His Nibs.com update -- Mega FP & Duke Snake Skin July 29th, 2009
Greetings,
Monteverde has just launched it's first Mega full-sized fountain pen that's only a fountain pen. It comes with a double channel feed for improved ink delivery...and a large ink window in the barrel.
The Snakeskin pattern is the latest addition to Duke's 962 series of fountain pens.
Lai Yee's been very busy this past week churning out new patterns of her wildly successful 2-pen pouches.
The Ancient Chinese Characters pattern of cloisonné pens is back-in-stock, including a new version in green.
I've added a lot of videos to the new His Nibs Facebook site. Stop by, start or join a discussion and add pen photos or videos of your own if you'd like!
On the blog....Mourning the death of handwriting...and to cheer you up after that...1000 Awesome Things!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~in this issue * Monteverde Mega fountain pen * DUKE 962 series Snake Skin pattern * New 2-pen pouches from Lai Yee * Ancient Chinese Characters in cloisonné returns * His Nibs on Facebook * On the blog...Death of Handwriting & 1000 Awesome Things
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Monteverde Mega fountain pen
Monteverde continues the great line of Mega pens with the addition of the Mega fountain pen. Although there have been three other Megas with fountain pen capability, the M3, the Mini and the Wood, this is the first full-sized version that's a fountain pen from start to finish.
Measuring 5-1/2" capped, 6-1/2" posted and 5-1/4" with cap held aside, it's falls in between the original Mega Ink*Ball and the later, somewhat smaller, 2nd generation Ink*Ball.
Sitting in one's pocket, the pen shows its pedigree with the distinctive Mega cap and clip. Bringing the whole pen into the light of day however, and one is instantly drawn to the large ink window in the center of the pen.
More here... - http://www.hisnibs.com/mega_fp.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DUKE 962 series Snake Skin pattern
These Duke pens appear very different due to their very distinctive patterns-under-lacquer. It's something of an optical illusion that held side-to-side, they seem to be different models. The Autumn Impression tricks one into thinking that it has a greater girth than the Woodgrain, all due to its more flamboyant and busy coloration. I also have a very hard time believing that the Woodgrain isn't made of wood, as the apparent grain and coloration is very convincing.
The newest addition to the series is the Snake Skin. Again, this is a lacquer finish...but again looks incredibly real. I think the pearl on the cap top looks particularly good on this version.
More photos here... - http://www.hisnibs.com/duke_962.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New 2-pen pouches from Lai Yee
Lai Yee's new 2-pen pouches, introduced in the last newsletter, have been a spectacular hit with customers. Priced at just $12.00 for these handmade pouches, it's not hard to see why.
More patterns here... - http://www.hisnibs.com/pen_rolls.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ancient Chinese Characters in cloisonné returns
Removing the cap on these wild pens reveals another wild aspect...the gold-plated steel nib. What's wild about the nib is not that I'd rate it a western light-medium -- meaning between a typical fine and medium -- but rather that the nib is engraved with the name Parker! Now, I can assure you that these nibs were never within a thousand miles of a Parker factory...but the name is still magic in China...from 60 years ago when Parker did have a factory in China.
Other cloisonné patterns here... - http://www.hisnibs.com/cloissone.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ His Nibs on Facebook
We just launched a Facebook page for His Nibs and invite you to stop by, take a look around, become a fan if you'd like and contribute something yourself.
I've left the format open, so would love to see pen-related photos, videos and discussions added if you'd like to add to the site. The Facebook format allows for more frequent posting than this newsletter, but with much more depth than on Twitter.
I've added more photo collections and videos since I announced the page's creation in the last newsletter.
Not a Facebook member? It's easy to become one...just visit our site.
Just click here to go to the page... - http://www.facebook.com/pages/His-Nibscom/78639347704
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On the blog...Death of Handwriting & 1000 Awesome Things
From the current issue of Time magazine:
"I can't remember how to write a capital Z in cursive. The rest of my letters are shaky and stiff, my words slanted in all directions. It's not for lack of trying. In grade school I was one of those insufferable girls who used pink pencils and dotted their i's with little circles. I experimented with different the time to make two-story a's, with the fancy overhang used in most fonts (including this magazine's). But everything I wrote, I wrote in print. I am a member of Gen Y, the generation that shunned cursive. And now there is a group coming after me, a boom of tech-savvy children who don't remember life before the Internet and who text-message nearly as much as they talk. They have even less need for good penmanship. We are witnessing the death of handwriting."
With the world seemingly rushing toward oblivion ('twas ever such), it's good to remember those small things in life that bring a bit of pleasure...you know, those awesome things, like:
Sleeping with one leg under the covers and one leg out
Placing the last piece of the puzzle
Locking people out of the car and pretending to drive away
The smell of gasoline
Read more here... - http://hisnibs.blogspot.com
Regards,
Norman Haase His Nibs.com www.hisnibs.com http://hisnibs.blogspot.com
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Regards,
Norman Haase
His Nibs.com
www.hisnibs.com