Review: Retro 51 Bouquet (compliments of Anderson Pens)

Retro 51 Bouquet

I never thought I’d be a collector of Retro 51s. However, in the last couple of years, I’ve acquired a variety of different Poppers and a Classic Lacquer and, I must admit, I have a collection now. So, I now keep an eye out for the regular seasonal releases in the Popper series.

Retro 51 Bouquet

Just prior to the Atlanta Pen Show, Retro 51 released their spring design, Bouquet, and I scrambled to find a retailer who didn’t sell out in a minute. Luckily, the fine folks at Anderson Pens set not one but TWO pens aside for me and, as a result, one lucky reader will get claim this beauty as their own – or to give to their loved one, their mom, or their favorite person who deserves an everlasting bouquet of flowers.

Retro 51 Bouquet

The Bouquet is a smooth, watercolor floral printed on an ivory background. The flowers definitely have a tropical feel. The graphics are some of the most complex I’ve seen on a Retro 51 and they turned out really well. The colors are clean and rich. And the printing is flawless.

Retro 51 Bouquet end cap

The hardware is a soft, brushed gold. I’d almost call is rose gold but its not pinky nor is it brassy. The end cap is a rosy pink dot to match the flowers.

Of all the “Mother’s Day” releases that Retro 51 has done, this is by far the best one yet.

Retro 51 Bouquet

GIVEAWAY: See that one in the photo above still wrapped in shrinkwrap? That is #0288/1000 and it can be your. All you need to do is leave a comment below and tell me who in your life deserves a beautiful bouquet of flowers. AND… read the FINE PRINT. Big thanks to Anderson Pens for providing the giveaway pen!


FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Monday, April 25, 2016. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Tuesday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your real email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. If winner does not respond within 30 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money. US delivery addresses only please this time. Apologies to our international readers!

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165 comments / Add your comment below

  1. My friend Kerry deserves a big bouquet of flowers- she’s an amazing mom, she works so hard for our community, and she’s a deeply caring person.

  2. My daughter, she who brings such joy and brightness into my life and the world, deserves the beauty of flowers the most of all.

    What a lovely pen …she would cherish it.

  3. Of course my Mama Mia, Elaine M.C. Martini. In her finer years, she does not succumb to being grouchy, but instead has her sweet smile and kind words. Rather like these sweet flowers of this “Bouquet.” So fitting!

  4. My daughter deserves a beautiful bouquet of flowers. She’s 12 and having all the tweenage angst right now. I wish I could make it go away…

    (thanks for hosting the giveaway!)

  5. My caregiver, Leslie, certainly would like to carry this lovely little pen!
    She goes above and beyond in doing nice things for me!

  6. I have a few friends going through some hard stuff right now, so they all deserve some bouquets of flowers to brighten their day.

  7. For all she’s given me, I would say my grandmama. She’s the one that got me into the world of fountain pens. I’ve always been a stationery buff as a kid, and she gifted me her old Parker she’s had since before my dad even existed! Bless her, she’s the most wonderful person in my life.

  8. My mom deserves a beautiful bouquet of flowers for all that she’s dropped when we’ve needed a hand these past few years.

  9. Of course my mother. She works so hard for us and she’s getting closer and closer to menopause, so life is rough. She deserves a bouquet of flowers to brighten up her day. And you know what? It really sounds like a brilliant idea. Thanks for the giveaway!

  10. I can’t recommend my mother highly enough! Everything that is good in my life can be traced directly back to her.

  11. I would love to get this for my mom. She will turn 72 this year and loves flowers. This would be a great pen for her.

  12. That Bouquet would look great in my wife’s pocket., as an RN nurse in a pediatric clinic the kids would like it too.

  13. My wife could use a bouquet! She is in her last trimester and has helping me with some home renovations as we get a room ready for our first kid. She’s quite the trooper!

  14. My girlfriend, who has been putting up with my nonsense for years, deserves an nice pen to match her awesome new job.

  15. My little sister who went back to school and is, in her thirties, graduating this May. Her goal is to be an amazing teacher, building a better future for us all by teaching young people.

  16. Without question, my mom deserves a huge bouquet of flowers. She still drops everything to help her (adult) children, and is a terrific role model for the kind of mom I strive to be.

  17. My grandma (96yrs old) deserves a beautiful bouquet of flowers… but a beautiful bouquet of flowers on a pen… that is going to me.. because I can’t part with it.

