December 10, 2018 By Bert Oser Leave a Comment

Taccia Fountain Pen Inks

Shu-Jen Lin is the brand manager for Taccia at Itoya USA. She has been a fixture at pen shows and in-store events across the country for who knows how many years. Taccia has always been a more moderately priced brand, but as of late Shu-Jen has started ramping this up quite a bit with a collection of some really higher end Maki-e pens. More on those another time. Today I’m writing about a new collection of Taccia fountain pen inks. Shu-Jen introduced them back in August at the DC Pen Show. Taccia and Nakabayashi (one of Japan’s largest office product companies) joined forces to create this amazing collection of 13 different ink colors. All these Taccia fountain pen inks come in a very elegant glass bottle with a highly polished cap. Its 40ml size ensures you’ll have an ample supply, but won’t have to make a long term commitment like with other inks coming in 50-80ml sizes. As one might expect we have the standard blues, blacks, reds, and greens but things do get better from there.

Taccia Midori Green Fountain Pen Ink - Bertram's Inkwell — 緑, Midori, Green. I would compare to a very rich and dark Sherwood green. Nothing light about this ink. 40ml

Taccia Ao Blue Fountain Pen Ink - Bertram's Inkwell — 青, Ao, Blue. I’m a blue guy, using blue ink most often. A true description in the name. This ink is a classic Royal Blue with no hint of greens or turquoise. 40ml bottle

Taccia Sora Sky Fountain Pen Ink - Bertram's Inkwell — 空, Sora, Sky. In Japanese. The description says it all. A light blue leaning in the turquoise direction, but darker than your traditional turquoise. 40ml bottle.

Taccia Kuro Black Fountain Pen Ink - Bertram's Inkwell — 黒, Kuro, Black. That’s what this ink is – dark and pure black as night. Excellent coverage and density. 40ml 5 Stars

Taccia Ebi Shrimp Fountain Pen Ink - Bertram's Inkwell — エビ, Ebi, Shrimp. While “shrimp” is not a color, this one will be the star color for the Taccia fountain pen ink collection, as early sales show. This intense dark red/purple is truly a unique color. Rich and royal qualities. 40ml (don’t drink it) 5 stars

Taccia Tsuchi Soil Fountain Pen Ink - Bertram's Inkwell — 土, Tsuchi, Soil. Rich golden brown. This ink will be perfect on cream colored Pineider stationery.

Taccia Aka Red Fountain Pen Ink - Bertram's Inkwell — 赤, Aka, Red, This Taccia fountain pen ink is a brighter red for sure. Kind of like the lighter, brilliant red that a fish might have. 40mL

Taccia Momo Peaches Fountain Pen Ink - Bertram's Inkwell — もも, Momo, Peaches. not sure how they got this one, but if you’re looking for hot pink here is your color. Perfect to highlight in your Rhodia Goalbook. 40ml

Taccia Daidai For Generations Fountain Pen Ink - Bertram's Inkwell — 代々, Daidai, For Generations. I’ll call this one orange unless Google translate is off a bit. I’ll give this a more accurate name and call it Blood Orange. This ink has a strong red overtone which makes this a unique orange a must have. 40ml.

Taccia Aoguro Blue/Black Fountain Pen Ink - Bertram's Inkwell — 青黒, Aoguro, Blue/Black. Now that makes more sense. True to it’s name we present this blue/black, not grey or some off color this ink BB ink echoes a dark mysterious blue with enough black to allow the blue to come through.

Taccia Murasaki Purple Fountain Pen Ink - Bertram's Inkwell — 紫, Murasaki, Purple, A hard color to please folks with as there are so many variations (just ask the folks at Monteverde). What we have here is the success of communication not the lack of. This Purple reigns in depth and darkness to give the writer a pure and rich purple color. 5 stars 40ml.

