sketching with fountain pens
• DIY: Making Christmas cards with fountain pens + water washes
• DIY: Hand made leather journal, brown
• DIY: Hand made leather journal, black

 

• Jahresweiser 10 year diary
• Jenni Bick leather journals

 

• Karstadt "System" inkjet paper (shortform)
• Karstadt "System" again (shortform)

 

• Paper Republic Noto notebooks

 

• Q&A a day 5 year diary 

 

• Rhodia dot pad (shortform)

 

• Le Typographe stationery and Quadrille notebook
• Le Typographe Belgian notebook (shortform)

 

• Neusiedler Japan Post (shortform)

 

• X47 MaBook notebook system

Come, thou tortoise! Pelikans M800 and M600

Are you already bored with warm colors for fall? If so you might want to skip this post because I'm definitely not!

Pelikan M600 Tortoise & White and M800 Tortoise & Brown

Pelikan M600 Tortoise & White and M800 Tortoise & Brown

I know fairly little about Pelikan's history but there is something special about the tortoise celluloids. They've been around a lot in the 1950s and many of those look very nice to this day. What I didn't know until the M800 brown tortoise came out is that there are indeed two different tortoise colors, brown and green.

Pelikan M600 Tortoise & White and M800 Tortoise & Brown

The green tortoise on the M600 is much brighter, more transparent and looks warmer in combination with the white resin. It goes really well with the yellow gold accents on the cap, section ring and nib. Overall the M600 has a much more striking appearance.

Pelikan M600 Tortoise & White and M800 Tortoise & Brown

The M800 brown tortoise is somewhat more subtle and "serious". There are a lot of greyish brown hues with only a few warm coppery highlights in between. Section and cap are a very dark brown that looks almost black.

I guess the Pelikan Souveran series is so well known I don't have to take any measurements. ;)

Pelikan M800 tortoise brown

Now housing an OBB nib, sharpened up by John Sorowka. (The M600 is fitted with an OB nib which has undergone the same treatment but I didn't make a writing sample of that one).

Pelikan M800 OBB writing sample with Diamine Ancient Copper

Pelikan M600 Tortoise & White and M800 Tortoise & Brown

Diamine Ancient Copper seriously is one great ink color though it has its flaws. If you look closely at the pictures above you can see that it already started building up some crud on the nib while exposed to air for the photos. This is a common issue with this ink especially with caps that allow a lot of air circulation. The M800 cap closes tightly enough so this usually doesn't happen in this pen.

Also these days I tried the 120g/sqm paper by Karstadt "System" (a chain of large convenience stores here in Germany). The paper is available in various colors and weights in wads of 50 or 100 sheets. I forgot about the exact price but it was between 5 and 7 Euros for 50 A4 or 100 A5 sheets.

I tried some 120g/sqm in A5 and 160g/sqm in A6, both ivory colored. It's awesome with fountain pens, not too smooth, doesn't eat up all the shading and feels very nice and crisp. Great for composing a letter on it.

Besides: Have a very happy fountain pen day everyone! A great day to write a letter, make a review, take some photos, organize your blog or ink up some pens. Are you planning any fountain pen related activity today?

Beautiful notebooks by BomoArt, Budapest

Today I'm reviewing some really great notebooks from a small and, I think, relatively young workshop in Budapest, Hungary. As far as I could see they don't have any blogger's reviews at all so far so I'd guess it's high time!

I think I found them via another online shop carrying a small range of their products which looked very interesting, especially their notebooks They're combining a range of nostalgic/romantic/steam-punkish prints with leather spines of various colors to mix and match after your fancy (their web shop is pretty well made too!) Among others I picked this blank A5 notebook with dark brown leather spine and prints of a nostalgic aviary.

BomoArt A5 notebook dark brown leather & aviary print

BomoArt A5 notebook dark brown leather & aviary print

The brand name is embossed at the back of every journal. Looks pretty classy in my opinion!

BomoArt A5 notebook dark brown leather & aviary print

You can choose ruled or blank paper with various page counts. Each book has a ribbon bookmark and bright red end papers.

Below you can see one of their thicker journals with 280 pages. Some of their motifs are quite kitschy for my taste but others are simply adorable like the balloons, the aviary or those roses. I love roses! I like to wear rose perfume or use rose incense, though I think this is my first notebook with roses on the cover:

BomoArt thick A5 notebook with black leather & rosa centifolia print

BomoArt thick A5 notebook with black leather & rosa centifolia print

BomoArt stationery box "balloons" with 10 A4 sheets and 10 DL envelopes

I also ordered a small stationery box with 10 A4 sheets and 10 Din long envelopes. The box is a bit larger than the DL format - which is a pity because the A4 sheets come folded to fit into the box -, but beautifully made with some leather details. The envelopes are lined with the same balloon motif you can see on the box. The sheets are unprinted.