  18. I’ve been looking forward to seeing what this pen looked like since I saw your Instagram post during the ATL pen show! How gorgeous! I think my boyfriend deserves a big bouquet right now, since he’s going through a tough time (which is tough on both of us). So I’d also give myself a big bouquet! 🙂

  19. My mom is such a hard working woman that she definitely deserves a huge bouquet. It wouldn’t come close to really thanking her for all she does, but it would be a start!

  20. I would give it to my Mom who wants to plant the right flowers to help butterflies and bees. She is my sunshine.

  21. My sister most definitely deserves a bouquet of flowers…and more! Don’t think I could have asked for a better partner in crime growing up.

  22. Can I be greedy and say I deserve it? My birthday is the 23rd and it’s the big 65 when you are officially old. I have one Retro 51 that I bought back in my Palm Pilot days. It’s getting a little beat up and I’d love to be able to replace it.

  23. My wife deserves a beautiful bouquet of flowers, and she will be getting one next week for her birthday. After six years together, I finally got her to try a nice pen earlier this month and she loved it. Then, of her own volition, and nothing but a couple of recommendations from me, she got herself a Frixion, a Dr.Grip and a Kakuno. I’m sure that a beautiful Retro 51, such as the Bouquet, would covert her into pen fandom, if not addiction!

  24. What a gorgeous pen!! I think my mom would love this pen most of all. We both love fountain pens but she sometimes has a hard time with certain inks and so still uses a regular old ballpoint in her checkbook. She needs a bouquet pen, for sure 😀

  25. When my wife, Michelle, and I met, we exchanged “favorite things” lists. She loves The Sound of Music, and since the subject came up, it seemed like something fun to do. One of the top things on her list was having flowers around home. Although we can’t always afford the expense, I try to give her a bouquet of flowers at least once or twice a month. It really does fill her face with such a happy glow.

    Because I am back in graduate school, Michelle has to work at least part time to help make ends meet. Her real passion in life is being mom, and being a stay-at-home parent is her dream. She recently gave birth to our second son, Joshua. Being at home for maternity leave has been a taste of the dream we would love for her to have as her everyday life. It would be a real treat for me to be able to give her this pen as a personal gift that reminds her on a daily basis of those little rituals that bind us together even though we don’t live the dream life we’d like to right now.

  26. The person who most deserves a pretty pen is my friend, Barb. She has 5 kids and she deserves flowers EVERY DAY for all the chaos she manages.She’s an inspiration.

  27. I would give the pen to my 15 yr old daughter. She already has a turquiose colored Tactile Turn Mover with 0.7 G2 turquoise refill that she likes. But I think she would love the design and the P8187 refill since she like a fat, wet line for drawing, journaling (incessantly) and school work.

  28. My mother deserves the most beautiful bouquet of flowers in the world for nurturing through even the most difficult times.

  29. My sister, Jan, deserves a big bouquet of flowers on Mother’s Day as well as every day, because she is an awesome mom!

  30. I’d love to give one to my Mother for Mother’s Day for the love and hard work she gave to raising her family of 5. Nobody in my life deserves it more.

  31. My wife Debbie deserves many, many bouquets! She just had emergency shoulder surgery last Wednesday and has been through a lot, but is on her way to complete recovery!

  32. My wife deserves flowers, but so do my daughter-in-law and her two daughters. But flowers for my wife first.

  33. Thanks for the opportunity. I couldn’t just pick one person, so I’d have to say my mom and my wife. Both are wonderful women who have taught me so much about life, love, and what it really means to live a happy life. Would be lost without them.

  34. My wife is 8 1/2 months pregnant and I tried to buy one of these for her for Mother’s Day but I was too slow. She would love it.

  35. My daughters (3 of them) deserve a huge bouquet of flowers! They are my world and I would love to give them somehing beautiful!

  36. Got to love flowers for the spring. A nice bouquet of yellow was intended for my spouse this week, but unfortunately my cats are convinced they deserve it more!

  37. My wife deserves a big bouquet of flowers for staying, faithfully by my side, this past month while caring for me during during my heart attack. I know that at times I have been a bit difficult.

  38. My mom deserves the biggest bouquet of flowers. She has been so supportive and is dealing with her father being very sick.

  39. My wonderful friend, Ursula, who is a fellow pen freak. She is currently looking for a job and could use a bouquet-pick-me-up.

