Quo Vadis Scholar #55 Academic Planner is a weekly, desk-sized agenda designed for both teachers and students alike. It has an open format that makes it easy to track when your assignments and papers are due, and keeps test dates and other activities organized. It is an academic planner which means it starts with the month of August and ends with the month of July of the following year. It’s a welcome addition to Writer’s Bloc this season. What features make it a useful organizing tool?

The Quo Vadis Scholar begins with a page for personal information including such details as name, address, email and important medical information. Across from this page is one ruled page for notes. Then comes a 2-page Monday through Saturday Time Schedule with half hour increments starting at 8:00am and ending at 9:00pm (it assumes that you are taking Sundays off). It seems that it would be a good idea to fill this in with pencil since schedules tend to change over time. The lines from Noon to 2:00pm are printed with grey to help you keep track of when your lunch break might occur in relation to the rest of the day.

There are two annual planning pages that cover one school year – starting with July of one year to the end of June in the following year. Each month has one column with a box for priorities on the top, and small spaces beneath for each day of the month. These pages allow you to see a general outline of your yearly plans at a glance.

The Scholar has an “open format.” In other words, each day of the weekly plan is not broken down into hourly increments, rather, each day has a space with several lines for freestyle planning in whatever format you want. It has one week on two pages: the top of the left page starts with Monday and the bottom of the right page ends with Sunday. Underneath each weekday date is a small area for noting daily priorities. Other details included in the weekly plan are the month number, the week of the year number, the day of the year number, lunar cycles and holidays.

A set of world maps in grey tones follows the end of the weekly plans. Map pages include: North America, Canada, USA, South America, Australia & New Zealand, Europe, Asia and Africa.

The Scholar includes a slim, removable address book that slides easily into one of the pockets of planner cover along with the planner (not included with the Spiral or Basic covers). This gives you the option to reuse the same address book the following year without having to recopy all of your notes

If you like to write with fountain pens the Scholar is a good choice since most versions of this planner contain 90g white Clairefontaine paper (except for the Basic and Equology covers which contain 89g recycled paper). Besides being super-smooth to write on, this paper reduces ink feathering and bleed through, is acid-free, pH neutral and is PEFC certified. For a list of other fountain pen friendly planners you can take a look at our list under the blog post “Fountain Pen Friendly Planners.”

The binding is sewn to keep pages from falling out and the lower corner of each page has a tear-off perforation you can use to help you find your place. The page size of this planner is approximately 6 1/4” x 9 3/8”. The Quo Vadis Scholar academic agenda can be purchased with a refillable cover that’s available in different colors and materials such as Texas Vinyl, Club, Soho, Equology and Nappa Leather. If you don’t want a refillable cover you can get the Scholar with a Noir Spiral cover or a Basic cover. (The equivalent Quo Vadis calendar year planner beginning with January and ending with December is the Hebdo #56.)

What’s your favorite academic planning diary and academic planner format?

Jetoy Design and 7321 Story both make adorable storybook-like undated planners with a similar general format. Besides the yearly, monthly and weekly plans that the Choo Choo Diary and Le Petit Prince Planner include, Alice's Diary also includes a page for each daily plan. This post will focus on Jetoy’s Choo Choo Diary Season V since I am partial to the over-the-top cuteness of Choo Choo Cat and friends. The plethora of illustrations ranges from storybook to ridiculous to whimsical and they are sure to bring a smile to each day.

The Choo Choo undated planner starts out with a 2-page yearly plan from January through December with a small space for 31 days each month. It is designed to give you a general yearly overview of your future plans.

A couple of illustrated pages separates each month from another. There is no specific purpose for these pages other than to look cute and perhaps to help you keep each month separate.

Each month begins with a generic calendar page with 5-weeks of Sunday through Monday. Each day of the monthly calendar has a space in the upper left to write in the date. The upper right corner of these 2 pages has the numbers 1 to 12 where you can circle the number of “this month.”

Following the monthly plan there are 5 weeks of Monday to Sunday plus Memo weekly plans. The date can be written at the top beside each day of the week, and the month number can be circled using the numbers 1 to 12 printed in the upper right corner.

The Choo Choo Diary does not include a specific daily plan, however after the monthly and weekly schedulers it does have 160 wonderfully illustrated cat-themed pages for notes. There are too many different adorable pictures to mention so I’ll just give you four samples below.

