News – Kenro Industries

Montegrappa Ammiraglio LE: Unlike Any Other

When picking up a Montegrappa Ammiraglio (or, Admiral), one feels not just the perfect balance of the pen itself, but the culmination of a century of craftsmanship. These pens are, quite simply, beautiful.

What first thing you’ll notice about this pen is the four stratified colorways that comes in the Admiral set. A unique blend of colors is at once vibrant while not being ostentatious. It’s this balance of subtlety and art that has become a hallmark of Montegrappa’s design aesthetic. I am personally drawn to the Samba color, while others may love the Menta, a white and turquoise blend that’s as cool as the name implies.

For me, I’m still learning about fountain pens, and the Admiral collection is the perfect entre into the intelligence and craftsmanship that goes into these pens. For example, this is the first time I have been able to write with a #8 nib. The standard nibs that I’ve written with before are #5’s and #6’s. The #8 gives a bolder finish the writing experiencing while applying a bit more wetness to the ink. I like this handling more than Montegrappa’s more diminutive cousins, offering me a rounded writing experiencing without taking away from the weight of the pen. The larger nib, in fact, complements the body well.

And speaking of the body, the Admiral is another thoughtful design element of this pen. Based on an earlier Sailor archive model, this design finishes with a broader cap than the barrel with the tiniest bit of curvature as it reaches the finial. It’s this attention to the finer points of the pen which really make me appreciate the Admirals when admiring the pen on my desk.

As with most businesses that are dedicated to artisanal quality and heritage design, it’s the small details which add up to a beautiful experience. The Admiral set is no different. Experiencing the finer points of the pen lead to a better appreciation for Montegrappa – and an understanding why they are synonymous with Italian excellence.

This four-set comes in Scream, Sambra, Menta, and Freedom. Each pen is numbered for a limited quantity.

Contact us to get yours!

We’re Back! Atlas Stationers September Take-Over

**Atlas Stationers, Inc – Downtown Chicago**

Join us September 29-30, 2021 at Atlas Stationers, Inc for an in-store takeover from 10 am to 4 pm both days. We will be featuring all our brands including Montegrappa, Aurora, Esterbrook, Otto Hutt, ystudio & Pininfarina.

We look forward to seeing some of our favorite Chicago friends while we’re in town!

Atlas Stationers
227 W Lake St
Chicago, IL 60606
1-866-892-4515

Call or email us for more information:

Phone: 516-741-0011

Email: contactus@kenroindustries.com

Truphae Anniversary Event Recap

Last week we enjoyed celebrating the second anniversary of Truphae opening their brick-and-mortar shop in Greenville, South Carolina. We were so fortunate to spend a few days in town to celebrate with the Truphae crew.

Kenro has a strong history with this store and we were proud to see how much they have grown in the two years since their opening. With a store that’s friendly and inviting, it’s no wonder the locals in the area love Truphae as much as we do! And they’d know – Greenville is a vibrant city with a growing market for pen enthusiasts in the Blue Ridge Mountains area.

While there, Kenro displayed many of their top-quality pens during the opening, including Montegrappa, Aurora, ystudio, and Esterbrook. We were able to chat, network, and share a few laughs with guests during the two-day event.

We wish Truphae continued success with their retail space and we know this is just the beginning for them!

Truphae’s Anniversary Event with Kenro

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.

We hope you’re able to join us!

2021 San Francisco International Pen Show

Dubbed “the most fun pen show on Earth”, we’re excited to see everyone at the 2021 San Francisco International Pen Show! Join us in our booth and see what is new from our brands, including Aurora, Montegrappa, Pininfarina, Otto Hutt, Ystudio and Esterbrook.

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!

Recap: The 2021 Washington, D.C. Pen Show

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.

Storytellers Live at the DC Pen Show!

We’re thrilled to be bringing OUR show to the DC Fountain Pen Supershow!

Our Storytellers series will broadcast episodes six-eight live on Friday, Saturday and Sunday directly to you from the show.

Join our host, Katy Klassman @ayearincolor, live on @esterbrook_official as we welcome:

Vanessa Langton @vanessalangton, @PenBoyRoy, and Matthew Morse @heymatthew to tell their stories.

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!

Call or email us for more information:

Phone: 516-741-0011

Email: contactus@kenroindustries.com

Montegrappa David Bowie Blackstar Limited Edition – by Nancy Olsen of Quill & Pad

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…

Read the full article HERE

See full pen details HERE

Call or email us for more information:

Phone: 516-741-0011

Email: contactus@kenroindustries.com

Otto Hutt 07 US Exclusive Design

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.

Fountain Pen

Model: D07-038-11561 – EF – $1,200

Model: D07-028-11561 – F – $1,200

Model: D07-018-11561 – M – $1,200

Model: D07-068-11561 – B- $1,200

Rollerball Pen

Model: D07-009-11562 – $995

Call or email us for more information:

Phone: 516-741-0011

Email: contactus@kenroindustries.com

Esterbrook Estie Aqua

Esterbrook Estie Aqua spring release

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

Available in EF, F, M, B, 1.1 Stub, Journaler & Scribe