Orlando Watch Company – Special Pen Event on the Avenue
Waiting to pick up that special pen for that special someone. Give the gift of writing and stop in to see our full collection of fine writing brands. Meet the representative from Montegrappa, Aurora, Pininfarina and Esterbrook. Join us December 18th Noon to close – 329 N. Park Avenue Telephone 407-975-9137
See the full store details HERE
Levenger in-store Event – KENRO Takeover
Levenger Tyson’s Corner will have an in-store event Friday, December 13th from 11am – 7pm. The full lineup will be on hand for customers to try before they buy. See Esterbrook, Aurora and Montegrappa first hand.
Bertram’s Inkwell Holiday Trunk Show – KENRO Takeover
It’s the season for giving gifts to others and even yourself so stop down to Bertram’s new store and location where there is plenty of free parking right out front and extended hours!
We will have an amazing assortment of Esterbrook, Aurora & Montegrappa pens at special pricing and gift with purchase.
The new address is: 11520-E Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852
See the full store details HERE
Join Kenro at Fountain Pen Hospital in NYC December 5th, 6th & 7th. We will have the full lines of Esterbrook, Montegrappa, Aurora and Loclen. Experience the modern Esterbrook with the MV Adaptor and put on a vintage Esterbrook nib, of which there are over 300 varieties, to see what all the talk is about. We will have pens inked and ready for you to try. We will also be releasing the new Esterbrook Camden as well!
ITALY TRIP WITH KENRO AND GOULET
At Kenro we are most fortunate to have wonderful relationships with our vendors and retail partners around the world. One of our greatest pleasures is when we have the occasion to introduce some of them to each other. We recently had the opportunity to do so with two of our vendors in Italy, Aurora and Montegrappa, and our retail partner in Virginia, The Goulet Pen Company.
Joel and Bryan from Kenro were joined by Brian Goulet and his associate Drew Brown for a week in Italy. The fall light makes Italy even more beautiful this time of year and this week was no exception. When we weren’t marveling at the beauty of the country, we were inside Aurora and Montegrappa’s magnificent facilities meeting with the people that are the heart of these incredible companies.
This kind of adventure is a perfect opportunity to allow our retail partner to see the kind of pride that these family owned companies are known for. It is also a chance to see how the factories operate, what is currently on their lines and their vision and direction for the future.
Our first stop was Torino, the home of Aurora. The first Italian capital in the mid-19th century, Torino is largely an industrial city famous for auto manufacturers Alfa Romeo and Fiat.
Aurora celebrated their 100 year anniversary this year and is found in an impressively large factory with over 50 employees who specialize in various stages of pen production. We were graciously welcomed and led through the facility by Aurora owner Cesare Verona and their sales manager, Linda Difonzo. We were also fortunate to spend time with Nib Master Filippo Longhero. He and his experienced team, spends time with each nib that leaves the Aurora factory, ensuring that your pen will be perfectly tuned as soon as you take it out of the box. We were able to watch the new Oceans and Mamba models make their way through production and were given a sneak peek at new introductions planned for the rest of 2019 and into 2020. We also visited the Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile to bookend this part of our trip.
Then we were off to Bassano Del Grappo in the region of Veneto. The city is approximately 90 minutes from Venice and has been the home of Montegrappa, Italy’s oldest pen manufacturer, since 1912.
Bassano is set in the glorious Italian countryside and is a smaller town of 70,000 people. We were joined by the gregarious Giuseppe Aguila, CEO of Montegrappa. He showed us various stages of production, including the assemblage of Goulet’s purple Elmo pen. As a special treat we were shown the celluloid shed, housing the last of this very coveted material. We also met the talented team that hand paints and etches Montegrappa’s most special pens, customized for clients who are looking for a pen to commemorate their favorite work of art. At Montegrappa we also had the chance to see new models that will make their way to us later this year and next year.
We finished this trip with a tour of the Neo-classical sculptor, Antonio Canova’s home and museum.
All of us enjoyed the buzz and energy of these companies and the people behind them. To see production first-hand is always a pleasure and a learning experience that allows us to bring back new information and expertise for all of you. Team Goulet captured hundreds of photos and minutes of video which we can’t wait for them to share and for you to see. It’s our way of bringing our manufacturing partners to you through us and great retail partners like Goulet, with a little bit of the Italian spirit thrown in for good measure.
