The Well-Appointed Desk

Birmingham Pen Co. Ink

I am sucker for these Birmingham Pen Company inks. This is batch number two for me. The first batch was so lovely I knew I would order more. First, the colors are so muted and complex and I love that Birmingham names all their colors after people and places from their community. Second, they are so stinkin’ cheap. A 30ml bottle is just $7.99. So, I can’t resist buying them.

This round I bought some of the newer colors more recently released and some that have been restocked: Andy Warhol Pop Art Purple, Southside Market Boysenberry, May Lou Williams Piano Girl Pink, Fred Rogers Cardigan Red, Thomas Mellon Evergreen and Schenley Park Thicket Green.

Evergreen, Cardigan Red and Pop Art Purple are the most saturated, vivid colors I’ve gotten from Birmingham Pen Company thus far. Schenley Park Thicket Green is a lovely forest green and Boysenberry is a good raspberry purple. However, Piano Girl Pink is no more pink than Gerbera Pink I picked up in the first batch. As long as I think of Piano Girl as a burgundy its a nice color but pink, it is not. For all the things Birmingham Pen Co. is doing right, pink is not their strong suit.

But oh, their deep, dark muted tones are so good. So, if you have not tried out some of the Birmingham Pen Company inks yet, now is the time.

I promise that I will do more in depth reviews of some of these ink colors in the coming weeks.

In Fountain Pen Review

Platinum 3776 Kumpoo UEF Fountain Pen (AKA The Kung Fu Panda)

AnaAugust 3, 2018May 26, 20209 Comments

Oh, Platinum! Why did you name such a beautiful pen with a name that sounds so awful to English speakers? I trie to resist the Platinum 3776 Kumpoo UEF Fountain Pen on the name alone but when everyone kept telling me how stunning the color was, I couldn’t hold out any longer. Then Lisa Vanness said, “You can call it the Kung Fu Panda.” I caved. And christened it the “Kung Fu Panda” and clicked on Buy It Now so fast your head would spin. My previous 3776 is a Soft Fine so I decided to go for the Ultra Extra Fine (UEF) even though many people have said it is too fine even for super fine gel pen enthusiasts. So, I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.

First, let’s just say that the looks did not disappoint. The Kung Fu Panda is the picture of summery life aquatic perfection. The waves and transparent teal blue is gorgeous. I cannot take my eye off it. And the silver/chrome hardware is perfect. Though, to be honest, this pen would probably have been just as pretty with gold hardware and I almost never say things like that. I am glad its silver though.

In terms of pen specifications, the Platinum 3776 is a fairly lightweight pen. Filled with the converter, it weighs 26gms. Uncapped, its a mere 14gms. It’s about 5.5″ long capped and 4.75″ uncapped and 6.125″ posted.

(Comparison chart is for pens capped and filled.)

Would you look at the wicked stiletto point on this nib? Hoo, boy!

So, I made a point of choosing an ink I knew would be lubricated for a nib this fine and chose Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku. It was a lovely match as well. I don’t know when I started matching my ink to my pens but I did. Now its just a contest with myself, I think. I love how fine it writes. It has a slight crispness to the line that my other fine pens do not have and I quite enjoy. I did some comparison writing with my 3776 Shungyu with the SF nib (the ink ran out a couple words in so I swapped it out hence the roughness at the beginning. And OMG! I can’t believe I’ve never written a review for this pen!), and two Sailors – one with a stock H-F and one with a custom needlepoint. I would say the my Sailor with the custom Needlepoint is most comparable in terms of line weight but it did require a nibmeister.

So, if you are looking for a UEF, I definitely think the 3776 is a good option and the color series is really stunning. Platinum definitely keeps upping the bar on the look and design of this line. I wonder what color is next?

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

In Ink Review

Ink Preview: Colorverse x Opus88 Inks

AnaAugust 2, 2018June 3, 2020Leave a comment

Colorverse also released a set of inks in July to coordinate with the Opus88 Koloro and Picmic pen lines. The ~~seven~~ eight colors in this collection all include traditional inks (no shimmers) and both of the bottles in the 2-bottle sets are the same colors (65ml and 15ml bottles for $36 per set).