Taccia Uguisu To Sleep Fountain Pen Ink - Bertram's Inkwell — うぐいす, Uguisu, To Sleep (?), Not getting this one either, Google. This one is a dark olive green but not as dark as Midori. I also would not say light green as there is a gritty olive look to it. 40ml 3stars

Taccia Cha Tea Brown Fountain Pen Ink - Bertram's Inkwell — 茶, Cha, Tea Brown, A reddish-brown beautiful color, as this is not a black-brown. This one has depth and a tint of red to bring out a brown color that others can’t come close to. 40ml 5 stars

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October 31, 2018 By Corinne Litchfield Leave a Comment

NaNoWriMo Starts November 1

November is National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo, and every year thousands of writers sign up at the official website for the challenge of writing the first draft of a 50,000 word novel. It’s proved to be the starting point for over 480 traditionally published novels, including Water for Elephants and The Night Circus, and more than 130 self-published novels. Perhaps yours will be next?

NaNoWriMo, writers, writing, writing supplies, Nanowrimo writing supplies, pens, fountain pens, bottled ink, notebooks, notepads, Rhodia, Parker Quink, Pilot Varsity, Palomino Blackwing pencil, Faber-Castell pencil, novel writing, fiction writing — Tools for a successful NaNoWriMo: Parker Quink bottled ink for fountain pens, Palomino Blackwing and Faber-Castell pencils, Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens in blue and pink, Rhodia notepad.

Here are our picks for NaNoWriMo participants:

Parker Quink bottled ink. If you’re writing longhand with a fountain pen, you are going to want a big bottle of a reliable ink. Parker Quink is beloved by many fountain pen fans and comes in blue, black and blue-black.

Palomino Blackwing and Faber Castell pencils. Pens ain’t your thing? That’s quite all right: we have a great selection of Palomino Blackwing and Faber Castell pencils to keep you scribbling away.

Rhodia pads. From dot grid to graph to lined, we’ve got you covered. Rhodia paper is great to use with fountain pens, gel pens, pencils, ballpoints…you get the idea.

Pilot Varsity disposable fountain pens. Available in 4 different colors, these inexpensive fountain pens from Pilot are great for marking revisions or taking along on group writing sessions. Bonus: you can give these Varsity pens away to fountain pen-curious friends without breaking the bank!

Pro tip: If your first draft will be written out by hand, the Conklin Carbon Fiber Word Gauge fountain pen is definitely worth checking out! This clever piston fill pen with steel nib features an ink window etched with numbers to let you know how many words you can write before your ink runs out. Available in black carbon with either blue or clear ink view; select from a fine, medium or stub nib.

Conklin Carbon Fiber Word Gauge fountain pen, Conklin fountain pen, Conklin, fountain pens, pens, writing, word gauge pen, piston fill fountain pen — The Conklin Carbon Fiber Word Gauge fountain pen is a piston fill pen with an ink window that shows how many words you can write before refilling. Perfect for long writing sessions!

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October 15, 2018 By Eric Aycock 14 Comments

Monteverde Monza Jolly Green Fountain Pen Review

This is a review of the Monteverde Monza Jolly Green Special Edition Fountain Pen. Last year, I had the opportunity to review the Monteverde Monza in Honey Amber.

Overall, this lightweight demonstrator fountain pen really impresses me. Recently, YAFA introduced their new OmniFlex nib into their Conklin lines of pens. Seeing the demand for an affordable flex pen, they launched a new version of the Monza equipped with the OmniFlex nib. The review today is of the Monteverde Monza Jolly Green fountain pen.

This was graciously sent to me for review by my friends at Bertram’s Inkwell. If you are interested in getting this pen for yourself, check out their store in Rockville, MD. It’s also on their website at Bertramsinkwell.com. Or, if you would like to win this one, please leave a comment on this post with which “flex” pen is your favorite. Be sure to click to receive follow-up emails so you can be notified if you are the winner.

The contest will be open through October 31^st, 2018. A winner will be randomly selected on or about November 1^st, 2018. There will be free shipping within the U.S.; if international, the first $8 of shipping is included and the winner is responsible for the remainder.

