My 2024 Brand “Discoveries”

Can you believe it’s already the middle of December? I don’t know where this year went, but it’s time to start my end of year retrospective posts.

Before I dive into this post, I want to remind you all that I “discovered” these brands like Columbus “discovered” America. That a brand is on this list doesn’t mean that I didn’t know it existed before this year, it means that the brand did not have any representation in my pen collection before 2024.

Continuing the trend I started last year, I once again purchased from less new brands. Technically, I only bought from two new-to-me brands: one pen, and one ink. However, among other “unique” situations, I gave a brand I’d written off a second chance, and I bought my first modern pen from a brand.

Hinze Pens

I’m starting with the truly new-to-me brand.

I picked up the 2023 DC Pen Crew special edition second-hand from another pen crew member. The design pays homage to the Lincoln Memorial columns, as the pen was designed to commemorate its 100th anniversary. The shaping is fantastic and let me circumvent the “no pretty ink sticks” rule because it has such a unique shape.

Leonardo Officina Italiana

I briefly owned a Momento Zero Blue Hawaii back in 2019, and I wasn’t particularly impressed, so I wrote off the brand. Then, Nibs and Flourishes, who I very much admire, collaborated with Endless Pens to create the Fioritura Viola. I resisted for a long time, mainly because of the model, but, I ultimately gave in and bought one.

Mine is significantly more purple than the ones in the marketing photos, which was a little surprising, although still pretty. But, the model still doesn’t do anything for me. I’ll keep this one because it’s a collaboration, but I don’t see myself buying any other Leonardo pens.

Sheaffer

Until this year, I only owned one Sheaffer: a Triumph Valiant manufactured between 1945 and 1949. But, with the release of the coffee collection, my only question was which one to get. I decided on the VFM because it has an adorable coffee cup on it, and the ballpoint because I have less of those.

Stanford Pen Studio

So, obviously I didn’t discover SPS this year. But, I bought my first — and second, and third — pens with Yulia Glas’ art. I also bought my first pen with Kseniia Nel’s art. Then I commissioned my first pen with Lan le Roux’s art. And, when I backed SPS’s crowdfunder, I requested Carla Nel’s and Lisa Strachan’s designs, which are firsts as well. Since the latter three pens won’t be delivered until next year, you can expect me to mention them as “firsts” again. *grin* What can I say? I truly love Stanford Pen Studio.

Not Pens

Muji

Of course, I’ve known about Muji for quite a while. What I didn’t know was how nice their loose-leaf paper is. It’s great, and I highly recommend it.

The Wet Pen

I don’t remember where I saw the swatch, but it was so intriguing, that I immediately purchased Deception Pass. It’s a really fun ink, and I give Matthew all the credit in the world for developing such a nice, well-behaved, “home-brewed” ink.

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Thanks for reading to the end, I hope you enjoyed my post. Have you purchased anything from any of the brands on my list? Do you plan to? Or do you want to? Let me know in the comments! I love hearing from you.

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