How to Pronounce J. Herbin's Caroube de Chypre

Fountain pen enthusiasts have come to embrace the craze that has become J. Herbin's 1670 ink collection with open arms. Every year, a new ink has caused upstanding pen lovers to geek-out over the sparkle, saturation, shading and sheen of the 1670 Anniversary inks.

For 2016, J. Herbin has brought us a warm brown ink that is inspired by carob pods from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. This ink is aptly called "Caroube de Chypre," which is French for Carob from Cyprus.

Any non-French-speaking person may end up tripping over their tongue while trying to pronounce the name of this ink. Even the Pen Addict, Brad Dowdy, faced difficulty agreeing on a pronunciation on a recent Pen Addict podcast episode (at the 11 min mark).

Thankfully, we have an Asha.

Asha grew up in Senegal and is fluent in French. She's one of our customer care specialists that has been with us for 10 years. If anyone knows how to detangle this tongue twister, she does.

She confirms the correct pronunciation in our short video on our youtube channel.

However, we know that not everyone is a linguist, so we will also accept other alternate pronunciations, should you call up and place your order with us over the phone for this new ink.

Other acceptable ways to ask for Caroube de Chypre :

"Car-ooh-bay de Shy-pree"
"Carob de Shyper"
"Car-oob de Ship-ray"
"Carib de Chipper"
"the new J. Herbin ink"
"the brown, sparkly one"

So, now that we've cleared up the best way to pronounce this gorgeous ink, let's talk about the best way to write with it. J. Herbin 1670 anniversary inks are well-saturated and contain flecks of gold particles that are suspended in the ink. The more ink that is laid down on the paper, the more noticeable the effect is. Therefore, the thicker and wetter the nib, the better the result.

The East meets West as a French ink is paired up with its perfect match in the Japense Pilot Parallel calligraphy fountain pen. Pilot's parallel plate technology is a champ in getting a large amount of ink down on the page, while maintaining crisp edges of every stroke. If you're looking for a versatile selection of nib widths, check out the Pilot Parallel 4-pack with J. Herbin Caroube de Chypre combo. It includes the necessary CON-50 twist converter to extract the sparkly ink from the bottle.

On the more exotic side, where writing meets artistry, you can opt for a folded nib to put down a ton of ink on the page. Ed Jelley uses a folded nib in his video for the Caroube de Chypre, which looks so cool!

The only problem with folded nibs is that they require a bottle of ink close at hand. The whole purpose of a fountain pen was to carry pen ink within the pen so that it can be used without having to constantly dip from an inkwell. One solution is to take a Pilot Parallel nib and modify it to behave similarly to a folded nib. The large, 6.0mm Parallel nib lays down bold strokes as you attempt to control the beautiful chaos of ink on the page.

The modified Parallel nib, which we lovingly dubbed "Naifu" (Knife in Japanese) writes with raw emotion and has the advantage of being able to fill up with using the CON-50 converter. Packaged together with the Caroube de Chypre, this is a winning combination that will add a whole other dimension to your snail mail correspondence, journal entries and instagram pics.

If you're still struggling with trying to get the sparkles and sheen to appear with your anniversary ink, read our tips on how to get maximum satisfaction with your J. Herbin ink.

Top 5 Blue Pens to Cure the Blues

Blue, Blue & More Blue

Looking over all the new pens that have been launched by the greatest pen-makers like Pelikan, Pilot, Conklin and more, we've noticed a great deal of blue this year. Without further adieu, let's check out all the awesome blue pens that are currently available :

Pilot Vanishing Point Matte Blue Fountain Pen (View)
2016's latest line extension of the ever-popular Pilot Vanishing Point ("Capless" if you're outside of the US) retractable fountain pen. This royal blue is finished with a satin feel and stealth black trims. A black plated 18kt gold nib is installed to complement the furniture and clip.

Conklin All American Lapis Blue (View)
We were so stunned by the vibrant, marbled blue of the Conklin All American that we had to do a video overview on this pen to capture its gorgeous color.

Pelikan M205 Blue Transparent (View)
A re-issue of the same style that had been a hit success back in 2011 with a slightly updated finial top. Not much changes with these Pelikans, and that's a good thing! If you're a fan of high-performing demonstrators and the color blue, this one is a must have for your collection.

Pelikan M805 Vibrant Blue (View)
This special edition for Pelikan does not disappoint. The barrel and cap are made from a translucent, marbled blue acrylic that is a marvel to behold and feel in hand. Check out our video review, which has been lovingly called "pen porn," here.

OMAS Arte Italiana Vintage 556F (View)
While this isn't a new pen, we recently got our hands on the very last of this classically designed OMAS pen because we fell in love with the simplicity and the richness of the resin color. The navy blue is paired with either gold trim or platinum-plated trim. The demure and subtle quality of this combination is not to be overlooked.

