Pendora's Box

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Currently Inked: September 2016

It’s the unofficial end of summer.  The weather is cooler and days are shorter.  My little guy is ready for a new school year.  It’ll be back to normal routines both at home and work.  I echo this sentiment with this a new pen and ink line-up.

#HOLDOVERS (In order of appearance in line-up)#
None! I had lots of pens inked in August and it was a bit much even for this pen addict. Pen cleaning was a chore since I even had pens from July to wash out. It was nice to end August with no holdovers. I tried to not fully ink some of the pens with that purpose in mind.

#NEW (In order of appearance in line-up)#

Pen: Parker Vacumatic Major Golden Pearl F
Ink: Diamine Golden Brown
I was very excited to strike my first vintage pen off my wish list. It's every bit as good as described by Bartek from Acoustic Pens. I love the Golden Pearl celluloid which has turned out to be a great match with Diamine Golden Brown. Thanks to my IG pen friend, @priscillayu for sending me a sample of this ink. I don't think I would have tried this golden coloured ink on my own.

Pen: Bexley Gaston’s Special Reserve M
Ink: Montblanc Toffee Brown
I always felt weird about walking into a Montblanc boutique just to try ink. So I never had any Montblanc inks in my supply. I'm not sure why, but it never occurred to me that I could order Montblanc ink directly from the MB online store. I rectified this sorry situation late in August and luckily, my order of MB inks ordered just before September inkings. Hence I have 3 MB inks in my Currently Inked for September. I debated a bit about which pen to fill Toffee Brown in. It was a toss up between my Kaweco Brass Sport which was last used in the early days of August. In the end, I decided that a decadent ink like MB Toffee Brown has to go with an equally decadent pen like the Bexley Gaston's Special Reserve. Plus I love that big gold nib!!!

Pen: Nakaya Decapod Twist SF
Ink: Platinum Blue Black
I can't believe I have my grail pen in hand! When I ordered it from Nibs.com at the end of June, I expected it not to arrive until 6 months later since I had settled on a Heki-Tamenuri (Brown-Green) Decapod Twist Writer. They keep the writer in stock, not the clipless. Early Christmas present for me! That urushi finish is perfection. I just love turning this pen around in my hands to admire all the angles. This time I just popped in one of the cartridges that came with the pen. It turns out to be a pretty nice blue black.

Pen: Franklin-Christoph 66 Stabilo Ice HPS 1.1 Cursive Calligraphy
Ink: Akkerman #28 Hofkwartier Groen
My big FC desk pen is back in rotation. I'm trying out the steel 1.1 stub nib from FC which was one of the two nibs I got after I accidently flushed the Matsuyama needlepoint down the sink drain early in the summer. I've always inked this pen with blue ink. Since I had lots of darker inks in the line up, I decided to try this very bright green from Akkerman. I think the nib brings out the shading of the ink.

Pen: Edison Nouveau Premiere - Lilac 1.1
Ink: Montblanc Lavender Purple
Lavender Purple is the second ink that I received from my Montblanc order. I decided to go matchy matchy with the Edison Nouveau Premiere which rolled back into rotation.

Pen: Pilot/Namiki Vanishing Point Raden Water Surface F
Ink: Sailor Jentle Oku Yama
I resisted the urge to put a blue ink into the Vanishing Point since I had a couple other blues lined up. Instead, I went with a punch of colour with Oku Yama. I think it brings out the magenta tones in the Raden. Plus, with fall colours coming soon (I know, it pains me to say it, but once the calendar turned to September 1, the temperature plummeted and the days became noticeably shorter already) Oku Yama will fit right in.

Pen: Platinum 3776 Century M
Ink: Montblanc Meisterstück 90 Years Permanent Grey
I'm welcoming this lucky pen into rotation. I was lucky enough to win this pen from the Pencilcase Blog! This pen feels substantial in hand - a bit heavier than the Platinum 3776 Century Sai. (A quick check of Nibs.com confirms that the Sai is 26.3 g vs. the 26.6 g Black Gold.) But the nib is the same goodness. I decided to pair this handsome pen with some serious ink. Montblanc Meisterstück 90 Years Permanent Grey (henceforth to be shortened to MB Perm. Grey) is the last of the inks from my MB ink splurge.

Pen: Lamy 2000 EF
Ink: Franklin-Christoph Noir et Bleu
I went back to a dark ink for the Lamy 2000 as the purple experiment from August was not that successful. It's not that I don't like Akkerman #14, but in my mind, this Lamy 2000 has to be filled with a dark ink. I feel at peace now with FC Noir et Bleu in this pen. This FC ink turned out to be darker than I expected. But then, I myself had initially wrote "Blue-Black" on the sheet when it is called Noir et Bleu. So clearly, FC intended this ink to be more noir than bleu.

Pen: Tactile Turn Gist Titanium EF
Ink: J. Herbin Emerald de Chivor
After having fun with Caroube de Chypre, I decided to keep a sparkly ink in rotation for some added spice. I always had such fear of the sparkles in certain of my pens that really limited my use of these inks. No sparkles in my piston or vac fillers, gold nibs, or pricier pens! But I thought that the Tactile Turn Gist would be a good pen to use for this purpose with that soft flexy titanium nib.

So how many pens do you have inked up for September? What are your favourite pen and ink combos?

See this gallery in the original post