Was it only a month ago that I confidently declared that the pen and ink pairings I chose at the start of Quadrimester 2 would probably not change until October? Oh, how young and foolish I was back then. I’m an older and wiser Pam now! Of the five pens I had inked, two remain and three have seen changes.
The main pairing that has survived into July is the Onoto Custom with Scribo Notturno Viola, and we know my feelings on that. Mind you, I have started to rotate between my various inked pens for my journal entries which means even the honoured Onoto is having to wait its turn. I’m also just using up the fill of Diamine Kensington Blue in my Lamy Studio. Once that’s done we shall have to see what happens.
My first addition/change is the Cross Beverly which was formerly inked with Diamine Honey Burst. I cleaned out the very last drop and inked the pen up with MontBlanc William Shakespeare Velvet Red. This brings to mind the velvet petals of dark red roses, the kind that grow on intensely thorny bushes. Small, fierce roses rather than voluptuous romantic ones. The type of roses that put more effort into their scent than into their looks, and thereby end up being the most stunning. (I should have paired this ink with the Onoto x FPUK Scholar – that would have been a superb match.)
Second up, we have said Onoto x FPUK Scholar inked with Montblanc’s Toffee Brown. Loving this pairing, the ink is a good warm shade which looks equally great on cream and white pages. It doesn’t remind me of toffee, which is probably a good thing or I’d been running off into memories of Farrah’s Harrogate Toffee. Oh, rats, now I am not only thinking about Farrah’s Harrogate Toffee, but about how much I need to take a short break in Harrogate.
The last pen is another re-homing project and another donation from a family member. I have the best family, though perhaps my opinions are biased. Not only that, but we tend to share tastes, so the navy blue MontBlanc Slimiline which my brother passed on to me was very much the kind of pen I would have chosen for myself. Likewise, my sister had bought a Waterman Hemisphere set some time ago and no longer needed the fountain pen. She tentatively suggested I might like it even thought “It’s not a posh brand.” Hah! Only pretty much my favourite brand, and definitely my favourite design from them. You would think I had enough of them by now, but this purple colour is just off the scale and, apparently, there is no end to my ability to be lured into “just one more Hemisphere before I stop”.
I’ve inked this one with Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-Budo (the clever internet people say this translates as “Crimson Glory Vine”). This isn’t necessarily a forever pairing, but it’s a good, solid start. I’d be quite tempted to try Kaweco Summer Purple in it, but since I own a 30ml bottle of Diamine’s Imperial Purple, I reckon that’s the one to try next.
I’m sad to say that since I moved into the Filofax Finsbury, I’ve found the Montblanc Slimline has not been such a great fit. However, it turns out that the Hemisphere fits the pen loop perfectly – like they were specifically made to be together. Not only that, but something about the combination of Filofax’s Vista Blue and Waterman’s purple makes me extremely happy. It isn’t a case of matching colours, but matching intensity of colour, so they each bring out the best in the other.
Looking at July’s lineup, it’s obvious where my fountain pen passion lies. Acknowledge that the Onoto Custom is an outlier, then notice how the other pens share metal bodies with interesting colours and textures offset by chrome-coloured features. This is not an accident, this is how my “eye” works. These are the exact elements which call out to me whenever I see them; when I stray into other territories it is very much in the spirit of “Oooh, that’s different!”.
Vive la difference, as they say, but cherish your own core style as well.
Pam Alison Knits 