Pen World V28.2

The Universe of Writing Culture

Peerless Cross goes back to its roots a president, a legend

JFK

by Montblanc Vote! PWʼs 2015

Readersʼ Choice Awards FEBRUARY 2015 $6.95US $7.95CAN

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LIMITED EDITION

CROSS.COM

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Five high-energy ďŹ nishes with rich black accents and black, ion-coated 18-karat gold nib.

www.pilotpen.us

FEBRUARY VOLUME 28, NUMBER 2

ON OUR COVER: Peerless 125 by Cross

31 get out the vote!

Give a shout out to your favorite pens through our Readers’ Choice Awards.

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41 truly unique

This painted Parker pen is unique in the literal sense of the word.

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48 a president, a legacy

Montblanc celebrates the legacy of John Fitzgerald Kennedy with a new collection.

52 go Platinum

The 95-year-old Japanese company made its reputation on innovation.

56 tied up with string

Nakaya has turned an artful way of mending pens into an art in itself.

59 the nature of the beast

Write on the wild side with Urso Luxury’s newest collection.

62 Silesian serpentine

and chrysoprase make the Graf von FaberCastell 2015 Pen of the Year lavish.

64 finding true Love

One man’s quest for Love (fountain pens) has a happy ending.

68 the capital capillary filler

Richard Binder wraps up his series on filling systems with the “simple” capillary filler.

44 without equal

Cross’s new Peerless 125 is inspired by pens from the company’s illustrious past.

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departments WHAT’S HOT NOW

06 view

share the love

08 mail

our readers speak

10 news 14 now 22 date

people, places, and events

14 10

new pens and other products

mark your calendar

26 getting started 28 shop 34 strokes 38 nib 72 contributors vintage pens

Chatterley Luxuries

Danny Gregory

Bob Nurin

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meet the writers

76 network

classiďŹ ed advertising

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78 source 80 imho

guide to products and services

Loving Mondays

34 14

view

LAW & JUSTICE

See the Law.... and Order

Available at fine Pen Shops or online at

www.wahleversharp.com

Love Share the

O

ccasionally, someone will ask me whether I write all the articles in Pen World.

Questions like this come from people who haven’t read the magazine or don’t understand how magazines work, but just having the question posed to me fills me with terror. There are in excess of 12,000 words in a normal, 80-page issue of PW, and that’s just the feature articles and regular columns. That number of words qualifies as a novelette, every two months.

Even if I could write all those words each issue, a magazine is supposed to be a mix of voices, perspectives, and areas of expertise—and I wouldn’t want you to miss that! Some of our contributors make their living as writers while others are knowledgeable pen people who also happen to be excellent writers. We typically include author bios with each article, but in this issue, we wanted to call special attention to them. Please meet our writers beginning on page 72: every feature story writer whose work appears in this issue is included, along with our contributing editors, meaning regular writers who have input in shaping the magazine’s content. Not all of them have an article in this issue, but since their work appears in PW regularly, I want you to know who they are. To each one, a fervent “thank you” for all you do.

We have a great issue for you!

Your first clue was the Cross Peerless 125 on the cover, which combines elements of past Cross pens to create something fresh. Find out about it in Jil McIntosh’s “Worth Peering At.” And don’t miss our story “One Brief Shining Moment” about Montblanc’s John F. Kennedy collection from someone who was there (me!) when it was previewed in Boston last September by an international group of Montblanc collectors. In the way of new pens, we also profile the Japanese company Platinum, the Graf von Faber-Castell 2015 Pen of the Year, a new collection of animal-themed pens by Urso, and much more.

As always, we’ve got something special for vintage collectors: Mike Walker’s provocatively titled “Looking for Love,” Susan Wirth’s “One of a Kind,” and Richard Binder’s “No-Muss, No-Fuss Capillary Filler.”

Also in this issue you’ll find the ballot, instructions, and thumbnail photos of all nominated pens for our 2015 Readers’ Choice Awards. You have until March 16 to get your ballot in the mail. Ready, set, VOTE!

editor@penworld.com

Definitely

Worth

Peering At

BY JIL MCINTOSH

Cross celebrates its heritage with the Peerless 125 ack in 1839, what is now the oldest pen company in America got its start when Richard Cross and Edward W. Bradbury joined forces to make elegant gold and silver casings for wooden pencils in Providence, Rhode Island. Their enterprise would move forward with Alonzo Townsend Cross, son and grandson, respectively, of the two founders. The business would eventually take Alonzo’s name and become the A.T. Cross Company, as it is still called, and it is Alonzo’s birth year that the company adopted to mark its official beginning, as seen in the slogan “Cross—Since 1846.”

But the real news happened in 1889, when Alonzo’s designs and revolutionary engineering resulted in Cross’s first fountain pen. It was named the Peerless, because, the company touted, none other could match its looks and performance.

The company again made history in 1946 when it introduced its iconic Classic Century® line, a pen that quickly became

B

The Cross Peerless 125 limited edition

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so popular that it doubled the company’s sales in its first year alone.

Now, 125 years after its first Peerless fountain pen, Cross has introduced the new Peerless 125, combining elements of both the original Peerless and the Classic Century into a collection the company calls the best it has ever made.

“The story of Cross is a story of inspiration, ingenuity, and passion for excellence,” says Magnus Jonsson, chief marketing officer for A.T. Cross. “It’s the story of how a pen came to symbolize achievement, human potential, and usable luxury.”