This Choo Choo Diary includes a decorated 9.5” x 19.5” yearly planner poster that you could hang on the wall above your desk and numbered stickers that you can use as tabs in your planner where ever you choose. There is a page for personal information in the very back and the pink and gray endsheets are decorated with various fun loving cats.

There is no specific information on the paper inside this diary. I would venture to guess that it has a weight of maybe 80 or 90g. Ballpoint or gel pens would be ideal for use with the Choo Choo Diary. The binding is stitched to keep the pages from falling out and you can bend the flexible spine backwards to keep the planner open to a certain page. The cover is semi-flexible and has a clear plastic slip cover with a pen loop that can accommodate a decently sized pen.

Have you had the occasion to use an undated planner? What type of undated planner is your favorite? If you’d like to try one check out the undated planners over at Writer’s Bloc.

The winner of the contest posted on May 8, 2013 for the $25.00 Writer’s Bloc gift certificate is Megan (entry comment #3). Congratulations Megan! Thanks to all who participated!

1) The 5 Book

The 5 Book has got to be one of the ultimate gifts for any Graduate. As Grads enter college or the work force they face the challenge of setting goals and making many decisions. What can help? The 5 Book was designed to stimulate thinking and direct your Grad to goals they can use to map out the next five years of their life. Really, I think just about every one of us could use this book.

(Aurora Style Fountain Pen in the color Aquamarine)

2) A Classy Pen

A classy pen can last a lifetime and then be passed on to a future generation of Graduates. Even in a world full of technology a fantastic pen is a gift that is really appreciated. Chances are your Grad has not yet experienced the pleasure of writing with a fountain pen. The sleek modern design of the Aurora Style fountain pen was created with young professionals in mind. Fill it with some Aurora fountain pen cartridges in a deep black ink and impress a hipster!

(Delta Vintage Rollerball Pen in the color Deep Ocean)

If you feel that a fountain pen is a little too old-fashioned for your Grad, a quality rollerball pen that can be refilled with fountain pen ink is a good alternative. A classy rollerball pen works well when signing documents that produce multiple carbon copies. Pulling out a beautiful Delta Vintage rollerball pen for the signature that finalizes a deal is sure to impress! J. Herbin ink cartridges in the color Bleu Nuit would be a nice match.

3) Leather Pen Case

When you invest in the gift of a classy pen, a genuine leather pen case is the perfect accessory. It protects your pen from damage when it is carried in a purse or briefcase. Aston Leather has many fine leather pen cases to fit your Grad’s needs. The Aston single pen leather slip case is a simple, reasonably priced popular choice that comes in three choices of  color.

4)  Rhodia Meeting Book

The Rhodia Meeting Book can help keep a young professional entering the business world organized and on top of their project deadlines and goals. It’s more than just for work meetings though – the layout is based on a method of note taking designed by a professor at Cornell University. This note taking method can help any college student refresh their memory for mid-terms and finals.

(Moleskine Audio Cassette Journal)

5) A Unique Journal

This is an action packed, eventful time of a young person’s life. A unique journal is a great outlet for emotions and channeling creativity. The Moleskine Audio Cassette Journal celebrates the 50th anniversary of the audio cassette with a fun retro design..

6) Eurogames

Chances are your Grad could use some inexpensive R&R with their friends. Why not introduce them to a Eurogame and they can discover for themselves why these games are increasingly popular! Settlers of Catan is a great gateway to the world of Eurogames.

Do you have a Grad in your life? What gift ideas or special plans do you have in mind for them?

Want to win a $25.00 gift certificate to spend at Writer's Bloc? See the comments below for details!

1) Aurora Optima Demonstrator Fountain Pen – Alan says that writing with this pen is like driving a high performance European sports car. The quality and materials are beautiful and it is a joy write with. He especially loves the character of the nib which he describes as solid and somewhat toothy allowing him feel the “road conditions” as he writes.  Alan also loves fountain pens with a clear body so that you can see all of the parts and inner workings of the pen. The hidden ink reservoir feature has bailed him out near the end of meetings when he is running out of ink.

2) Pilot Custom 74 Fountain Pen – This is another favorite of Alan’s. He is a fan of extra fine nibs and loves the performance of this Japanese fine nib. He likes pens that are not too heavy and for him it has the right balance in his hand and is the perfect writing weight. His favorite Custom 74 colors include Clear and Orange and he says Smoke is a good choice if you like a less clear and more solid looking pen.

3) LAMY 2000 Fountain Pen – Alex says one reason to love the LAMY 2000 is its sleek modern Bauhaus design with its hooded nib and interesting Makrolon body and cap. Superficial reasons aside, this is a great pen to write with!

4) Namiki Falcon Fountain Pen – The Namiki Falcon is outstanding for the reason that it comes equipped with a modern 14K semi-flex nib that gives a soft, flexible feel to your writing experience. It allows for variation of stroke width while you write or draw and really shines when it is paired with ink that has good shading. Alan says that with his Falcon the ink flow is absolutely superb!

5) Pelikan M200/M205 Classic Fountain Pen – This Pelikan fountain pen has a legendary piston filling system and at its price point it is a great first step into the world of piston fill fountain pens. It is consistently a best seller and Pelikan has been in the business of creating high quality fountain pens for many years. This particular pen has a steel nib, but you can upgrade to the Pelikan M400/M405 if you prefer a gold nib. Pelikan offers special limited edition colors of the M200/M205 such as this sophisticated taupe color!

6) Stipula Bon Voyage Fountain Pen – The Bon Voyage fountain pen was specifically created to be eyedropper fill and even comes with an eyedropper for easy filling. When capped it is a compact pocket size and if you happen to be nervous about carrying an eyedropper pen in your pocket you also have the option of using short standard universal ink cartridges. It can easily be converted to a rollerball pen by removing the fountain pen feed (just unscrew it from the barrel) and replacing it with a rollerball feed. This Stipula has some pretty cool features that you can’t find on just any fountain pen!

7) LAMY Safari Fountain Pen – If fountain pens were to have a popularity contest it is pretty likely that this guy would win. I would venture to say that a plethora of writers that regularly use fountain pens have at least one LAMY Safari in their pen case. It’s a favorite everyday writer and its price makes it accessible to students and professionals alike.

8) Platinum Plaisir Fountain Pen – This is Cher’s favorite everyday “purse” fountain pen. She loves the special cap that prevents ink from drying out in the nib. The durable anodized aluminum body has a pearlized finish that comes in several fun colors such as sports car red and pale violet. As a left-handed writer she also appreciates that the grip is suitable for lefties and that the fine nib is the ideal size for her – the fine line of ink dries quickly and it is not too “pokey or scratchy” for her strange lefty writing position.

9) Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pen – Great pen, great price. Need we say more? Makes a thoughtful inexpensive gift: it’s less than $20.00, the nib size is easy to write with even for beginners, it’s made from durable materials and it comes with a stylish Pilot gift box.

10) Platinum Preppy Fountain Pen – The lovable Preppy fountain pen is so inexpensive it is an easy introduction into the world of fountain pens. For a disposable fountain pen it offers amazing quality! It comes in seven colors and Platinum designed it so that it can be refilled or even converted to eyedropper fill. 

That’s our top 10 list! What’s yours? What fountain pens would you put on your top 10 list? We’d love to hear about your favorites!

From This Day Forward: Wedding Guest Book is part of Compendium’s Live Inspired collection which is meant to inspire, motivate and celebrate the world we love and live in. The inspirational quotations contained in this wedding guest book are sure be part of what will make this book a cherished memory of a couple’s special day.

Instead of just being a registry book for wedding guest names and addresses, the layout of the From This Day Forward wedding guest book is meant to inspire guests to share meaningful advice on how to have a happy life together. As friends and family write on the lined white pages in this book they will read an inspirational quotation on the facing page. The inspirational pages are a understated light-taupe color and are adorned with elegant white botanical and floral designs.

Some of my favorite quotes from this book are “It’s not where you go or what you do in life, it’s who you have beside you” - unknown, and “I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you” – Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

From This Day Forward is hard bound and is covered in a neutral light-taupe cloth with white and dark brown foil stamping. There is a matching ribbon book marker to assist in finding the right page. There are 80 pages – half are lined for guests to write on and the other half have quotations. Each wide-ruled page has 14 lines.

My favorite fountain pen to match this guest book would have to be the taupe colored Pelikan Classic M205.

My first choice for ink would be a dark taupe brown color of ink such as J. Herbin’s Cacao du Bresil.

