In Link Love

Link Love: We Love Cats and Ink! And Cat Ink!

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment
Link Love: We Love Cats and Ink! And Cat Ink!
Chicken and Tuna — cats immortalized in ink colors by Dominant Industry (via Wonder Pens)

This week is full of delightful tidbits from across the pen community. There is a link to an illustrated Pen Zine, Dominant Industry made custom ink colors for Wonder Pens in colors inspired by the shop cats (of course), Crónicas Estilográficas writes about the Kanji nib for the Japanese Lamy and A Fleeting Ripple lists the pens he would run into a burning building to save. Makes you wonder… which pens would you try to save from imminent destruction?

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

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In feature

Inky Musings

Author Laura CameronPosted on 2 Comments

Recently Ana presented me with a Sea Foam L12 Erste from Hinze Pen Co (you can find her original review here) and I was presented with a common problem: what color ink am I going to use?

I’m someone who loves all kinds of ink colors, and by virtue of working for The Desk, I come into a lot of ink (free samples, purchases, and more). It’s always exciting to play with new colors, but it also means I have a drawer full of possibilities every time it’s time to fill up.

How do you choose an ink for a pen? Sometimes I like to go matchy-matchy, but sometimes I like to go for a contrast. Do you choose colors based on how it will look or how the pen makes you feel? For instance, in this case I could have gone with a burgundy (my first instinct was Papier Plume Bootlegger’s Sacrament or DeAtramentis Deepwater Obsession but then I looked at the seafoam green resin (with just a hint of shimmer) and wanted something and settled for Taccia Sabimidori – a rusty green that turns blue (almost like indigo oxidizing).

This also brings me to a larger question, how do you pick which ink colors you’d like to own? I have a drawer full of many of the hues in the rainbow (I was tempted to say all the hues, but I know that’s not true!). I do try and only purchase bottles of ink that I like enough to use continually, and don’t overlap too heavily with shades I already own, but at some point I feel like there are diminishing returns in finding something new and different to add to the collection? And let’s not talk about how many years of refills I have stored in that drawer! (In knitting we have an acronym SABLE – stash acquired beyond life expectancy – I feel like it might apply here.)

Anyway, thanks for joining me for some inky musings on a grey November day!

In Fountain Pen Review

Fountain Pen Review: Platinum Plaisir Aura (Special Edition 2022)

Author AnaPosted on 9 Comments
Fountain Pen Review: Platinum Plaisir Aura (Special Edition 2022)

I can’t believe, in over 12 years of blogging about fountain pens, I’ve never reviewed a Platinum Plaisir. Thanks to Gentleman Stationer for sending over this extra special Platinum Plaisir Aura 2022 Special Edition ($41 available in 3 colors). This model of the Plaisir is a little bit fancier than the standard model (approx. $18) but the biggest differences is in the color choices rather than anything specific to the nib options or overall materials.

(image from Gentleman Stationer)

I received the Merry Pink color of the Plaisir Aura. This model features a white pearlescent barrel and cap color. The grip section is clear so that the user can see the contrasting color feed. As the name suggests, the Merry Pink has a pink feed. The Plaisir is available in Fine (03) and Medium (04) which are the same nib sizes available for the standard Plaisir models.

The Plaisir, like many of the other fountain pens in the lower end of the Platinum line, the pen opens and closes with a snap cap and features the “slip and seal” cap which keeps the ink from drying out in the pen. I love having snap cap pens in my office since most writing done during the day is short notes, meeting notes and lists and being able to quickly remove and replace the cap makes my life a little easier while still getting to use a fountain pen.

The only aesthetic issue I have with the pen is the bright silver-colored cap band. The engraved details make the cap band feel fussy when compared with how clean and modern the pen feels overall. Honestly, its the cap band that has probably kept me from purchasing the Plaisir in the past.

The Plaisir ships with a blue ink cartridge but if you want to use a converter, it will have to be purchased separately.

Comparison:

The most similar pen to the Plaisir is the Pilot Metropolitan (approx. $19.50). Both pens are roughly the same and feature an aluminum body.  Both have rounded ends like a cigar shape though the Plaisir is a bit rounder.

The Pilot Mertropolitan is a little slimmer and just a little bit shorter.

However, the Metropolitan is heavier than the Plaisir. The Plaisir weighs 17gms capped or posted while the Metropolitan weighs 26gms. Uncapped, the Plaisir weighs 10gms and the Metropolitan weighs 16gms. The difference in weight is minimal but it’s interesting to note that there is a difference.

Both pens can be posted and are being about the same length posted as they are uncapped or capped.

The nib on the Plaisir is the same nib used in the Procyon, Prefounte and Preppy. They can be interchanged among each pen should you want to swap them out. Similarly, the Pilot Metropolitan nib can be swapped out with the Penmanship, Prera, Cavalier and Kakuno (I feel like the last two should be the Pavalier and Pakuno — just to keep with the predominance of Ps in the pen names). You can see why I immediately made a comparison between these pens.

