His Nibs.com Update --
Basic Black
August 26th, 2006
Like many of you, my personal collection of fountain
pens is filled with a panoply of colorful finishes and
materials. The kaleidoscopic array of plastics and
precious resins available to pen
manufacturers today make for a riot of colors,
exemplified among the brands that I carry by the
offerings from Monteverde http://www.hisnibs.com/monteverde.htm [1].
Some of my favorite pens to look at are multi-hued
and vibrant with color, but on the other hand, when I
think to myself the words 'fountain pen', invariably
the first mental image that comes to mind is a
picture of a black beauty. Whether trimmed with gold
or silver, nothing can really replace the stately
grandeur and class of a 'basic black' pen...at least in
my mind.
Although we carry too many black-finish models to
feature them all here, a representative sample are
displayed in this newsletter...and I hope that you'll
feel free to explore the nooks and crannies of the
website to discover others.
On the blog...Writer finds improvement with a
fountain pen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
in this issue
* Monteverde Black Tie Invincia
* Duke Black Tulip
* DUKE Greek Key
* Acura Serpent
* DUKE Golden Rings
* Monteverde Day & Night DIVA
* DUKE Viceroy Silver interlay
* DUKE Black Mako
* Monteverde MEGA
* On the blog....Writer finds improvement with fountain pen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monteverde Black Tie Invincia
Since I tagged Monteverde for it's colorful resins in
my introduction, I thought it only fair to give equal
time to one of its predominantly black finishes
(including the Black and White version in this review
might have been pushing it)!
The Invincia is a large pen, measuring 5-3/8" capped
and 5-3/4" posted, with a nice heft provided by its
brass-under-chrome construction. The Invincia is one
of Monteverde's earliest designs, and has become
something of a flagship model for the company.
The Black Tie version presents a classy, understated
elegance to the pen, as its name suggests. The next
time I find myself in a tuxedo -- which would actually
be the first time -- this would be the pen I'd take to
complete my ensemble (I'll alert everyone should this
ever happen...you'll want to take pictures).
See more photos here... - http://www.hisnibs.com/invincia.htm [2]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Duke Black Tulip
DUKE http://www.hisnibs.com/duke1.htm [3]
pens from China offer quite a few models that
use basic black exclusively, or as the underlying
visual base. The Black Tulip falls into the former
category.
The Black Tulip is a full-sized pen, measuring 5-3/4"
capped and about 6-1/4" posted, constructed of
brass with a rich black lacquer finish. That bare-
bones description doesn't begin to address the
radically curvaceous nature of its cap, barrel and
section however. Who knew that basic black could
be so daring? This is a pen design that captures the
imagination and won't let go!
There's not a straight line to this pen -- unless you
look straight-on at the super-slim clip (which,
paradoxically, just 'fits' somehow with the semi-
bulbous shape of the cap). Turn the pen to the side
however, and you discover that even here the pen's
designer couldn't resist throwing in several curves to
this chromed beauty. The 'military-clip' style, along
with the length of the clip itself (over 2-1/4"), allows
the pen to nestle deep within a pocket if so desired,
or due to its gripping ability, to ride higher.
More.... - http://www.hisnibs.com/black_tulip.htm [4]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DUKE Greek Key
Here's a beautifully conceptualized pen with a classic
motif -- the Greek Key design -- which some
historians theorize has it's basis in the Greek myth of
the labyrinth that imprisoned the Minotaur. Many pen
companies have made use of the Greek Key design --
OMAS and Montegrappa come immediately to mind --
but most often as a cap band.
Here, DUKE has taken this timeless symbol and
crafted five cap-encircling metal rings, which rest
within the black lacquer of the cap itself, and offset
this design with a crosshatch cap band. Along with
the other four chromed, but unadorned rings that
highlight the cap and barrel, one is presented with a
sophisticated black and silver look that can't help but
make a rather stunning visual statement.
This is a full-to-oversized pen (the goalposts keep
moving on this assessment of pen size as the years
go by), measuring just under 5-1/2" capped and more
than 6-1/4" posted. The clip boasts the DUKE 'crown'
logo, which is reprised on top of the cap, and the
barrel-end sports a metal insert, rendering balance to
the whole design.