If you would rather use a gel pen, then I would recommend the classy silver tone Pentel EnerGel Alloy RT Gel Pen that comes with a black ink cartridge. Your left-handed guests will not smear the EnerGel ink!

Are you planning on getting married this year? Congratulations and best wishes from all of us here at Writer’s Bloc!

(Monteverde Ink Cartridges for LAMY Fountain Pens – Burgundy)

Monteverde took it upon themselves to broaden the selection of ink cartridge refills available for LAMY fountain pens by creating their own version of a LAMY T10 ink cartridge.

The ink inside these cartridges features Monteverde's Ink Treatment Formula that is described as offering the following benefits:

• Drastically improves ink-flow quality
• Extends cap-off time
• Automatically cleans fountain pen feeders
• Lubricates and protects the ink feeding system from corrosion and clogging
• Improves ink drying time on paper

LAMY produces T10 ink cartridges in only seven colors including black, blue washable, blue-black, turquoise, red, violet, and green. Monteverde’s LAMY-compatible ink cartridge lineup includes eleven colors: black, blue, blue-black, turquoise, red, purple, green, brown, burgundy, fluorescent orange and fluorescent yellow.

(LAMY Safari with a calligraphy nib)

Pick up a LAMY Safari with a calligraphy nib and some Monteverde fluorescent orange or yellow ink cartridges and you’ve got yourself a long-lasting highlighter pen. I personally really like Monteverde’s highlighting ink colors because in my opinion they are softer than some of the screaming bright highlighter inks out there.

(Monteverde Fluorescent Yellow Highlighting Ink Sample)

We noticed a very interesting feature of these Monteverde ink cartridges: one end of the cartridge fits into LAMY fountain pens and the other end fits into fountain pens that take standard international ink cartridges. These cartridges are longer than your usual standard international ink cartridge though, so due to their extra length they will not fit inside the barrel some fountain pens that use this type of cartridge.

Here is a photo of my blue Plumink fountain pen (left) and my lime green LAMY Safari fountain pen (right). They both are using the exact same Monteverde cartridge refills (which happen to be almost empty when I took this photo). If you look closely you can see that the exposed ends of these cartridges are different, depending on if the cartridge is installed in a standard international refill pen or a LAMY T10 refill pen. Dual purpose ink refills!

So far I’ve been very happy with this ink and it has been well behaved on the paper and in pens that I have used. Have you used Monteverde ink refills for LAMY fountain pens? If so, what do you think of them? Have you tried using them in fountain pens that use standard international refills?

(Large A4 Size Rhodiactive Meeting Book 90)

This year Rhodia introduces us to the Rhodiactive Business Collection: a new line of notebooks and notepads with a professional and contemporary look. They are designed to help you stay organized and efficient in the business world. So far, the Meeting Book 90 is the only part of this collection available in the USA.

Rhodia already has a Classic Meeting Book, so how is the new Rhodiactive Meeting Book different? The most outstanding difference is the paper – it contains premium 90g extra white paper that has superior opacity and strength. This means that you can write on both sides of the page without having significant issues with ink showing through or bleeding through the paper. If you are not already familiar with Rhodia paper, it is well known for having a smooth satin finish for effortless writing. It is also acid-free, pH neutral and PEFC certified. Besides helping you look classy and organized during business meetings, the Rhodiactive Meeting Book allows you to bring along your fountain pen!

(Rhodia Meeting Book with an Omas Arte Italiana Cruise Fountain Pen)

The cover of the Rhodiactive Meeting Book is also new – it is made of a sturdy, black 100% recycled polypropylene with a little bit of a linear texture to it. In comparison, Rhodia’s Classic Meeting Book has a waterproof coated cardstock cover that is available in both orange and black.

All of the Rhodia Meeting Books have the same pre-printed page layout with sections for Date, Notes and Action. This format is based on the Cornell note-taking system developed by Walter Paulk, a professor that worked at Cornell University. The “Date” and lined area at the top of each page are used to record the date, title or theme of a meeting or lecture and perhaps a brief summary. The large “Notes” area is for taking paraphrased notes during the meeting, and the smaller “Action” column is for key words and for your “to-do list.” If you are taking notes during a class, the “Action” column can be used to write questions relevant to the notes that can be used later while studying.

Interestingly, the number of lines on each page of the medium size Meeting Book and the large size Meeting Book are the same. The medium size page is just a shrunken version of the larger page – the medium size notebook having a line spacing of approximately 5.5mm and the large notebook with an 8mm line spacing.

