Bertram's Inkwell -

August 20, 2019 By Adam of Bertram's Inkwell 2 Comments

Pineider Hollywood A5 Journal

Pineider is an older paper company. They first opened in 1774 with a stationery shop in Florence, Italy. Fast forward a few hundred years to present day, and Pineider teams up with the brilliant mind of Dante Del Vecchio. Along with his creative genius, Pineider releases some amazing, innovative pens so far. I look forward to seeing what comes next! Pineider is recognizable for having great stationery. Their most recent release is the Pineider Hollywood A5 Journal. Though they call it “Notes”.

The paper is very fountain pen friendly, and is nicely weighted at 90gsm. Using all the different nib widths to test, I started with an extra fine nib on my Visconti Saturno fountain pen, then a fine nib on my Diplomat Aero Orange fountain pen, a medium nib on my Faber-Castell Ondoro fountain pen, a broad nib on my Platinum #3776 Red fountain pen, and finally a double broad nib on my Visconti Carbon Dream fountain pen. I even tested pencil use (with a Caran d’Ache Blackwood HB wooden pencil, and a Palomino Blackwing Soft Graphite wooden pencil). I’m happy to report that their claims of this paper being fountain pen friendly are accurate! There’s no bleeding through or feathering. The paper holds up nicely even with the broader nibs.

The texture isn’t glossy like Rhodia paper. Instead it has a little bit of grit. This is nice to write on because it gives that tactile feel without the unpleasantness and discomfort of toothiness from a nib. It’s equally fun to use a pencil with a nice, soft graphite on.

In terms of size, it’s comparable to the Rhodia journals. The Pineider Hollywood A5 journal is 5.73 inches by 8.3 inches, or 144.78mm by 210.82mm. This is a nice size for everyday use.

Additionally, on the label that wraps around the cover, they mention that this Pineider Hollywood A5 journal is “vegan”. I imagine this refers to the cover being leatherette, and not real leather. The front cover has a nice texture as well. It comes in your choice of six colors: turquoise (Paul Newman), brown (Mud), pink (The Pink Panther), red (The Women In Red), green (The Green Mile), and blue (Mediterraneo).

The paper currently comes lined in an ivory finish, and boasts 192 pages for your writing enjoyment.

What are your thoughts? Do you have yours yet? Check out the Pineider Hollywood A5 journal here.

Please follow and like us:

August 13, 2019 By Adam of Bertram's Inkwell 4 Comments

DC Pen Show Recap

Last weekend was one of the busiest in the pen industry. This is a DC Pen Show recap of my experience over the whole event. In the days leading up to the DC Pen Show, I did a ton of preparation. Between day to day things on a personal and professional level, I crammed a ton of extra stuff into each day.

Pen preparation was also a major part of leading up to the show. I had to decide which pens to bring to represent my personal support of each brand. This is a ritual for me at every show, and not something mandated by anyone. It’s all part of my love for the industry and for my hobby of collecting all writing instruments. Armed with a full zip case of pens, and three journals (one for doodling in, one being my everyday journal, and finally my travel journal), I was ready for the show.

Bertram's Inkwell Display — Bertram’s Inkwell Display

Friday was an early start as we set up tables with our wares. First up is the refill wall – something Bert is known for having at all pen shows he attends. Then all the boxes of pens open up and find organization on the tables, as I greet long-time friends (fellow vendors as well as customers alike).

Taccia and Sailor were our neighbors at the show!

It was a busy start as people were looking for refills and inks before the show got underway. In between helping customers, we got set up for the day. Looking around, there was a bit of excitement and anticipation of the pen-related fun that the weekend was bringing. As the day progressed, I felt elated at each satisfied customer that I was able to help – whether it was to find elusive refills to match that hard-to-fill pen, or pairing someone to their new fountain pen purchase. It was a fun start to the show, with more of the same throughout the weekend. Before long, the show was over. We were off to enjoy the evening before the big day to come.

Faber Castell Limited Editions — Faber Castell was at the show displaying limited editions!

Michael of Visconti and ST Dupont helping a customer!

Saturdays at every pen show are known to be “the big day”. Whether it’s at our own Baltimore-Washington International Pen Show or at other shows, Saturday is generally more crowded and regarded as the busiest day of the show. This was no different. We were under the impression that the show was going to start later in the morning, so when I arrived and saw customers already inside the show, I ran inside to get set up and ready.

