Free Engraving Promo This Week - Your Questions Answered

Starting today, we're running one of our more popular promotions in preparation of Valentine's Day gifting.

We have free engraving on Goldspot.com for any pens, organizers and other items that can be engraved. Personalizing your pen or pen gift makes it an unique item, distinguished as a one-of-a-kind pen. Having your loved ones' name on a pen leaves a lasting impression and makes it harder for pen thieves to steal. Normally $9.50 per item, this free promotion extends for a maximum of 5 items per customer, per order during this promotion period, which ends January 31st, 2013.

For those who are interested in our engraving service and would be considering getting their next pen gift personalized, here are several of the most frequently asked questions :

What color will the engraving be in? Can it match the trim of the pen?

The color and the ability to match the trim varies on each pen, depending on the material. Most hard lacquer pens, like a Waterman Expert or Parker Sonnet lacquer can be engraved and matched with either a gold or silver color enamel. Pens with a metal finish are engraved and left with only the impression, since the material does not allow for enamel to adhere to the slick metal.

Is the engraving "stamped" on? Will it fade?

No. We use two different machines to engrave our products in-house. One is a laser engraver (for resins, acrylic, leather and other non-reflective materials) and the other is a diamond-pointed rotary engraver (for metallic finishes, sterling silver, gold, etc.) Both machines employ a subtractive method of engraving, which means material is taken out of the pen via laser or etching tool. The pen's material is cut into and leaves a permanent imprint on the pen.

What kind of fonts/styles can you engrave with? How do I select the style?

We have four basic fonts styles that we use with most engraved items. You can see sample font sets below:

To indicate your font preference, please include the font name in your "order comments" section of the order form. If no preference is indicated, the style is selected at our engraver's discretion. Certain items cannot be engraved with all styles and might be changed if the engraver determines the pen cannot be inscribed with the requested font choice.

Do you engrave other items besides pens?

Yes, we do engrave our Filofax leather organizers, leather pen cases / holders, and plates for Desk Sets.

Where does the engraving go on a pen?

In most cases, engraving is placed on the side of the cap, or top portion of the pen, running parallel to the clip. For an example, check the picture below.

Certain pens, like the Cross Century II and Aurora Ipsilon Sterling Silver, have a blank spot on the patterned metal surface that specifically exists to be engraved upon. Other pens, like a Caran d'Ache Ecridor, only has a small blank spot on the pen that would allow for initials only. Then, you have pens with such a busy pattern, like most ACME designer pens, that allow us only a small location on the pen to put an engraving.

Should I put periods after initials?

For monogramming and title initials (like MD or PhD), we would usually say no, because it is assumed that the uppercase letters are initials. In a case where you would put the person's first two initials and then last name (like A.J. Devanworth), we would recommend periods after the letters to differentiate initials from a full name.

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If you have any additional questions, please post them below in our comments section and we will address them there. If you have a question specific to a particular pen, please contact us directly and we can have our engraver get in touch with you directly.