I had been itching to try one of Birmingham Pen Company’s custom fountain pens — their Model-A series designs. They release a small batch of a particular color material every few weeks or months. For some reason, I was taken by the Crystalline Liquid Hot Magma ($119) acrylic color, aptly named after the Austin Powers reference.…
There have been a lot of better-quality, Chinese pens introduced into the market recently and the Kaco brand, like Pen BBS and the Moonman line, is one to put on your radar. While the Kaco Retro (approx. $11.49) is not the most innovative pen in terms of design from Kaco (more to come about their…
By Jessica Coles A few months ago I heard that the Esterbrook trademark had been purchased by Kenro Industries and the manufacturing of Esterbrook pens was going to restart. I had many thoughts about this, not many of them comforting. Esterbrook closed their doors for good in 1972. There was a brief attempt to revive…
Review by Tina Koyama If I had my druthers, all pens would be retractable. Since I use so many of my pens and other tools while out sketching somewhere, pens with caps are always at risk. (I once dropped a pen cap from the upper level balcony of a mall where I was sketching. The…
Review by Jessica Coles Monteverde has recently come out with several new nibs for their Monza line. The Monteverde flex nib ($16.00 at Pen Chalet) is one of these. The Monza flex comes in a light green plastic box — somewhat like a small pencil box where the pen, two cartridges, and the included converter are packed in a…
Review by Tina Koyama After fountain pens, my favorite pen type for writing is gel. I love the wide range of vibrant ink colors they are available in, and they require no maintenance. As a lefty, however, many gel inks remain wet just long enough that they smear under typical writing conditions. I’ve occasionally tried…
Review by Jessica Coles Imagine this: Exhausted from 8 hours of travel and flight delays, plus the pleasure of being jammed in a big metal tube with strangers and offered snacks that consist of exactly three pretzels. Then my wonderful and beautiful friend, Kimberly (aka allthehobbies. NOT Kim) drives up and helps me to load…