Packaging: The pen comes in a green frosted plastic box with the Monteverde logo on the bottom right hand corner. A green outer band wraps around the middle of the box. It says “Monteverde USA Monza Flex Special Edition Fountain Pen with OmniFlex Nib” on the front. On the back of the band, there is information about the Monza flex and the OmniFlex nib and the company contact information.

Printed inside the band are filling instructions and an explanation of the Monza design and name: “The pen was named after the Italian city of Monza, known for its brilliant architecture, ever-green wineries, and its famous racetrack.” It is held in place in a foam insert which also holds two ink cartridges and a converter. As a nice bonus, the box is also usable as a pen case, which is a nice bonus and good thinking on Monteverde’s part.

First Thoughts: I really like the color on this demonstrator pen. So many demonstrators are just clear, but the green tint makes the pen pop.

Design: The pen has a classic cigar shape, tapering from the finials to a wide steel cap band in the middle with “Monteverde USA Monza” engraved around it. The clip is tight, but easily slides onto fabric to hold the pen securely in place. The cap screws on and has an inner cap which seals off the nib to prevent it from drying out when not in use. The threads for the cap are on the body above the grip section and are almost unnoticeable and smooth even if your grip is higher on the pen body.

The grip section is smooth and has a small flare at the end to act as a finger stop. The feed is clear like the other Monzas, so it picks up a tint from the color of the ink you are using. The threads on the body are plastic and there is a small O-ring, which allows the pen to be eyedroppered. If you would like to do that, I just suggest adding a bit of silicon grease to ensure a good seal.

Nib Performance: The OmniFlex nib impressed me on the Monteverde Monza Jolly Green. With no pressure, the nib lays down a consistent extra-fine/fine line, depending on ink and paper. With pressure, it flexes out to a medium/broad line, again depending on the ink and paper. Therefore the feed keeps up well even with faster writing. I only had a few railroads, but I think that was due to user error and not the pen. They made the nib in a way that allows a bit of flex even with causal writing. This gives your handwriting a bit of a pop and makes it look better than it really is.

Filling System: This pen includes a converter and two ink cartridges. The seal on the converter is tight so you have to apply a bit of pressure when you first insert it into the pen. Since the pen has a plastic body and plastic threads, you can convert it to an eyedropper it as well.

Value: The retail price for this model is $20 and Bertram’s Inkwell has it on sale currently for $17.95, which I think is a great price for a solid entry-level pen with a wonderful flex nib that writes beautifully right out of the box. Many entry-level brands sell the converter separately, which can be an inconvenience, but Monteverde includes the converter and two cartridges so you can start writing as soon as you open the box. The dual-purpose box/pen case is a great idea since people normally just throw pen packaging away.

Overall: Most importantly, I was impressed with this pen from the previous review, but the OmniFlex nib addition took this pen to a whole new level. I have used several flex nibs in steel, gold, and titanium, and this nib’s performance is right on par with flex pens 10 times the price. Monteverde (YAFA) did a wonderful job introducing a great flex nib at an affordable cost. I think that this will open the flex nib world up to a lot of pen users.

Specs:

Name: Monteverde Monza Jolly Green Flex

Design: Green tinted demonstrator

Length: 5.3 inches (134.8mm)

Posted: 5.7 inches (144.6mm)

Diameter: .5 inches (15mm)

Weight: 19 grams

Nib: Flex Steel

Filling System: C/C

Pros: Great package for the price, flex nib, nice color, light body, writes beautifully out of the box.

Cons: Light materials may be prone to cracking.

In the same price range:

Kaweco Sport

Noodler’s Ahab flex

Platinum Plaisir

“Make your mark”

Eric Aycock (Pengeek13)

Bertram’s Inkwell thanks Eric Aycock for his time and contribution with this wonderful review!

Check out the Monteverde Monza Jolly Green Special Edition Fountain Pen here.

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This is a review of the Monteverde Monza Jolly Green Special Edition Fountain Pen. Last year, I had the opportunity to review the Monteverde Monza in Honey Amber.

Bertram’s Inkwell thanks Eric Aycock for his time and contribution with this wonderful review!

Check out the Monteverde Monza Jolly Green Special Edition Fountain Pen here.

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