To match these wonderfully blue pens, we'd recommend the following inks and notebooks :

Mont Blanc Leo Tolstoy Sky Blue Ink (View)
A limited edition ink, this Leo Tolstoy is one of our best sellers in Mont Blanc fountain pen inks.

Rhodiarama Webnotebooks (View)
The high quality paper in the Rhodia webnotebooks can handle most fountain pen inks and nibs. The sturdy hard cover and elastic band ensure your writings and sketches stay protected in your daily travels. The Rhodiarama collection has a color cover to match every personality, with several shades of blue to match your blue pens & inks.

Sailor 1911S Highlighter Fountain Pen & Ink Set

Wowzas. This bright combo from Sailor sure is hard to miss! This 1911S is fitted with a 14kt gold Music nib so you can use it like a broad-tipped highlighter.

Limited to 50 pieces brought into the United States. At the time of this writing, we only have 6 sets available in our store. SHOP NOW.

The ink bottles are available separately, so if you already have a music or stub nib, you can purchase the bottle of Jentle Bright Yellow Highlighter ink for $24 and convert your favorite fountain pen into a fantastic, refillable highlighter.

Introducing Pelikan 4001 Dunkelgrün Dark Green Ink

tl;dr... Pelikan has released the new Dunkelgrün Dark Green 4001 ink to replace the Brilliant Green, which is now discontinued.

The Pelikan 4001 ink series stands as one of the most reliable set of colors for your fountain pen. Not only are the recommended for optimal performance of your Pelikan pen, they are also safe for many other plunger-filling, converter type fountain pens as well. The 4001 series is also more affordable, in comparison to the Pelikan Edelstein line of luxury inks, at $10 per 30mL bottle. Other than the blue-black being discontinued some years ago, the lineup has remained mostly the same for years and years.

Effective April 2016, the lineup has made a change to remove the "Brilliant Green" and replace it with "Dark Green," or Dunkelgrün.

I know, Earth-shattering news, right? Although I didn't lose any sleep about it, I'm sure that some would at least be interested to know the difference between the two inks, which is slight, but definitely noticeable. 

In terms of performance and safety with your fountain pen, you can still expect the same level of quality from the new Dunkelgrün. I would feel comfortable in putting this ink in any Pelikan, from a Pelikano to a Souveran M1000. To test out the color, I went to a vintage 1940's Waterman Stalwart fountain pen with a semi-flexible 14kt nib. 

As one might expect from the name, Dunkelgrün is a darker shade of Brilliant Green. It seems to take on a cooler, blueish hue when compared against the lighter green. Brilliant Green is less saturated, so it does shade a bit better and is less water resistant than the new darker green color.

Dunkelgrün's color seems to be an homage to the dark green that is synonymous with Pelikan's brand. From the striped Souveran fountain pens to the historical models of yesteryear, the German brand is forever associated with dark green.

What do you think of the change? Are you going to miss Brilliant Green? As of this writing, we have both colors readily available in-stock. Hit the 'Spot to pick up a bottle, international sized ink cartridge or the giant size ink cartridges.

What Should be the Pen & Ink of the Year 2015?

Hey Pen Lovers,

Need your help in putting together a nominations list for Pen of the Year 2015.

Every year, we (Goldspot Pens) run a "reader's choice" vote for Pen of the Year. We set up a poll online of all the nominees during the first week in November, coinciding the the US Election Day.

Last year, Edison Pen Co completed a 4-peat with their 2014 Pen of the Year, the Glenmont limited edition.

Previous winners of the Pen of the Year

• Edison Glenmont 2014 Limited Edition (2014)
• Edison Menlo Fountain Pen (2013)
• Edison Beaumont & Conid's Fountainbel Bulkfiller Demonstrator (2012)
• Edison Collier Fountain Pen (2011)
• TWSBI Diamond 530 Fountain Pen (2010)
• Pelikan m205 Blue Transparent Fountain Pen (2009)
• Online Newood Fountain Pen Calligraphy Set (2008)

What qualifies as a Pen of the Year 2015 candidate, you say? Any pen that was released during this year, including new colors and styles of established pen models (like the Pilot Vanishing Point Twilight, for example).

Here is a list of what I've got so far :

• Edison Collier LE Black Rose Acrylic Ltd Ed
• Pilot VP 2015 Twilight Ltd Ed
• Pelikan M205 Amethyst
• Pelikan M800 Stresemann
• Pelikan M200 Cafe Creme
• OMAS Ogiva Cocktail Ltd Ed.
• Sailor Pro Gear Galaxy Starburst Ltd Ed
• Retro 51 Tornado Popper "Liftoff" Ltd Ed
• Cross Townsend Star Wars Darth Vader
• Lamy Al-Star Copper Orange
• Kaweco Brass Sport

Please COMMENT BELOW any others that you feel should be on this list.

