Art of Pens: My Pen Collection!

This is a catalogue of all the fountain pens I currently own. Here, I will try my best to record as accurately the (a) finish, (b) retail price, (c) location I bought the pen and a (d) brief description or history behind each pen! Where possible, I will also try my best to make sure that there is a picture of the pens. I hope you like my little list! (This list is current as at 5 April 2015).

Fountain Pens:

1) Waterman Hemisphere (reviewed: click here)

(a) Finish: Matte Black with Gold Trim.

(b) Retail Price: ~ about S$120 to S$130 depending on the shop.

(c) Where [my uncle] Bought It: This was a wedding gift from my wife's uncle who lives in Hong Kong (don't know where he bought it in Hong Kong). But in Singapore, I've seen it at almost every Waterman counter (i.e. Takashimaya Departmental Store Level 3 and even Mustafa Centre Level 1 or Basement 1).

(my stupid mistake... lesson learnt: do not put in a fountain pen ever!)

(d) Description / History: The first fountain pen I have ever owned! Was a really meaningful wedding present, I had even tried to sign my marriage certificate during the solemnisation ceremony. However, (being a stupid fountain pen newbie at the time) I had filled it up with Daler Rowney Acrylic Artist Ink instead (see picture above). Needless to say, the ink dried up in the pen and I could not sign my certificate with it! I eventually took the pen apart and cleaned it up really good.

2) Lamy Safari (review pending)

(a) Finish: Clear Demonstrator.

(b) Retail Price: ~ about S$50 (seen it retailing for about S$47 to S$53 depending on the shop).

(c) Where [my wife] bought it: Orchard 313 (Somerset) Basement 2. It came with a free engraving service as well. (Not a hard pen to find, I've seen it in practically everywhere!) I then bought a converter (model: Z24 - see picture above) for S$8.00 at Evergreen Bookstore at One Raffles Place Level 5.

(d) Description / History: A Valentine's Day gift from my wife. Happened to pass by the shop and my wife got it for me on an impulse. This pen is obviously very meaningful to me too as it has a lovely inscription from my wife.

3) Platinum Preppy (reviewed: click here)

(a) Finish: Clear Demonstrator.

(b) Retail Price: Between S$3.70 to about S$4.50 depending on the shop.

(c) Where I bought [them]: Currently have about 5 of them, purchased from various places such as Kinokuniya Takashimaya, Tokyu Hands (Orchard Central / JEM), Popular Bookstore (Thomson Plaza / Bishan).There is also a limited edition Hello Kitty Preppy which I've only ever seen at Popular Bishan and Tokyu Hands JEM which was about S$8.00 each. I also bought a Gold Trim Platinum Converter (model: Plat500 - see picture above) from Kino in Taka for S$12.00.

(d) Description / History: Love them because they were the first pens I actually got to play around with, modify and convert into eyedroppers! These pens solidified my love of fountain pens!

4) TWSBI 580 Diamond (review pending)

(a) Finish: Clear Demonstrator.

(b) Retail Price: S$65.00 (I paid another S$4.00 for local shipping in Singapore, however you can pick-up the pen yourself at no extra charge).

(c) Where I bought it: www.straitspen.com (which if I am not wrong, is the sole and exclusive distributor of TWSBI pens in Singapore at the moment). Honestly, I find the service of straitspen to be wonderfully efficient and fast. (EDIT: Overjoyed now sells TWSBI Pens, but the Diamond 580 goes for about S$74.90, click here).

(d) Description / History: My EDC (everyday carry) pen. Also memorable to me as it was the first piston-filler pen I ever owned (with a good ink capacity) and is still one of the more expensive pens I have at the moment (I keep myself to a budget of S$100 and below - which I have already exceeded!). I really adore this pen by the way. It's always been extremely reliable for me. Once wrote 30 pages continuously with this pen while at work, and still had about 1/4 of the ink left.

5) Muji Aluminium Round Fountain Pen (reviewed: click here)

(a) Finish: Matte Silver.

(b) Retail Price: S$23.00 (DO NOT BE FOOLED: have seen it being sold for S$30.00 on Carousell!)

(c) Where I bought it: At Muji in JEM (after alot of hunting around the various Muji stores). Has a compact version too if you prefer.

(d) Description / History: Ended up modifying this pen quite abit too (see picture above). Quite like this pen, its one of my go-to pens while at work.

6) Parker Vector (review pending)

(a) Finish: Black Plastic with Silver Trim.

(b) Retail Price: S$19.90 (came with a free Parker converter - see above).

(d) Description / History: Heard a lot about this pen but was so disappointed with it once I got it (especially for the price I paid). I do not like writing with it and I rarely use it now.

