And here we thought pens were just for writing. Turns out, there’s another use.
Pen spinning is the art, or at least hobby, of “contact juggling” with either a normal ink pen or one that’s been specially modified to make it easier to manipulate. Spinners do exactly what the name implies – rotate pens as fast as possible around, between and across their fingers and hands.
There’s an interesting line about fountain pens in the movie Duplicity. Conniving CEO Dick Garsik (played by Paul Giamatti) is reading a handwritten draft of a memo by a rival company head. The memo bears bad news and the flustered Garsik stops at one point, turns aside to his employees, and says:
“I mean, who the hell writes with a fountain pen anymore? How fricking pretentious is that?”
He’s being a little harsh, for sure, but the line raises some good questions. Do people still use fountain pens regularly, as they did several years ago when the pens were enjoying a resurgence in popularity? Or, has that time passed? And, if so, has there been a resulting slowing of sales?
If you’re like most people, comfort is probably one of the deciding factors when you’re trying to choose the right …
Apparently, it’s a necessity every few years for a pen maker to come out with a design that exceeds the extravagance of any pen produced before it. As each progressively jewel-encrusted piece is unveiled, the price tags for these pens climbs higher and higher.
At the start of the millennium, Swiss luxury pen makers Caran d’Ache laid claim to the world’s most expensive pen with a diamond-encrusted version of its Modernist-inspired fountain pen range. La Modernista Diamonds were set with 5,072 diamonds, 96 rubies, and an 18 kt. gold tip. According to The Independent, the pen sold at Harrods for more than £144,000.
We at the Pen Vibe blog are hanging our heads in shame. In the article about how to keep from losing your pen, we neglected to tell you about the Uni-ball MSE-800 Clipturn, one of our absolute favourite pens.
But that’s OK, because the Clipturn deserves its own space. This pen is that brilliant.