Pen World V29.3

The Universe of Writing Culture

Graf von Faber-Castell Pen of the Year

Schรถnbrunn Palace gets the royal treatment a new lineup for

Conklin honors its past the simple

eyedropper still has a place in pendom

APRIL 2016 $6.95US $7.95CAN

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VOLUME 29, NUMBER 3 On our cover: Graf von Faber-Castell Pen of the Year 2016 Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna

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22 the best of Paperworld

Pen World attended the mammoth trade expo in Frankfurt to bring you the latest pen trends.

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30 the humble eyedropper

Simple to fill and use, these made-in-India eyedroppers go back to basics.

34 lost and found Ever lost a pen? Of course you have. This amazing round-up of recovery stories will give you hope.

46 hooked on a filling (system)

Conklin’s new lineup pairs the filling systems of yesteryear with modern materials.

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50 21st-century Renaissance man

54

We plot the evolution of Michael Ward’s Spencerian artistry.

54 in search of Flamingos

A collector’s search for a rare color leads him to the King of the Flamingos.

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a pillar among pens Graf von Faber-Castell adds to its Pillars of History collection with a new pen in honor of Vienna’s Schönbrunn Palace.

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departments WHAT’S HOT NOW

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exploring the universe

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our readers speak

10 news

people, places, and events

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L.A., Philly, and Arkansas

new pens and other products

20 date mark your calendar

26 shop 38 shop

Century Pens

Papeterie H. Künnemann

58 contributors

the faces behind the names

60 network 62 source 64 imho

classified advertising

brand contact information

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It’s No Illusion!

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Winner, Best Fine Art Pen PEN WORLD Readers’ Choice Awards

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Y Polar Bear and Seagull Limited Edition 11 magnum emperor pens

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Not only perfect writing instruments, but also your own museum that is always with you.

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ou may have noticed that a few years ago, we added a tag line to our logo. (Tag lines on logos are de rigeur these days, didn’t you know?) The one we chose— The Universe of Writing Culture—goes well with the name of our magazine. It’s only a short hop from “world” to “universe,” right? Well, not exactly.

We added the tag line realizing that it would take quite a bit of effort to make our content reflect our aspirations. But I think we are making progress, and I hope you agree.

In this issue, we have everything from the high end of the German company Faber-Castell—the Graf von Faber-Castell 2016 Pen of the Year seen on our cover and in Reinhard Kargl’s article “A Visit to Schönbrunn Palace,” pp. 41–45—to inexpensive Indian-made eyedropper pens that can be purchased for less than $10, as seen in Barry Gabay’s “A Return to Tradition,” pp.

30–33.

We also describe Yafa founder and CEO Yair Greenberg’s new products and plans for his Conklin brand (“The Glory Days of Conklin,” pp. 46–49) and let you in on what we learned about new products at the giant trade expo in Frankfurt, Germany, in January (“A Whirlwind Tour,” pp. 22–25). We profile a young calligrapher, Michael Ward, and take you shopping in Chicago and Berlin.

Philip J. Ross

Exploring the Universe

What’s not in this issue? For the first time in several years, an article by Richard Binder does not appear. He has been our mainstay for articles on vintage subjects, but he will be taking a hiatus from PW for about a year to work on other projects. We are sorry to lose him even for a short time—but the good news is that this has given us a golden opportunity to cultivate other writers who specialize in vintage pens.

David Isaacson makes his PW debut in this issue with an article about a rare Wahl color (pp. 54–57), and Mike Walker’s article on lost and found pens (pp. 34–37) will also appeal to collectors. We have other writers at work on vintage content as well, and we don’t think of them as merely filling the gap until Richard returns—it’s our hope that they’ll want to continue with us.

The bottom line is, we have a great variety in this issue! In June, we’ll have special content on writing papers, and in August, on inks—the two subjects dearest to the hearts of pen lovers aside from pens themselves. The universe is vast, and there are places that no pen magazine has gone before...but we are working on it.

editor@penworld.com

Graf von Faber-Castell Pen of the Year 2016

A Visit to

Schönbrunn Palace

BY REINHARD KARGL

How does one begin to describe the Faber-Castell company? Here’s a family business with roots older than the United States of America. A successful capitalist enterprise, with more than 7,500 employees and a dozen factories around the world. It’s also a company that prides itself on being among the first in Germany—if not in the world—to offer its employees generous benefits and workplace stability. It’s the world’s largest pencil maker. A company that today is pushing for fair trade and the conservation of natural resources, even sourcing the wood for its pencils from sustainably managed forests. A company whose global operations became carbon-neutral years ago...

