We are pleased to be celebrating Truphae’s second anniversary in South Carolina next week! Truphae is a retailer of ours in Greenville, SC with whom we have built a lasting relationship over the years. We are thrilled to be there in-person to share in their celebration on September 10 and 11 From 12pm – 5pm each day.
While there, we will be showcasing some of our latest pens, including some special Montegrappas, elegant Auroras, and many more.
The team from Kenro, and all their new releases and limited editions, will be in attendance. Also joining us will be J.J. Lax of J.J. Lax Pen Company. As you may remember, he has created a custom Scribe Nib for our Esterbrook pens. While at the show, he will be grinding nibs in person while at our booth. This is your chance to see a trained nibmeister at work!
The event will be held Pullman San Francisco Bay Hotel from August 27 to August 29. See you in San Fran!
How do we properly describe our weekend at the D.C. Pen Supershow? Fun? Exciting? Memorable? It’s too had to pick just one word, so we will go with D: All of the Above.
Earlier this month, we were thrilled to back at one of our favorite shows to set up our booth and see many of our old friends and customers again. The old adage about riding a bike definitely applies for us at this year’s show: after such a long absence, everything seemed to fall easily back into place for us and so many others.
Much of that we owe to the organizers of the show. Somehow, between the size of the show, the additional safety measures, and the high expectations of those in attendance, they made it a breeze, both as an attendee and as a vendor. Thank you!
But there was something else in the air, too. After the year we have all had due to COVID-19, there felt like there was a bit of electricity in this year’s event. Whether it was more laughter, more engagement, or more conversation, there was an undeniable buzz for both the attendees – and for us!
This year, Kenro had a lot to introduce to attendees. First, being able to introduce newcomers to some of our newer brands, including Pininfarina, YStudio, and Otto Hutt. Not only that, but Montegrappa and Aurora have launched some beautiful new products since the last time we saw many of you that we showcased at our booth.
Kenro’s own brand, Esterbrook, had quite a showing this year, too! We launched our first seasonal collection for the Esterbrook JR, the Paradise Collection, in person. The bright colors of this collection weren’t the only thing catching everyone’s eye; we had commissioned our friend Matthew Morse (@heymatthew) to create custom Paradise pins and t-shirts to celebrate this launch. You can purchase these items on our site, while supplies last.
Not only were we in the booth, we were fortunate enough to produce three in-person Storytellers interviews during our time at the show. We shared a lot of laughs, enthusiasm, and behind-the-scenes facts from some of our favorite brand collaborators. If you were not able to attend any of these sessions virtually, you can watch them now following the links below:
Vanessa Langton’s interview can be found here. Pen Boy Roy’s interview can be found here. Matthew Morse of Hey Matthew’s interview can be found here.
We want to give a heartfelt, “Thank you,” to all of those who attended the show and stopped by our booth. We’re happy to be back to doing what we love: seeing our friends and making new connections along the way. We’re already packing our bags for San Francisco later this month and we hope to see you there.
We appreciate the continued support of Kenro and we are excited at the new products we’ll soon launch among our brands. Watch this space – you won’t want to miss a thing.
We’ll talk all things art history with Vanessa, attempt to get Pen Boy Roy to tell us his real name and mysterious backstory, and delve deep into Matthew’s unique graphic design sensibility.
These special sessions will air:
Friday 11AM with Vanessa
Saturday 11AM with Roy
Sunday at 11AM with Matthew
Also, if you’re at the show, we’d love to have you be part of our live studio audience.
Email Esterbrook at: info@esterbrookpens.com to claim one of the twenty spots we’ll have for each episode.
We can’t wait for you to meet these three exceptional Storytellers, live from DC!
Nancy Olsen of Quill & Pad gives us an over of the new Montegrappa David Bowie Blackstar Fountain Pen.
“The design of the pen is influenced by well-known British graphic designer and typographer Jonathan Barnbrook, who is responsible for the spare and cryptic Blackstar sleeve – the first that doesn’t include an image of Bowie. Barnbrook also designed the album sleeves for some of the musician’s earlier works…
We are pleased to introduce the Otto Hutt design07 in Gold Trim.
This pen marks a first for Kenro and Otto Hutt, as it is our initial offering exclusive to the US market.
The design07 is signature Otto Hutt, using form and functionality combined in an energetic body. The pen is sleek and stately, with clean lines, shapes, and a truly elegant instrument for daily writing.
This limited production exclusive has been made using the same jewelers’ techniques that are the signature of the Otto Hutt brand. The design07 in Gold Trim is made of sterling silver and has been engraved with a honeycomb guilloche pattern, creating movement as the light hits the facets as it glides across the page.
For this version of the design07 the palladium clip, ring and grip section, have been plated in gold and the custom size 6 nib is two-tone in silver and gold. The pen is postable with the signature Otto Hutt spring clip and can be used with both an international standard cartridge and converter. A rollerball made with the same gold trimmed appointments is also available.