I received samples of these colors but the Colorverse x Opus88 inks also received the same upgraded packaging as the Season 4 Trailblazers in Space did with the added foam to protect the bottles in shipping.

I was super excited about Girls Just Wanna. I mean why wouldn’t I be excited about a bright, almost-flourescent pink? I thought I might have something similar from Kobe (Sailor) but I don’t think I do after all. I think Horizon may be a bit similar to Crystal Planet without the sheen. Soul is a lovely chocolatey brown. It’s warmer than JFK’s Dog Pushinka. Laurel is a dark forest green. It’s darker than Able. Tango is a terra cotta orange that’s a bit more ruddy than V2 Rocket and there’s a lot more of it in this set. Supernatural is darker than Albert, a bit more “slime green” to the “limeade” green of Albert. The truly unique color in this set is Adobe which is one of the best non-metallic golden yellow colors I’ve seen. It is not too yellow in thin lines. It keeps a golden quality. This should have been Golden Record in the Voyager I set, IMHO.

OMG, I apologize but I don’t have a swatch for Depth. I don’t know how I missed it. Especially considering that Depth is supposed to be the ink to match my favorite Blue Blue Koloro. I’ll try to add the swatch into this post as an addendum ASAP and will definitely have a review in the future along with reviews of several of these colors, particularly Adobe and Girls Just Wanna!

Tools:

Pens: Midori bullet pencil modified dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack), Acrylic dip nib pen (Approx. $15)
Swatches: Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
Brush: Blick Synthetic Round #0
Ink: Colorverse x Opus88 Inks ($36 for 65ml and 15ml 2-bottle set)

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

In Ink Review

Preview: Colorverse Season 4 Trailblazers in Space

AnaAugust 2, 2018June 3, 2020Leave a comment

The latest edition of the Colorverse inks have been released, Season 4 Trailblazers in Space ($36 per 2-bottle set). As the home of all things space (Skylab Letterpress being our printer of choice, of course, and R2-D2 being our patron traveling companion), I couldn’t wait to get a hold of this new collection. These inks feature many of the first travelers into space, many of them animals. Sadly, not all of them survived but their contributions are commemorated in ink.

But rather than get too morbid, let me talk about some technical issues that Colorverse addressed in regards to the packaging of their ink products instead.

They continue to package two bottles of ink in each box – one 65ml bottle and one 15ml bottle and that remains the same in Season 4. This collection features different colors in each bottle and, of the seven sets, four include a standard ink and three feature a shimmering ink in the smaller bottle. What was updated was the addition of a foam liner in each box to protect the bottles and provide stability in transport.

I keep my bottles in the boxes after use because they stack easier and the graphics are so nice I can’t bring myself to throw them away anyway so I’m glad for the added stability. As you can see from the first photo, the piles of Colorverse ink is getting pretty tall.

Inside the box, Colorverse is still including extras like stickers, a brochure and a napkin to wipe off your nib.

Inside, of course, is the real treasures. Fourteen delicious colors! First thing to note is that the Felicette shimmering really shimmers as does the Ham #65 shimmering. Thank you! Previous shimmering colors from Colorverse have been a bit underwhelming but these two have some kick. Able and Miss Baker are two of the prettiest colors I’ve seen from Colorverse and JFK’s Dog Pushinka is a lovely brown.

Here’s a close-up of the Hayabusa Shimmer. Can you see the green sheen and the gold sparkle?

This is Ham #65 Shimmering. There is a noticeable reddish sheen to the sparkle. Pretty cool!

And would you look at that?!?! Felicette Shimmering! I have almost used up the whole bottle already. So cool! It’s a warm reddish orange with golden shimmer.

Now a quick close-up of some of my favorite sets: Able and Miss Baker. Able is a forest green and Miss Baker is raspberry cool pink. Great shading with both colors but no sheen.

Ah, Albert and V2 Rocket! I think of them as Well-Appointed Desk Green and Pen Addict Orange. Of course, the green is in the larger bottle because I win! Again.

Strelka is a beautiful blue and JFK’s Dog Pushinka is a solid brown. Dare I call it Sepia? Whatever you call it, this set would be a perfect starter set for a new user. A good blue and a good brown in one set. Assuming you didn’t want the Desk & Pen Addict set instead.