Luckily, day two of setting up is always easier with just flipping open box lids and taking down the table covers from the day before. All day long was a combination of seeking out refills and inks for pens as well as showing great deals that we brought to the show. It was fun seeing our regular customers from the store at the show and catching up with them. Eventually the day came to an end around 6pm, with “closing up shop” by covering the tables once more.

Always something I look forward to is the Saturday night fun. This time I was treated to spending time with friends at a special dinner at Maggiano’s in Tyson’s Corner. Many thanks to Joel Blumberg of Kenro Industries for inviting myself, Kristal, Bert, and Cole to dinner.

Kenro Dinner At Maggiano's — Kenro Dinner At Maggiano’s

It was a great celebration of Joel’s birthday. With us was our friends from Fountain Pen Hospital and Dromgoole’s, and Kenro staff Bryan, Cary, and Neil. The drinks flowed, the food was tasty in a “family style” fashion, and the conversation was plentiful. I also enjoyed the background music that was of a more “jazzy nature” (think Michael Buble). A few hours later, and we were ready to continue the night.

Lastly was Sunday. The final day of the show. Sundays are also known as being a bit more subdued. As everyone recounted stories from the night before, it was fun seeing yet a different crowd of people. While some stayed all three days, there were also customers that enjoy coming on the somewhat quieter Sunday. Many feel that this avoids longer lines and allows for more personal attention going through the show. I get to reorganize the tables and fill empty spots from sold pens with new deals and fresh things to look forward to showing customers. Sundays are shorter, so at the toll of the bell at 4pm we were ready to start packing. We hit the road around 5pm after saying our final goodbyes to all our friends.

Making our way back to the store, we quickly unloaded the truck before the final stop of the show – Quincy’s South. This is a hole-in-the-wall place that we always go to. After a long DC Pen Show, it is a great spot to unwind and have a few drinks and food (loaded tater tots for me), while decompressing and recapping the show among ourselves. I always look forward to that time with Bert (and Cole, and this time also with our new coworker Tori).

It’s exciting to think about what pen-adventure are to come at the next show! What are your thoughts? Did you have fun at the show too? Feel free to share below!

Please follow and like us:

August 6, 2019 By Adam of Bertram's Inkwell 2 Comments

Faber-Castell E-Motion Pure Black Fountain Pen

One of the oldest pen and pencil companies around is Faber-Castell. They have a line dedicated to art. They have a line called “Faber-Castell” that is dedicated to everyday writing. And they have a higher end line called “Graf von Faber-Castell” that includes their limited editions and more exquisite writing instruments. The Faber-Castell e-motion series is one of the most iconic and recognizable pens in their everyday “fine writing” line. I’m a huge fan of their pens and pencils all around, yet there is something that draws me to the e-motion series. It comes in many different finishes, but my favorite is the Faber-Castell e-motion Pure Black fountain pen.

This is not a new pen on the market, yet I really want to highlight specific features of the Pure Black model. First, I should mention that they make (and we carry) all modes of writing for this model. The Faber-Castell e-motion Pure Black comes in fountain pen, as well as rollerball, ballpoint, and finally, mechanical pencil. The pencil alone is awesome and comes with a really thick 1.4mm lead. On the other hand, I’ll talk more about the pencil another time.

For example, one thing I love about the Faber-Castell e-motion Pure Black fountain pen is how nicely balanced it is. Whether you post the cap or not when you write, this pen is weighted to be hefty but not tiresome. I like how thick the pen is, even at the tapered ends. The ends are made of metal, as is the cap, but the barrel has a rubber feel (even though it’s also made of metal). It has a steel nib, and uses an international cartridge/converter filling system. In conclusion, the way this pen writes is like it’s designed to be used all day, every day. It’s a workhorse of a pen, and is durable as you can imagine.

What do you think? Do you have yours yet?

Check it out here.

Please follow and like us:

Share this:

Always something I look forward to is the Saturday night fun. This time I was treated to spending time with friends at a special dinner at Maggiano’s in Tyson’s Corner. Many thanks to Joel Blumberg of Kenro Industries for inviting myself, Kristal, Bert, and Cole to dinner.

Share this:

Share this: