{"id":4131,"date":"2021-01-04T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-04T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/?p=4131"},"modified":"2024-12-12T07:35:07","modified_gmt":"2024-12-12T12:35:07","slug":"2020-pens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/2020-pens\/","title":{"rendered":"Year in Review \u2013 2020 Pens"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Welcome to 2021! Of course, my first post of the year is about pens. But, I promise, my next post won’t be. Really.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year<\/a>, I wrote about my biggest pen wins and regrets of 2019. It was fun to look back on my pens, so I decided to do the same thing this year. Thankfully, I’m less embarrassed about my total pen purchases this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my last post<\/a>, I took a more intention-based look at my pen collection from last year. This time I’m looking at actual pens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

What, No Regrets?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, kind of hard to believe, but I have no real pen regrets this year. If you read my last post<\/a>, then you know why, but the short version is that the few pens I didn’t love weren’t impulse purchases. Sometimes you think you’re going to love a pen, but, after owning it for a bit, you realize it’s not a great fit. That doesn’t mean you regret the purchase, rather it means it’s time to find it a new home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m proud of my lack of regrets, because it means I met my goal for 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, On To the Wins!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It’s hard to choose the best pens I got this year as I adore most of them. After much hemming and hawing, I managed to whittle the list down to a top 5 with 5 honorable mentions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because picking a top pen is like asking me to pick a favorite cat, I’m going to do this in the order I acquired them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aurora Sun Moon Lake \u2013 Moonlight<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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A stunning pen. I’d eyed this guy many times, starting in 2018 when a fellow DC Pen Crew member got one, before they came to the U.S. I had a hard time pulling the trigger, though. Maybe I was trying to convince myself I didn’t want it because of the price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when I had the opportunity to trade some work hours for it, I jumped on it. The material is glorious, and the cap band is a thing of beauty. It’s also very comfortable to write with. 100% satisfaction. This came VERY close to joining the “always inked” family, and may still dethrone my Montegrappa Shiny Lines\/Dove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iron Feather Creative Scrollwork<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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This pen was meant to be in my family. Jim saw it at Baltimore-Washington International Pen Show before me, and was considering buying it. But, lucky me, I got it first. When I showed it to him, and he told me his story, we had a good chuckle. I repaid his “sacrifice” by cluing him into a deal on Reddit that let him get his own feather Iron Feather masterpiece<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Scrollwork pen is one of my six “always inked” pens. I have a custom pen on order from Iron Feather Creative<\/a>, as well. Brian Weaver is an amazing artist. If you don’t own one of his works of art, you should.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visconti Medici Il Magnifico \u2013 Lapislazzuli<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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I’d eyed each of the previous Il Magnifico edicitions, especially the Serpentine \u2014 it’s the perfect Slytherin pen. And then I saw the Lapis on Instagram and fell in love. But, knowing that photos lie, I was sure that when I finally saw it in person, I wouldn’t like it as much. But, I liked it even more. Medici-inspired pen or not, it reminds me of Versailles, which is one of my favorite places I’ve been to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I got offered the same deal as the Aurora at a massive discount, I couldn’t say no. The day it arrived was glorious. Even the box is stunning, with a real glass viewport, instead of the typical thin plastic. Granted, at that price, it better be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nib is amazing. The pen feels good in my hand \u2014 heavy, but not so much as to cause cramps while writing. And the lapis is a joy to behold. It’s another one of my “always inked” pens, and I can’t imagine anything dethroning it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: I’ve seen this pen named “Lapis Lazuli” and “Lapis Lazzuli”. But, Visconti lists it as the “Lapislazzuli” on their website, and they would know best, since it’s their pen.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aurora 88 Venere (Venus)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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I thought I’d missed my chance with this pen. I’d planned to trade in a pen I didn’t care for and pay the balance. But, the store wasn’t sure when, or if, they’d get it. So, I checked online \u2014 this was early September, and I didn’t know Aurora still wasn’t shipping anything \u2014 and freaked out when everyone listed it as out of stock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only one place had it listed as available: Appelboom<\/a>. And, hooray, hooray, it was cheaper than in the U.S., plus free shipping. Well, it was a tense few weeks as Appelboom waited for Aurora to deliver. I’m sure they were tired of hearing from me as I kept checking in for updates, ut they were always very kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I briefly considered canceling my order and trying the one that had popped up on eBay, but I talked myself out of it. I was sure Appelboom wouldn’t string me along if they weren’t sure if the pen would arrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, sure enough, I finally arrived. It’s gorgeous, reminding me of a flamingo with the color. Definitely a happy addition to my collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aurora 100th Anniversary<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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And we come to the most recent of my top acquisitions this year. The Aurora 100th Anniversary pen. I fell in love with it when I saw it in an ad back at the beginning of the year. But I put it out of my mind until it started showing up in newsletters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, Bertram’s Inkwell<\/a> had it, and I got the chance to hold it, to see how the light played on the guilloch\u00e9 patterns. I probably shouldn’t have done that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I gave the pen back, but it played on my mind the rest of that day and the next. So, I emailed Bert for the price, somewhat hoping he’d have sold it already. He hadn’t. And he offered me a good deal. How could I say no?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m still paying it off. And I’ve put myself on very strict pen regulation until I finish paying it off. But I consider it my present to myself for surviving 2020 with my sanity in tact and my credibility at work better than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, ZERO regrets on getting that pen, despite the price. It’s stunning, terrific, fabulous, exquisite, and a whole host of other positive adjectives. It’s my third pen this year to join the “always inked” family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honorable Mentions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

And, finally, we come to the honorable mentions: the five other pens I can’t end this post without mentioning. Even adding these, it was hard to leave some pens out. Like the wins, these are in purchase order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n