Ink of the Year 2015

For the first time, we're also going to have a simultaneous vote for the Ink of the Year, 2015. This will be run in a similar fashion with an online poll that we will run here on our blog. Inks have become such an integral part of the fountain pen experience that some "blockbuster" inks truly deserve recognition.

Here are the nominees I came up with :

• Diamine Shimmertastic Inks
• J. Herbin 1670 Anniversary Emerald of Chivor
• Pelikan Edelstein Amethyst
• Sailor Storia Pigmented Inks
• Mont Blanc Blue Hour Blue-Black

Again, please COMMENT BELOW any other inks that you feel should be on the list of nominees.

The voting page will be up on Tuesday here on the blog. So, check back here or sign up for our newsletter so you can get the update directly in your e-mail inbox.

3 Reasons Why You Should Attend a Pen Club Meetup

Pelikan Hubs Swag!

Last Friday, we were honored to participate in Pelikan Hubs, a worldwide event that gathered pen enthusiasts from all over the globe to celebrate the revered Pelikan brand. At 6:30p local time, registered pen addicts congregated to their respective meetup locations in major metropolitan areas like New York City, Philadelphia, Seattle, San Francisco, Madrid, Toronto and beyond.  Sal & Tom, along with a few members of our NJ Pen Club, attended the Philly meetup, which was shepherded by flock-master Joshua of Pelikan's Perch.

So, what do you do when you get a bunch of fountain pen fanatics in a room together?

For those who have never attended a pen meetup or pen club meeting, here are 3 takeaways for people who love fine writing.

Joshua's Flock of Pelikan Pens

1. Experiencing New Pens

One of the necessities of a pen club meeting is that attendees bring some pens to show off. At the Hubs meeting, Joshua brought his entire flock of Pelikans, including virtually every tradition series 200/205 model that has ever been produced. Now, I know what you're thinking and, no, you don't need to bring 100 pens to a meetup. A few favorite pens in your everyday carry would suffice.

The point of bringing your pens is that everyone at the meeting can see, touch and (sometimes) write with pens that they wouldn't normally experience. With fountain pen brick-and-mortar retail stores so few and far between, it's rare to be in the presence of so many different writing instruments. Think of it like window shopping at a pen store without the pressure to buy anything.

At Friday's meetup, James spotted a Pelikan M1000 in Joshua's collection. He never experienced holding the largest of the Souveran fountain pens and was quite taken by its huge 18ct gold nib and stately size of this fountain pen. I think it shot up to the top of his wish list after he receives the Nakaya he's been patiently waiting for.

Writing with other people's pens can be a sensitive topic at pen meets. Fountain pens nibs are delicate and, if someone writes with a heavy hand or at an incorrect angle, a nib could be taken out of alignment and cause its owner quite a bit of grief. It is always appropriate to ask the pen's owner if they mind you writing with their pen.

Goldspot brought the M600 Pink, M805 Demonstrator, M805 Stresemann, M205 Amethyst and Stola III to the meet. These are all the new Pelikan designs that were produced in 2015.

The Pelikan Hubs Ink Sampling Station

2. Sampling New Inks

With an ever-growing number of varieties being brewed in the US and beyond, ink has become a big topic of discussion. Besides finding the perfect hue, pen lovers are concerned with other ink properties like shading, sheen, shimmer, lightfastness, water resistance and ease of maintenance. Attending a pen meet affords the opportunity to try new inks. Most attendees will either bring ink samples, bottles or have inks loaded in pens to try.

At Friday's Hubs meetup, Pelikan generously provided the entire selection of Edelstein ink bottles for attendees to sample and swab. At $30 a bottle, these inks would normally be quite expensive to sample. However, at a pen meet, anyone can write, scribble and swab to see, in person, if the color is going to be a new favorite or a fizzle.

Be sure to bring a pad of paper you would normally use for writing so you can test out several inks. If the meet is expected to have several bottles of ink to try on-hand, you may want to have a few empty pens to fill up. A cup of water, paper towels and q-tip cotton swabs are also recommended to help with keeping your pen, and the meeting venue, clean.

The Pelikan Hubs Philly Group

3. Get Experienced Tips and Advice

Arguably the most valuable part of getting together for a pen meet, aside from the socialization, is the free exchange of knowledge. People who are new to fountain pens, or pen collecting, can benefit greatly from the experience of others. From routine maintenance tips to adjusting nibs, open discussions at pen meetings are a treasure trove of information that help you be a better pen enthusiast.

Friday night, Karen brought a couple of Pelikan pens she owned for some years, but was unsure about the specific model. After a minute with Joshua, she knew exactly which models she had (M250's) and a brief history of their creation (they were created exclusively for the retailer Levenger).

Pen aficionados can talk about their inks much like beer & wine connoisseurs discuss craft brews and varietals. Besides reading online reviews, pen meetups offer real viewpoints about which inks are safe and fun to use.