With these lower priced fountain pens, the converters cost almost as much as the pen. The Pilot CON-40 ($7.25) and the Platinum Converter ($11) are both surprisingly pricey. But, the converters can be swapped across all the pens in the brand’s catalogue so you don’t need to have one for each pen if you don’t want to spend a lot of money on converters. With the fine nibs, the cartridges will last quite awhile so you don’t need one right away.

Writing Sample:

When writing with the Plaisir, the nib is smooth and has a little bit of bounce. When compared with the Metropolitan (also a Fine nib) they are quite similar but the Pilot Metropolitan Fine is a little finer and as a result has a bit more feedback.

Overall, the Plaisir Aura is a lovely pen (cap band is being ignored because the white iridescent and bright feed colors are cool). Would I recommend paying $41 for a Plaisir Aura? Sure, why not. We are the same people who pay $20 for a Metropolitan when we could get a similar nib for $10 in the Kakuno or Penmanship. It’s all about aesthetics and FOMO. I think the Plaisir Aura is a nice opportunity to get a cool looking pen for under $50. Platinum makes good pens and their converters, while pricey, are some of the best in the business.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Gentleman Stationer for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In feature

Fountain Pen Day Giveaway!

Author AnaPosted on 130 Comments
Fountain Pen Day Giveaway!

In honor of Fountain Pen Day, we have a not one but FIVE sets of products to giveaway.

Walk Over Vistula is a deep blue ink with sheen and Sheen Machine lives up to its name. It’s a deeper blue with a very visible reddish/purple sheen. KWZ Inks have a distinctive vanilla-ish smell that folks either love (me) or hate (Jesi) — just so you know.

Each set includes:

  • One (1) bottle of KWZ Sheen Machine
  • One (1) bottle of KWZ Walk Over Vistula
  • One (1) Col-o-ring, Col-o-Col-o-dex or OVERSIZE (winner’s choice!)

So, each of our FIVE (5) winners will win 2 bottles of ink and their choice of Col-o-ring, Col-o-dex, or OVERSIZE.

Special shoutout to our Patrons who made this giveaway possible. And thanks to Cary and Fountain Pen Day for helping to bring the love of fountain pens to the attention of the world.

TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and let us know what, if anything, you’ve purchased on FPD AND if you want a Col-o-ring, Col-o-dex or OVERSIZE as your paper option. 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 10pm CST on Tuesday, November 9, 2022. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner(s) will be announced on Wednesday. Winner(s) 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 5 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.

In feature

Ink Review: Ferris Wheel Press Twinkling Tea Party

Author Jessica ColesPosted on Leave a comment
Ink Review: Ferris Wheel Press Twinkling Tea Party

Ferris Wheel Press has added another ink to the FerriTales line that tells the story of Alice’s adventures through Wonderland. The newest ink is Twinkling Tea Party and seems to be perfectly timed for the holiday season.

Twinkling Tea Party, like all FerriTales inks, comes in the most adorable bottle – a miniature version of the full size Ferris Wheel Press bottles. They always look like Christmas tree ornaments to me.

Twinkling Tea Party is a medium forest green with a medium to light amount of rose gold sparkle.

The swatch of ink shows plenty of shading, but I didn’t see much in writing. I did, however, see a touch of a dark red to black sheen in writing.

Tea Party is close overall to Vinta Piloncitos, but is bluer. Diamine Classic Green or Diamine Mistletoe is closer while the sheen is close to what you would find in Sailor Epinard.

I was surprised to see how much blue showed up on paper. Tomoe River (TR7) paper gives lots of the dark red sheen. The rose gold sparkle shows nicely in writing which is much darker than that on the Col-o-Ring card.

Midori MD light paper isn’t as blue and doesn’t show as much sheen. The sparkle is well-balanced here.

As usual, on Cosmo Air Light paper, the sparkle is out of control. Also, the base forest green almost pushes into teal territory. Blue undertones on Cosmo Air Light are turned up to 100.

Twinkling Tea Party is the same price as the preceding FerriTales inks – $21 for a 20mL bottle. While this is on the high side for ink at the moment, it is far from the most expensive. Alongside a bright red ink, this would be a fun choice for holiday cards. Do you sign your cards with holiday colors?

DISCLAIMER: The ink in this review was provided free for the purposes of this review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Link Love

Link Love: Fountain Pen Day is Coming!

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment
Link Love: Fountain Pen Day is Coming!

I really had two Links of the Week this week but they did not relate to each other at all so one will provide some visual interest and the other… well, probably will provide some damage to your wallet.

First, is this amazing glitch-style graphic poster for a Japanese crime drama (via Spoon & Tamago). It doesn’t look too exciting until you zoom in a little bit and see the details.

It’s not a funky photoshop trick afterall. Nope. It is actually stacks of notebooks and pencils. Ah, these are our people.

The second link is the list of sponsors and events/sales/specials that will be featured on what has become Black Friday for the pen community: Fountain Pen Day. Fountain Pen Day is this Friday, November 4. Be sure to check out all the sales, events and specials all over the pen community. Even here at The Desk we will be hosting a giveaway on Friday so be sure to pop back here to enter.

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

We need each other. Please support our sponsors, affiliates or join our Patreon. Your patronage supports this site. Without them, and without you, we could not continue to do what we do. Thank you!