Cary of Kenro attends Richard Binders Nib Work Master Class
At Kenro we are always looking to improve our service by finding new ways to support the writing community. We think continuing education is central to that mission, so when the opportunity arose for Cary to attend Richard Binder’s annual nib repair and grinding class, he was excited to attend and share the knowledge with the rest of the team and with all of you.
Nibmeister Richard Binder is known in the pen world not only for being an incredible nibmeister, but also for being a generous teacher, passing his decades of experience on to others as a way to enrich the pen community and keep his craft going.
Each year, he opens up a list for anyone who wants to come to his home in Nashua, New Hampshire for a three-day intensive course on repairing nibs and then grinding them to one’s preference. The list inevitably grows much larger than the four spots he makes available. In response to this high demand, Richard randomly draws four people to attend the workshop and emails them to let them know they’ve won the golden ticket. Cary had signed up for four years with no magic email arriving in his inbox. Until this year when the last spot was offered to him. Kismet.
In the last several years, Richard has retired from repair work and limited the number of shows he attends. He has continued to offer his class during this semi-retirement as a way to generously share what he knows. Why students sign up to attend, varies. This year’s class included a pen enthusiast, a vintage collector who restores, repairs and sells pens at most of the pen shows on the circuit, the owner of a bespoke pen company and Cary, representing Kenro and because he is a true pen lover.
In the beautiful country setting of his home, Richard shared all of the necessary tools for repairing and grinding nibs. Starting with nibs that require repairs, Richard worked with the class to get the nibs back to perfect usability. The nibs his students work on are generously donated by the Edison Pen Company who gives their damaged nibs to Richard for this use.
Once the class had practice working on reparations, they moved on to basic grinding techniques. As Cary tells it, they were able to grind a Stub, Cursive Italic, and Architect nibs by the time their three days were complete. While this is a huge accomplishment in such a short time, one is reminded that becoming a proficient nib grinder requires a lot of patience and years of practice. Becoming a master nibmeister, like Richard Binder takes all of that and then that extra ingredient that is hard to describe in words.
We’re so grateful for his knowledge and for Cary’s participation. We’re looking forward to him getting to share what he learned when he sees you on the pen show circuit and whenever you have technical questions about nibs, their repair and their many grinds.
Madrid Pen Show 2019
Kenro will attend the Madrid Pen Show 2019 bringing Esterbrook into the global market! The show is Friday, Saturday & Sunday, November 15th – 17th, 2019. Held at the Hotel Miguel Angel – Madrid.
Esterbrook will be the main sponsor for this years show and we are excited to be expanding out into the rest of the world.
See the full show details HERE
Ohio Pen Show 2019
Kenro returns to the Ohio Pen Show 2019! The show is Friday, Saturday & Sunday, November 1st – 3rd, 2019. Held at the Crowne Plaza Columbus – Dublin Ohio. The show celebrates its 25th year running!
Join us to see the full line up of Montegrappa, Aurora & Esterbrook as well as Pininfarina and Loclen. This will be a great show for hunting down those vintage Esterbrook nibs!
See the full show details HERE
Scriptus 2019 Pen Show
Kenro returns to Toronto for Scriptus 2019! The show is Sunday, October 27th 2019, 10am – 4pm. At the Bram & Bluma Appel Salon, on the second floor of the Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge St, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Join us to see the full line up of Montegrappa, Aurora & Esterbrook as well as Pininfarina and Loclen. This will be a great show for hunting down those vintage Esterbrook nibs!
See the full show details HERE
FORBES reviews the Montegrappa LE Queen Pen!
In addition to its reputation for making exquisite products, Italian pen maker Montegrappa is also known for its giving heart, having produced a number of products with a philanthropic purpose over the years. The company’s most recent example of its altruistic work is the Tulip for Team Fox pen collection, wherein a portion of the proceeds from every purchase will help fund the Michael J. Fox Foundation and its efforts to help find a cure for Parkinson’s Disease. The collection was conceived and designed by Australian visual artist Timothy John, a Montegrappa ambassador, collaborator and friend, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2017…
Read more HERE