Ultimately, a pen meet is about providing a real life experience that doesn't exist in online forums or in brick-and-mortar retailers. Instead of clicking on links and looking at handwriting sample scans, a meetup gives you the opportunity to sample the ink in person, hold the pen in your hand and receive honest, face-to-face advice.

Are you interested in participating in a pen club near you? Check to see if there is one in your area by logging into Fountain Pen Network or the FP Geeks forum to find if a local group is meeting.

If you're in the NJ tri-state area, the recently-formed NJ Pen Club has a few meetings under our belt since June. If you're interested in joining our club and would like to attend a future meeting, please feel free to leave a comment with your e-mail, twittter handle or FPN screen name and we will add you to our pen club e-mail notification list.

The Story on Sailor Storia Pigmented Inks (Review)

] Sailor (Japan) is known by many as the manufacturer of high quality, gold nib fountain pens, hand-tuned and inspected by masters of their craft. It is not a common fact that Sailor also has an entire division dedicated to brewing specialty fountain pen inks. Building upon the popularity of their Jentle line of fountain pen inks available in the US, Sailor has introduced the pigmented Storia line of 8 new colors just last month.

The Concept of Storia

Sailor Storia inks are inspired by the bright and cheery colors of the circus. Each color has a circus-themed name. Presented in frosted glass ink bottles with a 30mL capacity. The effect is reminiscent of little paint bottles. The built-in reservoir common to all Sailor inks allow the user to easily fill their fountain pen and extract every last drop of colorful ink into their pen.

What is this Pigmented Ink You're Trying to Feed My Pen?

Pigmented ink is crafted with tiny particles of pigment instead of dye to color the ink formula. In the case of the Sailor Storia inks, the benefit is a quick dry time, water resistance and lightfastness. Pigment particles sit on top of the paper instead of being absorbed into the paper fibers like dye ink. Use the ink with a acid-free paper and you've got a combination that can be preserved for 200-300 years. Imagine writing about the 2015 VMA's and trying to explain Miley Cyrus to the human race of the 24th Century. They way things are going, they will probably have someone that will make Miley look like a Puritan spinster.

The drawback of pigmented ink is the cleaning aspect, which needs to be approached with more frequency and care. Give Sailor some faith in creating an ink that is safe for fountain pens, considering how much care they put into crafting a quality writing instrument. That being said, I would still err on the side of caution when using these inks in your pens.

Follow these tips to properly use pigmented inks in your fountain pen :

• Up your cleaning schedule to less than 5 days after initially filling the pen with pigmented ink.
• To create a more frequent cleaning schedule, only fill the pen to partial capacity so it will deplete quicker.
• Soak the nib with a bit of windex cleaner (containing ammonia) to help with any stubborn ink that won't clean out.

Sampling the Storia Inks

Being that there are only 8 inks in this collection, I decided to write dangerously and fill 8 pens, one with each color. The pens vary in nib size, manufacturer and year produced.

Favorites :
Lion Light Brown, Magic Purple and Clown Yellow-Green

Not-so-Favorites :
Fire Red and Spotlight Yellow

Performance-wise, a majority of the inks had great flow, with exception to the Fire Red that was in my TWSBI with the 1.5mm stub nib, but I've had similar flow issues with different inks in that pen, including Rouge Hematite. There's a beautiful shading on the Lion and the Clown colors. Fire Red really falls short of what I would consider "Fire" and is very close to the hue of the Dancer Pink.

I tested the set of inks on Rhodia 80gsm plain notepad paper and applied water droplets to each of the swatches. After letting the water drops sit on the page for a minute, I wiped off the water while trying to smear the page as much as possible to see if the ink gets lifted from the page.

Sailor Storia Water droplet test results

Don't get the shading confused with the water resistance, this ink does a great job holding up against a spill. The Dancer Pink seemed to be most effected by the water, lifting up some of the color saturation. Balloon Green and Lion also seemed to be lift a bit from the page, but ever-so-slightly. The other colors look as though there was no change. Smearing can be seen on Fire Red and Night Blue, but only a touch. All in all, these are a solid set of water resistant inks.

The Spotlight Yellow is completely unreadable on white paper. Now, why in the world would anyone want an ink like that? Well, that brings me to my next topic where we mix things up!

Mixing Sailor Storia Inks

Besides being colorful right out of the bottle, these Storia inks can also be mixed with each other to create new color combinations. It is strongly advised that these inks are not to be diluted or mixed with any other inks outside of the Storia line. I haven't had the chance to mix up a few colors, but the Spotlight Yellow seems like a good candidate to add to another color to achieve a golden halo in the new creation.

Writing Samples

Each pen and ink combination was recorded using an InkJournal notebook to provide a comparison of the writing samples between inks. It has to be noted that the Lion Light Brown was slightly tinted green to start with due to the last ink that was in the pen I used. Same deal with the Spotlight Yellow. I tried my darnedest to clean out all the Emerald of Chivor from my Nemosine pen before filling it with Spotlight, but the slightest bit of any other saturated color will contaminate this pure yellow ink.

