My new Lamy Lamy AL-Star italic nib 1.1

My al new Lamy Al-Star italic nib 1.1 Silver Blue. My first experience with an italic nib. I bought this pen at Art Brown.

Noodler's Army Green

This bottle of Noodler's Army Green I bought at World Lux. Most Noodler's perform well in Moleskine's, that's the reason why I like Noodler's ink so much. Worldlux is a great company and delivers fast.


Color
The color is just what the name says, army green. It is a green with great shading. Kind of camouflage green.

Read more »

New Moleskine for my work

My first Moleskine is almost completed (just a few pages left). So I had to prepare a new one. I wanted to make some slight changes in my GTD-system. I do not make a written list for calls or next actions in my Moleskine. I do that on my laptop with software called Daylite. It is great software, really good for GTD, but it has also great CRM functionality. It synchronizes with my iPhone, so I have always my lists at hand. Pen and paper come in handy when taking notes during the day. And that is what I do in my Moleskine.

Read more »

Moleskinefriendly rating system

Moleskine has a lot of fans around the globe. Fountain pen users are not so fond of them, because of bleed-through and feathering. Moleskine also has much inconsistency in it's products (paper). This is an often heard complaint. One book can be great for a fountain pen user. The next can be a bleeder with the same ink and same pen. Moleskine does have a huge market share and much products to choose from.

I noticed some inks who do stand the test on Moleskine paper in combination with a fountain pen. So I started this blog to share my experiences with my readers. After testing several ink's and fountain pens I searched for a system to test the pen and ink and figure out some kind of rating system for the combination.

Score
1. 100% Moleskine proof in any Moleskine in any pen and any nib width

Read more »

The Moleskine Journal: Common Availability, Uncommon Quality

Graham wrote a nice piece on his travel blog. I hope you like to read this.

A while ago, I wrote about the raw utility of the travel journal in Travel Gear Highlight: Travel Journal. In the comments to that post, a reader noted that I should try a Moleskine journal.

Since December of last year, I've been carrying a small black Moleskine (3 1/2" by 5 1/2") on all of my travels, and it's now full of notes from my adventures. I've been quite impressed with it. It traveled with me to Moscow, Sweden, Italy, all over the United States and through a cross country move. Needless to say, it's been through a lot.

Despite all it's been through, my little Moleskine only shows some minor wear at the corners and some staining from a peach that was accidentally left to rot in my bag. Other than that, it has remained in great condition. The quality of this journal's construction continues to impress me. It's built of quality components, and it's built to last.

read more

Six new Moleskine Folio products

Folio is a collection of top quality large Moleskine formats, A4 and A3. Now 6 new items have been added, conceived for professionals who love to personalize their own desks and give value to them, in functional and aesthetic terms. It is also a set of tools Moleskine lovers can use to build their own “portable office”, to represent themselves in all occasions and meetings.

Read more »

The New Moleskine Passions

Moleskine has announced an exciting new range of products, the New Moleskine Passions.

The "Moleskine Passions" is a collection of six different journals to record and recall memories, thoughts and notes about six different passions: Recipes, Wine, Book, Film, Music and Wellness.

Moleskine lovers can use them to collect information and reviews about books they read, restaurants they visited, concerts they attended, dishes they tasted. And to share these information with others.

Read more »

Iroshizuku tsuki-yo (night sky greenish deep blue)

Iroshizuku tsuki-yo (night sky greenish deep blue) is an ink Produced by Pilot. I bought this bottle at Jetpens. Great store but a little bit sturdy for the customs-papers.


Color
A great distinctive color. Nice for every day use. As the name describes the color is just like that. A little bit dark blue with a greenish touch. Great shading in this color. It indeed reminds on a nightly sky.


Writing
This ink is a great smooth writer. In a previous reaction on my Iroshizuku-post someone said it turnes a good fountainpen into a great one. That is just the thing to say about this ink.