Each page is micro-perforated near the wire spiral so that it can be cleanly removed from the notebook. Once the paper is removed from the large Meeting Book the page is A4 size – about 8.25” x 11.75”. The overall size of the large Meeting Book including the spiral is larger – about 9.25” x 11.75”. The medium Meeting Book is about 6.75” x 8.25” including the spiral and once the page is removed it is A5 size - about 5.75” x 8.25”. Both sizes of notebook contain 80 sheets/160 pages and the black double wire spiral is designed to prevent snagging.

(Rhodia Meeting Book with a Pilot Vanishing Point Fountain Pen)

The Rhodia Meeting Book is definitely a useful tool for those that take notes during business meetings or classes. Have you used a Rhodia Meeting Book for taking notes? Do you have any tips you’d like to share?

(Clairefontaine Classic 3-hole punch notebook)

Clairefontaine notebooks are well known for their exceptional paper quality. Even if you feel that these notebooks don’t look like much from the outside, it’s what is on the inside that really counts when it comes to your writing experience.

The 90g paper inside these notebooks boasts an exceptionally smooth satin finish and is bright white thanks to the calcium carbonate used in the manufacturing process. Clairefontaine manufactures their own paper from pulp and wood by-products from forests certified by PEFC to be sustainably managed. Clairefontaine is committed to minimizing their impact on the environment so their paper is chlorine-free, acid-free, pH neutral and is printed with natural inks.

Many writers who use fountain pens loyally use Clairefontaine paper because they feel that it is ideal for their writing needs! This fabulous paper eliminates or reduces troubles with ink that may feather or bleed through other types of paper and you can write on both sides of the page. The smoothness of the paper makes writing a dream! You can check out the performance of this paper by taking a look at the scanned writing samples below.

(Clairefontaine Classic 3-hole punch notebook paper fits inside a standard American 3-ring binder)

There are a few features that make the Clairefontaine Classic Notebook with the 3-hole punch stand out from other Clairefontaine notebooks. Since Clairefontaine is a European brand, most of their notebooks and paper products are metric sizes and might be a little different than what we are used to here in the USA. The Classic 3-hole punch notebook is standard American letter size – 8 1/2” x 11”. The 3-hole punch is sized to fit American 3-ring binders perfectly so you don’t need a special European binder to use this paper. Each page is microperforated so it can cleanly and easily be removed from the wire binding. In addition, most large size side wire bound or side staple bound Clairefontaine notebooks contain 48 or 50 sheets of paper. The Classic 3-hole punch notebook contains a generous 90 sheets of paper so it can carry you through a lot of note taking.

(Clairefontaine 90g paper writing test - front)

(Clairefontaine 90g paper writing test - back)

Clairefontaine Classic 3-hole punch notebook features include:

• Ultra-smooth bright white 90g Clairefontaine paper
• Excellent performance with fountain pens
• 3 hole punched to fit standard American 3-ring binders
• Each page is microperforated so it can cleanly be removed from the notebook
• Lined with margin – lines are spaced 8mm apart
• Acid-free, pH neutral, PEFC certified paper
• Contains 90 sheets
• Laminated heavy stock cover
• Variety of abstract cover designs and colors changes over time
• Side double wire spiral binding
• Standard American letter size: 8 1/2” x 11”

If the Clairefontaine 3-hole punch notebook is just what you are looking for and you want to stock up, Writer’s Bloc offers an additional discount for a set of 5 notebooks.

Do you use Clairefontaine notebooks too? Why would you recommend them to other writers?

You may wonder why we are doing this since the Platinum Preppy highlighter pen is designed to be refilled and reused and the felt tip can even be replaced when it wears out. Preppy pens are very economical, but they are not meant to last a life time. Sooner or later, the cap and/or the body of the pen will crack making the pen useful only for parts. In contrast, both the cap and the body of the Platinum Plaisir fountain pen are made of durable anodized aluminum that will not crack. As a bonus, the Plasir has an attractive pearlized finish that comes in seven different colors.

(1) The first pen mod is the easiest, most foolproof way to create your highlighter. You will need both a Platinum Preppy highlighter pen and a Platinum Plaisir fountain pen.

Take both of the pens apart by removing the caps and unscrewing the grip section from the pen barrel.