Sailor Storia Pink Dancer w/ Parker Vacumatic

Sailor Storia Red Fire w/ TWSBI Diamond 530 1.5mm Stub

Sailor Storia Lion Light Brown w/ Waterman 352 Stalwart Flex Nib

Sailor Storia Spotlight Yellow with Nemosine 0.6mm Stub

Sailor Storia Clown Yellow-Green w/ Visconti Van Gogh (F)

Sailor Storia Balloon Green w/ Edison Herald (F)

Sailor Storia Blue Night w/ Kaweco AL-Sport (EF)

Sailor Storia Magic Purple w/ OMAS New Bologna (M)

We'd love to read your thoughts on the new Sailor Storia line. Have you tried any of these inks already? Any issues with keeping your pens clean after using these inks? Any mix recipes that you care to share?

Noodler's Ink Bottle Changing from Glass to Plastic

Today, Nathan Tardiff, the Willy Wonka of our niche fountain pen ink market, has announced a drastic change within the Noodler's Ink lineup of bottled inks. The iconic 3oz glass bottle may be no more.

As Nathan talks about in his You Tube video, changes within the glass bottle vendors he used to source the Noodler's bottles have forced his hand to make a decision : either switch to a smaller glass bottle that would up the cost of Noodler's Ink across the board, or make a change to plastic bottles.

Declining to take the approach that so many pen manufacturers have done over the years, the President of Noodler's Ink opted to keep prices the same, while offering better value with the new 3oz plastic bottles.

As he demonstrates in the video, the additional head space toward the top of the bottle actually allows for more ink to be included in the new plastic bottle than in the original glass container. The new plastic Noodler's ink bottles are also lighter and will have less issues with breakage when being shipped. The opaque bottle also blocks UV light from damaging the color of the ink in the bottle.

We had just received our first shipment of Noodler's Bulletproof Black in the new plastic ink bottles and were quite surprised as to how much more can fit in a typical case package. In the past, when we order a case of Noodler's 3oz ink, we would get 144 glass bottles per case. Now, one case constituted 320 ink bottles, over double the amount of ink for the same package.

Considering how much Noodler's we ship on a daily basis, the savings in shipping costs will be a welcome change in the overall scheme of things.

Although Nathan states that the change is temporary and glass bottles may make a comeback by the end of 2015 or beginning of 2016, the tone of his message made it seem like this can be a permanent solution and that the glass bottles of old will be considered "vintage" Noodler's Ink.

What do you think about the change to the plastic bottles? Drop us a line and comment below to tell us whether you think it's a good change or otherwise.

Pilot Metropolitan Retro Pop Fountain Pen Review

Prior to 2012, the market for beginner fountain pens was dominated by Lamy's Safari, AL-Star and Vista pens. Then, the Pilot Metropolitan (MR), a.k.a. the Cocoon, landed onto the scene and easily became a favorite among fountain pen beginners and established writing enthusiasts alike.

Originally, the styles of the Metropolitan were limited to only a black, gold and silver-color metallic finishes. The Metropolitan Animal expansion gave us the most exciting color to date in the "Violet Leopard" style, until now.

The New Pilot Metropolitan Retro Pop is a fresh take on this best-selling starter pen. Bright, funky and bold, these colors are aimed toward a younger audience. Nothing boring or ordinary here.

The body style and materials are the same as with the original Metropolitan. You can expect the same weight of a brass-lined barrel and cap, along with the feel of the satin metallic finish on the outside. Pilot jazzed up the center bands below the cap to introduce these mod-like, retro designs that were popular in the 60s and 70s.

Pilot Metropolitan Specifications

Length capped: 5.4 inches (13.7 cm)
Length un-capped: 5 inches (13 cm)
Length posted: 6 inches (15.5 cm)
Weight (capped, with converter): 0.93 oz (26.4 g)
Weight (un-capped, with converter): 0.6 oz (17.1 g)

For purposes of this review, I went with the turquoise color Metro Retro Pop. Being a lover of turquoise, and a dude, I found this color to be right in line with my personal taste. The accent band is a bit much, but that is purely a personal aesthetic choice and I wouldn't weigh that against the pen's design.

Filling the Metropolitan Squeeze Converter

One of the reasons the Pilot Metropolitan is such an amazing value for a starter fountain pen is that, for only $18, you get the option of a converter to experiment with bottled ink filling. The squeeze converter sucks in about 1mL worth of ink and can be operated with one hand by pinching the metal pressure bars to force air out of the sac. Letting go of the converter allows the sac to expand, creating a vacuum that sucks ink (or water) up through the nib and feed. Watch our video review for a demonstration of how to use the Metro converter.

