Keeping track of your year with Leuchtturm

Some products from Leuchtturm 1917 have recently crossed our path, these being the handy little 2013 Diaries.

In the usual Leuchtturm sizes of Pocket, Medium & Master and as you'd expect with Leuchtturm they are packed with handy features.




Leuchtturm 1917 Weekly Planners- Every double page features one page with the full calendar week and a lined notebook page on the right. In addition to our familiar overviews and details you will find an extra booklet with a birthday calendar and address index in the folded pocket!

 Features:
12 Month weekly planner
7 days on one page
Each week has a page for notes
144 pages
Overview for 2012, 2013 and 2014
Phases of the moon, international public holidays
Project planner
Detachable pages for notes
Expandable pocket
Bookmark
Stickers for labelling and archiving
With a booklet for anniversaries and addresses in its pocket
Dimensions: 145 x 210mm
Ink proof paper
Acid free paper




Leuchtturm 1917 Daily Planners- An entire page for each working day. To keep the calendar as slim as possible Saturday and Sunday share the same page. 

Features:
One page per weekday
Saturday and Sunday share one page
352 pages
Overview 2012, 2013 and 2014
Project Plan
Phases of the moon, international public holidays
Expandable pocket
Book mark and stickers for labelling and archiving

 

All about Visconti

Visconti, are the relative new kids on the block in the world of the writing instruments, having only been set up in 1988, by Dante Del Vecchio.

The company have gone on to rival any of the other leaders in the field, despite being around for no-where near as long.

So why is this? What made Visconti able to catch up to the company's that have decades and decades of head start in the trade on them?

 The birth of the company derives from the dreams of Dante Del Vecchio and Luigi Poli who were lifelong collectors of fountain pens. In addition to collecting pens, these two men have a great insight into the sales and marketing of the pen. They also understood what is needed to hire the proper talent that can design and develop a pen.

The two entrepreneurs were instrumental in the reintroduction of celluloid pens to the marketplace. The popularity of these pens took the industry by storm and collectors have taken to purchasing such pens from a variety of manufacturers. Visconti still remains the big winner here as it is the operator of the largest celluloid pen factory in the world.

Yes, Visconti Fountain Pens have been very successful in the market and is one of the top pen manufacturers in Italy. The fact that this success was achieved in roughly two decades is very surprising. Then again, when you look at the amazing artistry of the pens, it becomes obvious why the company has been so successful.


Visconti is a well established brand in the pen collecting world but is also adored the world over by lovers of all things luxury. Devotees include Morgan Freeman, Clint Eastwood, Charlize Theron, Marcia Cross and Oprah Winfrey, to name but a few. As a further testament to the luxurious yet superb quality of the Visconti range, Visconti black fountain pens were chosen to be given to each of the World leaders who attended the recent G8 Summit in L’Aquila. Each pen was engraved with the initials of the leader to whom it was presented. 

The many colours of the Wellington...

The Conway Stewart Wellington is a substantial fountain pen. The striking design has been crafted with a subtly curvaceous form to both cap and barrel, an exciting shape that sets the Wellington fountain pen apart from traditional pen designs.

Conway Stewart have moved on from the usual Wellington colours and design, to bring us a multitude of offerings in different shades and colours.




Dartmoor is an interesting combination of browns, shimmering with suppressed highlights, marbled into a deep black background. It is deceptively simple in its mixture of somber shades, and allows the owner to experience the best of both worlds: elegant and classic design, with a touch of stylish fashion.



Bronze Whirl -- a new colour from Conway Stewart -- is a luxurious mix of rich tones consisting of a deep blue background that shimmers softly, with sparkling accents dusted throughout. Then they add a subtle Bronze whirl hue, looping and swirling through both the cap, barrel and front section. Each piece of this sturdy acrylic material has an individual pattern, so no two Wellington Bronze Whirl pens will look exactly alike. This is a pen for those who demand to stand a bit apart from the crowd!


The Conway Stewart Wellington Fountain Pen is offered in four popular classic colours gleaming jet Black, rich Classic Brown, elegant Classic Green and the modern Black Whirl.


This stylish modern look is married with the timeless look of vintage style engraving and a classic rich black hand made resin, with the result being a pen that makes the perfect choice for those who appreciate understated and classic elegance.

Fountain Pen Day - 2nd November 2012!

Just found out about this on the grapevine, the first ever Fountain Pen Day is being celebrated internationally on the 2nd November. 

The day was created to help embrace, promote, and share the use of fountain pens in day-to-day life, as well to help revive handwriting as a whole.

It appears as you've probably seen from the various news articles that have been circulating over the last few months (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18071830) that this is the year for the resurgence of the fountain pen, and writing instruments in general.


So what can you do to support Fountain Pen Day? Here's a few that things that they recommend...