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The platinum-plated version of the pen retails for $4,000–4,500. The gold-plated version retails for $9,000–9,500.

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f these characteristics are not unusual enough, here are some more seeming idiosyncrasies.

Faber-Castell is run by real aristocrats residing in their old family castle. (It has towers, but sadly no moat.) It’s a state-of-the-art modern operation capable of producing and distributing over 1.5 billion writing implements and articles of stationery, turning over 600 million euros annually. But it is also a company that takes immense pride in Old World workmanship—a passionate pursuit of quality, individuality, artistry, and aesthetics. And, despite modern machinery, following centuries of tradition, Faber-Castell still takes on young apprentices and turns them into the highly skilled craftspeople it needs. In addition to formal apprenticeships, the company offers a wide range of internships and combined work and education programs.

When Count Anton-Wolfgang von Faber-Castell, who has led the company since 1978, passed away earlier this year, the eighth-generation family patriarch left behind a cadre of saddened long-time employees who had genuinely adored him. Many have been with the company for their entire working lives. The always dapper count was known as an old-school gentleman of class and style, part of

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whose declared management maxim was that having high expectations of employees must go hand in hand with treating them well. In the modern business world in which CEOs and employees come and go, where relationships are short-term, and where quarterly balance sheets outweigh long-term considerations, Faber-Castell is clearly different. It seems to exist comfortably in several centuries at once.

Pillars of History All of this background is prerequisite to understanding the vision behind the company’s latest and perhaps greatest limited edition pen to date: the Schönbrunn Palace Pen of the Year, third in the Pillars of History series. Tracing back to its 18thcentury beginnings as a pencil manufacturer, Faber-Castell has long offered a huge range of welldesigned, well-made, functional writing instruments.

Its more luxurious pens are distinguished by the “Graf von Faber-Castell” label. But for aficionados who desire the non plus ultra in materials and craftsmanship, the Graf von Faber-Castell Pen of the Year series is the ultimate among the company’s products.

Each pen of this line is not only a work of art but also a piece of functional jewelry.

The three pieces in the Pillars of History series (launched in 2014, 2015, and 2016) are all named after glorious palaces—the Catherine Palace of St. Petersburg, Sanssouci of Potsdam, and Schönbrunn Palace of Vienna, respectively. All are highly significant and fateful places in world history.

Another company may have simply slapped a prestigious sounding name on its product and called it a day. Not so Faber-Castell, owing to its heritage, historical roots, and business philosophy.

Rather, the materials and crafting techniques used for each of the pens relates to, and is inspired by, not only their corresponding architectural edifices but also to specific historical figures associated with each palace: Catherine the Great, Frederick the Great, and Maria Theresa. The complex connections among these personalities and places will keep history students among pen lovers engaged for years. In this way, these pens were not only the product of inspiration. They are meant to be an inspiration for further study and contemplation.

First, the basics. All three fountain pens of the Pillars of History series share the same piston-filling mechanism and 18-karat bicolor gold nib, which is available in medium, fine, broad, and double-broad. This year’s Pen of the Year, the Schönbrunn, is 137 mm long. The weight varies from 85 to 93 grams, depending on the pen’s finish. There are two versions, a platinumplated variant of which 500 will be made, and the ornately decorated 120-piece Special Limited Edition, plated in 24 karat gold. All pieces have individual production numbers engraved on an inconspicuous place. In addition to the fountain pens, rollerball models are also offered.

The fountain pens have two unusual technical features. The clip is hinged and spring loaded, which allows it to conform securely, and without risk of damage, to fabrics of various thicknesses.

And the filling mechanism’s twist knob is concealed under a threaded blind cap, which provides protection and results in a seamless appearance. The pen cap is also threaded.

The complete Pillars of History series, from left— Catherine Palace, Sanssouci Potsdam, and Schönbrunn Palace

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The Vieux Laque room at Schönbrunn Palace. Besides being a tribute to Francis I, the Vieux Laque room is where Charles I signed a document withdrawing from government affairs; thus ended Habsburg rule.