Writing with the Pilot Metropolitan

As you would expect from a Japanese brand, the Pilot Metropolitan nib writes on the thinner side. The medium sized, stainless steel nib I tried wrote more like a European fine point. The nib isn't the smoothest, but it writes well for an $18 pen, so I gauged my expectations accordingly. Comparing it to another sub-$20 pen in the Nemosine Singularity, I would say the Metropolitan wins making a higher quality nib, hands down. The only problem with the Metro is that you are limited to only a fine or medium. The Nemosine, on the other hand, allows for EF, F, M, B and two types of stub nibs.

The Metro is exceptionally well balanced. The weight is spot on for long writing sessions, while maintaining a proper feel in hand that gives the impression of a valuable writing instrument. The cap posts on the backend securely and snaps on to close the pen with a satisfying "click." My only gripe about the design is the dramatic step from the barrel to the section. I realize the step is there so that the cap snaps on flush with the rest of the barrel of the pen. For writing comfort, it is a bit bothersome to those who prefer to hold the pen further up the section as opposed to closer to the nib.

The nib responds well to starting up after being left unused for a day or so. No hard-starts, skipping or hesitation with the ink flow on this pen. I had a hard time putting this pen down in favor of other pens I have inked at the moment. The simplicity of its design and the bold color of the metallic body beckon to be written with.

A Few Choice Words

Summary :

• Writing Quality : Sturdy and reliable Japanese stainless steel nib works well straight out of the box. May not be the smoothest steel nib, but for $18, a pretty darn good value. The weight and balance of the sleek profile make it easy to write comfortably with the Metro. Now if they can only fix the step from the barrel to the section... (grade A)
• Aesthetic Quality : Eye-catching and bold, the Metro Retro colors are going to be a tremendous hit with youthful writers. The metallic finish gives the impression of a pen much more valuable. (grade A+)
• Utility : Option of a cartridge or converter is essential to get a beginner's feet wet into fountain pens. The cap easily posts and securely snaps back on to the writing end. The clip is sturdy. (grade A)
• Price : $18.75 Retail. For far less than a tank of gas these days, you can score yourself a fountain pen of solid quality for an everyday writer, AND it looks good! (grade A+)

Final Grade : A+
The Pilot Metropolitan is arguably the best beginner fountain pen. By adopting this fresh and youthful style in the Retro Pop, Pilot aims to get these pens in the hands of younger audiences that will begin their interest in fountain pens with a trustworthy brand like Pilot. You really can't go wrong with making the Metro your first pen. Even if you have a collection started, the Metro is a great option to have as a travel writer or knock-around, everyday pen.

How to Manage Your Fountain Pen Collection #PenGeekProblems

]

Well, that escalated quickly.

First, it all started with a Platinum Preppy, an innocent Pilot Metropolitan and Varsity. You wanted to give fountain pens a shot because typing out e-mails and putting ideas into a Google Doc lacked any sense of organic feeling. Next, a TWSBI, Lamy Safari and Kaweco Sport piques your interest in more quality pens that everyone always talks about. Then, the slippery slope happens. You've plunked down good money, investing in a Lamy 2000, Pilot Vanishing Point and a Sailor 1911. And the "point" to it all is this - you've started a pen collection that needs tending like a flock of sheep.

Benefits of Managing your Fountain Pen Collection

Keeping a proper rotation of your fountain pens ensures that all of your pens are being worn equally, maintained properly and are enjoyed to their fullest. It's truly heartbreaking (to a pen geek), to find that one neglected pen that was left in a desk drawer some months ago, only to find that it was filled with ink that has since dried up and in need of some serious cleaning (or worse).

Step 1 : Create a "Home Base" for your Pens, Inks & Papers

To keep accurate tabs on all your writing essentials, it is necessary to have a central location where you store all of your extra pens, bottles of ink, refills, ink samples, notebooks and pen maintenance supplies. This could be located in your bedroom, study, office or kitchen drawer. Being organized means, at least, having one place where you can find all your writing stuff.

Since bottles of ink and extra refills are not always needed, it's best to have them stored in a cool environment that is not exposed to extreme temperature changes or direct sunlight. A drawer or cabinet is ideal to store inks. For those with a collection that has become an investment and want to proudly display their pens at their "home base," a clear-top pen case is great way to show off your valuable writing instruments.

Step 2 : Create an Everyday Carry (EDC)

"EDC" has become a popular term in the luxury item market because it describes utility items that accompany our person on a daily basis. There's a high degree of usefulness to accomplish work and be productive, all the while doing so in style. Your everyday carry (or pen lineup) should meet the needs of your common work tasks you encounter during the average day. If you're an illustrator, for example, you may have more varieties of pencils, fineliners or colorful Copic markers at your disposal to sketch when inspiration strikes. If you're a blogging entrepreneur, you may have a set of pens that will comfortable to write out posts in long-hand or to jot quick ideas for future content. Regardless of your occupation, it may take some time to determine which writing instruments will work best in your rotation.