Read more »

Visconti Stackable Pen Case

My fountain pen collection was expanding and I was trying to find a way to store them neatly. So I went looking around for a pen case. I found this beautiful Visconti stackable pen case at Swisher Pens. Because they had a discount on it I was to late ordering it. After one week I got an email from them that they were back in store if I still was interested. Yes, was my reaction. They shipped it very quickly to Europe. Thank you guys.


I think the quality is

Read more »

Noodler's Ink (index page)

Noodler's is the manufacturer of the famous Noodler's Black. It is the one with the full bottles (watch out when you open them).

“Noodler’s Ink” says it has the lowest cost per volume in stores that carry it and it's 100% made in the USA from cap to glass to ink. The ink with the catfish on the label symbolizes a southern sport that attempts to equalize the struggle between man and animal in the quest for a sense of fair play — and thus a fair price.

Noodler's has five types of ink:
1. "Freeze Resistant Inks" include Polar Blue and Polar Black, which will resist forming a solid mass of ice within a glass ink bottle during most cold weather conditions (though they will form some harmless ice "slush" when very cold).
2. "Eternal" refers to any Noodler's Ink that resists the effects of time - moisture, humidity, UV light, acids, water exposure, and many common detergents such as dish soaps and household ammonia, as well as alcohols and acetone (which conventional ball point pens have no resistance to - often rinsing off a newly written check within 8 seconds of being washed with acetone).
3. "Bulletproof" refers to any Noodler's Ink that resists all the known tools of a forger, UV light, UV light wands, bleaches, alcohols, solvents, petrochemicals, oven cleaners, carpet cleaners, carpet stain lifters, and of course...they are also waterproof once permitted to dry upon cellulose paper.
4. All Noodler's Polar Inks are also classed as "Bulletproof", as well as such inks as "Lexington Gray", "Black", "Heart of Darkness", "Golden Year of the Pig", "Hunter Green", "Luxury Blue", "X-Feather", and "Fox Red".
5. Water resistant vintage style ink: "Baystate Blue" (this ink is not resistant to UV light or bleaches).

Here are the ones I did a review on:
Noodler's Black
Noodler's Army Green
Noodler's Cayenne
Noodler's Forest Green
Noodler's Red Black
Noodler's Saguaro Wine
Noodler's Burma Road Brown

Iroshizuku yama-guri (wild chestnut brown)

Iroshizuku yama-guri (wild chestnut brown) is a great dark brown ink with a real classy style. I bought this bottle at Jetpens in Japan.


Color
The color is described as wild chestnut brown. The color is very dark brown so you will have to look twice to see it is a brown color. The color is very good useable for everyday use due to it's darkness. For business-people it is very suitable. The color has nice

Read more »

Montblanc Meisterstück no 149 (fine) review

I thought what can I write about the legendary "Montblanc Meisterstück no 149" after so much reviews on the web. What would my review add to all that. Well honestly I don't know, but I hope you enjoy my story.

This pen was givin by my wife and kids for my birthday in june 2009. We bought this pen in a store in The Netherlands in Groningen that goes by the name Vulpenwereld (fountainpen world). It is not an internetstore, but just an old fashioned store where their is actually someone who knows pens. Some history on this Montblanc Meisterstück pen you can find on Wikipedia.

Package

The pen comes in a big (shoe)-box 175x175x90 mm (6,9"x6,9"x3,5"). Big box for a big pen.

Inside the box their is a second

Read more »

Iroshizuku yu-yake (sunset burnt orange)

Iroshizuku yu-yake (sunset burnt orange) is a great ink from Iroshizuku produced by Pilot. I never had a 'lighter' ink but this one is great. I bought the bottle at Jetpens.


Color
One word "amazing". Maybe it is the fact I never wrote with a lighter ink before. But I really like writing with it. This ink has amazing shading from dark yellow to bright burnt orange.


Writing
Their was some nibcreep with this ink in the Lamy Safari (fine).

Read more »