Pam Alison Knits

There’s a new pen hereabouts and it’s another Onoto. Are we getting bored yet? Not one bit!

Let me introduce you to the Onoto Christmas Carol 2025. Onoto’s website describes this as a nickel silver pen (nickel silver is the base metal to which silver plate is applied to give EPNS – electro-plated nickel silver). Onoto point out that the diamond-cut chevron design sits on top of a base with micro-faceted geometry. This provides a slightly holographic quality when the light catches it. A hint of Christmas lights as I write? Well, yes please. It is quite a weighty pen, though nothing compared to Onoto’s larger enamelled offerings, and I find it is very comfortable in the hand. All in all it gives a lovely writing experience.

Whilst for my own purchases from Onoto I opted for the leather pen roll, this fantastic gift came presented in a beautiful wooden box. To complete the Christmas theme, and add another layer to the unwrapping experience, the pen then sat within a red velvet pouch. In keeping with the very festive vibes, I chose to ink it first with Montblanc’s William Shakespeare Velvet Red ink, and what a very fitting pairing this turned out to be. I can see myself using it pretty solidly through December.

For now, though, I’m pondering what the next fill should be. The Scribo Notturno Viola is reserved for my Onoto Custom because those two are inextricably linked in my mind. I’ve got Iroshizuku Yama-Budo in my Cross Beverly at the moment, so probably not one of the other Iroshizukus. Oh, I know. I could try Diamine Kensington Blue – that would be a very classic pairing, and it’s a spring-like shade of blue very much in keeping with the season. Mmmm, I think we have a winner. Whatever I choose I’m sure there will be no problems as the fine nib has a generous ink flow. In fact, I wrote this baby dry in five days flat on the first fill.

All of the festive references may have you wondering why I have left it until March to write about what, to all intents and purposes, looks like a pretty stunning Christmas present. Well, we must all learn not to confine our thinking to narrow Dickensian alleyways and join our host in celebrating Christmas all year long. In fact, this beauty joined my collection as an extremely generous retirement gift from my lovely colleagues, from which I can only conclude that they were very happy indeed to being seeing the back of me! I think gifting me a Christmas pen is a salute to my habit of announcing how many months to go until the next festive celebration on the 25th of each month, which was always met with a chorus of groans. They’ll be missing it now!

I, on the other hand, have settled into retirement with consummate ease. Everything is a thrill, and I catch myself grinning several times each day when I remember that this is my new normal. Strange, though, that the task of cleaning my pens and re-inking drifts from day to day yet remains on the must-do list!