Here are some items that are common to most pen lovers' EDC:

• A multi-pen case - A slotted or looped pen case that can hold a number (3 & up) of writing or drawing utensils, and possibly a pocket-sized notebook.
• A pocket-sized memo notebook - A small notebook, like a Field Notes, that allows you to quickly capture notes and ideas on-the-go.
• A knock-around workhorse pen - A Kaweco, Nemosine or Lamy is excellent for this important role of being a reliable, stand-by pen that you can toss into a bag or take with you in a pinch.
• A spare ink cartridge (or sample vial) - In the event that all of your pens run out of juice, having a little bit of ink on-hand is like the second parachute.
• An impressive, fancy pen - It doesn't necessarily have to be expensive, but this pen should be your "flavor of the month," the current apple of your eye. In short, this pen catches your fancy every time you open your case.
• A decoy - Typically, this role could be filled by a ballpoint pen. In the event that people look to you to supply them with a much-needed writing implement to use for an indiscernible amount of time, you can give them a cheap ballpen instead of your prized Mont Blanc. Having a ballpoint with you can also help when you have to sign carbon-copy documents.

Step 3 : Inking and Cleaning Rotation

Being that fountain pens require regular maintenance to ensure long-term optimal performance, you should consider how many pens you are inking up at once. Consider how much time you spend writing on a daily basis. Is it only 10 minutes total or are you going through a whole converter of ink in one sitting on any given day?

If your everyday routine only consists of a few minutes of jotting notes, then it would not be advisable to have 10 pens inked at the same time. Chances are, some of these pens will dry out and have flow issues before you would get the opportunity to use them.

Just a few minutes of writing a day will keep most pens fresh and prevent the ink from settling in the feed and becoming "gunked up" in the nib. Make sure to keep your fountain pens capped while not in use for more than a minute to prevent flow issues when you come back to using it next. So, before you go and ink up your entire collection for the week, consider your writing habits. In general, here's some "rule of thumb" guidelines to determine how many pens you should have inked at one time. These figures are approximate, and have been determined by years of personal experience.

Writing Activity	Time Spent Writing / Drawing Daily	# of Pens that Can be Inked
Signatures, some notes	< 5mins / day	2 Pens
Lists, light note-taking	5-10mins / day	3 Pens
Lists, brainstorming, doodling	10-20mins / day	5 Pens
Journal, blog writing	20mins - 1hr / day	7 Pens
Short Stories, Essays, Letters	1hr - 2hrs / day	10 Pens
Novel, Thesis, Dissertation	> 2hrs / day	12+ Pens

Keeping an appropriate number of pens in rotation guarantees that all pens will be used evenly and that none will be neglected for very long. As they run out of ink, it is recommended that you clean them out and have them ready for the next inking while using the other pens that have not run out yet. Pen ink capacities differ, so you may have a pen in the rotation for longer than others, especially if it's a piston filler or eyedropper fill pen.

Some collectors have a designated day of the week for cleaning their pens. Sunday seems to be a good day for most people, as they can start the week fresh with their pens fully loaded.

Step 4 : Curating the Collection

All pen collectors and enthusiasts have had that feeling at one time or another - a pen falls out of favor. Maybe it wasn't a favorite to begin with, but it was on-sale or had great reviews, so you had to give it a shot. However, it's been months and the pen hasn't made its way into your EDC pen case. Unless it has some sentimental value, it may be time to offer the pen up for trade or sell it to liquidate the funds for a future pen purchase. Although eBay is the defacto place on the internet to sell collectibles, you may be able to get more value out of offering it for sale or trade on a fountain pen community discussion board like FPN or Reddit /r/PenSwap.

After taking an honest inventory of your pen collection, you may feel that certain pens would be used more if they had a nib that wrote better. Some nibs might have been a little dry or scratchy right out of the box, some may just not give you the desired amount of line variation you crave. Give your nibs a make-over by treating it to a tune and smoothing. This is a skill that you can easily develop on some cheaper steel nib pens until you are comfortable on fixing up your more valuable pens. There is plenty of information, tools and instructional videos online to help guide you in performing simple adjustments that can refresh your entire collection of pens.

If you are uncomfortable or unwilling to work on your own pen nibs, you could opt to reach out to a fountain pen repair specialist or nib meister. There are a number of nib specialists in the USA that are reliable and highly frequented by collectors. Some may even have a wait list that is months long. Nib miesters can add a whole new dimension to your experience with your beloved pens by offering a specialty grind like cursive italic, oblique or architect (to name a few nib styles).

If your collection has grown to over 20 pens, you may need to upgrade your "home base" storage to ensure the pens are adequately protected over the long term. This means storing them in something other than a mug. A pen case with non-marking, acid-free lining that separates each pen from touching each other is ideal. Pen trunks can sometimes go up to 50 - 100 pens, but are quite costly. Many collectors have opted to go for a DIY, homegrown approach that usually involves a trip to IKEA. If your collection has grown to an epic size, some folks resort to cataloging all of their pen purchases in a spreadsheet, for which some members of the pen community have devised a format to use for convenience.