BomoArt lined paper: writing sample. Pretty nice, isn't it?

The notebooks feel sturdy and well made. The covers are made of thick cardboard, the leather has a nice feel and isn't dyed to death. The paper doesn't disappoint either, it worked well with any ink and nib width I threw at it. (Especially that Danitrio and Diamine Asa Blue are a super wet killer combination)

The blank books are A5 format whereas the lined ones are a little slimmer. Lines are light grey and unobtrusive.

 BomoArt lined paper: writing sample, back side. No bleeding, hardly any show through. 

Beautiful products and at a rather low price point too (€17-20 for a half leather journal size A5). They also offer diaries, address books, giftwrap paper and all kinds of other papeterie stuff. They also have journals with 100% leather cover if you're not into these motifs. I'm determined to get my daily diary for 2014 from them, probably with the balloon design.

All books are handmade in Budapest and were made to my specifications. Communication was good and friendly.

What do you think about these? Do you like their designs? Which one would be your favourite?

Their web shop: http://www.bomoart.com

Pens I wrote about: The Pen Index

As thesebeautifulpens grows it becomes increasingly harder to find a post about a specific pen - for me but even more so for others! So here's a list of all the pen posts and reviews I've done so far, sorted by brand.

I'm planning to keep the list more or less updated at all times and have installed a link to it just below the labels cloud to the right.

Conway Stewart

• A glimpse at the CS Churchill in Amber
• Conway Stewart Dinkie
• Conway Stewart Churchill in Cherry Red

Danitrio

• Danitrio Mae West in rose gold Urushi (Kevin's pictures)
• Danitrio Octagon (Hakkaku) in tame-midori
• Danitrio Mae West - my own pictures & review
• A glimpse of the seirei-nuri technique
• Danitrio Genkai in seirei-nuri Urushi
• Nib shots: Montblanc and Danitrio
• Danitrio Takumi in tame-midori
• Danitrio Genkai in tame-nuri Urushi (and Herbin Rouge Hematite!)

Ferrari da Varese

• A glimpse at the Botticelli silver & mother of pearl pens

Graf von Faber-Castell

• Graf von Faber-Castell Elemento
• Graf von Faber-Castell Pen of the Year 2004: Amber

Jinhao

• Jinhao 650 Pearl

Montblanc

• Montblanc Writer's Edition Jonathan Swift
• Vintage Montblanc 149 with O(B)BB nib
• Montblanc Greta Garbo
• Montblanc 149 next to a teeny-weeny CS Dinkie
• Montblanc 149 showing off Iroshizuku's yu yake ink
• Montblanc Agatha Christie gets her nib adjusted
• Nib shots: Montblanc & Danitrio
• Montblanc Meisterstück l'Aubrac

Montegrappa

• Montegrappa Alfa Romeo Carbon
• Montegrappa Extra 1930 Bamboo with broad CI nib
• Montegrappa Miya yellow

Nakaya

• Nakaya Dorsal fin aka-tame nuri
• Nakaya Rainbow: Piccolos, Portable & Long Cigar in yellow, aka, kuro and heki tame
• Nakaya Negoro Portable Writer in shiro-tame nuri
• A small group shot of Nakayas, Danitrios and a Platinum Izumo
• Farewell post: Nakaya Black Turtle
• Nakaya Piccolo yellow tame nuri with Octopus Karamell ink

Namiki

• Namiki Yukari Moonlight raden next to a Pelikan M1000 Moonlight
• Namiki Yukari Yozakura raden
• Namiki Yukari moonlight + Pelikan Moonlight again.
• Size comparison: Namiki Yukari Nightline + Montblanc 149.
• Namiki Yukari Royal vermilion + Nakaya shu-nurippanashi

Omas

• Omas Extra Lucens 2013
• Omas Paragon (Arco brown) and Bibliotheque Nationale
• Omas Paragon - old style, Arco brown
• Omas Ogiva Vintage (saft green)

Pelikan

• Pelikan M400 green tortoise
• Pelikan M1000 Moonlight
• Pelikan M1000 Moonlight & Namiki Yukari Nightline Moonlight
• Pelikan M1000 Sunlight
• The Raden Pelikans: Sunlight & Moonlight for comparison
• M800s from an unusual perspective
• Pelikan M800 and M600 Tortoise
• Pelikan M1005 demonstrator

Sailor

• Sailor Susutake Bamboo

Stipula

• Stipula Saturno crescent filler
• Stipula/Mercury Francois des Trixhes

Visconti

• Visconti Homo Sapiens Bronze & Steel Age Oversize

Amazing Celluloid: Omas Paragon Arco

I've got a thing for shimmering or pearlescent pens in general - like mother of pearl, or some Urushi techniques, or celluloid, or satin wood, or... but the Omas bug has only bitten me recently.

