Visconti Leads the Way in Pen World 2011 Awards

Just received our copy of the June issue of Pen World magazine with the Reader's Choice award winners. Standing out from the pack of pen-makers is the Italian brand Visconti, who was top pick on 4 out of 12 categories, including the coveted 2011 Pen of the Year for the "Golden Man."

 The Visconti Eco-Roller, available in both the Rembrandt and the new Michelangelo collection, won the "Most Incredible Value" award. This is the rollerball pen that fills like a fountain pen by ink cartridge or converter.

The Visconti Homo Sapiens took the prize for "Easy Writer." The 23kt Palladium dreamtouch nib certainly had something to do with it.

"Most Creative Use of Materials" award went to the Visconti Carbon Dream, which is a design based off of the ripple pen using high quality carbon fiber and transparent resin to create a hi-tech style that rides in the fast lane.

If you would like to see the other winners of the Pen World Reader's Choice awards, you can get a copy of the issue by subscribing to Pen World.

As Seen on Wired - Mightier than the Sword

In their "revenge" themed section of their current issue, Wired features 5 "perfect" pens. Not that these pens will help you seek vengeance. Actually, they are doing so already on the voodoo doll in the photograph (courtesy of Wired Magazine). I like the choices because they work for all tastes and budgets. They even seem to take the sentiment that I often express about the Lamy Safari.

LAMY’s indestructible Safari is a dangerous gateway fountain pen—cheap, fun, low hassle. So be warned: A taste of this rig and you could end up trading your mom’s TV for just one more cartridge of blue-black ink.
Perfect for: The fountain-pen curious.

No doubt - the Safari fountain pen has earned spots on our lists for best beginner fountain pens and pens for young writers. The Safari outsells probably any other fountain pen on Amazon.com and continues to get scores of new writers to love the fountain pen.

The only item I could disagree with is the mention about the Souveran 800 and using the words "pretentious," "verbose" and dandy." I think its a cheap shot. Sure, it's easy to make fun of people who spend that much money on a pen that will last decades whereas you can't do the same thing for someone who buys the newest techie gizmo that will be out-of-date in the next two years. Then again, this is Wired magazine we're talking about. How are we not supposed to look down at the "old-fashioned?"

Winner of Parker Jotter "Jellybean" Contest

Last week, we ran a contest that asked you to guess how many Parker Jotter pens would tip the scales at 10lbs. Here are the results:

Drumroll...........
Congrats to Salvatore for guessing the exact amount at 300 pens!

We've contacted Salvatore directly to process the claim for his prize. We'll be announcing a new giveaway soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

Cross Century II Masquerade Peacock Ballpoint Pen Review

This will be the first-ever review on this blog done by someone else in the Goldspot office besides Tom. Jess decided that she loves her "Peacock" so much, she had to let everyone know! This is her first-ever pen review :

The Masquerade Peacock ballpoint pen by Cross is inspired by mystery and romance of a masked ball from the Art Nouveau era. The swirling peacock feather pattern shimmers over the pearlescent ivory lacquer, while the silver engraving adds dimension to it. It’s an overall elegant pen and has a graceful curved clip that goes right along with it. The feature I love most about this, besides the smooth writing cross refill is that it can go from a ballpoint pen to a pencil just by converting the refill.

Pictures of this pen do not do it justice, once you are physically holding the pen; you can see all of the detailed work that went into it. The overall pen is slim, so if you are someone that likes thicker pens, this isn’t for you! Also, Cross backs their product up with a lifetime mechanical guarantee, so I will never be without my peacock =)

Summary:

• Writing Quality: This pen would be more comfortable for writers who prefer slimmer pens over thicker.
• Aesthetic Quality: The swirl of the peacock feather as well as the colors really makes this pen stand out.
• Utility: The Masquerade Peacock pen is 5.47 inches long and the width is 0.36, so I can easily fit this in even my smallest purse no problem. The Cross refill writes flawlessly every use for me.
• Price: The Cross Masquerade Ballpoint is available at www.Goldspot.com for $55.95, which I think is a reasonable price being that it’s so elegant and is a pen that can be converted to a pencil with the Cross Switch It converter.

ACME Beatles Release Update

Hey Beatles & Pen Fans,

Just wanted to give you a brief update on the ACME Limited Edition Beatles release that has gotten a ton of buzz over the last few months. We were expecting delivery for the initial release this month, but have been recently notified that it has been delayed to August, which we're being told is a firm date. This release will include the editions that have been up for pre-sale on our website and other pen retailer sites around the net.

A few weeks ago, our company was notified that several of the editions have already been sold out, which is a remarkable feat for a pen that has not even made it out of the factory yet. Good thing that Goldspot has already committed to quantities of each pen and set so that we can take pre-orders. And we've received a great response, already selling out of one of the editions that we offered on the website. We do have limited quantities for the pre-order, so be sure to place your order as soon as possible, or you may miss out of the entire edition.

The second release, which are for designs that are not yet shown, is scheduled for Q4 in November. It is not anticipated that there will be a lengthy delay like the first release since these designs have already made it through the long approval process that held up the first batch. The following third through fifth releases are slated to be shipped every six months afterward.