1. Write a letter to someone with your favorite fountain pen and ink. Under your signature you can write the pen & ink you used.
2. Post on your favorite forum or blog by writing it out with your fountain pen. Then take a picture of it and post it. Again, under your signature write what pen & ink you used.
3. Instead of typing Facebook status updates and tweets on Twitter, write them and upload a picture of them (mention the reason that you’re doing it at well.)
4. Take one of the pens you don’t use anymore and send it off to a friend with a handwritten note. If you don’t have any pens you want to part with you can shop one of the online retailers and have it sent direct to them.
5. Make that the weekend you have your pen club meet up.
6. Turn off your computer and put down the phone and spend some time writing.

Can we add any to this list?


So please help spread the word, and let us know what you get up to in your celebrations!







If you want to find out more or show your support for Fountain Pen Day - 2/11/2012, then visit 

www.fountainpenday.org

Patriotic Pens

Was inspired to do a bit of research on pens that have a patriotic nature about then, after seeing the Diplomat J1 Stars and Stripes, so let's take a look.


Diplomat Stars and Stripes

Diplomat brings us the SpaceTec J1 Stars and Stripes, beautiful slim design with aluminum casing, shrouded in the stars and stripes flag design. Wonder if the President has one?



Conway Stewart Belliver Red White & Blue

A vibrant and energetic patriot theme with hand made resin, in red, white and blue takes resin effects to new heights! Shimmering shades of pearlescent blue, energetic whirls of rich pearl white and vibrant red are blended together to form the backdrop to swirling lines of a rich exclusively hand-made resin material. The effect is stunning and outspoken. A traditionally styled Conway Stewart clip ensures that the Belliver is always ready to hand in your pocket, and the cap and barrel are also adorned with hallmarked gold bands for the crowning touch of elegance. The combination is at once both warm, rich, and luxurious


That's the extent of my list so far, anyone add any?

Parts of a Fountain Pen

Thought we'd help you brush up on your fountain pen knowledge by running through some of the terms used to describe the different parts that make up a pen, some you may know, others are a bit more obscure. 

Cap- The cap is an essential part of a fountain pen. Without it, you'd be taking a risk putting the pen in your pocket or in any other sort of case or container; ink can be bled out of the pen whenever the point comes in contact with any surface. The cap also slows down evaporation from the point and helps keep the pen in ready-to-write condition between uses. Also very importantly, the cap protects the point and feed from damage.

Tassie/ Derby- A cap may have a decorative part on the end, like a button or a jewel. This is usually called the "tassie" or "derby"


Nib- The pen's nib is, of course, what the thing is all about, and its construction was the most involved and highly-skilled process in the manufacture of most pens.

Feed- The feed sits underneath the nib, it's one of the most important parts of the pen. It has the difficult job of balancing the delicate forces of atmospheric pressure and capillary action to promote the controlled exchange of ink (going out of the pen) with air (going into the pen). The feed also guides the ink down through the slit and it must be able to store or “buffer” excess ink not needed for writing so that the pen does not blot or flow too heavily.

Section- The Section holds together all of the pen's various parts, including barrel, sac, breather tube, and (of course) the nib and feed.

Sac- The internal ink supply is what makes a fountain pen a “fountain” pen, as opposed to a dip pen. Of course, you have to be able to replenish that ink supply when it runs low, and this calls for a filling system.

Barrel & Lever- The pen's barrel is the portion that extends back from the section; it's the part that rests between your thumb and first finger as you write.

Your Guide to the new SmarTouch nib from Visconti

SmarTouch Tubular Nib

After lengthy tests Visconti's writing collection has acquired a new writing device, the SmarTouch Tubular Nib.

Its special shape is turned from a capillary tube in Chromium 18 that wraps closely around the feed and allows you to fill it with the ink without having to dip the entire section into the ink, an operation that is a necessity with any other fountain pen on the market.

This makes filling both easy and clean, and it can be performed even when the level of ink is low in the bottle.

The traditional problems of the section being stained during filling and refilling with a low level of in the bottle have thus both been finally solved.

Snorkel filler : together with the new nib, we have invented an interesting device designed to avoid dipping even the nib in the ink and, at the same time, making it possible to refill the pen using up the last drop of ink.

It is well known that fountain pens dry out very easily if the cap is off, because ink evaporates from the feed through the two open sides of the nib.

SmarTouch tubular nib, which wraps closely around the feed and has the airhole positioned at a distance from the tip, can delay the drying of the nib with a substantial benefit in terms of everyday use. Naturally, drying time depends on individual environmental humidity and temperature conditions.

The use of ball points has significantly modified the handling of pens; today the normal writing position is much more vertical than the classic fountain pen position at 45 °. To help this posture we have modified the inclination of the tip, thus broadly extending its range of use.




Snorkel Filler : use and maintenance
" Position the tubular nib with the writing tip facing the mark in the snorkel.
" Gently press the snorkel until it touches the pen section.
" Fill the pen according to the instructions.
" Gently pull out the snorkel with a straight movement. Do not unscrew.
" Wipe the nib as usual.
" The snorkel has residual ink inside it, so you may wish to rinse it with clear water.

Warning :
" Always place the fountain pen nib pointing at the mark in the snorkel. Do not reverse or angle it.
" Never unscrew the snorkel, only pull it out. Unscrewing it will remove the nib and feed from the section.

This is currently only available on the new Visconti Opera Crystal and Typhoon