While Cross makes several fountain pen lines, including its Classic Century, Apogee, Sauvage, ATX, and of course its popular Townsend, many people know it primarily for its moderately priced ballpoints and rollerballs. The Peerless 125 is the company’s most premium collection and will feature new nib sizes and styles that haven’t been widely offered in the past.

While Richard Cross worked primarily with mechanical pencils, Alonzo Cross experimented with ink, and in 1876, he was awarded a patent for the first practical stylographic pen, which used a springloaded wire in a tube to regulate the flow of ink. He would eventually hold 27 American patents and seven British ones, but it was his Peerless design that set a new standard for writing instruments.

The original Peerless was a simple but elegant design, with a wide body and cap. The new Peerless 125 echoes that substantial wide-body styling, but tapers to a conical top, a design that became Cross’s signature shape when it debuted on the Classic Century. On the fountain pen models, the nib has a larger profile to match the pen’s wide silhouette. The cap threads onto the barrel and features a jewelry-style bezel containing a brilliant-cut Swarovski crystal.

Each pen is individually engraved with a unique serial number to ensure authenticity. Each comes with an acrylic pen stand and is presented in a luxury gift box.

Available in ballpoint, Cross’s trademarked Selectip Gel rollerball, and fountain pen, the Peerless 125 comes in four finishes, starting with a 23-karat heavy gold plate. The platinum plate finish has matching platinum-plated appointments, while the two-toned platinum plate/Medalist style combines the platinumplated finish for the body with 23 karat gold–plated appointments. The fourth version is finished in black lacquer with platinum-plated trim.

The ultimate model is the Peerless 125 Limited Edition fountain pen, which is strictly limited to 125 pieces worldwide. It shares its wide-bodied design with the rest of the Peerless 125 collection, but its barrel and cap are 18 karat gold-filled, and its appointments are 23 karat gold plate. Instead of a Swarovski crystal, its cap bezel is adorned with a genuine ruby in a brilliant facet cut, and in addition to its authenticity serial number, it’s engraved with a second series on its bezel, indicating its number out of 125 pieces. Assembled in the United States, the limited edition pen comes with a crystal pen stand, exclusive presentation package, and

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certificates of authenticity from its designer and from a gemologist.

The limited edition’s proportionately wide solid 18 karat gold nib also complements the pen’s design, and is available in extra-fine, fine, medium, broad, or zoom, a nib that essentially mimics a brush and will lay down a line that can vary from fine to broad, depending on the angle the writer uses.

Having so many choices is a first for Cross, and the wide range is intended to expand the company’s relevance in the fountain pen market. And this variety carries over to the non-limited pens: although they come standard in fine or medium, retailers will be able to switch these for the extra-fine, broad, or zoom. All fountain pens are cartridge/converter filled.

Creating the Peerless 125 was not a simple task. The company first went into its archives to research the original pens that inspired the design. It went through a series of sketches that were eventually turned into numerous prototypes, both as computerized

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three-dimensional renderings and as working models made by hand. For several months the final experimental models were extensively tested around the world, until the engineers and designers were satisfied with the way the pen looked and, most importantly, how it wrote.

“Designed to celebrate our heritage, it is the finest writing instrument that we have ever brought to market,” Jonsson says. “Peerless 125 celebrates two great landmark moments in the brand’s history: the 1889 debut of the original Peerless Pen, our very first fountain pen, followed by the introduction of the iconic Classic Century collection in 1946 that featured the brand’s classic Cross silhouette.”

By drawing on its history, but updating it with modern engineering and design, Cross has created a collection that will be just as iconic in the company’s second century as the Peerless and Classic Century were in its first.

The ballpoint models range from $175 to $275, depending on the pen’s finish, while the SelectipŽ rollerballs are priced from $225 to $325, and fountain pens are $450 to $550. The limited edition is priced at $3,900. (The crown of the limited edition is directly below; the pen is seen on p. 44.)

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Pen of the Year 2015 – Sanssouci, Potsdam After his victory in the Seven Years’ War Frederick the Great ordered the construction of his largest and most ambitious building: the New Palace of Sanssouci. Magnificent ballrooms, impressive galleries, a baroque palace theater – Paying homage to these splendid rooms, the “Sanssouci, Potsdam” Pen of the Year brings the luster of a major era alive in such a fascinating manner.

The platinum-plated fountain pen is limited to 1,000 units, the rollerball pen to 300 units.

Handmade in Germany

For more

For more information and a list of our authorized dealers please visit www.graf-von-faber-castell.com Faber-Castell USA • Tel: 800-311-8684 • www.faber-castell.com information please visit www.Graf-von-Faber-Castell.com • Faber-Castell USA, Inc. • 800-311-8684

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Platinum’s New #3776 CENTURY COLLECTION Classic design Advanced technology

Platinum’s popular #3776 CENTURY Re-engineered with 21st Century Technology • Unique “Slip & Seal” mechanism prevents ink from drying up even after months of non-use.

• Redesigned 14 karat gold nib and feed system regulates ink flow for an ultra smooth writing experience.

• Available in solid black and the Limited Edition Nice Pur demonstrator, plus rich translucent colors inspired by the French landscape: Bourgogne, Chartres Blue and Nice in sandblasted clear resin trimmed in pink gold.

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