Weekend Pen Spotlight

In the spirit of the Oscar nominations being handed out this week, there are a few notes in this week's spotlight that feature nominations within the pen community.

Fine Writing News

• The Seventh Carnival of Pen, Pencil and Paper debuted this week on School Supply Dance. Always an interesting mix of writing-related reviews, collections and other fun things that folks post on the internet
• Some Parker Pen die-hards may have heard rumors that the Janesville, WI service center was closing and that all of the warranty services would have to go overseas to Europe. Not so. Only the street address had changed in Janesville. With the relocation, they pledge improved lead times for repairs.
• Yafa, the US distributor of the writing brands Monteverde and Delta, has been honored with three nominations in the upcoming Pen World 2010 Reader's Choice awards. The Delta Evolution was nominated for the finest tribute to a historical figure. The Delta Dreidel was nominated for the best pen inspired by a cultural theme. Lastly, the Monteverde Invincia Multi-Function Executive is going up for the "most incredible value" award. The winners will be presented their awards at the NYC National Stationery Show in May.

Blog Reviews

• Inkyjournal always provides top-notch quality photography in every review. This review of Diamine Registrars Ink is nice to look at and very informative. It also includes a hi-res desktop wallpaper you can download freely of the product.
• Okami (Whatever) champions for the Pilot VPen and Varsity. See, not all good-writing fountain pens have to be expensive pens!

Pen Spotting

• Inspired by the impending Oscar nominations, Tiger Pens posted a video clip list of nominees for a fictional category of "Fight Scene with a Pen."
• The Inkophile gets drawn to ads that feature a nice fountain pen. And I believe many other pen lovers do to.
  

Humor

• I can remember the first time we received a large shipment from Noodler's that had the excess of "Fragile" warnings plastered all over one side of the box. It was certainly worth a chuckle. Pendemonium shared this photo of their latest shipment on Twitter:

That's it for this week. NJ is getting hit with a big snowstorm this weekend, but our store is always open and accepting visitors at Goldspot.com.

Review : Cross Affinity Crimson Red Fountain Pen

With Valentine's Day on the horizon, it's time to start spreading the love and show some love toward the new Cross Affinity. This series departs from the Cross pen design philosophy by making the body entirely out of crystalline resin. Lacking a metal base takes some weight out of the pen, which may concern those who prefer a little "heft" to their writing instrument. Considering the size and balance of the pen, the lighter weight provides a higher quality of comfort rather than taking away the luxurious feeling of a heavy pen.



What is impressive about this fountain pen is the ability to write smoothly and comfortably with its steel nib. Sure, the medium was a bit on the broad side, but it was extremely smooth and had an even flow. The lighter weight and wider shape (than a Century II, for example) was a pleasure to write with and complemented the flowing strokes of the nib. The cap posts on the back-end without throwing off the overall balance (length 5 1/8 inches long without cap, 5 5/8 inches long with cap posted on back).



The twist-off cap is another departure from the normal Cross status quo and it throws me off sometimes as I try and pull off a cap that is screwed on. Thankfully, I don't try too hard and break the darn thing.

As you would expect with most Cross pens, the "look" of the color and finish is fantastic. The Crimson Red is rich, lustrous and romantic. The glossy, polished resin is pleasing to hold and warming to the touch.

My only suggestions would be : buy now and remember to buy a converter. We are still under introductory pricing on these models, which may increase (by 20%) within the next month or so. Only a couple of ink cartridges are included inside the gift box with the pen, so be sure to buy a compatible Cross ink converter to use with bottled ink.

Summary:

• Writing Quality : Steel nib performs above expectations. Very smooth with a generous flow. Great balance and weight. (grade A)
• Aesthetic Quality : Grande, classic with a modern, sleek appeal. The resin colors are beautiful and rich. (grade A)
• Utility : Cap screws off, but posts well in the back. Screw-in converter assures a secure connection to the feed. (grade A-)
• Price : Available in fine, medium or broad nib sizes for $100 retail (introductory special for $80.00 at Goldspot.com), the fountain pen is a bit on the more expensive side, especially for a resin pen with a steel nib. (grade B-)

Final Grade : A-
This Valentine's Day, you can buy your girl the Crimson Red Cross Affinity. Girls, the guys also may like the red, but the Jewel Blue and the Opalescent Black are outstanding choices as well. A great everyday writing pen for everyone.

