The Well-Appointed Desk

Giveaway Winner: Opus88 Koloro

AnaAugust 14, 2019August 14, 20192 Comments

I enjoyed reading all the comments for the giveaway this week. Lots of people reminisced about school memories like covering school books with paper, buying school supplies and backpacks and seeing friends after a long summer. Some folks dreaded going back to school because they were freckly or the new kid (I can totally relate) but the school supplies made it a little better.

So, now it’s time for the winner of the Opus88 Koloro in yellow, generously donated by Appelboom.

Congrats to Tony. Hopefully, the Koloro will not bring back any school pen memories.

In Link Love

Link Love: Vertex Vortex

AnaAugust 14, 2019August 14, 2019

This week is the public unveiling of the Karas Vertex Fountain Pen and the new Blackwing Volumes 42. Ferris Wheel Press also unveiled new ink colors. Pantone also released 112 new colors in its palette though those are more “virtual” color as they are formulas and digital chips.

I guess the summer lull is over and the push to the end of the year had officially started. Next stop, planner mayhem!

Notebook Review – JetPen’s Kanso Sasshi Booklets

Laura CameronAugust 13, 2019August 13, 20192 Comments

Review by Laura Cameron

Last time I browsed JetPens.com I was excited to see a new (to me) notebook that I wanted to try. I went ahead and ordered the JetPens exclusive Kanso Sasshi Booklets (pack of 2, $20.50).

These notebooks are simple booklets with brown cardstock covers and 96 pages of plain white 52gsm Tomoe River Paper. The paper is advertised as acid free, eco friendly (the pulp comes from sustainable forests), and fountain pen friendly.

I purchased the A5 size (5.8″ x 8.3″) but they are also available in pocket size. The books are staple bound and each booklet comes with a handy cardboard lined guide (6mm). The booklets are named for their simplicity. “Kanso” means simple and “Sasshi” means notebook in Japanese.

I found these notebooks lovely. The paper is smooth and performs beautifully as Tomoe River does. The 52gsm paper does have quite a bit of ghosting on the opposite side, but no bleed through. I tested it with my fountain pens (Fine to Broad nibs) as well as gel pens and fine liners. Drying time was fairly quick for me although with wider nibs and sheening inks, it might take a bit.

Personally, I generally prefer slightly heavier weights of paper because I like using both sides of the page, but these notebooks are lovely and would have a variety of uses – throw them in an A5 cover to document your adventures, start writing your next novel, or take in a pen show!

DISCLAIMER: Some of the items included in this review were provided to us free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In news

Please Stand By…

AnaAugust 12, 2019August 12, 20195 Comments

I don’t normally do a “OMG! I’m sorry I’m too busy to post” post. However, my dear friends, since I got home from DC, I have been working at my “jobby-job” non-stop.

Not exaggerating here. It’s Monday morning at 7am and I have worked everyday since I’ve returned until way past my bedtime. Sadly, that has left no time for anything else. My house is a wreck, the laundry is in heaps, and I am starting to look like the walking zombie I joke I am.

So, today was supposed to be a review about one of the new notebooks I received from Nero’s Notes or even a sneak peek at the special ink from Papier Plume that will be available at the SF Pen Show. I also have several bottles of the new Vinta Inks, a Kaweco Apple Pencil Sleeve and probably a dozen other things piled up.

I hate to neglect my pen reviews but sometimes the jobby-job wins out.

In Ink Review

Eye Candy: Herbin 1798 Kyanite du Nepal

AnaAugust 9, 2019July 28, 20191 Comment

I know lots of other folks have already reviewed the latest sparkly metallic Jacques Herbin ink. It’s not that I meant to put it off but we’ve been pretty busy here at The Desk. So, now it our turn to show off the latest sparkly goodness from the House of Herbin. As it’s been mentioned, 1798 is the name that Herbin give to their annual sparkly ink with silver particles versus the 1670 which contains gold particles (unless it’s Rouge Hematite and then all bets are off). So, the latest iteration is 1798 Kyanite du Nepal ($28).

To quote the J. Herbin web site:

Since the discovery of the famous mining region of Nepal, Kali Gandaki, Kyanite has been recognized as a noble mineral because of its similarities with the rich tones of sapphire.

There is a good deal of fine silver in the ink and the turquoise color is gorgeous.

When it come to turquoise ink, there are a lot of options so I had a lot to compare Kyanite with. I was able to compare Kyanite to both metallic inks and non-metallics. First and foremost, I was able to find the closest non-metallic Herbin ink which is Bleu Pervenche ($12.95). The two Robert Oster inks that were closest were Blue Water Ice and Soda Pop Blue ($17 each). The metallics that were close matches were Robert Oster Shake-n-Shimmy Blue Moon ($24), De Atramentis Pearlescent Cyan Blue Silver ($14), and Diamine Shimmer-tastic Blue Lightning ($24). PenBBS #275 Claude Monet ($20) is a metallic turquoise but a little lighter.

Given the options, is Kyanite du Nepal worth the few dollars more per bottle than some of these other metallic inks? I don’t know. Diamine and DeAtramentis both seem more sparkly in smaller writing but all of them, including Kyanite, require constant movement to keep the particles evenly distributed. So, if you prefer the upgraded packaging and the slightly more aged silver look to the brighter, whiter silver of the others, then consider Kyanite. What I don’t recommend is buying all five metallic turquoise inks with silver particles. It really is s bit excessive.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by J. Herbin* for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

*I really wish that House of Herbin would go back to calling themselves J. Herbin. All these J. Herbin/Herbin/Jacques Herbin variations are tiresome. Louis Vuitton is always Louis Vuitton, Chanel is always Chanel and Hermes is always Hermes. It seems un-French to change your name three times in as many years.

In feature

Giveaway: Opus88 Koloro Fountain Pen (F)

AnaAugust 8, 2019August 8, 2019237 Comments

With back-to-school right around the corner for many folks, this seemed like the perfect time for a giveaway. And we have the perfect thing, a brand new Opus88 Koloro from Appelboom.

One of my favorite models from Opus88 is the Koloro. The Orange/Yellow is reminiscent of school buses and No. 2 pencils. The large capacity eyedropper filled ink system means that you’ll be able to take notes for weeks without having to refill the pen.

Special thanks to our hand model and photographer for this giveaway — Bob. You can actually see the size of the pen in a larger man’s hand. If you’d like to read our full review, hop over here.

This is a brand new pen, graciously provided to us (and to our winner) by Appelboom.

TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell me your favorite back-to-school memory or ritual. Play along and type in something. It makes reading through entries more interesting for me, okay? One entry per person.

If you have never entered a giveaway or commented on the site before, your comment must be manually approved by our highly-trained staff of monkeys before it will appear on the site. Our monkeys are underpaid and under-caffeinated so don’t stress if your comment does not appear right away. Give the moneys some time.

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Tuesday, August 13, 2019. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Wednesday. Winner will be selected by random number generator from entries that played by the rules (see above). Please include your actual email address in the comment form so that I can contact you if you win. I will not save email addresses or sell them to anyone — pinky swear. If winner does not respond within 7 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class is covered. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money. US and APO/AFO only, sorry.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this giveaway were provided free of charge by Appelboom for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Link Love

Link Love: This Week was Love, Actually.

AnaAugust 7, 2019August 7, 20192 Comments

The DC Pen Show for 2019 is in the bag, as is the Urban Sketch Symposium. Gentleman Stationer and Looped Square have a recap of the pen show and our intrepid, wandering sketcher Tina (Clouds & Coffee) has some sketches from Amsterdam and the symposium.

Like all pens shows, DC was all about seeing friends –old and new!

I finally got to meet the radiant Zenyp from Write to Me Often who is as amazing in person as she is online. And the Saturday morning line started early. The fire marshal shut it down and people were allowed in early to clear the hallways.

DC is the busiest and one of the most exhausting pen shows for me. This year, though, it was one of the happiest. I was blessed with kind friends and readers who kept us well-stocked with snacks, poke bowls, and chocolates. Other folks came bearing gifts from far and wide and I cannot tell you how touched I was by the gestures. I was literally struck speechless by the kindnesses. I was afraid to speak for fear of bursting into uncontrollable sobbing. Brad, on The Pen Addict, talks about crying from the kindnesses but I think I would have fallen into full-on ugly crying I was so taken by surprise. So, I stiff-upper-lipped it, tried my best to say thank you as graciously as possible and then gushed in private.

These are some of the gifts I received. There will be reviews for some of them.

I also had many people come up and tell me how much they enjoyed reading the blog, the email newsletter (blog posts by email) or seeing our Instagram posts and I was equally touched. Thank you to everyone who came by and said hello. It meant the world to me.