As with every Otto Hutt writing instrument, no effort has been spared with regards to detail, materials or thoughtful mechanisms and because of this, the design07 Gold Trim is as beautiful as it is useful.
With an extraordinary Otto Hutt gold nib in XL format with Otto Hutt logo, which the writing instrument is available as original with the line weights EF, F, M and B
With award-winning case with a cover made of Italian precious paper
With suitable converter for the use of individual ink and 5 pack cartridges blue.
Including a leather case, silver or microfiber cloth, instruction manual and certificate
Length 14cm, length open 12.5cm, diameter 16mm, weight about 65.6gr.
The summer street festival is as much a part of a New York summer as a Yankees game, hot dogs with mustard from a streetcart, open fire hydrants and a soft serve ice cream truck parked on the corner.
It is with great pleasure that we announce the return of the Fountain Pen Hospital Pen Fest, a summer celebration that also kicks off the 75th Anniversary of FPH and the reopening of our remodeled showroom.
The team from Kenro, and all their new releases and limited editions, will be in attendance and if that weren’t enough our good friend, and pen reviewer extraordinaire, Penboy Roy will be in the house to tell you what’s on his mind.
We hope you will join us for this auspicious occasion of friends and pens, Wednesday and Thursday June 16th and 17th from 10:00 to 3:00
We are pleased to introduce our newest Esterbrook special edition, the Esterbrook Estie Aqua.
As Richard Esterbrook was setting up shop in the 1850’s in Camden, New Jersey, perhaps the greatest book about the sea ever written was in its first printing: Moby Dick. And while there is nothing in the records to show that Herman Melville had an Esterbrook pen when he was writing his tale, thousands of books about the ocean have been written before and since, so surely some of them must have been penned with an Esterbrook. The Aqua Estie is a new daily writer to celebrate iconic writers, like Melville, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway and even William Shakespeare, all of whom put pen to paper to dispel the mysteries of the oceans.
The spirit of the sea has been described by these and so many other writers, in song, soliloquy, fiction, memoirs, odes and asides for as long as there have been these words: vast, tranquil, placid, peaceful, ethereal, and dazzling for a start. These boundless and infinite expanses conjure up as many feelings and images as there are words for them: crystal clear waters in every shade of blue surrounding majestic islands, the smell and taste of a salty, briny ocean, the sparkling caps of undulating waves, lazy days spent seeking shimmering shells and building monumental sandcastles and the waning light of the sun as it sets over the water in a symphony of color.
The Estie Aqua embodies all these words and experiences in a writing instrument. Its acrylic captures the mother of pearl luminosity of shells and the technicolor hue of deep, aqua waters. It is available as a Standard or Oversized gold-trimmed fountain pen with standard Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, Broad or 1.1 Stub nibs and available with the “Journaler” for $50 additionally or “Scribe” nib for $60 additionally. The Estie Aqua is also available as a rollerball or ballpoint pen.
The Estie Aqua pens are available in limited quantities, which will disappear as swiftly as the tide.
“There’s magic in the water that draws all [people] away from the lands, that leads them over hills, down creeks and streams and rivers to the sea. -Herman Melville
As we continue to tell the Esterbrook story, we are focused on the company’s tradition of specialized nibs. The Esterbrook Custom Nib Program is our way to highlight exceptional American nibmeisters and we’ve asked some of the most prominent and exceptional nibmeistersin our community to create nibs that are destined to become a part of Esterbrook’s storied legacy.
We are pleased to announce the second edition in our series, The Scribe Nib, crafted by New York based nibmeister Josh Lax.
Josh Lax
The Scribe is Josh’s take on an architect nib. Historically, this nib has been bespoke: cut for an individual, their writing style and how they hold the pen. To create this nib for a wider audience, Josh was given the task of cutting these nibs in masse, keeping the integrity of an architect, while avoiding any catch on the top or bottom as one writes with it. Aside from the challenge of the mechanics of the grind, Josh also aimed to bring a new aesthetic to his nib, taking inspiration from the Near East, rather than the more common architect nibs based on European and Far Eastern styles of writing.
In the depths of the Scriptorium, or writing place, the Scribe was employed to keep track of it all. Most of what we know about the history of this part of the world is because of them. Writing in Aramaic, the scribes were drafting with characters that had spiritual meaning.
And while they were often writing and copying the mundane, they were also responsible for religious and political manuscripts and for catering to the needs of the sultans as court calligraphers. Tughras, the signature of the sultans, were designed and executed by the scribes, each a complex commission. It is in these seals that we see the curves, movement and arching flourishes the scribes were so adept at.
The Process
The Scribe Nib is meant to capture these same elements and rhythms for the modern writer. It is a very specific nib that Josh has managed to make usable for everyone. It gives the writer the flexibility of fine downstrokes and broad horizontal strokes and can also be used in reverse for additional variation. Whether you are looking to add more flair to your writing style, are looking for an architect without the need for a personal grind or want to expand your calligraphy skills this is an excellent addition to your collection or as a gift for someone to treasure in theirs.