Review : Private Reserve Midnight Blues Fountain Pen Ink

This is a joint review (of sorts) between Goldspot Pens and OfficeSupplyGeek. Back on January 22nd, OSG posted a review of Fahrney's EverWrite Midnight Blues ink. Noticing that the names of Fahrney's inks mirror the color nomenclature used by Private Reserve, I commented on OSG's post if he knows whether or not Fahrney's Ink is simply re-labeled Private Reserve. Neither of us knew for certain, so a comparison review was born!

Private Reserve's Midnight Blues, as written with an Edison Herald in fine point, lays down a more-than-generous amount of ink on the page. My fine point is a bit broader than a Pelikan m215 fine, which OSG was using in his review. That being said, my experience testing out the ink was a bit different, as I noticed more show-through on the other side of the page. The dry time is also a bit slower, since more ink is on the page, taking longer to saturate the paper fibers.


The hue is a very rich and saturated blue-black. I know OSG was having a hard time trying to decide if he liked the Midnight Blues over his other favorite blue-black made by Noodler's. I would pick Private Reserve since the darker Noodler's colors tend to not flow as well with finer-sized nibs.

Now, to compare with the Fahrney's ink, we look back at OSG's handwriting sample to gleam any color similarities. Immediately, I noticed an aqua tinge to his color. However, the way that the ink was described led me to believe that there may have been some scanner shinanigans afoot. He says in his description that the ink appears more bluer than most blue-black inks and that there is minimal show-through, which are two observations that I noticed after writing on my Levenger Circa paper as well.

In an e-mail to OSG, I sent him my scan and asked if the color in the image may have been more accurate to what he physically saw on his paper. He wrote back and explained that he did not find any aqua tones in the ink on the page, although they are apparent on the pictured review below.


With the utmost respect and admiration of the high-caliber and technical reviews on Officesupplygeek's blog, I think that the scan may have been a tiny bit off. Hey, it happens and technology is, by no means, perfect. Which is why Goldspot, and most other pen & ink retailers, will disclaim that the colors on your monitor may not exactly align with the real deal.

To recap:

• Both Private Reserve and Fahrney's Ever-Write Ink share the same color names, going down the line from Midnight Blues to Shell Pink.
• They have the same capacity per bottle (50ml or 1.5 fl oz).
• In this test of Midnight Blues, the color and behavior of the ink is virtually the same.

Therefore, it would be reasonable to conclude that Fahrney's ink is Private Reserve dressed in another label. A good question for Farhney would be, "Why is the same ink more expensive?" OSG paid $9.35 for the same bottle that Goldspot is selling for $7.49. Must be the label.

Weekend Pen Spotlight

This is the first issue in what we hope will be a weekly, Saturday morning digest of the most interesting pen-related articles, videos, blogs, pics and whatnot from around the web.

Fine Writing News

• The Philadelphia Pen Show that took place last weekend received a notable write-up from the Philadelphia Inquirer.
• Fans who attended the pen show got their first peak at the "magma"-nificent Homo Sapiens collection from Visconti. Pre-orders have been flowing in for this pen as it builds steam with plenty of buzz from the pen community. According to their US distributor, we are about six weeks away from shipping the first orders.
• A brand new import from Italy, OMAS debuts the Lamborghini limited edition fountain pen and rollerball. Made from aeronautic aluminum in stealth, matte black, the pen is limited to 1,963 pieces worldwide.
• AT Cross will be introducing a brand new refill mechanism called "Switch It" that you may insert into any Cross ballpoint (that takes a standard Cross ballpoint refill) to convert it into a .7mm mechanical pencil. The refill is expected in Spring and will cost about $4.
  

Blog Reviews

• The Pen Addict tries out a Beta Inkless Pen.
• Scriblets scribbles around with a Pelikano Jr.

Pen-Spotting

• Twitter user @Gongonzabar spotted a Lamy AL-Star (or Vista) Ball pen in the show "House."

Pot Luck

• Normally I don't think too much of posts that are submitted to freelance article websites, but this guide on Choosing the Best Pens to Engrave by Sharon Russell is very well written and insightful. A good idea to read through if you are deciding on buying an engraved pen.
• For the pen enthusiast who is also talented with using Photoshop, PSD Tuts offers an article on how to create a realistic-looking fountain pen on the computer. The shape and proportions of the pen kind of looks funny, but you could make your own design once you get the basics down.

Send me your pens! If you have a pen article, blog post, pen-spotting pic or anything you would like to share and have featured in our weekly Pen Spotlight, feel free to contact us through Twitter @goldspotpens or through our Facebook Fan Page. Get our attention on Twitter by sending us a direct message or put @goldspotpens in your post.