Thursday, April 30, 2009

Kyoto True Writer

The Kyoto version of the True Writer was offered at the Levenger Outlet on eBay at a too-good-to-pass-up price. And, since this was a pen that I had my eye on for quite awhile, I picked it up.

Reading the description of the pen, it struck me that the pen must look better in person than the photos can relate. And, it was true. I think the photos make the pen look rather blah. In person, the pen is strikingly rich in color. Levenger catalog pictures of the Kyoto discs for the Circa system give a more accurate sense of the depth and variety of color.

True Writer Inspiration

This is a photo of an Esterbrook Fountain Pen for sale on eBay. I have seen pictures of Esterbrooks before but not from this angle. It looks surprisingly like my obsidian black True Writer.

Since Levenger is new to producing/distributing fountain pens, I have often wondered what pen inspired the design of the True Writer. I can't imagine a closer match than this.

Update: A friend of mine recently answered this question for me. From a link on Levenger's pen page, there is a history of the development of the True Writer and they were inspired by the Esterbrook. By the way, there is a lot of good general information about pens there - recommended reading.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Sheaffer Feather Touch

For our anniversary my wife gave me a Shaeffer Feather Touch fountain pen, which is about 70 years old. Even so, it is in extremely good shape and obviously was not used much in all of that time. The color is a striated tiger-eye. It is shorter and thicker than my Shaeffer Lifetime, which is grey striated. The bladder and lever work like new - or as I imagine it new - since I am 20 years younger than the pen. Ink flow is as sensitive and easy as these Shaeffers are renowned for. However, I think the tines are slightly mis-aligned because it is just a bit scratchy. It is such a fine pen and came at a very reasonable price that it will be well worth sending it in for a nib alignment.