Welcome back for the second installment of my experience at the 2017 DC Pen Show. I left off yesterday with finishing my perusal of the small room. I met up with one of my friends in the lobby. He hadn’t been able to find us, and assumed we’d made our way to the large room. A couple of texts took care of that. Ah, technology, you are amazing…when there is signal.
Even the hallway between the small room and the first entrance to the large room was absolutely packed. There were a few booths, the table to sign up for a subscription to Pen World magazine, and a smallish table with a metric butt-ton of flyers and brochures that I didn’t stop to look at because they weren’t pens or ink. What can I say, I had my priorities in order.
I did stop and ooh and ahh over the ARTUS pens. They are beautiful. If you love one of a kind, hand-painted pens, even if you don’t, do yourself a favor and take a look at them. As I mentioned to my friend, it’s a good thing they didn’t have a Queen Elizabeth I pen, or I would have been in BIG trouble.
It took some effort to not spend all day admiring the beautiful ARTUS pens. But I very purposefully turned away and started down the hallway to the left of the ballroom. I gave a couple booths a quick glance, including one with a bunch of pen cleaning, tuning, and restoring supplies. I’m sure that one of my friends who is making forays into pen restoration spent plenty of time at that table.
Next up was the Edison Pen Co. table. Unfortunately, my photo of their pens didn’t come out so well, so I’m borrowing @janinescribbles’ photos to show you the glory:
My Pen
Despite my failed photo (thanks, cranky phone camera), it was at the Edison table that I found my pen. I was slowly perusing the available pen bodies. After all, how often do you get to hold Unicorn Barf or Delphinium? But then, I saw it. The Edison Pearl in Berries and Cream Swirl Acrylic.
It was so beautiful; I had to have it. The red and white swirl was exactly what I’d been hoping for. I unscrewed the cap, expecting an equally beautiful nib, and got a surprise. No nib! The lovely Andrea Gray was kind enough to explain to me that they don’t add the nibs until the pen is purchased so they don’t have to swap nibs.
Feeling a teensy bit foolish, asked about the procedure for purchasing a pen. Clearly I wasn’t just going to pick something up and hand over some money. Andrea patiently explained that once you choose a pen body, you try the four “Tester” pens to decide what nib you want. Then you get to sit down with Brian Gray as he fits the nib and tunes it for you.
With a delighted grin, I plopped down in the open tester seat and asked about the nibs. The four options were 18K Gold Medium, 14K Gold Flex, Steel Medium, and another steel…Flex, maybe? The steel nibs weren’t even in consideration. I have steel nib pens. Lots of them. I wanted a gold nib. After a quick question to make sure that the pen and gold nib would be within my budget (they were), I started writing.
The gold flex nib was a bit broad for my tastes, but the medium was even broader. And anyway…flex! I was sold. I made my official choice, and waited for Brian to finish with the customer he was helping. I’m so used to the world of mass-produced goods that the one-on-one service of small business craftspeople consistently surprises me. They stand by their work in a way I haven’t seen outside of the community. It really makes me want to frequent more small businesses. I wish I had the money to do so.
But back to the show. Brian handed off the pen he was working on, and I moved down one seat. Right off the bat, I’m hit with another question. What color nib? Gold, two tone, or rhodium plated? Such a tough decision while I’m in the hot seat. Brian laid out the nibs for me to scrutinize. I faced several moments of indecision, but then it occurred to me, two tone. Silver and Gold. Sun and Moon. Perfection!
Decision made, I watched, somewhat in awe, as Brian screwed in the nib and tuned it for me. “It’s a bit toothy,” he warned. After getting used to writing with the Stipula Etruria Rainbow Prisma 88, the Edison Pearl felt like a dream. No extra tuning required.
I gleefully accepted the offer of a display box. After all, why have an amazing, expensive pen without a box to house it in should you ever decide to give it a break from writing? And I handed over a rather large wad of $20s. Yes, Edison pens would be considered expensive to many, if not most, but they are SO worth it.
I lovingly added my fabulous pen, which I have since dubbed “Moon Blood” (I’m still considering other names, so it may change) to my bag of holding. My friend proceeded to get his Edison pen. It was either a Mina or an Extended Mina in a dark acrylic with light pearlescent bits that looked as though there were ghosts in his pen.
It was around this time that Jim showed up again, and we proceeded down the hallway. I stopped and tested some of the Sailor Jentle Color of Four Seasons inks. Fuji-Musume was beautiful, but already have a bunch of purple ink. I also really liked Pȇche and Ultramarine, but decided to hold off on buying anything to see what else I managed to cross off my pen show list.
It was as I turned around to look at the Bertram’s Inkwell table that I spotted Brian Goulet of The Goulet Pen Company. I’ll end this installment by saying that Brian Goulet is one of the main reasons I went to the DC Pen Show.
Do you have a favorite pen? What is it? Come back tomorrow to read about my experience meeting Brian and Rachel Goulet. And in the mean time, check out my Instagram feed for some pure, unadulterated pen porn. *giggle*
Thanks for sharing and enjoy your pen! Great to meet you!