The Writer’s Tools – A Pen

  • Oct 07, 2022
  • |

In the picture are five fountain pens quite dear to me, and commonly used prior to the pandemic. I need to clean them. But I know when I do, and refill them with ink, they will write splendidly. Yesterday, I wrote of the journals I use. Today – pens!

A caveat – due to current events and since I can’t sit at a desk to clean and ink my pens easily for now, I use a small army of Muji gel ink pens. But for memory’s sake, I’ll review the fountain pens in the photo.

The first is a Platinum brand fountain pen from the early 1970s, one of a rare few engraved with a bamboo and pheasant design. It was a gift to me from my grandfather before he passed. It writes with a fine nib, and I usually fill it with dark blue ink.

The next two look like Sheaffers (they’re in a box right now. Can’t hobble over with crutches to reach that box and check for sure lol). They’re also with a 1970s design if I remember right. I prefer the Lady Sheaffer, as I need a slim pen to write with. The fat pens hurt my small hands after a while of use. And I am a prolific writer.

The fourth pen is Goldie, my Parker. It was the second fountain pen I ever owned (the first was a kid’s plastic one). Goldie used to be filled with J. Herbin Rose Perfume ink, but when that ran out in the Philippines, I just filled it with red fountain pen ink na lang. The feed is loose and leaks from time to time – inky fingers are common for fountain pen enthusiasts. But if you smell closely, you’ll still catch a whiff of rose perfume that stubbornly stuck in the pen despite years of cleanings since then.

Lastly is my Korean rose gold fountain pen. It was the cheapest of all, and it has a fine nib too, but I love how smoothly it writes. I usually fill it with purple ink. Arabian Rose, if I remember right. Not sure if I have any of that ink left. It’s been a long time. 🙂

More on my writer tools tomorrow.