Take the grip section of the Preppy highlighter, screw it into the barrel of the Plaisir fountain pen, add your ink cartridge and you’re done!

(2) For the second pen mod you will need a Platinum Plaisir fountain pen, a Preppy highlighter replacement tip and something rubbery and soft that gives you a good grip. Preppy replacement tips can be purchased separately, or if you buy Platinum highlighter ink cartridges you get a replacement tip along with them in the same package. For this demo I used a wide rubber band to give me a good grip, but other things can be used such as that rubbery drawer liner stuff etc.

First remove the pen cap. Using the wide rubber band or rubber drawer liner, get a good grip on the base of the fountain pen nib and carefully pull it out of the grip section along with the skinny plastic piece that it is attached to. A couple of notes about this: the amount of effort it takes to remove the nib seems to vary from pen to pen, and be warned that this may or may not remove some of the color coating that is on top of the Plaisir fountain pen nib.

Firmly insert the highlighter replacement tip into the Plaisir grip section, add your ink cartridge and you’re good to go. Voila! A good looking, durable and refillable highlighter pen. The felt tip can be easily replaced if it wears out using Preppy highlighter replacement tips.

What kind of ink should you use to refill this pen? Highlighting ink that is designed for use in fountain pens would be an excellent choice. A very light color of fountain pen ink would work as well.

What kind of ink refills does it take? You can use the Platinum brand of ink cartridges or you can use a Platinum ink converter if you would like to use bottled ink. Another idea is to rinse out your empty Platinum ink cartridges and use a blunt-tip needle bottle to refill them using bottled ink. This pen is not suitable to be eyedropper filled since the barrel of the pen is metal and may cause a negative reaction when it is in constant contact with ink.

What kind of refillable highlighters do you use? Do you have any highlighter pen mods you’d like to share with us?

The Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen is a very affordable recent addition to Pilot Pens available in the USA. The current manufacturer’s retail price is less than $20.00, making it an attractive choice for a first fountain pen, for a pen that you might leave at the office or even for taking notes in class. To help you decide if this pen suits your personal taste, we’ll take a closer look at some of its features.

The first thing you might notice about this pen is that both ends of the pen are tapered making it rather cigar-shaped. The back end of the pen is tapered slightly more than the cap end to enable the cap to be securely posted while you’re writing. The body and snap-on cap are both made of metal for long-lasting use without cracking.

The Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen is available in three different matte finishes: black, silver and a champagne gold. All of these colors come with a silver colored chrome clip, trim and nib and a smooth black ABS plastic grip. The middle part of the pen body is accented by a wide glossy band that is either plain or subtly decorated with dots or a zig-zag pattern.

The Metropolitan comes equipped with a medium tip steel nib. When I compare the line width this Japanese medium nib produces to the line width of LAMY’s German steel nibs, it is somewhere in-between a LAMY fine nib and a LAMY medium nib. Not as fine as the LAMY fine, but not as broad as a LAMY medium nib. The nib on my Metropolitan proved to be a nice smooth writer and the ink flow is generous with Pilot's black ink. The nib is engraved with some fine lines and says “Pilot M Japan” on it.

The Metropolitan does come with both an ink cartridge and an ink converter which is unusually generous for a fountain pen in this price range. The squeeze style converter allows you to fill this pen with bottled fountain pen ink instead of just using Pilot ink cartridges. The drawback to this style of converter is that it does not fill with a large quantity of ink and since it is not clear you can’t see what your current ink level is. You can purchase a clear piston-style CON-50 Pilot ink converter if you decide you want to upgrade. Or you can even refill your empty ink cartridges using a blunt tip needle bottle. This pen uses proprietary Pilot Namiki ink cartridges and is not compatible with standard universal cartridges. Since the body of this pen is metal, it is not suitable to be converted to eyedropper fill.

This fountain pen currently comes packaged in a contemporary black Pilot gift box that fits inside a black heavy stock Pilot sleeve. This is also very generous for a fountain pen of this price.

The Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pen approximate weight and sizes are: 0.9 oz, 0.5” diameter, 5 1/4" capped, 4 3/4" uncapped, 5 7/8" posted.

(Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pen Writing Test)

After writing with the Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen I feel that it really offers outstanding value and quality for a bargain price. The pen is well constructed, writes smoothly and currently comes with extras such as an ink converter and nice gift box. Are any of you writing with the Metropolitan? Would you recommend this as a beginner fountain pen?