Before this all my celluloid pens were Montegrappas (like this gorgeous red and black Alfa Romeo). This is probably linked to a more or less exclusive preference for large and/or heavy pens I used to have. This has changed a bit. A pen should still have a certain girth to feel nice in the hand but light weight is no longer a dealbreaker - at least not if it's an Omas!

Omas old style Paragon in Arco Brown

Why is that? I can't tell for sure. It might be something about the balance, about the way their pens feel like they're part of the hand. It's weird because when I picked up my Montblanc Jonathan Swift last week I thought "my, this is one heavy pen". I don't remember this thought crossing my mind before, "heavy" was just the way a pen was supposed to feel like. I wonder if this is changing gradually? 

I hope not because I still appreciate the bulky & heavy pens a lot!

Back to the Paragon! As I said it's a lightweight pen (22 g capped, 14 g uncapped - even lighter than I would have estimated) made entirely of celluloid without any metal parts in the piston mechanism. Except for some LEs this model is no longer made - the current model paragon is somewhat fatter, has a metal section and the clip is different. That one doesn't appeal to me so much so when this old style one showed up at the bay I went for it - and succeeded.

Omas old style Paragon in Arco Brown

It was exciting for the seller didn't know more than the brand and the nib size and I - less than an expert for Omas pens - had to identify the model based on measurements and design of the nib. Fortunately I'd made the right guess and what arrived was exactly what I had expected.

I had read - and found out with my brand new Extra Lucens - about Omas pistons being a bit on the stiff side, mainly the celluloid Paragons but that didn't prepare me for the sounds this piston made when I gently started to move it up and down. I wasn't aware a piston could make such a sound and I would describe it to you if I hadn't made an effort to put it out my mind.

Omas old style Paragon in Arco Brown

So something had to happen with this piston! I had read you could unscrew the section which seemed to be my only choice as the nib unit didn't budge and I'd heard the feed could be fragile. Fortunately everything went well and with some silicone grease for lubrication the piston now moves freely enough, though still a little jerky and not exactly reassuring.

Still somehow the color makes up for it all. Isn't this the perfect shade for autumn? It has the gold of the sun, the red and brown of the trees and the earth. It has the highlights at the front and back side lining up with the nib and feed and the deep shadows in between. I could look at it for days.

Speaking of the Extra Lucens, this Paragon is about the same size as the Extra Lucens but has spiky ends on cap and barrel where the Lucens's are flat.

Omas old style Paragon in Arco Brown

 When I got it the gold was a little tarnished so it can't have been used for a while but before that it must have seen quite a bit of use as there are some scuffs and scratches mainly on the cap. The nib, though in great condition, has this worn in feel you sometimes get with vintage pens. It's a medium size. The plating seems to be a little off in places, too much rhodium overall - I've read there was an era in Omas history where this happened frequently. I might have it fixed one day or just take it as a quirk and ignore it.

The tarnishing on the nib polished off nicely with a jeweler's cloth. I'm taking my time trying to gently buff out the scuffs on the cap with MicroMesh.

Omas old style Paragon in Arco Brown

Sorry for awkward handwriting - I haven't written a lot with that one yet and still getting used to it but still wanted to show how it writes. I've only tried Omas Blue in it so far which performs very nicely in it and doesn't come gushing out as it did in my Extra Lucens - so I guess the nib's flow isn't too heavy but not too dry either.

For the writing sample I used some new "System" inkjet paper from the Karstadt convenience stores here in Germany which is very nice actually! It can be had in various weights, sizes and colors (this is the 120g/sqm in A5 ivory) and at least the 120 and 160 g/sqm sheets perform really well with fountain pens. Great for writing letters and cheaper than most stationery.

A time for birds

Followed a fancy and made this shot of two Pelikans. Can you guess which ones they are?

When I started reviving my interest in fountain pens 3 years ago I wasn't much into Pelikans, at least not into the Souverans. Their uniform Stresemann look appeared generic and boring to me. It wasn't until some time later that I grew fond of their depth and richness of color. Now I own a few Souverans plus two striking limited editions with mother of pearl.

