The Well-Appointed Desk

Pennaquod

AnaMarch 17, 2023March 17, 202310 Comments

Do you love reading posts at the Desk? Do you ever wish you could find a ton of other pen and stationery aficionados you can follow? Do you want to search for specific topics or reviews? Then we’ve got the answer: Pennaquod.

Pennaquod is maintained by Ian and is a way to search through compendium of posts from a ton of fabulous blogs. You can search Pennaquod for a specific topic (my search here was for “Platinum 3776”) and get a full list of blog posts on the topic to browse at your leisure.

Or you can simply browse the list of blogs Pennaquod searches and check out the ones that appeal to you to find new reviews.

All the blogs included are produce genuine blog reviews, and Ian’s site is a resource to the community, and not a for-profit venture.

Happy reading!

In feature

Ink Review: Taisho Inks, Part 1

Jessica ColesMarch 16, 2023March 16, 20232 Comments

I get so excited when I find a new line of ink! The manufacturer of this line is Teranishi and I’ve come across two lines of their ink – Guitar and Taisho Roman. I have three of the Taisho Roman inks to show today. I picked these up from St. Louis Art Supply for $18.95 each which works out to $0.47 per mL.

The external packaging for the Taisho inks is almost identical to some of the Taccia inks, perhaps giving hints to the actual ink manufacturer. The bottle contains 40mL of ink and has a small tag attached with space for a tiny swatch of the ink although the paper used for the tag is too absorbent to show the ink color accurately.

The three ink colors I have here are Gentle Green, Smoky Navy, and Opera Rose.

Opera Rose is an interesting color – a bit under saturated terracotta or salmon orange/pink/brown. It shades but not dramatically.

Papier Plume’s 011 ink is a few shades darker than Opera Rose, but the color is a match.

Smoky Navy has some great shading and is a lovely blue-black ink. Occasionally a hint of sheen shows up but only in the swatch.

I had a hard time finding a match to Smoky Navy in my collection. The lightest portion of the swatch is a match with Diamine Prussian Blue, and the darker areas appeared to match Robert Oster Thunderstorm, but the camera brings out much more green in Smoky Navy.

I saved my favorite of the batch for last. Gentle Green. It immediately reminded me of Taccia Sabimidori with the way is wrote blue but dried to a definite green.

When comparing Gentle Green to Sabimidori, though, the colors were further apart than I had imagined. The heavier applications of Sabimidori are close to the color in Gentle Green, but the overall color is quite different. Wearingeul Mad Hatter is a good match.

The first page below is Tomoe River (TR7) paper

Next is Midori MD paper – this paper is cream rather than the white of the other two examples.

Finally, Cosmo Air Light 83gsm paper.

Here’s another shot of the Cosmo Air Light paper, turned to catch the sheen in both Gentle Green and Smoky Navy.

Scrolling through the photos of the paper types, you may have noticed how different the Taisho Roman inks appear on each. Gentle Green is the most obvious, but all three colors change between papers. I’ve photographed pairs of notebooks to show how much they can change.

Tomoe River 52gsm is on the left with Cosmo Air Light 83gsm on the right.

Cosmo Air Light 83gsm is on the left with Midori MD on the right. These don’t even look like the same inks.

So which ink and paper combination is your favorite?

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were purchased by me for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Link Love

Link Love: Moving Right Along

AnaMarch 15, 2023March 15, 20233 Comments

I can’t believe its already the middle of March! Normally, this time of year, I’d be preparing to head to Little Rock for the Arkansas Pen Show but due to starting a new job, I don’t have the seniority to take as many vacation days as I have been able to take in the past. So, I sit in my studio, surrounded by cats and pack orders from here.

Many of these orders are for the sale pens listed in the shop right now. Laura and I culled our collections in a rash of spring cleaning. For me, doing a bit of collection culling leaves room to try new pens and to set some free to find better forever homes. With a collection as large as mine, many pens have sat un-inked for years while other pens get used on a daily or weekly basis. I also think that over time, I’ve found the size and style of pens that work best for me so the pens that don’t fit comfortably in my hands are ready to find their Cinderella hands.

Do you get bitten by the spring cleaning bug?

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In Tools

Did someone say pen sale?

