Happy Thursday, and here’s another #8PenQuestions post! You can see my all of my #8PenQuestions answers here.
6. How many fountain pens do you own?
The question that strikes fear into the hearts of every fountain pen hobbyist – I’m not sure I want to answer this!
Okay, no, let’s go. I have just under 90 pens. Gosh, that’s a lot!
That number is a little misleading, though, because there are a number of pens that I own, but they’re not really part of my collection.
- I have five or six vintage pens I acquired for sentimental reasons that either aren’t in usable condition or just aren’t pens I’ll ever use
- I have about ten cheap pens from Amazon and AliExpress which I picked up to try out the form factor of the more expensive pens they’re based on. For example, trying out a ten-dollar Jinhao 82 taught me not to spend hundreds on a Sailor PGS as they’re far too small for my hand.
- I also have about half a dozen pens in the pile to sell or gift; pens that are perfectly good but just not for me.
So that brings us down to 65-70 pens. Still a lot! That number includes:
- 28 TWSBI Ecos and Eco-Ts – I’m trying to collect them all. (Twelve to go!)
- 15 different Lamy Safaris, most of which are special editions. I’m definitely not trying to collect all the Safaris, but I do pick up the yearly special editions which speak to me.
(This shows most of my current TWSBI Eco collection. Not pictured: Black, Smoke with Rose Gold, White with Rose Gold, Cement Gray, Clear, Golden Horse, Glow Green, Transparent Yellow and Transparent Orange.)
Of the remaining 25 or so pens, my collection includes two handmade pens from penmaker Stephen Just of Just Turnings, two Pilot Custom Heritages, my much-loved Lamy Studio and its cousin the Aion, a selection of very nice modern Chinese pens (including a few faves from Majohn in particular).
Current go-to faves are my TWSBI Diamond 580 in White & Rose Gold II (a much-appreciated Christmas present from family) and my newly-arrived Kaigelu 316 which has been absolutely knocking my socks off.
…I can’t wait to see what’s next!
Thanks for reading! Stick around for another #8PenQuestions post coming soon.