Arabella and Anita is probably the set I’m the least excited about. Arabella is awfully Kelly green (Hello, Sea of Tranquility) for me and Anita is somewhere between Miss Baker and the burgundy magentas in Season 1 like Lights on Ceres and Andromeda.

But overall, I am really pleased with Season 4 and I’m looking forward to doing longer reviews of the whole set.

Tools:

Pens: Midori bullet pencil modified dip nib holder with Zebra G titanium nib ($33.50 per 10-pack), Acrylic dip nib pen (Approx. $15)
Swatches: Col-o-dex Rotary Cards ($15)
Brush: Princeton Neptune Synthetic Squirrel Brush #6 Round ($5.97)
Ink: Colorverse Season 4 Trailblazers in Space ($17 for 50ml bottle)

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge by Vanness Pen Shop for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Link Love

Link Love: Getting our Naka-Ya-Yas in Sinagapore

AnaAugust 1, 2018August 1, 2018Leave a comment

Artwork by Madeline Tompkins of Tag Team Tompkins with a Krink Marker.

Notebooks & Paper:

Rhodia Heritage A5 Writing Pad (via Pencilcase Blog)
Back Pocket Guitar Notebook (via Pens! Paper! Pencils!)
Rollo London Notebook (via Notebook Stories)
Stifflexible Notebooks (via Gentleman Stationer)

Art & Creativity:

How to Sketch on Planes (via Liz Steel)
Princeton Neptune Synthetic Squirrel Brush (Doodlewash)
Daniel Smith half pan watercolour sets. (via Jane Blundell Art)
Lisa Perrin Talks Going from Analog to Digital and into a Thriving Career (via Brown Paper Bag)

Other Interesting Things:

Aesthetic Bay Nakaya Clinic: Day 1 (via Hand Over That Pen)
Nakaya Pen Clinic – 2018 (via Alt. Haven)
8 Creativity-Infused Ways to Celebrate ‘Happiness Happens’ Month (via The Postman’s Knock)

In news, Paper Review

Notebook Review and Giveaway: Rollo London Softcover A5 and Hardcover A6

AnaJuly 31, 2018December 16, 201829 Comments

Review by Laura Cameron

A few weeks ago Rollo of London offered us an opportunity to try their A5 Diary as part of their promotional campaign to announce that they are partnering with Paperchase stores.

I selected The Softie Collection, Larkin in British Mulberry A5 (£19.25).

Rollo of London

The Larkin is a soft sided journal, with a dark mulberry pliable cover, and embellished with the Rollo logo. The notebook itself measures 8.5″ x 5.5″ (21.5 cm x 14.0 cm) and has 96 sheets of 70gsm cream paper. This means that the book has 192 pages to fill. As an interesting note, each of the pages is perforated, meaning you can choose to remove it from the notebook.

Rollo of London

There are two cream front and end pages of the book, and the inner covers are plain, simply the back of the faux Scotch grain. There is also a long black ribbon for marking your place in the notebook.

The notebook is organized like a diary, with two reference pages up front. The remainder of the notebook is narrow ruled, and leaves a place for a date at the top of each page.

Rollo of London

I was eager to test this book, as it is kind of similar to the Rhodia Goalbook and the Taroko Breeze in its format.

The first thing I did was test the paper. Unfortunately, this paper is not as friendly towards fountain pens as I had hoped. Despite being lovely and smooth to write on, my fountain pens bled right through the 70gsm paper, rendering the other side unusable. There wasn’t much feathering, just a lot of bleed through, even when I used my finest nibs. I had somewhat better luck with my gel pens, so if you’re partial to gel pens, ballpoints or pencils, this book might be for you.

Rollo of London

As for the organization of the diary, I have no complaints. I could easily see using this book to maintain my daily to do lists, or notes on the day. The narrow ruling isn’t too narrow for medium sized writers – I found that I filled the lines, but that I didn’t splash over into the other lines. That said, if you’re a large writer, this ruling may not be for you.

I do love the feel of the cover and the fact that the notebook is super slim. It fits nicely into my purse without adding a lot of weight or bulk. Overall, I think this is a nice notebook, although it might not end up a favorite because I can’t use my fountain pens with it.