Laura CameronMarch 14, 2023March 10, 20231 Comment

Ana and I are enormously lucky to be able to buy and try so many gorgeous pens. However, at times, we find that the pen stash has gotten a bit unwieldy, and some pens rise to the top of the ‘must-be-inked-at-all-times’ while others remain unused.

So what are we to do but have a pen sale and find forever homes for these beauties! A few notes about the sale going on right now over in the Well-Appointed Desk shop:

All pens are in “gently used” condition. At a minimum they have been inked and used for review, and they may have been used a little more than that.
All pens are listed at prices to sell. Many of these pens we bought with our own money but, regardless, prices are mostly well below retail.
All pens come as is in the listing (with or without boxes and converters included, with the nibs specified). We don’t like surprises.
It should go without saying, but these are all lovely pens in working order. We’re not getting rid of them because they don’t work. More like our pen cups runneth over and we’d like to see them get used and loved.

We hope you find a new-to-you pen and we’re thrilled to send it to a new home!

In Tools

Enigma Stationery Acrylic Sample Vial Display

AnaMarch 13, 2023March 11, 20232 Comments

I am not sure how to describe my utter delight when I opened the box that revealed the Enigma Ink Sample Stand ($40). It is a giant acrylic fountain pen nib with holes die cut into it to reveal spots to store ink sample vials. There are 31 holes, perfect for a month of ink swatching and sampling.

The design is an extension of Enigma Inkvent Set that was released at the end of 2022. The original Inkvent design only had 25 holes to hold ink samples so the new design, made out of acrylic and is shipped flat is perfect for anyone who likes to swatch an ink a day or just needs a great way to store the ink samples you still need to swatch or try.

The set does not ship with ink samples but I wanted to show how fabulous the display looks filled with ink vials.

The stand is about 4.5″ deep so it doesn’t take up much space on your desk and stands proudly at about 14.5″ tall and 6.375″ wide at its widest. I like that it gets my ink samples up off the table and easy to see. I’ve had other ink vial holders but they are wide and flat and take up precious desk real estate.

The holes are designed to fit the standard 5ml sample vials favored by most fountain pen retailers.

The model I was shipped was especially designed for me in a sparkly pink acrylic. For the initial release of the 31-Day Ink Sample Stand, Enigma will be offering them in gold, silver and copper shimmer acrylic. More colors may be available in the future. Head over to the web site to sign up to be notified when the product launches officially.

I think this is a brilliant concept and I can’t wait to see photos on Instagram of these sitting on desks throughout the pen community.

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

In Fountain Pen Review

Fountain Pen Giveaway: Enigma Stationery Nahvalur Exclusive ‘Brilliant Bunny’ Nautilus Fountain Pen

AnaMarch 10, 2023March 18, 2023390 Comments

Enigma Stationery released an exclusive pen from Nahvalur in honor of the Lunar New Year, the ‘Brilliant Bunny’ Nautilus Fountain Pen ($295). This pen features a classic Chinese New Year colorway with a red blank accented with teal, blue, and purple sparkle. The hardware is gold to coordinate with the 14K nib.

The Nautilus pen design features porthole windows around the barrel, just below the cap that allows the user to see the ink piston inside. Ahoy, ink matey!

In the past we’ve reviewed other Nahvalur (formerly Narwhal) designs like the Key West and the Voyage. The design of the Voyage is similar in terms of build and size. The porthole windows being the only distinct visual difference in the two models. The big upsell on the Brilliant Bunny is the 14k nib.

The 14k nib is ~~specially~~ engraved ~~for this limited edition. I love~~ with waves around the edge of the nib. Unfortunately, the only nib size available for this special edition is M but there’s enough tipping material that it could be ground to a finer size, if desired. We did not want to ink this up so that it would be pristine for the winner but we did “dry test” it to get a feel for the nib. The 14k nib has a bit of spring to it but it is not a flex nib. It will be a very expressive nib, reacting to the amount of pressure the writer applies.

Size:

Capped: 6″
Uncapped: 5.25″

The Nautilus does not post.

Weight:

Capped: 31gms
Uncapped: 17gms

The cap is heaver than I expected but since it can’t be posted it won’t throw the balance of the pen off.

There have only be 50 of the Brilliant Bunny pens made and we are fortunate to have one to giveaway to a lucky reader. If you want to guarantee that you’ll be a proud owner of one of these pens, hop over to Enigma Stationery and order yours today.

~~TO ENTER: Leave a comment below and tell us what your Chinese Zodiac sign is. If you don’t know, make one up. 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 themonkeys some time.

FINE PRINT: All entries must be submitted by 10pm CST on Friday, March 17, 2023 (St. Patrick’s Day — oh, the irony!). All entries must be submitted at wellappointeddesk.com, not Twitter, Tumblr or Facebook, okay? Winner will be announced on Monday. 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 5 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 review were provided free of charge by Enigma Stationery for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Link Love

Link Love: On Wednesdays, We Wear Ink

AnaMarch 8, 2023March 8, 20233 Comments

My friends and I love a good meme and we have been milking the same lame memes for years with varying success. This felt like an appropriate place to put this particular bit of silliness. What color ink are you wearing today?

Pens:

Kilk Orient Fountain Pen Review (via The Pen Addict)
Fountain Pen Review: BENU Euphoria Forest Pond (via Rants of The Archer)
A Left Handed Guide For New Fountain Pen Users (2023) (via Left Hook Pens)
Esterbrook’s Estie Nibs, Part Two — The Possibilities are (Almost) Endless (via Pen Boutique Ltd Blog)
Uni Jetstream: A Comprehensive Guide (via JetPens Blog)
A sticky Faber-Castell (via Bleistift)
Magna Carta Denima (via dapprman)

Ink:

Ink Review #758: De Atramentis Deepwater Black Red (via Fountain Pen Pharmacist)
The Best Black Fountain Pen Inks (via JetPens)
Ferris Wheel Press November-January Inks (via FOUNTAIN PEN INK ART)
Ink Review #2070: Inkebara Fairytale Pink (via Mountain of Ink)
#1053 IWI Summer Solstice (via HAPPY INK DAYS archives)
Lennon Tool Bar Winter Bamboo Shoots on Tsubame (via Inkcredible Colours)
Ink of the Week – Sailor Ink Studio 123 (via Fountain Pen Love)
Ink Review: Laban Greek Mythology Apollo Orange and Aphrodite Pink (via The Gentleman Stationer)

Pencils:

An upcycled Tradition (via Bleistift)
The new, upcycled Noris (via Bleistift)

Notebooks, Paper, Planners:

Plan like a Pro: 12 Tips and Tricks for Better Paper Planning (via Planner Fun Plus)
Men and planners… (via Philofaxy)
Don’t Let Your Brain Be Your Calendar: How to Find Your Ideal Digital Planner (via Planner Fun Plus)
18 Ways to Use a Notepage with Your Daily Page (via Planner Fun Plus)
The Paper vs. Digital Planning Dilemma: Finding the Best of Both Worlds (via Planner Fun Plus)
Diane Arbus Notebooks (via Notebook Stories)
How I Use My Nolty Planner (via Notebook Stories)
3 notebooks (via Austin Kleon)

Art & Creativity:

One Week 100 People Day 4: Fountain Pen Sketches (via Writing at Large)
The Piratetess (via Abigail Halpin)
On My Table: Beginning of March 2023. (via Apple-Pine)
List of hotpress watercolour sketchbooks (via Parka Blogs)
Starting my day with simple shapes, generous washes and a little watercolour magic (via Liz Steel)
Digital Artists Are Pushing Back Against AI (via Hyperallergic)

Other Interesting Things:

Couple Finds 2,000 Vintage Cameras in Abandoned Storage Unit (via My Modern Met)
Cardboard Cat Forts: The Ultimate DIY Project for Feline Fun (via Design You Trust)
Knit to This: Print Is Dead Podcast (via Modern Daily Knitting)
A Letter Writing Month (via Wonder Pens)
The Day the Stationery Store Came to Me (via From the Pen Cup)
February In Three Parts – California Pen Show & Other Adventures (via The Poor Penman)
Pen Show Prep: What’s Coming With Us to Baltimore? (via The Gentleman Stationer)
“Boring” Can Be Better: In Defense of Standard Stationery (via The Gentleman Stationer)

We need each other. Please support our sponsors, affiliates or join our Patreon. Your patronage supports this site. Without them, and without you, we could not continue to do what we do. Thank you!