  40. My MIL! She works so hard for her family and is a wonderful grandmother! She deserves beauty in her life!

  41. My beautiful wife deserves a big bouquet of flowers! She has taken care of me and our three sons.

  42. I wanted to come here and say that *I* deserve this pen because it is so beautiful and I love it. Then I read all these loving tributes to the wonderful women in people’s lives and I feel unworthy. I still really love that pen though. 🙂

  43. My mom deserves a big bouquet of flowers. It’s been a hectic year and she has been there to support me all the way. This is the first year in a long time that we’ll actually be able to spend Mother’s Day together, so it’s very exciting for me. Thanks for all the work you do, and thank you for the opportunity to win this pen!

  44. Oh, wow. That’s a beautiful pen. I’d definitely give it to my partner, who’s had to deal with me for the past year… that deserves something more than just a bouquet, if you ask me!

  45. My wife Barbara deserves this present as a loving mother, devoted therapist to some of the most distressed victims of violence, and an artist who uses her gifts in service of violence prevention.

  46. My sister is teaching me to drive and being very patient with me, even though I know she has trouble with that sometimes. She loves flowers and I think she could use a nice bouquet.

  47. Goodness to choose just one. I’d say my mom. She’s the best, I just got her a journal and this one would be the perfect companion!

  48. My daughter deserves a bouquet of flowers. She’s a student and has been working so hard this year after having a difficult year last year. She’s bounced back and is doing great. She loves flowers and photographing them so much!

  49. My wife deserves a big bouquet of flowers for Mothers Day. She just had our fourth baby: and he weighed in at 9lbs 4oz!

  50. My sister’s birthday is on the 25th and she definitely deserves the biggest bouquet of flowers for raising me and supporting me all through school. Now I’m going to college and I want to make her proud!

  51. My fiance would love this for Mothers Day. For one thing, she’s a writer. For another, she’s mother to a teenage boy and college-age girl – and for that, she deserves nice things, amirite?

  52. My friend who is going through a journey through med school with me. We’ve been through the study walls and broke through them together.

  53. My partner deserves a big bouquet of flowers as she is recovering and rehabilitating from a difficult achilles reattachment surgery.

  54. I would give it to my best friend who is a Mother and grandmother who has spent the last month helping her daughter with premature baby.

  55. It would have to be my mother, the hardest working woman I know. My grandmother, her mother, passed away this week, and on the morning my mom found out, she went to work a twelve hour shift after sleeping just a couple of hours. I wish she could be in the position to take a break once in a while, but alas. Love you mom.

  56. Certainly my wife. She’s an A+ partner and a champion mom to our two kids. She is also horribly allergic to flower pollen, so I think the 2-D blooms on this Retro 51 would go over pretty well.

  57. My dear friend Susann adores pretty pens and papers. She would love this pen. I would gift it to her as she battles chronic health issues with a positive spirit and cheerful heart.

  58. My mother-in-law definitely deserves a lovely bouquet of flowers! Gardening and taking notes are two of her favorite things to do, so a beautiful flower pen would be perfect for her!

  59. The bouquet pen would be a wonderful gift for my sister. Even though I am older, she is the one person I can always go to for support of any kind. She puts herself out to be available for all family members and for her many lifelong friends. I have already given her the Retro 51 cat pen ( from Andersons) and this would be a lovely companion.

  60. My mother without a doubt deserves a huge bouquet of flowers and much more! She goes out of her way to love and support all of her children – and all of the “strays” she has added to her family along the way!

  61. I think a person in my life who deserves a bouquet of flowers is–me! I know lots of deserving women but it’s important to be your own cheerleader too! It’s great to be acknowledged by others and acknowledge others but I think it’s equally important or even more important to know your own worth and treat yourself, in the immortal words of Tom and Donna on Parks and Rec.

  62. I would give it to my mother for mother’s day! She is a special education teacher and a pastor’s wife, so she takes care of lots of kids that aren’t HER kids! I’m so thankful for her.

  63. My mom deserves a bouquet for all the years she did “mom stuff” that I never even noticed. Now with two boys of my own, I get how hard it is.

  64. If I win, this pen definitely will go to my mom!! She raised four daughters by herself, she’s a total supermom.

  65. I would give it to my wife, who deserves the best bouquet any wife, mother and grandmother could get!

  66. My mom has no great love for cut flowers (she prefers her plants planted in a garden), but she could probably use a few more cacti! A cactus are better anyways 🙂

  67. My daughter deserves a big bouquet of flowers. Not only has she had three sons in the past four years, but she is a full-time nurse and also taking a double master’s degree program while supporting the family. (My son-in-law deserves it too for being the full-time-parent! but that’s a different story)

  68. My mom! She’s been through a lot this year and she would love some flowers – even a flower pen 🙂

  69. My wonderful sister deserves this beautiful Retro 51 Bouquet Pen. Isabel is such a sweet, caring and giving person with a heart of gold. Isabel would LOVE this pen because she’s really into pretty pens, paper and flowers. Isabel’s birthday is on May 8th. (Mother’s Day). Isabel had her first baby (still birth) on April 17th. She is feeling down-in-the-dumps about losing her precious little baby girl. We are supporting her emotionally and physically to cheer her up. I hope and pray that Isabel wins this lovely pen. If she does not win it, I will try to find a similar pen and purchase it for her, I know it will put a smile on her face. God bless you and thank you for your consideration.