Rollo is excited to announce that its journals are now available in Paperchase stores, specifically the Flagship stores Manchester, Tottenham Court road and Glasgow. They will soon be available online at Paperchase, but for now if you’re interested in purchasing you can head on over to Rollo of London.

If you like what you see here, then I have good news for you! In honor of their launch at Paperchase, Rollo sent an A6 Eliot from The Hardy Collection for you. The A6 diary is in the same British Mulberry, but is a hard sided journal with a band to hold it closed.

Rollo of London

TO ENTER: Leave a comment ON THIS POST ON THE BLOG and tell us how you would use your new diary! Only one Eliot notebook is available.

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 1pm CST on Friday, August 3, 2018. All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Monday afternoon, August 6th. 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 – just email you if you win. If winner does not respond within 7 days, I will draw a new giveaway winner. Shipping via USPS first class. Additional shipping options or insurance will have to be paid by the winner. We are generous but we’re not made of money. US residents and APO/FPO only please.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in giveaway were provided free of charge by Rollo of London. Please see the About page for more details.

In Fountain Pen Review

Pen Review: Desiderata Precession Flex (Zebra G Nib) Fountain Pen

AnaJuly 30, 2018July 29, 20182 Comments

Desiderata Pens is known for making some of the most unique pens that utilize the Zebra G calligraphy nibs in a modern fountain pen housing for flex writing experience. Every time I see Pierre at a pen show, he has developed a new design and refined, retooled or improved upon his previous designs for a feed or pen shape. His desire to constantly advance his designs is one of the things I admire about the work he does and why I was excited at the chance to take the Precession Pen for a test drive.

The model that I tried is a clear acrylic with threads of red throughout. The material is called “Phantom Mist.” When empty, the pen is really stunning to see. The design of the pen is also quite unique as both the cap and end are removable. The end cap covers the bulb filler which features a clear sac and helps to provide suction to fill the entire barrel of the pen with ink. The Zebra G flex nib uses a good deal of ink so the clear body and large ink chamber are handy for keeping track of how much ink is left and how quickly its filling when using the squeeze filler.

When I filled the pen, it took a good 30 or so squeezes to get the pen barrel full of ink. YMMV. But it does hold a full 4ml of ink and the squeeze filling is a fairly tidy method for filling requiring only a towel to wipe of the nib when I was done compared with an eye dropper which requires a syringe and silicone grease which makes an eyedropper pen a little less portable.

Once filled, ink will obscure the details of the Phantom Mist acrylic and there may be some evidence in the cap and sac of the ink. The inside of the pen is polished, however, so its not likely to stain or be too difficult to change inks.

The model I tested did not have a clip but a clip is available as shown on this version of the Precession.

Filled with ink the Precession weighs 16gms capped and 11gms uncapped. It’s 6″ long capped and 5.5″ long uncapped. It cannot be posted. The pen is long but lightweight and very comfortable in the hand. I was worried that it would be too big or too long but honestly I just wanted to keep writing with it.

I get all zen when I can just sit and write with a flex pen and not have to worry about dipping it. So that is what I did with the Precession. I basically wrote it dry. Over and over again. The ebonite feed could keep up with the Zebra G nib without railroading or running dry.

Normally, with flex nibs I prefer the titanium version ($33.50 per dozen) of the Zebra G which is less prone to rusting and is certainly worth trying in the Precession, if you have any on hand, though some find them a bit stiffer than the steel version.

If you’ve been looking for a flex nib option that utilizes a modern body and easy-to-replace nibs (Zebra G nibs can be had for a $13.50 for a dozen) than the Precession would be a great option. Desiderata offers this model in acrylics starting at $200 or Matte Black starting at $150.

The Precession will also accept a #6 Jowo nib unit so, should you decide that flex writing is not for you or you want to switch things up, this pen can become an everyday writer by swapping out the nib unit. Talk about accommodating!

Hopefully, Desiderata will be at the DC Pen Show this weekend. Hope to see you (and Pierre) there!

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Desiderata Pens for the purpose of review. Other links provided for reference and conveniene, some may be to sponsors or advertisers. Please see the About page for more details.

Tools:

Tools:

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things: