The Evolution of my Collection

When I think back to my first fountain pens about ten years ago I don't ever think I would have imagined stepping beyond the Pilot Vanishing Point. Back then I was enchanted by fountain pens but so busy (and with a fairly limited budget) that they were really just what was comfortable, practical and wrote well. Thus the Vanishing point, Aurora Ipsilon and Pelikan M205. You may have noted they were all cartridge pens and yes, I was way too intimidated by ink bottles to jump into piston fillers at that point. Fast forward to a couple years ago when I has some time ( and money) to spend on pens. Wow, how my collection has changed since then. I still have the Ipsilon and M205 ( not sure where that first VP went...) but I have really been exploring other options for a bit now. During my insane acquisition era last fall I bought so many pens I was hopeful about loving and was so disappointed with many of them. Not all pens work for everyone! One of the things I like to do when possible is communicate with my customers to help them narrow down their choices based on what they can tell me they like and don't like. It would have saved me a lot of money had I been aware of a retailer that would do that for me. 

I have learned, at great financial expense, what I do and do not like. Luckily for me reselling most of those pens has not been an issue and I have recouped much of what I spent. The reason I was able to sell so many of those pens easily was that I had unconsciously been sorting pens into categories, researching them and then buying very good quality items.  I may not like the Pilot Customs 823 but I appear to be in the minority and there is nothing wrong with that and good luck for me because selling it was easy. 

These days I am in a stop buy phase...meaning I still have a list of pens I would love to have but I also have a lot of pens that are wonderful so for now at least it's going to have to be something very limited or extraordinary to be added to my collection. Plus, I have learned so much and really have a good handle on what I will love and I appreciate what I do have even more. 

So, this all started with the VP, M205 and Ipsilon. These days my top three are vintage Montblanc, Pelikan M800 and Pilot Custom Urushi.