7) Pilot "Tank" Eyedropper (review pending)

(a) Finish: Green with Gold Trim (extreme right in the picture above).

(b) Retail Price: Can't remember exactly, but I think I paid about S$6.90 (came with a free plastic eyedropper - see picture above).

(d) Description / History: Bought it at the same time I got the Parker Vector, (which was much more expensive) and in comparison, the "Tank" writes better than the Vector. I genuinely like this pen, it feels solid when posted because the cap is full-metal. However, an opaque eyedropper is not ideal (because you can't see how cool the ink is when it is sloshing around in the barrel! Errm, I mean... you can't tell when the ink is running low.)

8) Jinhao X750 (reviewed: click here)

(a) Finish: Glossy Black with Silver Trim (has a weird "tribal-tattoo-like" engraving on the cap ring).

(b) Retail Price: S$13.90 (you can definitely get it much cheaper online though - saw some on Taobao/eBay for less than S$5.00) comes with a free converter.

(c) Where I Bought it: Du Yi Bookshop (www.duyi.com.sg) in Changi Airport Terminal 3 Basement 2 (want to point out also that Du Yi carries a few other Jinhao fountain pen sand ball-point pens too, and also HERO Ink that goes for only S$2.30 a bottle!).

(d) Description / History: Wanted to try out an unabashedly "China-brand" fountain pen, had heard a lot about how cheap, solidly built and good these Pens were (my obsession driven partly by sbrebrown and his YouTube reviews: see his website at: http://www.sbrebrown.com). I really like this Pen alot, and it has definitely encouraged me to go out and hunt down other Jinhao pens too, especially the Jinhao 159 (EDIT: which I have since ordered on eBay!).

9) Pilot Varsity (review pending)

(a) Finish: Plastic (with some grey printed decals) with Turquoise plastic ends (on barrel and cap).

(b) Retail Price: S$2.95.

(d) Description / History: Heard a lot about this disposable pen, can be refilled. Has a good medium nib. Customisable/Modifiable.

10) Daiso Fountain Pen (review pending)

(a) Finish: Either Metallic Silver or White, with silver trim finishes.

(b) Retail Price: S$2.00 (from Daiso where everything is S$2.00!).

(c) Where I Bought it: Daiso Chinatown Point / Daiso Sembawang Shopping Centre (stock is very limited and is often sold out, really depends on your luck!).

(d) Description / History: Comes with a free standard international cartridge (Blue-Black Ink), Daiso also sells a 5 pack of cartridges for S$2.00. Iridium Pointed medium nib, which is not the smoothest thing in the world, but for a S$2.00 fountain pen, you really can't complain!

11) Sailor "My First Pen" Set (review pending)

(a) Finish: All Black Plastic (see top most).

(b) Retail Price: S$33.00.

(d) Description / History: Set comes with 1 barrel, 1 cap, and 2 nib sections (one MF and one "fu-de" nib for Chinese/Japanese Calligraphy) and 3 cartridges (1 black, 1 read and 1 turquoise). Terrible scratchy MF nib, have not really had the opportunity to try out the "fu-de" nib but have heard great things about it. See Parka Blogs' amazing review here and Alt. Haven's review here).

12) Pilot Metropolitan (review pending)

(a) Finish: "Black Crocodile".

(b) Retail Price: S$30.00.

(c) Where I Bought it: RELAY Bookshop in Changi Airport Departure Terminal. Really recommend this shop! They have a huge selection of pens and inks at great prices (I would say even "duty-free" prices). Prices are even further discounted on gift-sets and promotional items (e.g. Pilot Metropolitan set with 1 mechanical pencil, 1 ballpoint and 1 fountain pen for only S$59.00).

(d) Description / History: Fine nib. Smooth. Great pen for the price you pay. Highly recommended. Bought it on a trip to Hong Kong to visit my in-laws.

13) Onishi Seisakusho Celluloid Fountain Pen (reviewed: click here)

(a) Finish: Green Marbled Celluloid with Gold Trim Finishes.

(b) Retail Price: S$118.00 (including S$10.00 for first-class international shipping from Japan Post).

(c) Where I Bought it: Rakuten (AT-N Nagasaka Ltd) see their Rakuten store here. (Note: I can no longer find the exact same listing from AT-N Nagasaka's store, however Penroom is currently still selling the same model I purchased here).

(d) Description / History: My pen came with a free Schmidt converter and 2 Schmidt black cartridges too. The Nib is a Medium Schmidt Nib as well. I love this pen, it is entirely hand made by Japanese craftsmen and the workmanship is exquisite! I would say this is currently the best pen in my entire collection.

(To Be Continued)

Art of Pens

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