Have a tip for other pen collectors? Share our post with the tag #pengeekproblems and add your pro tips (with photos) to show how you can handle your growing pen obsession. Feel free to comment below to

4 Keys to Achieving Maximum Satisfaction with J. Herbin Emerald of Chivor

With the Emerald of Chivor released in August of 2015, many are excited about getting their hands on the 4th installment of the J. Herbin Anniversary Ink. There's not doubt about it, these eagerly-anticipated bottles are going to be in the hands, and pens, of writers worldwide. If you're new to the Anniversary ink crazy and Emerald of Chivor will be your first, we've got your four essential keys to getting the most enjoyment out of your 1670 Anniversary ink experience.

These tips also apply to the previously released J Herbin 1670 Anniversary Inks : Rouge Hematite, Stormy Grey & Bleu Ocean.

The fountain pen ink equivalent to the Guinness cascade. #stormygrey

A video posted by InkJournal (@inkjournal) on Feb 9, 2015 at 4:03pm PST

1. Shake Things Up

Every bottle of J. Herbin Anniversary ink now has gold sparkle particles that tend to settle toward the bottom of the bottle fairly quickly, which would lead to a small amount of sparkle being loaded into your pen.
Shake the J. Herbin bottle immediately before filling your pen. That means you should have your pen ready to fill the second you are done dispersing the glitter throughout the ink in the bottle. Have the converter accessible, draw down the piston, uncap the nib and make sure you're ready to grab all the sparkle you can!

2. The Thicker & Wetter, the Better

To best show off the color, sheen and sparkle of the Emerald of Chivor, a thicker nib (broad, double-broad or stub) is ideal. A nib that has a wetter flow will have no problem laying down the saturated color. A thinner nib (extra-fine, fine) with a more restrictive flow may have troubles starting and skipping.

3. Some Pen Foreplay Before Writing

The same particle settling also applies to the ink when it settles inside your resting pen. The gold particles will rest on the side of the pen / converter if the pen is left on the desk and is not written with for some time. To ensure proper gold distribution and avoid clumping of gold, rotate the pen by rolling it around in your finger tips.
This is particularly fun to watch in demonstrator fountain pens, as you can clearly see the gold particles settle against the wall of the pen and the ink sloshing around when the pen is being moved.

4. Taking Candid Pics

The J. Herbin Anniversary inks are "instafamous." They're one of the most-often photographed inks that are shared online. It's common to see the sparkle of the Anniversary inks on reddit, FPN, twitter and instagram.  A big part of the fun in using these inks is to show common pen "muggles" how awesome they look on paper.

Macro shot of Emerald of Chivor using Olloclip on an iPhone 5

It can be rather tricky to capture the Anniversary ink in all of its glory. As we've taken numerous pics of the 1670 inks on the iPhone and digital SLR, we're offering some of our quick photography pointers to help you with your next pen & ink photo shoot.

• Proper lighting - Bright sunlight that is diffused (with a white curtain, for example) provides some of the best, soft white light. You definitely do not want to use full flash or direct sunlight, as it would make bright white hot-spots on your photo wherever the glittering sheen is most dense.
• Shoot at an angle - The glitter and sheen is most apparent when you tilt the page at an angle to the light source. Adjust the angle of the page to the light source while positioning your camera to achieve the desired effect.
• Take a video - The nature of the sparkle and sheen changes drastically in the light. Capture the light reflecting off the ink on the page by taking a short video. The same lighting principles apply to capture the color adequately. Simply tilt the page while recording the video.
• Macro - Using a macro lens, even an inexpensive adapter lens that can be attached to a smart phone camera, brings you up-close and personal with the inks depth, color and quality.

Nemosine with Emerald of Chivor in direct sunlight.

Extra Bonus Tips

Stay Safe! Follow a routine for cleaning pens that have 1670 Anniversary inks loaded. When you're finished with a fill of the ink, even if you intend to fill it back up with more Emerald of Chivor, clean out the nib and converter. If you've somehow left your pen loaded with Anniversary ink for more than 3 weeks in a drawer, clean it out before anything else. When the ink has been sitting in the pen for a prolonged period of time, the water in the ink will most likely evaporate (especially in the heat of sunlight) and cause flow issues down the line.

Share with a Friend

Despite the 1670 inks being a runaway success with most fountain pen enthusiasts, there are many skeptical fountain pen users and non-fountain pen people that might be open to trying the ink to se what the fuss is all about. Send a sample or mail a letter than showcases the ink. You can also use the photography tips listed above to share pics with your friends on social media. Don't forget to tag your pen pals!

J. Herbin 1670 Emerald of Chivor is a special ink for all pen lovers to experience. With the tips outlined in this article, we hope you will write with great enjoyment when filling up with Chivor.