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I sometimes describe a pen as one that 'makes a statement', usually large and impressive pens or something quite quirky. A friend recently sent me a photograph of the ultimate pen in this respect, and it was, most certainly, making a statement. Here is Lek Walesa signing the Gdansk agreement with a giant ballpoint pen decorated with a picture of the newly elected Pope John Paul ll, (Karol Wojtyla, former archbishop of Krakow) It, no doubt, was a statement!  After the fall of communism ten years later Lek was elected president of Poland and won a Nobel Peace Prize, a true working...

I saw this for sale recently and remembered an article by Deb Gibson, in her excellent 'Goodwriters Pen' blog.  I thought it was, perhaps a couple of years ago but it was, actually, April 2014! How time flies.  Deb was less than complimentary about the pen, so much so that I decided, at the time, that I had to have one for my 'odd pen collection'.  So, nine years later.... Here it is: I'm so pleased that I managed to snag a fountain pen/ballpoint set, I think that, for sheer awfullness, the ballpoint comes out on top. The pens are machined...

Occasionally an item comes along that oozes quality and charm, here is one of them. Each of the three Silver sections are clearly hallmarked and have the warm, tactile feeling only found in Sterling silver. Although I used a dip pen, of much inferior quality, at school eons ago, I seem to have lost the skill, so I'm enjoying retraining with this georgeous set.

Because this is a pen website most readers will probably associate the name De La Rue with fountain pens.  The company did, after all, start producing high quality pens before 1900 and quickly became a major force in the pen industry. This was, however, only a minor part of the De La Rue business empire, the main concern being the printing of a huge range of products, including stamps, banknotes, greetings and playing cards. The company was extremely innovative and are credited with the invention of the typographical printing process in 1831, an envelope folding machine in 1846, a banknote counting machine in 1957, the 'through...

It's hard to ignore artificial intelligence these days, so I thought I'd put it to the test.  I entered 'Poem about vintage fountain pens' into an AI server and it immediately came back with: In days of old, when words were bold, And pens were made with care, The fountain pen was king of all, And none could quite compare.   Its nib was smooth as silk it seemed, As thoughts flowed to the page, Ink spilling forth like liquid dreams, A timeless, handwritten age.   The barrel, oft adorned with gems, Or polished to a sheen, Its curves and...