On the barrel, one finds polished flame maple wood (also known as fiddleback), a rare and naturally occurring growth anomaly producing a wavy pattern perpendicular to the wood’s grain. Prized for its appearance, this type of wood has been used to craft fine musical instruments and furniture for centuries. The barrel of the 500-piece edition is also adorned with black onyx plates. These were cut and polished by Herbert Stephan KG, a specialty gem crafter in the idyllic small town of Idar-Oberstein in RheinlandPfalz, which has been home to gem artisans for 500 years.

The Special Limited Edition, the crown jewel of the line, adds another level of artistry. This was done in close collaboration with the conservators of Vienna’s Schönbrunn Palace, the summer residence of the emperors of Austria and the Holy Roman Empire over many centuries. A historical place and national treasure, the baroque palace houses some of the world’s most valuable and irreplaceable art. “In the beginning, the curators were somewhat skeptical,” remembers Frauke Klotz-Willenbrink, responsible for the premium writing instruments of Graf 44

von Faber-Castell. But over time, she was able to win them over. Klotz-Willenbrink says she spent much time at the palace, reflecting on the surroundings and basking in its beauty and historical significance. It was in particular the collection of Chinese art she found deeply inspiring and meaningful.

From Grief, Art One of the most influential and famous Habsburgs, Maria Theresa (1717–80) is often referred to as “Empress,” although she technically wasn’t. She certainly was one of Europe’s most powerful monarchs, and considering her time, a most unusual and ambitious woman in many ways.

Her marriage to Holy Roman Emperor Francis I was characterized by a romantic and sometimes possessive love—which was neither expected nor common among Europe’s high aristocracy. Over the course of 20 years, Maria Theresa gave birth to 16 children, 13 of whom survived infancy. When her husband died on August 18, 1765, Maria Theresa was utterly devastated. She had her

The pen in progress, clockwise—sketches and tools; tools, brushes, and powder; the artist at work

hair cut short and her rooms painted black; she abandoned ornamentation and dressed in mourning for the rest of her life. She withdrew from social court life and entertainment, and until her death, she spent the month of August and the 18th of every month as a semi-recluse. In memory of her late husband, she had his study turned into a memorial, richly decorated with framed, fine antique Chinese lacquer panels. The work took five years, resulting in Schönbrunn’s “Vieux Laque” room, as it is known today.

It was decided to use patterns from these Chinese panels, as well as their ornate, gilded frames, for the Special Limited Edition. Beginning in the Heian Period (794–1185), Japanese artists began to develop and perfect decorative lacquer techniques, calling them maki-e (literally: sprinkled picture), reaching the pinnacle of artistry in the Edo Period (1603–1868). Even today, Japanese lacquer art is without parallel. The decision to use these southeast Asian motifs led Faber-Castell to reach out to Tomizo Saratani, an accomplished Japanese lacquer artist living in Austria. In close collaboration with Faber-Castell and Schönbrunn, Saratani created sets of maki-e plates, three of which are integrated into each pen.

“We had to do a lot of tests,” says Klotz-Willenbrink, “because the pieces must withstand being welded into place as well as routine handling. We needed to create pieces of jewelry designed to stand up to daily use.” And of course, the maki-e process is long and tedious. There are dozens of steps, each done by hand. Layer by layer of fine metal dust is applied with extremely thin brushes, and the resulting piece is fired multiple times. All in all, the work took two

years. Saratani’s certificate of authenticity comes with each pen, which is delivered in a finely crafted presentation box—which by itself a work of art as well. Engraved on each pen, in roman numerals, is the year in which the Vieux Laque room was first completed: MDCCLXX (1770).

Both versions of the pen will be available globally, through Graf von Faber-Castell’s network of authorized dealers. Warranty? Almost unnecessary to ask. “We are known for good customer service and stand behind our product,” says Klotz-Willenbrink. What she implies is that the name of Count Anton-Wolfgang von Faber-Castell is good enough.

All writing instruments have something in common.

By their very nature, they are tools for storytelling. Graf von Faber-Castell’s Schönbrunn Pen of the Year—with its art, historical connections, inspiration, craftsmanship, materials, and beauty—speaks for itself: for those willing to listen, this pen tells its own story, and it does so even before it is filled with ink.

Visit graf-von-faber-castell.us.

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