(Here’s my Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen.)

(J. Herbin Fountain Pen Ink Vert Pre)

As you’re shopping online for a new bottle of fountain pen ink, likely the ink color samples you see on your computer, tablet or smartphone have a big influence on what you decide to purchase. Can you trust what you see on your computer monitor? Do you ever wonder how the ink samples are made?

When we first started producing samples of fountain pen ink colors for our online store, we used a special color calibrated computer monitor and made careful adjustments with graphics software to make sure the color sample looked as close to real life as possible from our viewpoint. The flaw in this method is that most shoppers do not use color calibrated computer monitors. As a result, the ink color samples look different to each shopper because each shopper uses a different monitor or smartphone to view the samples. Since then, we have intentionally purchased computer monitors that are a variety of different brands so that we can compare and see what our shoppers might be seeing. Even so, it is not possible with current technology to make sure that each one of you sees a completely accurate sample of each ink color when you are shopping online.

Other retailers have made ink samples that don’t even display real ink swatches or handwriting at all. Graphics software is used to pick the color and then a computer font that looks like handwriting is used to create a “handwritten” color sample. This also has disadvantages. When you look at the color variations in the ink samples below, can you see how it would be difficult to decide what part of the sample it would be best to pick the color from? A computer generated color sample does not give you any idea of the shading or opacity of the ink. Plus, it still does not change the fact that each of you are using different computers and smartphones that each display colors slightly differently.

If you are a regular shopper at Writer’s Bloc, you may have noticed that many of our ink color samples look like this:

(Noodler's 54th Massachusetts bottled fountain pen ink sample)

We decided to come up with a standardized way of creating our online fountain pen ink samples so that you might be able to discern some of the ink’s characteristics before you decide to buy. Each sample is handwritten with the actual ink, in the same calligraphy style, using a Brause dipping pen with a Steno nib. The “swish” above the handwriting is made with an inked cotton swab and goes from left to right so that the heaviest ink application is on the left and the lightest on the right. The paper used is always bright white 90g Clairefontaine French-ruled paper. (Note: the ink photos on our website that include the ink bottle or cartridges in the photo are meant to give you a general idea of the ink color and are NOT meant to be the primary color sample for the ink.)

What are some of the advantages of this method? Clairefontaine is known as one of the best papers in the world for writing, and it performs exceptionally well with fountain pens.  This paper is very good at eliminating or reducing writing problems that are common on low-grade paper such as ink feathering and ink bleeding through the paper. By the way, if ink happens to bleed or feather while we are making our samples, we do not retouch the samples or re-write them to try and get rid of the feathering – we just use them the way they are to help you discern the character of the ink. The Clairefontaine paper is a bright white color so it does not detract from the color of the fountain pen ink.

Why use French-ruled paper and not blank paper? The lines on the French-ruled paper help you to see how opaque or how transparent the ink is. Can you see the lines on the paper through the ink sample? For example, Noodler’s Eel Polar Black ink is very opaque:

And J. Herbin’s Vert Pre ink is more transparent:

The Brause Steno nib allows you to see what your writing might look like using a fountain pen with a fine to medium size nib. The Steno nib is a flex nib, so the line width in the samples varies. The cotton swab generated “swish” above the writing helps you to see what kind of shading the ink might have. Noodler’s Ink Habannero has some nice shading to it:

To prepare the color samples for our online store, the ink samples written on Clairefontaine paper are simply scanned, cropped and re-sized. That's it. They are not retouched or enhanced by graphics software in any other way.

Even though we have a standardized system for creating our ink color samples, each of you will see the color a little bit differently depending on your own personal monitor or screen. Each of you will be writing on different kinds and colors of paper, using different nib sizes and you all have different handwriting. This too can affect the way an ink looks as you write with it. Our wish is to give you the most realistic online ink samples possible to help you choose your fountain pen ink!

(Pelikan standard universal ink converter)

Not too long ago as we were trying to use an ink converter in a new fountain pen we made an interesting discovery. Not all "standard" fountain pen ink converters are created equal. I'm not talking about the filling mechanism, quality, appearance, length or ink capacity, I'm talking about the part of the converter that attaches to the pen. One would assume that all "standard" converters would be able to attach correctly to all pens that take "standard" cartridges and converters, but this simply is not true.