Read more here... - http://www.hisnibs.com/greek_key.htm [5]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Acura Serpent
Like its brethren Dragon and Purple Grapes models,
the Serpent is a large, heavy pen with an intricately
rendered overlay.
These large, stunning pens will stand out in any
company of writing instruments! Measuring 5-5/8"
capped, these pens are not designed to have their
caps posted. When writing, their 5" length is
perfectly balanced for extended writing sessions,
even with the extensive Serpent overlay on top of
the lacquer barrel.
See more photos here... - http://www.hisnibs.com/serpent.htm [6]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DUKE Golden Rings
I could have actually shown either the Golden or the
Silver Rings pen here -- as it's available in both trim
versions -- but I thought we needed a break from
black/silver pens.
An extremely popular model, one of my customers
says it best:
"Received it today. As classy looking as my
Mont Blanc Diplomat, and might even replace it as my
favorite. Definitely will be used every day. Fantastic
value!" J.S., Martinsville, WV
More pictures here... - http://www.hisnibs.com/golden_rings.htm [7]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monteverde Day & Night DIVA
Moving from the large to the
small, we have the
award-winning DIVA pens, which need no further
introduction to this audience.
Read more here... - http://www.hisnibs.com/diva.htm [8]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DUKE Viceroy Silver interlay
The Viceroy Chrome extends to both cap and barrel
what the Sapphire http://www.hisnibs.com/sapphire.htm [9]
and Ruby http://www.hisnibs.com/ruby.htm [10]
models brought to caps
alone. Although it appears to be a conventional
overlay at first blush, upon closer examination it's as
if the metal design is actually embedded within the
black lacquer of the pen and virtually flush with its
surface. I'm choosing to call this an interlay instead.
Reminiscent of some Gothic bar tracery I've seen,
the most common reaction I've received is that it
evokes the electrical discharge branching sometimes
seen in major lightning storms, or conversely, snow
tracery. Whatever your interpretation, it's a stunning
look for a pen.
More photos here... - http://www.hisnibs.com/viceroy.htm [11]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DUKE Black Mako
The Mako is often considered to be the sleekest and
most graceful of the ocean's shark species, although
I don't know that I would necessarily echo the DUKE
catalog's "coming towards us are friends" sentiment,
as they're also know as one of the fiercest! I would
agree however that DUKE's design team has managed
to produce a sleek, graceful and fierce-looking pen,
from the gentle curves of the cap top, to the incised
hint of gills subtly etched near the clip. I showed this
pen to a customer, minutes after having received it
myself at a pen show, and without mentioning a
name or brand, his immediate comment was that it
reminded him of a shark! I'd say that DUKE
succeeded with their design intentions.
More... - http://www.hisnibs.com/mako.htm [12]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monteverde MEGA
We could continue with perhaps another dozen black-
themed models -- especially among DUKE pens -- but
let's finish with the hardest-to-keep-in-stock pen
model of recent months...the MEGA. In fact, as I
write this, I again just sold out! Fear not, more are
on their way, and feel free to let me know if you'd
like to be added to this week's waiting list.
See more here... - http://www.hisnibs.com/mega.htm [13]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the blog....Writer finds improvement with fountain pen
"As my initial panic subsided, I saw what I could do
alone, independent of my favorite technology. I
printed my edition manuscript and pulled out pencils.
I found the notebooks I'd kept several years ago and
reviewed what I had written by hand using the old
technology I reserve for writing in my journals: my
Waterman fountain pen. It came as a shock to find
that I had forgotten how effective writing this way
could be. Used to the exciting tools on the
computer ? the thesaurus, the word count ? I'd
forgotten that I had written the entire preface of the
edition in long-hand well before transferring the draft
to my computer."
Read more here... - http://hisnibs.blogspot.com [14]
Regards,
Norman Haase
His Nibs.com
www.hisnibs.com [15]
Blog: http://hisnibs.blogspot.com [16]