The Well-Appointed Desk

Do you love ballpoint pens? Then this review and giveaway are for you!

Recently we were sent a few Drehgriffel from Leuchtturm (24.95 each) for review. These fun ballpoint pens are made to look sort of like pencils.

Drehgriffel is German and loosely translates to “twist stylus.” This pen style is a revival from the 1920s and it is made from precision-milled aluminum and brass. The Drehgriffel has a spring loaded twist mechanism – to open and retract the ball point you simply twist the end cap (which looks sort of like a combination of ferrule and eraser). The pens come in tons of fun colors; we received the Sage (green), Nordic Blue and Bellini (orange) for review. The pens come loaded with a blue ink, and refills are available in either blue or black.

The pen is lightweight at 14g, and is fairly short at 5″/12.5cm long. It is slightly longer than some of my favorite pocket pens, and very similar to the Caran d’Ache Nespresso I reviewed a few weeks ago.

L to R: Franklin Christoph Pocket 45, Caran d’Ache Nespresso, Leuchtturm 1917 Drehgriffel, Kaweco AL Sport.

The Drehgriffel writes smoothly without a lot of skipping. It’s lightweight and the hexagonal body is nice to hold in your hand. The variety of colors make it a fun pen to carry, and the fact that it is refillable is so much better for the environment (as opposed to disposable ballpoints.) In general, I gravitate more towards fountain pens, but sometimes a ball point pen is the best option. I can totally see keeping one of these in my wallet for on the go writing needs.

~~So now comes the fun part, the GIVEAWAY! Leuchtturm has generously offered these Drehgriffels to TWO of our lucky readers.~~

THE DETAILS: Two lucky winners will be selected from the comments on this post to win their choice of Drehgriffel in either Sage, Nordic Blue or Orange, as well as a package of refills in blue or black. Supplies are limited so we’ll ask for first/second choice and go with first come, first served.

TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell us if you have a favorite Leuchtturm 1917 product. Play along and type in something. It makes reading through entries more interesting for me, okay? One entry per person.

If you have never entered a giveaway or commented on the site before, your comment must be manually approved by our highly-trained staff of monkeys before it will appear on the site. Our monkeys are underpaid and under-caffeinated so don’t stress if your comment does not appear right away. Give the monkeys some time.

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by midnight CST on Friday, March 26, 2021. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Saturday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your actual 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 7 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 and APO/AFO only, sorry.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge for the purposes of this giveaway. Please see the About page for more details.

In news

News: We Have Launched a Patreon

AnaMarch 21, 2021March 21, 20211 Comment

For years, friends have asked if we had a Patreon page that would allow readers to help support the Well-Appointed Desk community. I wasn’t sure what content I could develop, or offers I could create, that would entice readers to become patrons. This past year, however, has given me plenty of opportunity to develop a plan.

As is true for so many, last year was full of unexpected life changes (I left Hallmark after almost 20 years, pandemic lockdowns, et al). These changes gave me time to chart a new course for the blog and my life. I’m hoping that you will want to be a part of it.

Most importantly:

I want to offer worthwhile perks to patrons.
No part of the blog will change.
I won’t put any of our current content behind a pay wall.

Patrons will have access to (depending on tier):

special offers (discounts, sales, coupon codes, etc)
first chance to see new Desk product releases,
virtual Ask the Desk event each month
special Patron-only products to purchase
and more…

I hope you will consider being a patron. Your support will help us bring more great content to the blog each week and offer new opportunities to participate in our amazing community.

In Fountain Pen Review

Notebook Review: Princeton Architectural Press Observer’s Notebook: Weather

Jessica ColesMarch 18, 2021March 18, 20214 Comments

I have obtained notebooks over the years for various reasons – interesting paper, a beautiful cover, an interesting size or shape, a great sale, review purposes, gifts. I need very little convincing to pick up a new notebook that catches my eye and I was enchanted when I came across a new line of notebooks from Princeton Architectural Press called the Observer’s Notebooks.

Please excuse the stained cover – I’ve had this notebook for four years so far and it’s seen plenty of miles!

This is the Weather notebook. Other notebooks in the line up include Trees, Astronomy, Birds, Butterflies, and Home.

I purchased this notebook back in 2017 from Amazon (Princeton Architectural Press Observer’s Notebook: Weather ($18.95)). It is a bit of a strange size – 7.25 inches by 9.25 inches. It’s a hard cover notebook but still slightly flexible.

The paper ruling was what first caught my eye – the notebook is separated into several sections with each section using a different paper ruling.

Overall there are 10 uniquely ruled paper sections throughout the notebook – the last four pages are a ruling for weather observations:

Sections are separated by card stock dividers, each divider a print that somehow relates to weather.

While the illustrations delight me, the paper was a huge disappointment. Every fountain pen ink feathered terribly and bled through the page. Colors looked dull and even gel pens performed poorly although I did eventually find that Platinum Carbon Black worked well on the pages in an extra fine nib.

So what do you do with a notebook like this?

Crossword puzzles.

I have a lifelong obsession with crossword puzzles. It started with helping my father with them when I was only old enough to read the clues to him. But seeing his answers helped me to figure out the way the answers worked. I would try to solve the puzzle then check the answers the following day to learn even more. Eventually the practice started to pay off and I got into the habit of keeping the finished puzzle alongside the answers.

But a pile of old crosswords isn’t exactly something that keeps nicely long term. However, notebooks look great when used for storage.

The Observer notebook was a perfect for that collection of clipped crosswords with the answers kept in the back using a bit of glue. The hard cover is a welcome support for writing, the paper becomes a backdrop for doodling and I still get to enjoy the color prints between notebook sections. This notebook has been on my desk now for nearly four years and gets more use than many of my fountain pen friendly notebooks.

The lesson I learned throughout this process – I should think a bit bigger. There are plenty of gorgeous notebooks that are useless for fountain pens that still deserve love and attention. I’ve started trying to think of more uses for my unused notebooks – magazine photos or articles, art work from kids that doesn’t fit on the fridge, old birthday cards or recipes.

I hope you can find further creative uses for some of the stationery products that might have been disappointing once they were used!

DISCLAIMER: The item in this review include affiliate links. The Well-Appointed Desk is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. Please see the About page for more details.

In Link Love

Link Love: I’ve Been Training For This My Whole Life!

AnaMarch 17, 2021March 17, 2021Leave a comment

Hello all! Laura here to tell you about the event I’ve been training for my whole life. I’ve joined the Knit for Food Knit-A-Thon, a 12-hour knitting event on April 11, 2021. The purpose of the event is to raise awareness for food insecurity, and all the money raised will be donated to Feeding America, World Central Kitchen, No Kid Hungry and Meals on Wheels. If this were a jog-a-thon, I wouldn’t be much of a team mate, but knitting for 12 hours straight? PSHAW…. BRING IT ON!

If you’d have a few dollars to spare support my effort, or the project, you can find more details on the campaign and how to contribute here. What started as a goal to raise $20,000 is now up to over $81,000+ and we can’t wait to knit all day long!

We need each other. Please support our sponsors and affiliates. Your patronage will let them know you appreciate their support of the pen community. Without them, and without you, we could not continue to do what we do. Thank you!

In feature

Fountain Pen Review: Pilot Capless LS Matte Black Fountain

Laura CameronMarch 16, 2021March 16, 20213 Comments

For a long time I didn’t see the appeal of the capless pens from Pilot (also know as Vanishing Points). But I wrote about my changed opinion when I purchased the Raden Stripe Vanishing Point for my 40th birthday gift to myself. So when Appelboom offered us the chance to review the Pilot Capless LS Matte Black Fountain, I knew I wanted to compare and contrast the two!

The Capless LS Matte Black Fountain pen is the newest iteration in Pilot’s Capless series that started back in the 1960’s. The LS stands for Luxury and Silent, which is how they describe the new retractable mechanism they’ve developed for this model. The difference is that now the mechanism is a click to expose the nib, and a twist to retract it, whereas previous models had a click for both functions. This means that the knock and the end pieces have been somewhat redesigned.

The LS has a few other areas where it differs from the more “standard” Vanishing Point line (I use standard in quotes because the Raden editions are already more premium models as they contain the fine abalone work in the body, but the body design itself remains the same as the base level Vanishing Points.)

The LS weighs in at more than the Raden – the LS is a hefty 40g whereas the Raden is 31g. The LS is also a smidge longer at 5.75″/14.5 cm versus 5.5″/14 cm. Both models feature Pilot’s 18k gold nib and ink converter unit. Nibs are available in Fine, Medium and Broad and amusingly enough both the LS I reviewed and my Raden are M nibs. I find the Medium Pilot nib in both the LS and my Raden to be quite wet, and capable of putting down enough ink to get a good shade or sheen depending on the ink used.

Finally there are differences in body and trim. The LS is a matte black resin body, with a black clip whereas the Raden is a black lacquered body with the Raden stripes, and rhodium trim.

Functionally, the pens write very similarly. If weight is an issue, then some might find the LS heavy to hold, but I found it well-balanced and I do like the feel of a slightly weightier body (though I love my Sailors, I also adore my Retro 51 metal bodied pens so I’m used to a variety). Vanishing Points and the LS are the larger pen in Pilot’s “capless” offerings (if you’re looking for something with a slimmer line, try the Decimo). If I’m honest, I admit that even my Raden Vanishing Point is a bit wide for me to hold comfortably for long writing sessions, but it is one of my favorite pens in my collection so I still pull it out and use it. However, my discomfort is because I have fairly small hands, so if you’re not afflicted with that curse, size alone shouldn’t keep you from enjoying this one.

The LS, for its Luxury and Silence, comes at a premium price of €413.22 (or approximately $493). The base models of the Vanishing Points start around $200, and yearly Limited Editions start closer to $300. The Raden Vanishing Points are in more limited supply these days and run anywhere between $550 and $800, though I found mine in a screaming eBay deal and paid right around $400.

If you like capless fountain pens, there’s no one who executes it better than Pilot and the LS is no exception.

Paper: Write Notepads Dot Grid Steno Pad ($14)
Pen:Pilot Capless LS Matte Black Fountain (€413.22 or approximately $493)
Inks: Birmingham Pen Co. Emerald View Park Oxidized Brass

DISCLAIMER: This pen was loaned to us by Appelboom for the purposes of this review. Please see the About page for more details.

Review and GIVEAWAY: Leuchtturm 1917 Drehgriffel

News: We Have Launched a Patreon

SPONSORED: Fountain Pen Review: ASC BOLOGNA Wild Celluloid (Gold & Rhodium Trim)

Notebook Review: Princeton Architectural Press Observer’s Notebook: Weather

Link Love: I’ve Been Training For This My Whole Life!

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Fountain Pen Review: Pilot Capless LS Matte Black Fountain