These two are relatively large pens so they sport some juicy nibs to match: a factory IB and an OBB modified for more line variation by John Sorowka.

Omas Beauty: Ivory and Bronze

Autumn is here to stay, I'm back to Diamine Ochre, Ancient Copper and Noodler's Apache Sunset and surrounding myself with all kinds of beautiful, colorful things to lighten up my mood. Here's two of those things:

Omas Paragon in Arco brown, Omas Bibliotheque Nationale in ivory

An old style Paragon in Arco brown celluloid and a creamy white Bibliotheque Nationale which feels like it's also celluloid but I can't tell for sure. They both have medium nibs, the smaller one on the Bibliotheque being rigid and a little toothy, the one on the Paragon smooth and soft.

When I got the Extra Lucens I liked it even more than I had anticipated, especially one thing I'd expected the least to fall in love with: the weight. I've always preferred heavy pens. Obviously an Omas is just something different.

More pictures and writing samples coming up soon!

Which one of those two do you like better and what do you like or not like about Omas in general?

A glimpse at Ferrari de Varese's Botticellis

As a little girl I loved to play with my mother's pearls. I still like the look of them, their cool smoothness in my palm, how the necklace rests in the velvet lined jewel box in a pearlescent heap.

Mother of pearl also has quite a tradition in fountain pens such as these amazing Botticelli models by Italian pen maker Ferrari da Varese.

Ferrari da Varese Botticelli light and dark mother of pearl fountain pens

Ferrari da Varese Botticelli light and dark mother of pearl fountain pens

I'll show more of these two sterling silver and mother of pearl beauties soon.

More pearlescent goodness around here:

Montblanc Greta Garbo
The Raden Pelikans
Namiki Yukari Nightline Moonlight
Namiki Yukari Yozakura

Wood & Silver: Montblanc l'Aubrac

Many pens have found to me because they had a specific something that appeals to me: The surface (Urushi), the materials (wood, ebonite, celluloid or, still one of my dreams, horn), the nib, maybe even the overall shape of the pen or something entirely different. In case of the l'Aubrac there's even several different reasons for me to love it. 

Montblanc l'Aubrac

 Montblanc l'Aubrac (resting on a very nice embossed leather notebook by Il Cartiglio) 

There's the gorgeous dark brown Grenadilla wood. The surface isn't lacquered but treated with wax. It feels silky smooth and very much like wood. The surface isn't perfectly plain, there are tiny grooves which is typical for grenadilla. They can be seen and felt. So can the decorate silver nails hinting at the shaft of a Lagouilé knife - the pen being a jointventure of Montblanc and knife manufacturer Forge de Laguoilé -, their rounded heads slightly protruding from the wood. 

 Montblanc l'Aubrac

The whole pen is an invitation to touch and fumble it, rest it in your hand.

Feel the warm and silky wood, the cool and glossy silver

Montblanc l'Aubrac

Except for the clip all metal accents are silver and elaborately engraved with floral motives. It would be slightly too much if not for the planes of dark, smooth wood to counterbalance it all.

Montblanc l'Aubrac

Mother of pearl snowcap catching the light (and there's my bookshelf, reflecting in the silver!)

Montblanc l'Aubrac

Montblanc l'Aubrac

The nib.
I chose a BB nib for it as it's one of the Montblanc nib sizes I didn't have and tried it for a while but found it too bulky. I sent it to John Sorowka for a regrind to cursive italic and some adjustment as it was also quite sensitive to some inks, some papers, hand oils and writing angle. He did great work, as always.

 Montblanc l'Aubrac BB CI - writing sample on Tomoe River paper 

Inked it with Montblanc Toffee Brown at the moment. I like when the ink matches the color of the pen to a degree where it seems the pen is putting its own essence onto the paper.

(Also I'm having trouble inking, for instance, a bright red aka-tame nuri Urushi pen with lilac or brown ink. I mean I CAN do it if I really want, but it feels uncomfortable. Weird, isn't it? Do you have any similar quirks with your pens and inks?)

 Montblanc l'Aubrac BB CI - writing sample 

Written on a sample sheet of Tomoe River that came with my Design.Y notebook. Great paper - someone sell it in the EU please! :)

A large pen - as large as a Meisterstück 149 -, though it has the smaller 146 nib. Heavy too: 57 g with cap, though it shrinks down to rather reasonable 35 g when uncapped. Posting the cap is, I believe, not an option but I don't do that anyway so I haven't tried.

How do you like the l'Aubrac?