(Monteverde standard international ink converter)

Take for example the standard ink converter made by Pelikan. It is a good price and has a slightly larger ink capacity than some other standard converters, but it does not attach correctly to all pens that take standard converters. I grabbed my collection of school fountain pens and did an experiment. I tried to attach both the Pelikan and the Monteverde standard ink converters to each one of them with varying success. Here are the results:

✓ = fit correctly
X = did not fit
? = was not sure

Even though both of the "standard" ink converters, particularly the Pelikan, did not fit all pens equally, short standard universal ink cartridges worked in all of the pens.

(J. Herbin standard universal ink cartridges)

Our conclusion?  If you don't want any surprises, if possible, buy an ink converter that is the same brand as the pen you plan to use it in. For the most foolproof results stick to short standard universal ink cartridges since they seem to be able to fit into all "standard" fountain pens.

Have you had any similar experiences with fountain pen ink converters?

(LAMY fountain pen nibs)

When choosing your first fountain pen you may notice that they are outfitted with a variety of nibs. The most common nib choices are extra-fine, fine, medium and broad. Other types of nibs include soft fine, BB, stub, italic, calligraphy, music, left-handed and more.

When you pick up a ballpoint or rollerball pen to write, not much thought is given to the way you hold the pen. Pretty much no matter which way the pen is oriented in your hand, the pen will write - assuming you are not out of ink of course! Fountain pens are different. Most of them need to be held correctly, with the nib oriented in the right direction, in order for the pen to write well. Depending on how coordinated you are this can take a little practice.

Nibs that are in the middle of the nib size spectrum are often the easiest to write with because they will usually write even if the fountain pen is not held exactly right. We would recommend a medium nib as a good choice for a beginner, or if your writing is small, a fine nib. Left-handed nibs are often medium-fine in size, so they are also a good choice for a beginner that is left-handed. However, a left-handed nib is not essential for a left-handed writer.

Something to keep in mind is that nib sizes are not standardized. For example, generally German-made nibs are broader in size than the equivalent size of Japanese-made nibs. This does not apply 100% of the time though, sometimes there are exceptions. A couple of popular brands with German-made nibs are LAMY and Pelikan. Pens with Japanese nibs include brands such as Platinum, Sailor, Nakaya, Pilot and others. Japanese extra-fine and fine nibs may seem very very small compared to the tips on the ballpoint and rollerball pens that Westerners are used to writing with.

These recommendations are based on our own personal writing experiences. If your first fountain pen does not have a medium or fine nib don’t let that hold you back from enjoying the satisfying experience of writing with a fountain pen. With a little bit of practice and experimentation you may find there is a place in your pen case for nibs of many different sizes! If you are an experienced fountain pen user, what nib size recommendations would you like to pass along to a beginner?

(Platinum President Fountain Pen nib)

In 2012 Pelikan created a special edition M205 fountain pen in the color taupe that will only be available for a limited period of time. This sophisticated color subtly stands out of the crowd of traditional black fountain pens. It’s definitely on my want list!

For a matching ink color, I would fill my Pelikan M205 fountain pen with J. Herbin’s Cacao du Bresil fountain pen ink which I would call a dark brown taupe color. For a contrasting ink color, I would choose Tanzanite from Pelikan’s Edelstein Ink collection. This blue-black ink would be a nice complement to the classy taupe body of the fountain pen.

Leuchtturm 1917 created one of their thoughtfully designed lined journals with numbered pages with a taupe cover. The soft ivory color of the paper in this journal really makes a brown shade of ink pop on the page.

Even hipsters like the color taupe as evidenced in this funky retro design “Doing Good and Feeling Good” Write Now journal from Live Inspired.

If you prefer a journal with bright white paper, there are a limited number of taupe Quo Vadis Habana Journals available while they last. The Clairefontaine paper in the Habana journal works great with fountain pens.

To top it all off, I would paint my nails with Opi “Over the Taupe” nail polish. Yeah, that’s right, even my fingers would match my fountain pen, ink and journal.

Even my cat Rori has a taupe chin and taupe spots!

I’m afraid that once I buy the Pelikan M205 in taupe I will also need to get a matching Fiat 500 in my favorite color they call “punk grey”. Think of how good I will look driving this car!

Do you have any favorite products or designs in the classic color of Taupe?