Penfriend’s diaries week 7th - 13th October 2019
We really enjoyed the London Pen Show on the 6th of October. It was great to see so many of our customers and get some new ones. We are looking forward to the next London Pen Show March-April 2020
Make sure your pens are ready for those beautiful handwritten Christmas cards. Here at Penfriend we love writing them and receiving them. Definitely NO CHRISTMAS cards via email.
Modern Pens
Special Edition Pelikan M800 Brown Black
Gracefully with a gentle appearance. That‘s the look of the new Special Edition Souverän 800 Brown-Black. The warm brown hue in the striped material of this writing instrument series is perfectly complemented by the dark brown components made out of valuable resin. The barrel with brown and black stripes is made of cellulose acetate,high-grade manufactured and turned into a sleeve. The rings and the clip are elegantly decorated with 24-carat gold.
The fountain pen with differential piston mechanism has a two-tone, 18-carat gold nib and is optionally available in nib sizes EF, F, M and B. The ballpoint pen with twist mechanism matches this beautiful fountain pen perfectly.
The Special Edition Souverän 800 Brown-Black will be available from mid of October 2019.
Our vintage pens
Aikin Lambert Eyedropper
We are going to go back in time over the next weeks and choose my personal favourite pen per decade. This week we are going back to the beginning of the 20th century, more or less the birth time of fountain pens as we know them
This is an Aikin Lambert eyedropper made out of ebonite and mother of pearl. I personally cannot resist mother of pearl in any pen but this pen exudes luxury and elegance from another time. The nib is very flexible and produces a fine line
Aikin Lambert was born in New York in 1864 from the union of two jewellers, James C Aikin and H. Lambert
They originally produced pencils and straws for nibs. They were a main supplier for Waterman’s and Wirt. Their own pens were marketed from 1890s to 1930s. Their main models, such as our example, were the highest quality pens eyedroppers produced at the end of the 19th century beginning of the 20th
In 1911, they became part of Waterman’s for whom they had produced mechanical pencils
Although their own brand continued until the 1930s, the 1920s and 1930s showed the degradation of the brand name which at that time only produced cheapest lines
Repairs
Most weeks we receive fountain pens for repair. This is not unusual for a fountain pen specialist, but this week strangely enough the ballpoints have overtaken the fountain pens in the repairs department. Yet more STRANGE is the fact that all those ballpoints were Parker 61 ballpoints that needed new mechanisms. It is true that the two more common problems with regards to ballpoints are broken mechanism or broken clips.
There are different types of mechanisms for this pens. Luckily we have managed to solve all these 4 repairs but please note that we are running out of mechanisms and very soon we will be unable to repair them. So please be gentle with your Parker 61 Ballpoints.
Quick notes
Furthest pen order shipped this week to
Abu Dhabi
Our favourite message
Just received the pen. Thank you. I now will be writing to a number of friends with a pen that has not been used for a number of years. Thanks again for great service.
— Repair Customer, CT (London)
Quote of the week
“You want to be a writer, don't know how or when? Find a quiet place, use a humble pen.”
― Paul Simon