  70. I would love to give this to my Aunt, who is like my second mother and tries to understand my obsession with fun and functional “office supplies” (as she calls them).

  71. This may seem awkward and embarrassing but I think I deserve a bouquet of flowers….
    The last time I had a bouquet of flowers was during my wedding 6 years ago.. Became a Mother to 2 kids and no more flowers or grass so to speak. Didn’t have a good break or even more than 5 hours of sleep a day for the last 4 years.. No happy birthday gifts no happy Mother’s Day gift.
    But that being said, I have no regrets doing what I’m doing, giving up what I’m giving up, loving my family with my heart. Everything is worth it.
    I’ve set my eyes on this pen for a few weeks now..just can’t bear to purchase it. Perhaps this pretty is just what I need as a nice pat on my back to keep me going..and happy Mother’s Day in advance to all mothers out there! Cheers!

  72. A lot of people in my life deserve a bouquet but right now a good friend of mine is dealing with a lot of serious issues and she should get a bouquet and the longest vacation in the history of time. She’d also probably like the pen.

  73. My wife deserves this, not just for putting up with me and our two kids, but for accepting my obsessions – the most recent of which is pens & stationery. This gift might bring her into the fold!!!

  74. My best friend is awesome and has had a rough couple of weeks–she definitely deserves a bouquet of flowers! In fact, I think I’ll order her one right now. 🙂

  75. My sister is facing another surgery in a few weeks and a long recovery. A cheery pen will be perfect for all the organizational notations she must do to prepare for this time of healing.

  76. My ever thoughtful and always hard working wife deserves more bouquets of flowers. She would love and use this pen.

  77. My daughter would love to have this pen for her Retro collection. She loves flowers and the beautiful bouquet would never fade. Perfect !

  78. Both my mum and my grandma definitely deserve a bouquet of flowers and what they would represent, everlasting thanks and love from me and us. Although I think my grandma would be upset that the flowers were removed from their bush, so she would be much more appreciative if we got her a new bushel of the flowers, with roots intact!

  79. My mom. She’s a scientist and a wonderful mother, grandmother and the light of my father’s life. I always give her orchids because she doesn’t like cut flowers, but this pen seems like the perfect answer to cut flowers dying in a few days… a lovely pen that lasts forever.

  80. My mom for sure. She’s the strongest, toughest woman I know, and if I inherited even half of her good qualities I’d be grateful.

  81. I have made it a family tradition that each college graduate receives a Metro 51.

    This year, next week, in fact, my daughter Anna will graduate with honors in the field of social work, my chosen field.

    So although I am the one who is honored, Anna will get the Retro. Mine is still writing with verve.

  82. I think I deserve this awesome Bouquet pen! 🙂 My hubby says this pen has my name all over it, see there you go I must win it!! <3

  83. Hands down my wife deserves a beautiful bouquet of flowers! Not only does she put up with me and our two boys, she works two jobs, and is going to college to get her degree. The hardest working, most selfless woman I know.

  84. This would go directly to my mom, who rarely buys decorative “pretty” things for herself but who greatly appreciates lovely gifts.

  85. Everyone deserves flowers. flowers for everyone! HA! but really, my friend A could really use a bouquet; she’s been going through a lot recently and could likely use a pick-me-up

  86. My daughter deserves a bouquet of flowers because I am so proud of the beautiful young woman she is becoming!

  87. Every woman deserves a bouquet of flowers, most especially a Mother. Good or bad we wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for her…

  88. My beautiful wife deserves a beautiful bouquet of flowers. We have a garden that she has helped to cultivate since we bought our house last year. I always take pictures or try to grab a few flowers to surprise her when I can. This would be like getting a bouquet of flowers from me every time she uses it.

  89. Hi there!
    I think “I” deserve this pretty new pen! Why? Because I’m doing the best I can under some very challenging circumstances since our daughter’s death. I just discovered fountain pens and it would be a joy and delight to own this beautiful pen.

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